Shinguardian: Buy-In Time is Nigh!! Get on the Klinsi Train

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At a certain point, things changed.

Suddenly, I came to the realization that because I’m an American, and we’re awesome at getting what we want, I had access to and watched more soccer than anybody who wrote or talked about the sport for a living across the pond. Not only that, but I saw all kinds of soccer. EPL, MLS, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, K-League, A-League, SPL, Primera Division, and on and on…I saw it all. I learned to read a match like a book. I could critique lineups, formations, and substitutions with the best of them, and rarely did I hear points made by the experts that I hadn’t already thought of myself.

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Klinsmann was brought in to change a culture, not just manage the national team. For too long, the USMNT had mirrored its fans.

Recognizing that it wasn’t as talented as most (even some of the CONCACAF minnows it qualified against), the USMNT was happy to grind the opposition down with grit, fitness, and sweat equity. Getting out of the group every four years was the goal, and on those rare occasions we were on the same pitch as the world’s behemoths, we were just happy to be there.

Klinsmann’s directive was to change all of that. That’s why we’re playing friendlies against Brazil, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, and France. That’s why Klinsmann has shook up our youth system and been willing to pull young talent from wherever he can find it. That’s why he makes our guys compete for their jersey numbers, and that’s why he was so pissed off after the Brazil match. At least in Jurgen’s mind, not every player in the USMNT player pool has bought in.

As I compare the two teams that played on Wednesday night, the USMNT had no reason to be in awe of Brazil. Sure there were big names out there. Hulk is a beast. Neymar is titillating. Marcello, when he’s not too busy being a prick, is a brick wall on the left and explosive going forward.

However, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Fabian Johnson, and Tim Howard could all walk into just about any national team in the world right now. Has there ever been a time when you could say that about so many USMNT players?

Sure, Brazil is more talented, but Klinsmann knows that as of right now, there’s no reason the USMNT should feel inferior or be intimidated to step on the field with anybody in the world. Now he’s pleading with his players to buy into that and be bosses because of it. As American soccer fans, it’s time we bought in as well.
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It was an understated simmering anger at first. The final whistle hadn’t even blown yet before the condescending tweets began and the scribes began penning their articles aimed at soccer novices. “Italy didn’t bring a full squad. It was just a friendly. It doesn’t mean anything.”

The USMNT had done something nobody expected them to do, beating Italy 1-0 in Genoa. I didn’t mind so much because those statements were true, but part of me was already saying, “They think we’re idiots who are incapable of enjoying a historic win without giving it proper perspective. They think they need to set these dumb Americans straight.”

The following week it seemed that every time the USA’s win over Italy was brought up, more time was spent convincing dumb Americans that it didn’t matter than actually breaking down how we played.

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The article starts out fairly well, and his points about the constant condescending tone of both American and international press towards the national team are extremely valid. However, the article ends in a quite childish tone and finishes with a strawman argument.

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Make a pointed counter. Don't insult the other side like a butthurt Yahoo sports article commenter.

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