United States sack Jurgen Klinsmann as coach

Jurgen Klinsmann has been sacked as United States coach.

US Soccer said in a statement that the German had been “relieved of his duties” after five years in charge.

The governing body’s president Sunil Gulati said: “Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jurgen Klinsmann, our head coach of the US men’s national team and technical director.”

Former Tottenham striker Klinsmann, 52, took over from current Swansea boss Bob Bradley in 2011 having previously been in charge of Germany and Bayern Munich.

Although he would win just one of his first six games, Klinsmann eventually sparked a turnaround, winning a record 12 straight games in 2013 en route to Gold Cup success and taking the US to the knockout stages at the World Cup in Brazil the following year.

However, their chances of reaching the next instalment of the tournament in Russia remain in the balance and that is why the German has been axed.

Qualifying defeats to Mexico and Costa Rica earlier this month, the latter by a four-goal margin, have swayed US Soccer to look elsewhere for fears of not reaching the finals in two years’ time.

“While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction,” Gulati added.

“With the next qualifying match in late March, we have several months to refocus the group and determine the best way forward to ensure a successful journey to qualify for our eighth consecutive World Cup.”

Klinsmann was dismissed from his position on the day prospective England boss Gareth Southgate was formally interviewed for a post that the German was considered for earlier this year.

With two goal-laden spells at Spurs during the 1990s, Klinsmann is fondly remembered on these shores and his success as a manager on the international scene meant he was on the shortlist for the England job both before and after Sam Allardyce’s short reign.

The Football Association seems unlikely to stray from the in-house option of Southgate, though, and in September, shortly after Allardyce was removed, Klinsmann said on Twitter that there was “no truth to the rumours regarding England”.