Spurs must give Pochettino time, says Klinsmann
JURGEN KLINSMANN doesn’t give the impression of a man with a burning desire to abandon all the good things he has going on for a shot at solving the perennial puzzle that is Tottenham Hotspur.
Why should he? Klinsmann popped into White Hart Lane on Sunday to see Stoke beat Spurs and witnessed the fourth home defeat for Mauricio Pochettino’s team in this Barclays Premier League campaign and the reaction that went with it.
If anything it must have reinforced his belief that he is in a job he adores, where he is appreciated for his efforts building the USA into a world force, and where the sun shines for up to 340 days a year.
‘I wish Mauricio only the best,’ said Klinsmann. ‘ He’s a tremendous, talented coach. He’s shown that already. He’s got a smart brain. Every coach needs time to put his mark on an environment, on a club, on a national team programme. Wherever you work, it’s only going to happen over time.
‘Unfortunately, professional football is driven by short-term results and high media expectations, high fan expectations and that often drives clubs to make ke quick decisions because they have lost five games in a row. If you want to evaluate the work of a coach then you can only do that over a longer period of time. For Mauricio to put his stamp on Spurs he needs time, he probably also needs a couple of transfer windows to build the team he has in mind.’
Klinsmann is in London to prepare the USA for a friendly against Colombia at Craven Cottage on Friday. He named his squad yesterday and included DeAndre Yedlin, the 21-year- old Seattle Sounders defender who has signed for Spurs and could have work permit issues sorted out in time to move in January, after acquiring a Latvian passport.
‘ We are super-excited that he is coming here,’ said Klinsmann. ‘ He is highly talented, has great pace, good character, a good kid and he wants to learn. Spurs will get a huge talent, but also, similar to the coaches, a talent who needs time.
‘I want DeAndre to come here to build that special relationship with Spurs. For me it was a tremendous learning experience.’ Klinsmann arrived at Tottenham in 1994 having already played at the top level in Germany, France and Italy. He stayed for one season, won Footballer of the Year and later returned on loan to help Spurs avoid relegation.
He doesn’t rule out an eventual return to English football, but he is committed to the US through to the end of the next World Cup, and is relishing his role at the head of an organisation breaking new frontiers.
He married an American, Debbie, and has been settled in California since 1998. They have teenage children Laila and Jonathan, and Klinsmann flies helicopters as a hobby. He is studying for a commercial licence. His children support the US in sports and Jonathan is a goalkeeper for the USA’s U18 team. Cue jokes about diving. ‘I never imagined when I was a player that I would become a coach,’ said Klinsmann, but the path was set when he accepted an invitation from former Germany manager Berti Vogts to organise a coaching course and, before he knew it, he was fully qualified, helping Los Angeles Galaxy off the ground and taking charge of his country in their own World Cup.
‘Germany called and I was like: “What?” The next day, I thought: “OK”. I had two years to build something in Germany. The deadline was the first game of the World Cup and I went through a tremendous learning curve and a lot of walls.
‘It obviously ended up well and I was actually on my way here to the Premier League — I can’t say where — when Bayern Munich called. So I got that experience and again hit walls. ‘ You never know what happens tomorrow and in life. A major point is what is best for
I was all set to manage an English club
the family. I’m not making any moves, even from 2018, that don’t consider the family.’
Until then, the target is to build towards Russia 2018. ‘We’re still trying to catch up with the big football nations in the world,’ said Klinsmann. ‘Over the past few years, we’ve done quite a good job and want to do the next big step. We set the benchmark very high. next time at the World Cup we set the benchmark at the semifinal. Many years down the road, it will definitely be the goal to win the World Cup.
‘We also have benchmarks like a club coach has every weekend, we have ours to get results and look good. It’s not that I’m totally safe here.’
Far safer, however, than any manager can be at Tottenham.