>Former U.S. assistant coach Andi Herzog says Major League Soccer had no interest in listening to advice from Jurgen Klinsmann when he was in charge of the national team, saying league officials "thought he was just criticizing everything."
>Klinsmann, who was fired last November after two World Cup qualifying defeats, endured a frosty relationship with the MLS leadership during his five years as United States coach.
>He said in 2014 that U.S. players like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley would have to prove their form hadn't dropped after leaving Europe to return to North America. In response, MLS commissioner Don Garber called Klinsmann's comments "detrimental" and "personally infuriating."
>"MLS, the American league, is getting better and better, but Jurgen wanted to help them and give them some information, some inputs, where they were making some mistakes," Herzog said.
>"Jurgen said, 'Yeah, we need to do this, this and this better,' and this was the reason why he started to have a fall-out with the [commissioner] of the league, Don Garber.
>"Jurgen wanted to help the league keep improving but [MLS executives] were not happy and thought he was just criticizing everything. One point Jurgen was not happy with was that they were buying and overpaying over-aged former European superstars like crazy, but they have already found out that it is not a good way.
>"And this was a big problem, because there was a big pressure from [Garber]. ... When we lost a game, [Garber] came and said: 'No, he's criticizing our league and he's making some mistakes, too.' So this was a problem -- a bad relationship between the American league and Jurgen.
>MLS declined to respond to Herzog's comments.
espnfc.com/united-states/story/3101439/andi-herzog-says-mls-didnt-want-to-listen-to-input-from-us-boss-jurgen-klinsmann
