Let's break it down:
Germany had to rebuild after the disaster of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. We did not win a game and failed to get out of our group.
I got the chance to decide on the direction we took when I agreed to take over as Germany coach that summer, with current manager Joachim Loew as my assistant.
'Jogi' and I began the whole regeneration process by trying to give our national team an identity.
We eventually decided to go down an attack-minded route, passing the ball on the ground from the back to the front line as quickly as possible using dynamic football.
Ok, this is stuff I like. Identities are good. Brazil has always had one, Spain has one, Italy has one. These things tend to work out. Attack-minded football would always be welcome but I particularly like this next bit...
Every nation has its own culture and specific environment as well as its own footballing identity. England have to develop their own vision and decide how they should play.
As I found, making that vision work is not an easy process. It will take time and England's results might not be positive while it takes effect.
OK....this is where there might be more of a disconnect. I'd love for us to have the German attack-minded identity, but is he equipped if our team plays to different styles? And would he survive if our team started to struggle mightily pre-World Cup?
England will also need the help of the Premier League. Every club coach will have their own philosophy but I tried to work with those in the Bundesliga to build something together.
There are a lot of foreign players and managers in England but that should not make a difference. You simply have to explain to them what the style of play is that you want to develop and be prepared to persevere.
Huh? Well first off, we are in a totally different perspective in that we would be in a world of trouble if we only selected players from our national league. But I can see the importance I guess in regards to an overall culture. But still, what the hell is he smoking here? He went around to coaches in the Bundesliga and they all played more attack-minded because he wanted them to? Did this actually work and if so, why hasn't he already called every MLS coach? In all honesty, I think this a totally bullshit statement as every club IS different and I don't think the fact that Real Madrid plays counter-attack and Barcelona plays possession has hurt the national team at all.
The German Football Association (DFB) helped us by putting a lot of pressure on all the first and second division teams in the Bundesliga to build academy programmes and ensure talented young players were coming through but we still had to decide on our playing style.
To do that, we quizzed everyone we could.
We held workshops with German coaches and players, asking them to write down on flip charts three things: how they wanted to play, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by the rest of the world and how the German public wanted to see us playing.
If we could define all of that, we thought we could lay out how we wanted to work and then, from there, sort out the training and paperwork behind the scenes.
What we ended up with amounted to 10 or 12 bullet points laying out our proposals. We then announced that it was our intention to play a fast-paced game, an attacking game and a proactive game.
Yet again, sorry to be so cynical but would you expect any different? Does any player really WANT to play a Stoke City style of play? Of course if you ask the players how they want it done they'll want a fast-paced attacking game. Of course that's what people want to see. I do like this whole national identity thing though, and he does go on about how he wanted it implemented on every level.
At that point, I told them I did not have the time to implement the strategy at all levels because I only had two years to prepare for the World Cup, so I asked for Germany's Under-21 team to adopt it and that was it.
I brought in a former international team-mate of mine, Dieter Eilts, to run the under-21s and said they had to play the same way as the senior team because they would be a feeder for it.
I was always looking long-term but I knew our plans would be measured by our success at the 2006 World Cup.
There was a lot of negative media at the start. Everybody agreed German football had to change after 2004 but nobody actually wanted to adopt our proposals.
For example, we told the Bundesliga teams and coaches that their players needed to be fitter to play the kind of football we wanted to play.
And, yet again, I just can't believe he held or attempted to hold that kind of sway with the club coaches. Just insane to me. If he can do it, power to him, but I'm just very skeptical of this being able to work in the US.
That was crucial because, no matter what your job is, you need to identify yourself with the work that you are doing and be happy.
I was happy because, as a former striker, I liked the style we intended to play. I could never coach a team that played defensive-minded football.
The most important quote in the whole article. Obviously things change but it looks pretty damn likely he is going to try something similar. He feels vindicated by his success in Germany and wants to replicate in the US, and he says himself he could not coach a defensive team. I'm down with that. Look, I know I sound skeptical here but it's because I don't like getting my hopes up. I don't want to run off and celebrate that we have Klinsman who followed up his Germany triumph with an absolutely horrid campaign with Bayern Munich, followed by sunbathing in California for a few years. I like that he emphasizes stylish, attacking play (what a change of pace!) and that he genuinely seems focused and interested in the future and development of players. If those two mantras hold, then he is a great hire for the job. Our talent pipeline is currently running pretty under-capacity and we have no real identity. I'd say the things that define US soccer are resilience and athleticism, because honestly, what else would there be to say? Resilience is a great thing, and one we should cherish, and yes our country produces some exceptional athletes. But there is nothing really else to identify us. We batten down the hatches and try to get a few good attacks and finish, despite not being an elite defensive team. We play route-one despite not having a decent striker. We seem to do a lot of things oddly and without consistency and I think a strong identity and ethic could do wonders. I hope this all works, I really do. Just don't expect to jump on the bandwagon just yet.
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