Couple things..
Players who quit on their coach should be replaced. The Bradley's, Altidore's, Jones' have no more usefulness in this program. That's the thing that bothers me. Pulisic, Wood, Hyndman and a score or more of elite US players under the age of 21 are coming through the ranks under the development system and philosophy that Klinsmann created. Those players, who see the ideals he is championing and are acting on them (playing at the highest level possible) are the ones who should be focused on. Those players would have played for Klinsmann. Bradley and the MLS all stars can do one. Their time was over. They've been given a lease by a coach who basically coddles to mediocrity, no need to look further than his under performing Galaxy team this year. The USSF took a safe play. They should not be celebrated for their acknowledgment of what they saw by releasing the coach. They should be condemned for not realizing it was those players and the Donovans before who needed to be vetted out of the USMNT years ago. You seem to think that the tuck and hide job done by veterans in Costa Rica is an indictment on the coach. I disagree.. that's an indictment on them.
Pay for play is a hype phrase being bandied about by people who fail to see the development tiers in place and how they have changed just in the last 5 years. It is not the problem. Yes, players pay to play in their youth clubs, sometimes alot. However, the newest form of these, created in the last decade (under the encouragement of Klinsmann) is the MLS and Developmental academies. There is not a tuition or cost to the MLS academies. I have sent 2 players age 12 to the Sporting academy. The kids don't pay a thing, train with Sporting 5 days a week, travel with the club and live with their parents (Under 14 kids must live with parents, so they moved). Kids over 15 are placed with host families and pay "rent" at some or are boarded at others. There are dozens of similar academies (either sponsored by MLS teams or as part of big clubs with corporate sponsorship) under the same foundation. This is how it's done in Europe. Kids are not missing out.
The problem is two fold: Coaches who are not prepared to challenge their players to get better. This is philosophical, and a conversation for another time. I'll say this, as a coach for an academy: we stare kids in the eyes and tell them we care about their development while getting needled in the back by their parents and coaching directors to make sure we win. You can't have both. Second, we are a big nation, geographically. There are 60+ developmental academies spread across the nation. Kids are being found. They are playing. It is hard to get them together. We rely on a "hey look, we have this kid" system. Without going into a great deal of detail I'm sure you can see the inefficiency of that.
Klinsmann recognized all of these problems and was working diligently to correct them. You don't fire a guy for two results. He was brash and arrogant because he recognized the ignorance and stubbornness of the people currently in charge of building the sport here. That's why he was let go. The results were the thrust of the knife they had been sharpening for a couple years.
it's too bad. He had a vision I was happy to play a small role in. It sucks he was such a mediocre game manager. They could have given him an assistant to help with the first team and let him bring the development side together.
Instead we get a guy who says all USMNT players need to be born in America. Great...
