Jurgen Klinsmann facing major pressure in CONCACAF Cup vs. MexicoPASADENA

                                                           
, Calif. – It was right here, a little more than four years back, that things finally fell into place for Jurgen Klinsmann to become head coach of the United States.

The U.S. squandered a two-goal lead to lose the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup final to Mexico, Bob Bradley was pushed out, and five weeks later Klinsmann swept into the position on a ticket of European-style progression and professionalism.

Perhaps it should be no surprise that in soccer, a sport that beats to a rhythm of quadrennial cycles, it is again the Rose Bowl where Klinsmann reaches a potential crossroads at the helm of the national team.

On a purely personal level for him, Saturday's clash with Mexico here, with a place in the 2017 Confederations Cup on the line, is surely the biggest of his time in charge of the American team.

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His job is probably safe, largely because he earns more than any other coach in United States soccer history and sacking him would be a painfully costly exercise, and because federation Sunil Gulati is too enamored with his overall philosophy to countenance a snap firing.

Yet when former national team forward Landon Donovan spoke out last week to suggest that Klinsmann's job should be on the line if the team lost to Mexico, in keeping with the high standard of performance demanded in other soccer nations, his words were likely no more than a reflection of what a large section of the fan base already feels.

A string of disappointing results, a failure to implement a cohesive identity and a nervous glance to an uncertain future has gotten U.S. supporters plenty twitchy ahead of the latest clash with the team's fiercest rival.

Those are the same fans who, for the most part, greeted Klinsmann's arrival with gleeful enthusiasm and boldly predicted a bright new order. Yet while Klinsmann boasts the pedigree of taking Germany to the semifinal of the 2006 World Cup and has recruited a swath of German-born players to play for the States on grounds of parental eligibility, it is hard to see what more he has accomplished than the unfortunate and much-maligned Bradley.

Both coaches took the team out of their group at the World Cup (Bradley's 2010 squad won the pool, Klinsmann's in 2014 finished second) before slipping out of the competition in extra time at the round of 16 stage.

International coaches need and deserve time to fulfill their mandate, but losing to Mexico and missing out on the Confederations Cup would become especially problematic.

Klinsmann believes wholeheartedly that regular exposure to international tournaments, not just friendly matches, is a must in getting a team ready for the pressure and the situational timing structure of a World Cup.

His blueprint coming out of the World Cup in Brazil last summer and looking ahead to Russia in 2018, included tournament action for each of the summers in between. The Gold Cup, a regional event for teams in the CONCACAF confederation, ended this summer with an ignominious fourth place finish including a semifinal defeat to Jamaica.

Next summer, the U.S. was due to host the Copa America Centenario, an event usually reserved for South American teams, that would have pitted the Americans against the finest teams from that loaded region, on U.S. soil. However, the tournament is in grave doubt due to the eruption of the FIFA crisis and the associated fallout.

Klinsmann's plan to fill the summer of 2017? The Confederations Cup. The tournament is not the most respected in world soccer but it does give its eight participants (the champion of each confederation, plus the host and World Cup winner) a chance to get an early look at conditions in the World Cup site.

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It served a valuable purpose in 2009, when the team gained morale from beating Spain in the semifinal before surrendering a 2-0 lead to Brazil in the final. The U.S. missed out on the 2013 edition as a result of that 2011 Rose Bowl defeat to Mexico.

"It's a dry run for the World Cup," said team captain Michael Bradley. "You get to spend time in the country a year before, you play in the stadiums, you stay in the hotels, you get a feel for what the weather is like and the way things work."

Klinsmann has a fine record against Mexico, 3-0-3 during his time in charge. He needs another positive result here, or else will risk entering the trickiest part of the calendar on the back of zero momentum and increasing public scrutiny.

The start of the World Cup qualifying process is no fun at all for U.S. national team coaches, simply because there is nothing to gain. Even defeating the weaker nations in the region will not satisfy any critics, while the pitfalls in travelling to tricky locations and facing motivated underdogs is obvious.

Klinsmann, who has long called Southern California home and coordinated training camp for Saturday's showdown in the picturesque surrounding of Orange County, is in urgent need of some home.