Klinsmann vs. Garber

Well, this has gotten ugly. I posted in the Honduras match thread about JK's recent public jabs at MLS. Well, it looks like Don Garber has taken exception (and then some), in a press teleconference:

http://screamer.deadspin.com/mls-commissioner-has-some-dumb-shit-to-say-about-jurgen-1646865508

Garber really unloads. He, essentially, conflates MLS with US Soccer, suggesting that both need to be on the same page to grow the sport, and Klinsmann is doing the sport a disservice by so publicly criticizing the league. You can read his full quotes in the Deadspin article, but he gets a bit carried away.

Deadspin (a site I generally like for the depth, wit, and volume of soccer coverage) comes down strongly on Klinsmann's side...saying all JK is doing is speaking the truth and that Garber is just a suit, spinning corporate PR babble to protect the integrity of his (according to them) crappy product.

So let's take a breath here. The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle. MLS is not perfect; it's undeniably inferior to its top-flight European counterparts and it likely could benefit from some structural changes.

But what exactly is JK accomplishing by calling out the league, and its players? How exactly does publicly shaming Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey help the cause of soccer in this country? I suppose his goal is to use such comments to dissuade other players currently overseas from making similar moves. And yet, I somehow think that's only part of why he's saying these things. I think JK is a genuine, heart on his sleeve, tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy. He's saying these things because he genuinely doesn't think much of MLS. He's coming at this debate (just as Deadspin is) from an old-fashioned, Euro-centric, "we know how to do this and the Americans don't" mentality. Which is pretty crappy from the manager of your national team.

I don't want to get off on a rant here (crap, too late), but while JK does occasionally make a valid point, he also comes off as a superior know-it-all, a relic of a time when the U.S. really was in the backwoods of the game. Whether or not he likes it, some of the players in his available pool are going to play in MLS. And if he genuinely wanted to help the league improve, I would think he could find a more constructive way to achieve that goal.

We can certainly debate the merits of MLS, the possibilities of eliminating the single-entity structure and relaxing the salary cap, introducing relegation and promotion, etc. But this has become something of a nasty PR war. It's he said, he said. I don't think either party comes off well, and it's sure as hell not accomplishing anything.

 

Yay.. me too!!! Like I said elsewhere JK should be able to speak his mind.. but that doesnt mean he's right. And we can point and laugh at him.
And Garber has weathered the storm from the mid- oughts when most of us thought he was just some corporate bozo. If that were true, MLS would be putting out a death rattle.

 

Don't have a problem with either guy speaking their mind (and I really like Garber firing back), and this falls into there is no such thing as bad publicity category.