In Klinsmann's Decision on Donovan, an Eye on Now and Later

In most cases, national team soccer coaches are like presidents: one four-year term at a time, with little certainty about how re-election will go until the numbers come in. Unlike politics, though, being an incumbent is not often a boost; coaching a team for two World Cup cycles is not generally the norm.

That is what makes Jurgen Klinsmann's situation with the United States team so fascinating. Unlike most coaches, who will head into next month's World Cup in Brazil wondering how well they need to do to avoid losing their jobs, Klinsmann will arrive knowing he has his through 2018. In December, the rough equivalent of the midterms because Klinsmann was hired in 2011, U.S. Soccer gave him a four-year contract extension before he had coached the Americans in a single World Cup game.

That reality shines an unusual light on what happened Thursday, when Klinsmann released his 23-man roster for the World Cup and did not include Landon Donovan on it. Donovan, who is one of the greatest American players in the team's history, was a cut that drew attention worldwide. Not surprisingly, his exclusion set off a firestorm of debate, criticism, hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing from fans of all persuasions and intensity. After Donovan's tournament-saving goal for the Americans four years ago in South Africa, his popularity and fame are undeniable.

On Friday, Klinsmann explained his decision to leave out Donovan by essentially saying that he believed other players were a better fit. He danced around detailing what, exactly, that means, but he acknowledged that dropping Donovan was a very difficult choice. 'He took it highly professionally,' Klinsmann said. 'I tried to lay out a couple of reasons and those are technical. I hoped for his understanding.'

What Donovan surely understands - and what has become increasingly clear in Klinsmann's tenure - is that Klinsmann feels fully and completely empowered. He and Donovan have had their issues, most notably last year when Klinsmann did not hide his disapproval of Donovan's four-month sabbatical from soccer. Donovan worked his way back, but it had been clear for a while that Klinsmann believed Donovan's form, at age 32, had declined.

And yet, still, many other coaches would have kept Donovan based on his past, bowing to the tendency to trust in the familiar when situations are uncertain. Athletes often feel that way, too; Donovan's teammates, including Tim Howard and Michael Bradley, said as recently as this week that they believed he was critical to the team's success.

Klinsmann was not interested. He did not discuss his roster decisions with any of the team's veteran leaders - 'Our picture is different than what a player has of his teammate,' he said - and acted swiftly and decisively. 'We feel very strongly about these players,' he said of his final roster.

The last United States coach, the only one, to lead the program for two straight cycles was Bruce Arena, who took the Americans to the quarterfinals in 2002 - a finish that remains the team's best - and months later received an extension to stay for the 2006 tournament.

Sunil Gulati, the president of U.S. Soccer, parted ways with Arena a week after the 2006 tournament, from which the United States was eliminated in the group stage. In interviews at the time, Gulati said of the coaching change, 'It comes down primarily to eight years being a long period.'

Now, Gulati and the rest of U.S. Soccer's officials are signed up for about that long with Klinsmann without yet seeing how his philosophies translate through a complete cycle. Their reasoning is not altogether outrageous: They see Klinsmann, who previously coached Germany to a third-place finish in 2006, as the key to transforming the sport in America. Gulati had wanted Klinsmann to fill this role for years; now that he has him, he did not want to risk losing him to a different job. He also wanted to give him the time and influence he would need to make an impact.

His new contract, which added the role of technical director for all of U.S. Soccer, gives Klinsmann an unusual amount of power. If he did not know he had a job waiting after this World Cup, would he have gambled as much as he has on this year's roster? Would he still have cast off Donovan and included inexperienced players like Julian Green, an 18-year-old who has played in exactly one senior international game?

Klinsmann said no. 'This is based on today,' he said. 'This had nothing to do with my contract.' But what was he supposed to say?

No one should think Klinsmann is punting on Brazil. The United States has an incredibly difficult draw, to be sure, but the notion that Klinsmann is conceding games against Ghana, Portugal and Germany is obtuse; Klinsmann is not 'rebuilding' at the World Cup. He is too competitive for that.

What he is doing, though, is seeing the whole picture. Spain's Vicente del Bosque and Germany's Joachim Löw are second-term coaches, but neither knew he was going to be brought back until after his first World Cup. By design, they were told to focus on one thing at a time.

Klinsmann is different. He has that contract. He knows he will be in command in 2018. And he knows that the team he takes to Russia will look very different from the one he takes to Brazil. Transitioning from one era to the next is always difficult in sports, and by including Green and John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin, Klinsmann may be trying to begin that process now.

It is bold. It is controversial. It is the act of a first-term leader who knows he has already won re-election.