The U.S. Soccer Federation was prepared to fire Jurgen Klinsmann six months before it eventually did, according to a forthcoming book by the coach's successor, Bruce Arena.
Klinsmann was fired in November 2016, but Arena, in an advance given to the Washington Post, said he met with then-USSF president Sunil Gulati and chief executive Dan Flynn to discuss taking over the previous May.
Between May and November, the U.S. finished fourth after a decent showing at the Copa America, but then lost its first two games of the final round of World Cup qualifying to Mexico and Costa Rica, which finally sealed Klinsmann's fate.
Just before Klinsmann's firing, ESPN reported that the USSF had been weighing replacements for the past year, and had been in contact with Arena and Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes.
But in his book, Arena writes that he, Gulati and Flynn "had a meeting to decide I'd be taking over the U.S. team" in May -- only for the move to be halted because Flynn immediately got a call to undergo a heart transplant
"I felt a little bad for Sunil," Arena wrote. "He wanted to make a change and replace Klinsmann, but he was nervous about pulling the trigger. The timing was already going to be awkward, with Copa America [Centenario] coming up in June. Now Dan was gone for two months. It didn't feel right to move ahead at that time. ... Events had already been set in motion, though."
U.S. Soccer and Gulati, who did not run for re-election as federation president earlier this year, declined to comment to ESPN about the book excerpt.
Arena called the defeats to Mexico and Costa Rica in November 2016 a "fiasco for U.S. soccer" and said he knew immediately after the 4-0 loss to Costa Rica that the USSF would come calling again.
Under Arena, the U.S. failed to overcome the slow start to qualifying -- winning three games, drawing three and losing twice more -- and finished one point short of the final spot for an intercontinental playoff.
Arena's autobiography, "What's Wrong With US? A Coach's Blunt Take on the State of American Soccer After a Lifetime on the Touchline," is scheduled to be released in June.