re: Klinsmann has a message for all the haters still out there

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I think a sizable majority realizes that it was a boneheaded move motivated by personal bias.

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You can't "realize" something by conjecture and assumption.

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Only a few true believers will actually argue that it makes us a stronger team.

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How would anyone know whether it makes us a stronger team? We seem strong to me.

As opposed to Landon being a cancerous individual who is disrupting team chemistry by making all of the Hisapnic and Germanican guys listen to Adult Contemporary in the weight room and during the ping pong matches between Mix and Zusi.

That's about the only other feasible option I've got.

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How did Germany do without him the next World Cup? Oh yeah they finished in the same place.

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Not to circle jerk this to death - but his big "accomplishment" was widely attributed by most football pundits/media to the "brilliance" of Jogi Low.... who's been the national team coach since 2006, and all he's done is one WC third place finish, one Euro final and one Euro semifinal and generally been the best team in the world for the past 8 years not named Spain. Oh, and they're probably a favorite to win this one, too.

Other than that, Jurgen hasn't accomplished anything that another American coach hasn't done already, even the much despised Bob Bradley.

Jurgen has a chance to rewrite that beginning on Sunday, and I hope he does.

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Most people are coming to the same conclusion. It certainly makes far more sense than anything that has come out of Klinsmann's mouth.

If any of Howard, Bradley, Dempsey, or Fabian were cut, I would say the same.

As someone who follows the USMNT, name a comparable roster decision. There's one. Harkes. That is it. 100 percent due to off the field issues, and I'd say it was justified.

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Really? "Most people".

Its like a sabbatical in which he pondered the importance of soccer in his life 16 months before the world cup didnt happen. Or the fact that he had been in bad form this year so far and didnt have a great camp in which he freely admited that he cant/wont go 100% every day simply didnt happen.

No, lets ignore many of the widely available and out in the open signs and go straight to "its personal" Yea that makes the most sense.

occams razor really suggests that his form and attitude towards soccer with one year away from the world cup coupled with some sub par performances in camp are probably the reason he isnt on the 23.

It was Donovan's team and Jurgen wanted it to be Jurgen's team. From the coaches' perspective, Donovan isn't really good enough to have to put up with that situation. If we were talking about a world class player, maybe, but he wasn't that.

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I love how you are ignoring what happened after the sabbatical.

Or what he said about his form in the first (and as far as I know, the only) interview he has given after he was cut.

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I love how you ignore his form in the entirety of 2014 before the cut. Have you seen his pieces on ESPN? Even he says that EVERY player thinks they're good enough. Every player on Earth is going to say they should be there. It's the way the game was played.

Do I believe that Jurgen thinks that Landon is overrated and holds him to a higher expectation because of that? Absolutely. Do I believe him being omitted was a personal vendetta? No. It was just someone from a real footballing nation seeing players differently. It's the same reason Ronaldo is seen by many Portuguese as hurting the team by playing without being 100% fit. Go read things those guys say. It hits very close to home. That may not be fair to Landon, but it's the way Jurgen, a true superstar in his own right, sees it. Landon is the face of the game here, and he made decisions he knew weren't benefiting him moving forward. That's on him.

At this point, we're looking at favorable odds of getting out of the group. We had to win a tough start, and we did. Discounting Jurgen is being ignorant because he put us in a position to do so. Why can't we just let this bullshite go and move forward?

I don't know, man. He isn't one of those brash guys like Boateng who will make life hell on earth for the coach, and since he has the charisma of an accountant, I really don't see him being a vocal guy around the locker room. I bet Howard and Bradley are the guys who run the locker room, instead.

As for the sabbatical precedent, I view that as a non-issue since players on other teams clash with coaches, quit the team, and come back all the time.

If Klinsmann is trying to bring European or Latin American swag to the USMNT. he is going to have way bigger distractions than Donovan the next few years.

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Other than that, Jurgen hasn't accomplished anything that another American coach hasn't done already, even the much despised Bob Bradley.

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How many have won the opening match of a World Cup?

The US has blown in its World Cup history. Just enjoy being 1-0-0 and having 3 points.

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It's the same reason Ronaldo is seen by many Portuguese as hurting the team by playing without being 100% fit.

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See that's crazy. People would rather have the coach play one of their subs with less than 10 caps and maybe 10 Portuguese league goals rather than Ronaldo?

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Why can't we just let this bullshite go and move forward?

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Because Jurgen's decision has left us in a precarious situation. We are now seriously contemplating a line-up where Bedoya is the second most attack-minded player in the starting line-up. Or using Wondo as a targetman. The latter is almost as crazy as viewing Varela as a national team savior. I was disgusted when I saw Wondo was our only attacking player left, when Dempsey went down with the kick to his nose.

Look at the average age of this national team and those of other countries. Look at our top players the past decade. This 2014 team is likely the strongest team we are going to have for quite a while.

Donovan, Howard, Beasley, Beckerman, Jones, and Dempsey are not going to be in another World Cup. For essentially the past decade, most of these guys have been our very finest players, along with Cherundolo and Bocanegra. People love to look at the youth, but I don't think we'll see another group as good as our early 1980s players for a while. And with the group immediately proceeding them not living up to the hype (Mapp, Nguyen, Edu, Adu based on when he became a pro, Magee, etc), we will definitely have growing pains in the lead-up to 2018. I strongly believe the time is now.

I hate that Klinsmann viewed this group as a bit of throw-away and a way to build to the future. And anyone who looks at his selection of guys like Yedlin and Green can't tell me with a straight face that it's not how he views this unit.

At this point, we have two very tough games to play to get into the elimination rounds. We have to worry about injuries, although fortunately we got no cards against Ghana. But it makes me sick to my stomach that there are only 18 or 19 guys worthy of playing in a World Cup on this roster, especially since our player pool is now deeper than it has ever been. Klinsmann certainly deserves some credit for that by bringing Fabian Johnson, Aron Johannsson, and Brooks into the fold.