'USMNT exciting for coach looking at bigger picture' - Klinsmann on what a foreign manager should expect from the vacant job

• Said job could be exciting
• Klinsmann managed team for nearly six years
• U.S. one of three hosts for 2026 World Cup

WHAT HAPPENED? U.S. Soccer is currently sorting out its coaching situation, with Anthony Hudson leading the team into January Camp on an interim basis.

Incumbent coach Gregg Berhalter is still in the running to stay on, although an investigation into 30-year-old domestic assault allegations amid a feud with the Reyna family does complicate matters. Zinedine Zidane also reportedly rejected overtures from the federation, showing that the program is interested in pursuing big-name foreign coaches.

WHAT THEY SAID: "It's a very complex topic," Klinsmann said, "and I can only speak from my experience and from my point of looking at things. I've been super honored to coach the U.S. team for five and a half, almost six, years. I learned a lot by doing that because I obviously had more of the European perspective and then got better and better at understanding how things work and in CONCACAF, in Central and North America, and qualifying games in countries like Guatemala and Costa Rica and so on.

"Making all these trips, the rivalry obviously with Mexico, which is fantastic, and the complexity of the work because it's about building the bridge between Europe and the United States and even also players that are brought in from Liga MX with a dual citizenship situation, that is always a natural situation for the United States because it's a country of them of immigrants. I love that. I have to say I learned a lot from it. I benefited a lot from it."

AND WHAT'S MORE: He continued: "It's exciting for a coach looking at the bigger picture. As I said, you need to be very well-connected in Europe. You need to be well-connected obviously in the United States as well. You have to have an eye on all of the dual-citizenship players that you may find. And you have to have an eye on the development of players in the United States."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Klinsmann went on to say that he believes that U.S. Soccer, in general, should be aiming high for the 2026 cycle in an effort to take advantage of the historic level of Champions League-quality talent within the current squad.

"The goals need to be set higher for U.S. Soccer," he said. "It needs to be set in a way to make it one day into the semi-finals of a World Cup and now comes the situation that you deal with towards 2026, which is fantastic and it's fantastic to host that tournament and three-and-a-half years from now."

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Ashley Allen

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WHAT NEXT FOR USMNT? The U.S. is set to face Serbia and Colombia in friendlies as part of the annual January Camp.