Abby Wambach on how to fix US men's soccer: fire Jürgen Klinsmann

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/16/abby-wambach-fire-jurgen-klinsmann

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Abby Wambach plays her final game for the US women’s soccer team on Wednesday night, but in the build-up she found time to advise her male counterparts on how to get out of their recent slump: fire Jurgen Klinsmann.

Wambach appeared on The Bill Simmons podcast before she retires from international soccer, and was asked by Simmons: “If you could fix one thing about that team, what would it be?”

“Oh man … I would definitely fire Jürgen,” Wambach replied. “Sorry Sunil, sorry US Soccer, but I don’t think that Jürgen and the litmus test on him has worked.”

Related: One for the road: Abby Wambach's final match closes book on unassailable legacy

Why not?

“First of all, [Klinsmann] hasn’t really focused, I feel like, enough attention on the youth programs. He says he has, I don’t think that he has. Also the way that he has changed and brought in a bunch of these foreign guys is just not something that I believe in wholeheartedly.”

“You mean like hired guns from other countries, basically?”

“Exactly. I don’t believe in it in my heart. I love Jermaine Jones, I love watching him play, and I love Fabian Johnson, but I just think that this experiment that US Soccer has given Jürgen, just isn’t one that, personally, I’m into.”

Wambach also pondered Klinsmann’s choice of vehicle for his commute to practice.

“It’s got to be interesting for those guys to see your coach take off in a helicopter to his home, and then back for training.”

Wambach, who has scored 184 international goals in a wonderful career – more than any man or woman in history – signs off against China in New Orleans on Wednesday, and is eager to move into punditry afterwards.

“I think that what you’ll find over the next 15 years is that our better athletes will be getting more involved in playing soccer,” Wambach said. “Right now, NBA and NFL and MLB are getting our best athletes because that’s where the money is.”

Listen to the entire podcast below. The part about Klinsmann comes at the 37:00 mark.