Jurgen Klinsmann has always been a winner. It didn’t matter if it was for club or country – whenever Klinsmann stepped onto the pitch, success invariably followed. Of course, anyone who saw him play could see why the goals always flew in for him. As far as his management skills are concerned, however, well, these were less evident until this summer’s World Cup.

Many neutral observers predicted an early exit, but his Deutschemaschine rode their momentum all the way to a third-place finish. At the time, it was arguably the greatest challenge of his career (playing or otherwise). Now, though, the US Soccer Federation is trying to tempt Klinsmann into accepting the Herculean task of guiding the United States to a similar run. Despite his credentials, it may be a bridge too far - even for him.

Without taking anything away from Klinsmann’s management nous, there are two factors in Germany’s run that may have gone under-reported. First off, remember that they had the tremendous advantage of being the home side. You have to go all the way back to Switzerland in 1954 to find a host nation that was disappointing (that’s if you consider a 7-5 quarter-final loss to Austria a disappointment … which I would, considering that the Swiss were up 3-0 after 19 minutes).

The German fans provided an amazing level of support, and it unquestionably made them far more daunting opponents. Not only were they playing at home, but they had one of the most glaring examples of a “Group of Life” in the first round. There are few easy games in football these days, but you can do a lot worse at the World Cup than draw Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador. They were brilliant in overwhelming Sweden and defiant in their penalty-shootout win over Argentina, but I believe they were able to accomplish all that because of the momentum they gained in their easy group stage.

Assuming Klinsmann takes the helm of the good ship Stars and Stripes (we’ll accept that he does for the balance of this piece), it’s unlikely that he will have the benefit of either of those factors. In fact, the USA has never had anything approaching an easy group, although I can’t discuss the reasons why Mexico were seeded instead of us without uttering a stream of four-letter words and increasingly-painful ways in which I’d like Sepp Blatter to meet his demise. That said, our constantly difficult World Cup groups would be the least of his problems.

Say what you will about where the 2006 outfit stands among the other German squads all-time – even the worst German side will claim 11 players who could at least compete with most of their peers. On the other hand, the United States has yet to produce a squad that would qualify for the World Cup if the route went through Europe or South America instead of Honduras and Canada. We have nothing in the time zone of Germany’s pedigree – or their trophy collection. Even more importantly, we do not have the aura that Germany does. There are some nations out there that have a tangible fear of seeing white shirts and black shorts on the other mob (I won’t name names, but one of these nations begins with “England”). On the other hand, we can’t even get Bermuda to fear us. No, I’m not kidding … they actually thought they could get a result in Hamilton due to the awful state of their pitch (300 million people in our country and they think some bumps could see them clear … the cheek, I tell you).

Further, with the notable exception of Stefan Effenberg, you don’t often see a German international who has obviously made the least of his considerable talents. Meanwhile, the recent American past is littered with those who have either completely wasted their gifts, such as Clint Mathis, or have done just enough to get by without truly reaching their potential. Perhaps the most glaring example of the latter is Nike poster-boy Landon Donovan. He is easily the marquee American talent of this generation, but he is content to play big fish in the rainwater puddle that is the Los Angeles Galaxy. There would surely be plenty of European clubs willing to take a flier on him if he were willing to put his head down and work hard to get into the side. However, he famously took his ball and went home the minute Bayer Leverkusen didn’t fall all over themselves marvelling at his greatness. With that in mind, perhaps we Yanks shouldn’t have been surprised when Landon the Friendly Ghost flitted his way through the World Cup group stage, leaving about as much of an impression as a feather falling on concrete.

Speaking of the World Cup, Klinsmann would have to pick up the pieces of our shambolic 2006 campaign and restore the feeling that 2002 had brought. I mentioned the idea of a side’s aura before, and the USA is a perfect example of a nation that would be twice as good if it played with any kind of swagger. In 2002, Brad Friedel personified this idea by his steadfast refusal to be beaten, no matter how many ridiculous penalties the referees gifted the other teams.

More recently, look at the example Clint Dempsey set in this year’s edition. While his team-mates played with too much respect (bordering on fear) for their opponents, only Dempsey exhibited the fighting spirit necessary to perform well in international tournaments. It’s no surprise, then, that “Deuce” was the only member of our squad to score a goal, and the only member of the squad (save perhaps Kasey Keller) who could board the plane home with his head held high.

Klinsmann will have to change that. The USA will never consistently succeed at the highest level until we can step onto the field with Italy or Germany or Brazil and give off the attitude of “f**k you, sunshine…let’s see if you can hang with us.” We have always had the athletic ability, and we are increasingly gaining the raw skill. There are more exciting players coming all the time – Watford’s Jay DeMerit and Standard’s Oguchi Onyewu on the backline, Dempsey and Reading’s Bobby Convey in midfield, Eddie Johnson and Freddy Adu up top. Even more than in 2006 or 2002, the USA will send a lineup to South Africa in 2010 that has a legitimate shot of making the kind of run the lunatic fringe of American fans has been craving ever since we began following the Beautiful Game.

All of this said, Klinsmann can do it if anyone can. I’ve always maintained that we need a good foreign manager for the swagger I mentioned above. Klinsmann has won wherever he’s gone, and he will expect the same out of any side he manages. I would see at Bruce Arena’s interviews where he would essentially wave a white flag any time one of those scary European monsters came around the bend. Klinsmann can point to his under-strength German side and tell our boys: “Why not you, too?” I liken it to Arsenal just as Arsene Wenger arrived at Highbury. The Gunners were a club in a serious state of flux, and Wenger was very quickly able to not only have them playing attractive attacking football, but more importantly, to give them the “unbelievable belief” (as one player put it) to make that kind of style work. And if we’re going to be insufferable imperialists anyway, why not do so on the football pitch as well?

Kidding aside, Klinsmann will also have to develop the skills of the new boys coming into the side. This is a crucial time for players like Adu and Johnson, and the manager will have to ensure they end up more like DeMerit and Convey than Donovan. Our kids (and our veterans too) must play in Europe and develop their skills to the absolute pinnacle of their potential before the USA will have a semi-final run in them. Also, Klinsmann would have to ensure that we play more friendlies with top sides worldwide rather than waste our time with the likes of Iceland and Canada.

Whether Klinsmann can be our Teutonic Saviour or not is still open to question. While I am on record above as thinking it might be a bridge too far for him, I would much rather cast our lot with him rather than some MLS non-entity whose sole experience with winning came in the US Open Cup. It’s a daunting task, but it’s safe to say that Klinsmann has never feared any of those before. If he takes this on and succeeds, then we will have to create a new word in English that describes someone who left “legend” behind a million miles ago.