Jurgen Klinsmann surprised everyone on Tuesday as he resigned as coach of Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin after just ten games ahead of them. Nine of those games were from the German Bundesliga.
The reason for his demission was apparently that the club didn’t fully believe in him.
“I cannot exploit my potential as a coach and I cannot assume my responsibilities without the confidence of the people in the club”, the former Germany and United States coach said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“That’s why, after a lot of thinking, I came to the conclusion of leaving Hertha’s coaching position available and returning to my original long-term task as a member of the fiscal council,” wrote Klinsmann.
Much was expected of Klinsmann when he was appointed as Hertha’s new manager back in November. With 250 million dollars available to spend to reinforce the capital side, the expectation was that he would lead the team in the search for a place in European competitions. The team is still struggling against relegation though.
Under Klinsmann, Hertha only managed to win three out of nine games in the League. The team is in the 14th position, six points above the relegation zone.
Klinsmann was consulted about the signings made by Hertha in the transfer window. The team signed Matheus Cunha, from RB Leipzig, Krzysztof Piatek, from AC Milan, Santiago Ascacibar, from Stuttgart, and Lucas Tousart, from Lyon.
But it seemed like it was not enough to bring the Berliners to the next level.
As a player, Klinsmann had a brilliant career as a striker for clubs in Germany, Italy, France, and England. He won the World Cup in 1990 and the Euro in 1996. His coaching career started with the German national team, back in 2004.
After that, the German went to Bayern Munich and reached the United States national team, where he won the Gold Cup in 2013.