In His Eyes

Many soccer fans were surprised when Germany born Jurgen Klinsmann was chosen to coach the U.S. soccer team. Many were surprised again when he cut star play Landon Donovan from the World Cup team. Then they were surprised a third time when Klinsmann  publicly said that the U.S. team realistically wouldn't win the World Cup. All three of these incidents have shocked the public and have put Klinsmann in the spotlight. He seems to be making good choices for the team during game time, but how can cutting the star player, and publicly saying the team can't realistically win be affecting the players?

By cutting Donovan, he has proven that no one on the team is positioned higher than another in his eyes. This is a message to everyone that you need to be well rounded, and perform at your best at all times. The name on the back of your jersey won't grant you special treatment. As a player, this could either be comforting or creating more stress. As a former star athlete for Germany, he must know the stress that a coach can inflict on his players, and might adjust his coaching techniques according to his experience.

When players are asked in interviews about their coach, and his coaching techniques, they seem to support him with confidence. It's unsure from the outside looking in exactly what his leadership style/behaviors is, but from Chelladurai and Saleh's (1978) multidimensional leadership theory, I would guess that he uses a  mixture of all five (Autocratic, democratic, social support, positive feedback, and training and instruction). Mixing the five has been shown to be very effective, as long as the autocratic style doesn't overpower the others. Time will tell if Klinsmann's leadership style will make a significant difference for the team. So far, it is looking good.