Jurgen Klinsmann has been out of the spotlight and pretty much has been on a break for the past year. The former USMNT manager was sacked during World Cup Qualifying the end of last November but apart from the rare appearance, Klinsmann hasn’t been in the news much and he hasn’t taken on another job.
That may change as reports have Liga MX team Club Tijuana interested in Klinsmann and Klinsmann is interested in them. Mexico wasn’t exactly a place where many expected Klinsmann to end up in. Most assumed he would go back to Europe or maybe even something in MLS, but if Klinsmann continues his career in Mexico and at Tijuana, that would be the perfect place for Klinsmann to get his career back on track.
First off, Klinsmann said last year about wanting to learn Spanish so I’m guessing Klinsmann is either fluent or he knows enough to get by in Mexico. Also, Klinsmann would reunite with a couple players who were on the USMNT. Joe Corona and Michael Orozco used to play for Klinsmann on the National Team. And the location is great in that Tijuana is right across the US/Mexican border. Klinsmann lived in Southern California so depending on if he wanted to coach in Tijuana and live in California, or live in Tijuana and his family can stay in California, it will be close enough for him to easily get there.
But the most important reason is that the two sides need each other. Tijuana only started in 2007 but vaulted up the Mexican standings, even winning the 2012 Apertura and was top of the 2017 Clausura table. But during the current Apertura, Tijuana is 11th in the table after 15 matches. And with just two remaining, Tijuana need to gain three more points to get into the top eight and enter the Liguilla.
And if Klinsmann can turn this around, this could be the kind of thing that gives Klinsmann the power to show people he can get it done and can go to Europe. It’s not fair to call Liga MX a stepping stone but that could be the key to get to a top league in Europe.
