U.S. Soccer has reportedly been looking at Jurgen Klinsmann replacements for a year

The United States' losses to Mexico and Costa Rica, leaving them dead last in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, have people questioning whether U.S. Soccer will fire Jurgen Klinsmann. If the federation decides to, they won't be flying blind in their look for a replacement. The federation has been looking at potential replacements for Klinsmann since last year, according to ESPNFC.

Bruce Arena and Peter Vermes are the two managers U.S. Soccer has been in contact with over the last year. Tab Ramos, who has managed the U.S. U-20 team for five years and serves as an assistant on Klinsmann's staff is also a candidate if the federation decides to make a change.

Arena has been mentioned repeatedly since the U.S. was embarrassed by Costa Rica, 4-0, on Tuesday night. Steven Goff reported after that U.S. Soccer had lined Arena up in case Klinsmann was sacked and his name has gained momentum in the two days since. He's had success with the team before, taking the U.S. to the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, and has proven that he can qualify teams for the World Cup without too much issue. Right now, with the Americans facing a very real possibility to missing the World Cup, that is the priority.

Vermes has long been a favorite of U.S. Soccer and for good reason. He played for the national team so he's been part of the program for a long time and has shown himself to be a good manager with Sporting Kansas City.

Ramos, like Vermes, played for the U.S. and being in the program now could be seen as an advantage. It could also be a disadvantage because he's pretty tied to the Klinsmann regime, which is struggling. He also has less managing experience than Arena and Vermes, having never managed a senior team before.

This is all contingent on U.S. Soccer actually deciding to fire Klinsmann, which is far from guaranteed. The federation has been loyal to Klinsmann and has invested a lot in his vision for the program, but the team's recent issues have pushed them to changing tone. Even U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati went from saying that he thought Klinsmann would be the manager through the World Cup to saying they had to "look at the situation" following the Costa Rica loss.

At the very least, if they decide to fire Klinsmann, they will be prepared. They have been for at least a year now.

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