By Paul Kennedy

Jurgen Klinsmann is not your conventional coach.

He had Buddha statues at Bayern Munich when he became coach there, and added yoga and language classes for players.

More recently, he flew himself to the U.S. national team January training camp by helicopter -- it allowed him to spend the evening with his family at home and get back to camp by breakfast and also earned him flying hours needed to gain his pilot's license.

Klinsmann is also a digital wizard. He has his own Facebook page and Twitter account, not to mention his own Podcast.

With a week to go before he opens training camp for the crucial World Cup 2014 qualifiers against Costa Rica and at Mexico, Klinsmann did a Twitter takeover Monday to update fans with news of the U.S. injury front and answer questions and did a podcast to give his views on the recent U.S. U-20s' recent success, the start of the new MLS season, Landon Donovan's potential return to the national team, plus the partnership of Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones in central midfield.

In the Twitter session, Klinsmann answered 25 questions, ranging from updates on the status of Clint Dempsey and Fabian Johnson for the qualifiers -- it looks good -- to the most dominant player he ever played against -- Diego Maradona.

Many of the questions and answers on such topics as the role of the national team captain and nutrition were mundane, but they gave fans a chance to feel connected to the national team coach in a way they have never before and they gave the media some up-to-date news on personnel issues that they never regularly got in the past -- all in a format controlled by Klinsmann.

REVS' 'MARCH TO 3-2-3.' With a win its 2013 opener -- 1-0 at Chicago -- the New England Revolution has a lot to talk about as it embarked this week on its “March to 3-2-3” ahead of the home opener March 23 against Sporting Kansas City.  It began a four-day, social media-driven promotional tour around New England that kicked off on Monday. The Revs will use Twitter (@NERevolution) to let fans know where to find mascot, Slyde, and the promotional team across New England each day with a chance to win Revs prizes, as well as tickets to the home opener.

BORDEN TAKES GLOBAL BEAT. The New York Times reporter Sam Borden tweeted that he is switching from football to futbol. Since joining the Times in 2011 from the The Journal News in Westchester County, N.Y., where he was a columnist, Borden has covered the NFL New York Giants. He'll now be the global soccer writer. In his spare time, Borden is an amateur and collegiate soccer referee.
-----------------------------
Soccer America on Twitter:
Follow Soccer America | Paul Kennedy | Ridge Mahoney | Mike Woitalla
Google+: Soccer America
Facebook: Soccer America
Soccer Business Insider RSS feed