Jurgen Klinsmann talks a lot about confidence, which is not surprising since he often exudes it. But in his new role as coach of the United States national team, his job is to nurture it.

Mike Nelson/European Pressphoto Agency

He started on his first day, in his first news conference, by declaring, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with the team.” The statement raised some eyebrows, since Klinsmann only got the national team job after Bob Bradley was fired. But the message to the team’s players, some of whom had never met him, was clear: I think you can do this, he seemed to be saying. I think you’re good enough.

Maybe they knew that. But maybe they needed to hear it, especially after their reward for a run to the Gold Cup final was a thrashing at the hands of arch rival Mexico, a heaping helping of criticism and a coaching change. And maybe Klinsmann — a former player — knew that.

He has been banging the same drum ever since.

When the Americans tied Mexico in his first game, he lavished praise on players young and old:

“It’s great to see some young players stepping into this team and being guided by the experienced ones. Michael Orozco, [Edgar] Castillo, the way Kyle Beckerman played his No. 6 role in front of the back four was exceptional. The spirit and the energy from the experienced ones like Landon Donovan was fun to watch. It was really enjoyable to see how they then kind of expressed themselves. Robbie Rogers comes on and goes at [Carlos] Salcido like he plays in those big games always. This is what we want in this team.”

“Landon, obviously, but Robbie Rogers and Brek Shea, they have the qualities to go one-on-one. Those qualities that Mexico have as well, but they are attacking midfielders. That is really fun to see.”

“We gave them certain tasks before the game – to play out of the back, for example, which against a high-pressure Mexican side is not that easy. We obviously gave them all the tasks to join one-against-one battles and win their one-against-one situations. Slowly, we gave them the task to move step-by-step more forward and get more confident the longer they were in the game and put Mexico under pressure. That’s what we saw in the last half hour where I think the players felt more and more confident.”

After Friday’s game against Costa Rica, his message was the same:



“[They] did excellent with the way they combined and the way they looked for each other and the way they kind of passed their way out of difficult and tight spaces. There was confidence there, there was technical ability there.”

Admittedly, there is a bit of a youth-soccer, motivational-speaker feel to some of Klinsmann’s back-patting, since a guy like Clint Dempsey doesn’t need anyone to tell him he’s a good player. But then guys like Dempsey and Tim Howard aren’t Klinsmann’s target audience. He knows what he’s going to get from them, and he’s know they’ll be ready if he calls them in 2014.

What Klinsmann needs to do is build a team around players like that. After the Mexico game, he said his goal was to build a starting 11, but also a second 11 to push them. (The 1-11 jersey thing is at the heart of this thinking.) When Klinsmann challenges a player like Juan Agudelo to take on players one-and-one and beat them, he’s implicitly telling Jozy Altidore to learn to do the same thing. When he gives starts to Edgar Castillo and Timothy Chandler, he’s simultaneously pushing Eric Lichaj and Steve Cherundolo. The same goes for Dempsey and Stuart Holden and even Landon Donovan every time they hear Klinsmann gush about Brek Shea and Robbie Rogers.

When Klinsmann tells Jose Torres to worry about making the right passes, not about whether they get where there supposed to go every time, he’s saying: I trust you to run this team, and this is how I want it run.

“He’s given me the opportunity to play free,” Torres said. “He tells me to get on the ball and attack a lot more. That gives me a lot of confidence. When a coach tells you to get on the ball and try to help spray balls left and right, that gives you a lot of confidence. It’s not just me; it’s from Tim all the way to Jozy.”

Klinsmann wants the players to start believing they deserve their spots, just as he’s getting them to believe they deserve the ball. They have been fighting harder to win it in his first two games, and taking care not to give it away once they have it. Is that confidence, or just smarts? Klinsmann wins either way, and he knows he has time to find out.

Two games is a ridiculously small sample, but every new game is a test, a chance to see how the players respond to the questions asked and the problems posed. Tuesday’s game — against a solid European opponent, Belgium, on its turf — could be a good barometer, and U.S. Soccer recently announced a new friendly, against Honduras in October, and is discussing adding another against Ecuador. Klinsmann can use all of those games to show hints about how — and who — he wants to play, but he doesn’t have to show his hand on player selection until, realistically, the third round of World Cup qualifying, and that won’t begin until June 2012. The really important matches won’t be played until the final round, in 2013.

But is the confidence Klinsmann wants to see already apparent to you? He told his team to take the game to Mexico last month, and after a nervous first hour that’s just what they did, earning a well-deserved tie. He started last Friday’s match against Costa Rica with a much more attacking formation and the Americans dominated possession for long stretches before the Ticos got a goal and then went all turtle on them for the final 20 minutes.

That the American players all felt they deserved better afterward was a good sign. Their fans expect results, too. So does Klinsmann.

Now if only their growing confidence might someday lead to, you know, a goal or two …. Oh well.

One step at a time.