Landon Donovan: 'Jurgen should be held to the same standards as his players'

The relationship between Landon Donovan and Jurgen Klinsmann has seen its fair share of turmoil. It was the German who brought the USMNT legend on loan to Bayern Munich in 2008. It was also the same manager who unceremoniously cut him from the 2014 United States World Cup team.

No one in the public truly knows or understands exactly how the two iconic figures get along either in the present or in the past. However, it's safe to assume that they probably aren't the best of friends.

Ahead of the crucial Confederations Cup playoff match with Mexico on Saturday, Donovan has come out in the press and stated that Klinsmann should be held accountable for his recent poor results.

Speaking with ESPNFC, Landon has, in no uncertain terms, called for Jurgen to lose his job if he loses against Mexico.

"The reality is, is that now, anywhere else in the world if this coach had those results and they lose this game against Mexico, they'd be fired." said, Landon. I think if Jurgen wants to hold all the players to that standard, then he has to be held to that standard too."

I don't think you'll find many people around the American soccer world that would disagree with Landon's comments. Perhaps now isn't the best time to bring up such arguments ahead of possibly the biggest non-World Cup game in recent memory, but Landon is retired now and is free to do as he likes.

The majority of media and fans are probably in agreement that Jurgen has to win against Mexico to keep his job, but ultimately the decision lies with Sunil Gulati and U.S. Soccer. If they feel strongly that Jurgen is the man for the job no matter what, there's really not much we can do about it, except continue to voice our opinions.