Longtime Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp is extremely high on the current generation of U.S. Men’s National Team stars.
The 59-year-old currently spends a good amount of his time in the U.S. as the Red Bull group’s Head of Global Soccer - a portfolio that includes the MLS’s New York Red Bulls.
Now Stateside for the FIFA World Cup, during which he is working with German broadcaster Magenta as a pundit together with the likes of Bayern Munich icon and current Vancouver Whitecaps star Thomas Müller, Klopp was recently quizzed on the state of the USMNT.
Speaking to longtime Premier League goalkeeper and ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop, Klopp said he believes the current USMNT “is the best team the U.S. has ever had.”
He continued, “You look where the players play, look at the boys. You have a striker who plays in France, played in England (Folarin Balogun). You have a winger who plays everywhere with [Christian] Pulisic.
“You have the last line, plays, or played in the Premier League (Chris Richards, Tim Ream, and Antonee Robinson). Midfield, plays or played in the Premier League, or in Italy (Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Brendan Aaronson, Gio Reyna, Tim Weah). You never had a team like that. So that's number one.
“You have a sensational coach with Mauricio [Pochettino]. You have a good team. But the pressure will, I don't want to jinx it, but the pressure will grow. So it's great right now in all these [host] countries. In the USA, really good. Canada, good. Mexico, good. They're all in, very important for a tournament.”
But while Klopp wasn’t afraid to compliment the USMNT, he was quick to highlight that this year’s tournament, in particular, has a plethora of competitive teams, outside of the usual handful of favorites.
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“Norway, good, they played, they changed eight or nine or ten [players] (in their last group game), and still played good football,” Klopp said. “Belgium, really good, last chance for a great generation. Switzerland, good. So many teams are good, and they all can win, and let's see who will get through…Holland, really good.
“I don't know, I can't tell you who will go through. Spain, really good, but against Cape Verde, it was a surprise that they didn't find a solution in that game, but Cape Verde surprised all of us, so that's the tournament, and that's the best you can say about the World Cup.
“Why would we know today, there are five rounds to go, who will win the World Cup? That would be really boring if we would know it already, we wouldn't have to watch the games. Now we watch the games, I speak about it, you probably have to speak about it as well, and in the end, we celebrate a deserved world champion, I'm pretty sure.”
Pochettino’s side reached the Round of 32 as Group D winners, beating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia 2-0 before losing to Türkiye 3-2 courtesy of a last-gasp winner from Kaan Ayhan. It is worth noting, however, that Pochettino had made nine changes to his starting lineup for this game, as they had already won the group.
The USMNT will look to join Canada - who beat South Africa on Sunday in the first knockout game - in the Round of 16 when they take on Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday. As for co-hosts El Tri, they are scheduled to face Ecuador at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Tuesday.
Source: Alloutsoccer.com
