Jürgen Klinsmann on USMNT and why he cut Landon Donovan, as well as kind words about Diego Maradona

Jürgen Klinsmann sparks many debates in the circle of US Soccer; to some, he was ahead of his time, while to others, he failed to deliver on the promise of turning the USMNT into a better version of itself.

In the end, Jürgen Klinsmann can claim to have a record of 55-27-16 with the US and is a winner of the 2013 Concacaf Gold Cup and a fourth-place finish in the 2016 Copa America. He also got the USMNT to the Round of 16 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Jürgen Klinsmann spoke to CBS’ “Kickin’ It” team, where a former player of his, Clint Dempsey, is a co-host, and talked about his time with the USMNT, and also offering special words about Diego Maradona.

Jürgen Klinsmann on Diego Maradona

Jürgen Klinsmann spoke about his time as a player and a coach. When it came to the USMNT, he touched on the taboo subject of trying to get players to play at a higher level, meaning away from MLS, although he recognized that MLS has improved greatly since he was manager.

Klinsmann also gave his viewpoint on why he left Landon Donovan off of the USMNT World Cup roster in 2014, citing that Donovan’s time off from soccer was a major factor. Even though he admitted that in certain situations it would have been good to have him on the team, he wanted the rest of the players who had grinded it out with Jürgen Klinsmann to be on the roster, so Donovan was eventually cut.

When it came to Diego Maradona, Jürgen Klinsmann had kind words for the now-departed icon. Jürgen Klinsmann stated, “I also try to describe Diego Maradona as an artist; you have many world-class players… but there was only one artist, and that was Diego.

“The way he read the game and the way he was able to technically execute the game was completely from God; it was a different dimension. Understanding his life at Napoli and in Italy, understanding that he could never leave the house because people would go crazy or go to a coffee shop, never have a nice meal with his family in a restaurant, drove him to a corner, and that drove him into drugs. That makes the other side of the story so sad because he could not have a normal life.”

Jürgen Klinsmann ended the interview by not ruling out the possibility of one day coaching in MLS or another national team in the future.