Guardiola? Klopp? Will USA stick or twist before 2026 World Cup?
It is almost eight years since Jurgen Klinsmann was fired as USA national coach.
The axe fell on the German superstar coach after a wretched start to qualification for the 2018 World Cup and brought to an end a five-year tenure most notable for getting out of a group containing heavyweights Germany, Portugal and Ghana to reach the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup.
Now, after a desperate Copa America campaign when they became the first host nation to be eliminated from the group phase, US Soccer must decide whether to stick with lesser-known current coach Gregg Berhalter or make a change.
And if it is a change, then who next?
Pep Guardiola has cast doubt over his future beyond next season at Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp has already left Liverpool.
Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino are free agents after missing out on the Manchester United job and Klinsmann’s fellow German Joachim Low has not coached since quitting the national team job in 2021.
Would any of those stellar names fit the bill? Or will US Soccer look further down the food chain at a less expensive option?
Either way, the stakes are high. It is a decision they must get right.
In 2018, the US Soccer Federation predicted hosting the World Cup in 2026 would generate $5bn (£3.94bn), external in short-term funding.
The impact on those watching on TV is incalculable.
“If you are a kid watching at home, you want a hero,” Michael Lahoud, a former Major League Soccer player who now works in the United States for CBS and ESPN, told BBC Sport. “The furthest we have ever been in the World Cup was 2002. I watched that tournament and saw black players who were my role models. I said I wanted to be the next Eddie Pope and DaMarcus Beasley.
“Yes, [hosting] the World Cup is amazing but we have to have success to make an impact.”
It is against this backdrop that US Soccer finds itself staring into the abyss.
Hosting an expanded Copa America this summer was supposed to be a dry run for what is to follow in two years’ time.
For the United States, their interest is over, eliminated from what appeared to be a straightforward group, thanks largely to their defeat by Panama in Atlanta on 26 June.
