No, Jurgen Klinsmann did not steal Bob Bradley’s job through TV punditry

In his introductory press conference at Swansea City, Bob Bradley claimed that Jurgen Klinsmann was “jockeying” for the USMNT job while doing commentary on the 2010 World Cup for ESPN. Klinsmann sees things a bit differently.

“It’s simply not true,” said Klinsmann. “I could’ve taken the job in 2006. I could’ve taken it in 2010. I was not jockeying [for] anything.”

Klinsmann is almost certainly correct that he didn’t need to impress anyone with his ESPN punditry to be offered the job. He moved to the United States before taking the Germany job in 2004, Following the 2006 World Cup, he could have had just about any national team job he wanted, provided the money and power offered were to his liking. It was widely reported that Klinsmann was offered the job in 2010, but couldn’t come to an agreement with U.S. Soccer, leading them to extend Bob Bradley’s deal.

But it’s fair to say that Klinsmann, while he’s performed competently, has yet to live up to all of his big talk. At Swansea City, Bradley has an opportunity to show U.S. Soccer that they were wrong to consider him their Klinsmann backup plan for five years, and not just a great coach.

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FIFA is going to name its first Chief Women’s Soccer Officer. (Excelle Sports)

Georginio Wijnaldum picked up a knock on Netherlands duty and might miss Liverpool’s game against Manchester United. (Guardian)

Bill Hamid is No. 7 on the USMNT goalkeeper depth chart. What? (MLS)

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Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is out three weeks. (Sport)

Paolo Maldini explained that he rejected a role at AC Milan because he disagreed with the structure and the owners wouldn’t sit down with him to talk about it. (Football Italia)

Sergio Aguero had an injury scare on Monday, but he’s fine. (Bitter and Blue)

Arielle Castillo on going to Cuba for a USMNT game and discovering a lot of great things in the process. (MLS)

Matt Stanger talked to Andre Wisdom about going from Liverpool to Red Bull Salzburg. (The Set Pieces)

Mark Murphy on new FIFA president Gianni Infantino using the Sepp Blatter playbook. (Two Hundred Percent)

Paul Pogba scored this awesome goal in a France win.

World Cup qualifying -- There are games all over. We recommend Slovenia vs. England during the afternoon block and Colombia vs. Uruguay in the early evening.

USA vs. New Zealand (8 p.m.) -- Expect to see a lot of new faces.