

USSF President Sunil Gulati (By Elise Amendola — Associated Press)

As the Jurgen Klinsmann-Don Garber dispute escalated last week, Sunil Gulati found himself in a unique place: As president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, he employs one and works regularly with the other. Together, the trio composes the power structure of American soccer.

Gulati appointed — and renewed — Klinsmann as the men’s national team coach and added technical director to the German-starring, California-living figure. Gulati also oversees the organization that sanctions MLS, which Garber, commissioner of the first-division circuit, has operated for 15 years.

Following Garber’s angry response to Klinsmann’s comments about MLS, both men spoke in conciliatory tones in separate interviews this week. And despite the public spat, which created a social media maelstrom and stirred debate over MLS’s role in the national team, Gulati said Klinsmann and Garber remain united.

“Given some of the comments, I wasn’t surprised it became a hot-button issue,” Gulati said Wednesday. “But the fundamental views of all of us involved are: ‘We’re on the same page.’ We got diverted from that, so it will go on for a little bit. I don’t view this as there being an undercurrent going forward. There won’t be any lingering issues.”

Gulati said he has met with, and spoken to, Garber and discussed the matter with Klinsmann. All three will gather for previously scheduled meetings in the coming weeks. “We will get back to the job at hand, which is continuing to grow MLS, continuing to improve the national team, and the broader goal, which does both of those things,” Gulati said.

The USSF is planning to announce a number of development initiatives before the end of the year, Gulati said, adding that some were done in conjunction with Garber and MLS and others independent of the league, both for the men’s and women’s programs.

Gulati did not believe Klinsmann’s initial comments were, as Garber complained, detrimental to the league and growth of the sport.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with discussion, dialogue and disagreement,” he said. “Most of that is better handled in a private way. Having these sorts of discussions are fine, but we need to have the tone of all of this brought down a little bit.”

Gulati did not want to pin blame, but many observers thought Klinsmann could have been more tactful in his remarks and Garber overreacted to them.

“None of this is personal,” Gulati said. “Some things could have been phrased differently because the actual opinions of the two guys – and me and the leadership at MLS and U.S. Soccer – is actually closely aligned with where we see the game going.”

Gulati believes the USSF and MLS have a strong working relationship: “There are very few situations where the national team program or a federation is as aligned as closely with their first division as we have got in the United States.”

Gulati cited MLS agreeing to release players for World Cup training camp well ahead of FIFA’s mandatory dates and case-by-case decisions about under-23 call-ups this month that impacted MLS teams. He also mentioned Klinsmann allowing some players to arrive late or not report at all for two recent senior friendlies, although MLS could have avoided the conflict by not scheduling late-season matches during the official fixture window.

The Klinsmann comment that drew Garber’s strongest reaction centered around Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey returning to MLS from Europe. “I made it clear it’s going to be very difficult to keep the same level that they experienced at the places where they were. It’s just reality. It’s just being honest,” Klinsmann had said at U.S. camp in South Florida two weeks ago. “Making that step means that you are not in the competitive environment that you were in before.”

Garber said Klinsmann’s remarks were “incredibly damaging to our league.”

Said Gulati: “It’s not any different than the advice or the comments he made when Clint was at Fulham – to push himself to get on a Champions League team. In reality, the [recent] comments were not directed at MLS. They were directed at individual situations. He has made that comment many times.”

Furthermore, “there are going to be disagreements along the way. There actually is not a fundamental disagreement in all of this. Jurgen has been, and continues to be, a big supporter of the league. He fully understands how important the league is to our long-term development and how far the league has come in 19 years. Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done on a lot of fronts and in virtually all of those cases we are doing it together to try to enhance player development and to get players in the best possible situation.”

As for his support of Klinsmann’s dual responsibilities, Gulati added: “Jurgen is our coach and technical director, and I fully expect that to be the case through the [2018] World Cup. We made that decision before the [2014] World Cup and have full confidence in him in those roles.”