MLS Coaching and Front Office - News & Discussion Thread 2019

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by xbhaskarx, Jan 4, 2019.

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The next MLS coach to get fired will be...

Poll closed Jul 4, 2019.
  1. Adrian Heath

    23 vote(s)
    29.1%
  2. Alan Koch

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Anthony Hudson

    9 vote(s)
    11.4%
  4. Ben Olsen

    3 vote(s)
    3.8%
  5. Brad Friedel

    8 vote(s)
    10.1%
  6. Brian Schmetzer

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Domenec Torrent

    11 vote(s)
    13.9%
  8. Frank de Boer

    10 vote(s)
    12.7%
  9. Giovanni Savarese

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. Greg Vanney

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  11. Guillermo Barros Schelotto

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  12. James O'Connor

    6 vote(s)
    7.6%
  13. Jim Curtin

    7 vote(s)
    8.9%
  14. Luchi Gonzalez

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  15. Marc Dos Santos

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  16. Matias Almeyda

    2 vote(s)
    2.5%
  17. Mike Petke

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  18. Remi Garde

    2 vote(s)
    2.5%
  19. Veljko Paunovic

    9 vote(s)
    11.4%
  20. Wilmer Cabrera

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If there aren't qualified coaches that are even getting the chance to be overlooked, that's indicative of a problem.
     
  2. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Especially given the no-pro coaching experience straight into the top job pathway that was apparently open to Jason Kreis, Jay Heaps, and Ben Olsen.
     
  3. Bluecat82

    Bluecat82 Member+

    Feb 24, 1999
    Minneapolis, MN
    Club:
    Minnesota United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS is a completely different duck than any of the professional leagues in North America.

    If I'm accurate, only 14 of the 24 head coaching jobs in MLS are held by either an American (13) or a Canadian (Dos Santos).

    My guess is that is a much lower percentage than the next closest, which is probably MLB. Certainly lower than the NHL, and I'm guessing the percentage of non-North American head coaches in either the NBA or NFL is pretty close to zero.
     
  4. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If you add in the three foreign coaches who are ex-MLS players, that's 17 out of 24 from the US/Canada soccer ecosystem. It is different from the other leagues, in that the coaching pools for the other leagues are nearly 100% internal, drawing from their own ranks or from closely connected college and youth development systems. MLS teams can go out and look for coaching hires who are completely unconnected to the US/Canada system. But 17 out of 24 is still a strong majority drawing from an effectively domestic pool.

    If you count Adrian Heath and Gary Smith (coming back to MLS in Nashville next year) as having been here long enough to be pretty much part of the US coaching ranks, it's an even higher fraction.
     
  5. deejay

    deejay Member+

    Feb 14, 2000
    Tarpon Springs, FL
    Club:
    Jorge Wilstermann
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    I think that's a decent ratio. The league needs to be a developer of coaching talent. If the youth coach is really good he needs to have a path forward. At the same time, we need to have good imports to introduce new ideas and methods. To me, the most important development is that we move away from hiring ex-players with little to no experience.
     
  6. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    And while Bradley and Marsch are helping to change things, as long as the stigma of having an American coach exists, we should expect MLS to have a hire number of domestic coaches of better ability.

    We've seen some American coaches coach regionally at the national team level (Steve Sampson and Randy Waldrum come immediately to mind), but I suspect it will take a lot longer for American coaches to be accepted outside of CONCACAF at the club level.
     
  7. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Dave Wagner has had a hot and cold experience as a head coach. He got Huddersfield Town promoted to the EPL. They stayed up in their inaugural season, then got relegated. Wagner has since moved on and is the head coach at Schalke. I wonder how unusual it is for a coach to land a job in one nation's top-flight league after getting a team relegated from the top league in another country? Even though he was born and raised in Germany, his dad was an American serviceman, and Wagner played for the USMNT.
     
  8. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Emphasis added.

    You might as well include Earnie Stewart if you're going to include players that had no attachment to U.S. culture or soccer until they joined the U.S. Men's National Team.

    Seriously, what was your point in including Wagner? How does his performance change the stigma one way or the other of American coaches? I'm pretty sure nobody is going to confuse him with Peter Vermes.
     
  9. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, he was exposed to the USMNT for a couple of years, so presumably he experienced the differences and difficulties players had to go through in America to excel in the game here. I get what you're saying about American-born guys. Maybe our men's lack of success on the international stage adds to the perception that professional coaches here aren't anything special, whether they were prominently featured on the USMNT or not. Bradley didn't get enough time at Swansea to showcase his skills; he's been successful just about every stop he's made on the coaching ladder. As noted earlier, Marsch is enjoying early success at Salzburg.
     
  10. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  11. onefineesq

    onefineesq Member+

    Sep 16, 2003
    Laurel, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  12. carnifex2005

    carnifex2005 Member+

    Jul 1, 2008
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    That was a strange hiring. I can understand the firing, Montreal has been pretty crap the past 10 games but don't understand getting Cabrera.
     
  13. ElNaranja

    ElNaranja Member+

    Houston Dynamo
    United States
    Jul 16, 2017
    Me neither. He has been god awful for months now and severely problematic since day 1.
     
  14. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Given all the stories about how horrible/disengaged the Houston front office is, was Cabrera the problem?

    Saputo is nothing but engaged, though some questions as to his ability to let the technical staff do their jobs is valid.

    All of that said, if Montreal sucks under Cabrera, he's going to struggle to find another MLS head coaching job afterwards.
     
  15. ElNaranja

    ElNaranja Member+

    Houston Dynamo
    United States
    Jul 16, 2017
    I dont think anyone would say he is the problem. However his coaching in-game has been meh to terrible. His inability to get points on the road is baffling since the system he uses should naturally translate onto the road.

    He was trying to do what he could with the garbage job Jordan does, and I dont believe any coach who replaces him will be able to turn things around as a result. That said he had to go after the complete collapse this summer, including what appeared to be players giving up on him.

    It doesn't help that he closed practice to what little media remains either, which didnt win him any friends.
     
    AndyMead repped this.
  16. SccrDon

    SccrDon Member+

    Dec 4, 2001
    Colorado Springs
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And this is the team the Rapids had a blown tire against Saturday? Oof
     
    ElNaranja repped this.
  17. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    116457544315403469 is not a valid tweet id


     
  18. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  19. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
     
  20. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States


    It's moving at #IMFC. The search for a technical director is going well ... According to my information, Lino DiCuollo is a very serious candidate. The American currently holds a VP position at MLS. Since 2005, he is in charge of international acquisitions.​



    mergers and acquisitions?
     
  21. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Interesting point...

     
  22. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  23. carnifex2005

    carnifex2005 Member+

    Jul 1, 2008
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Lenarduzzi (practically) gone from the Whitecaps and De Santis finally gone from the Impact. Things are looking up for the other two Canadian franchises.
     
    xbhaskarx repped this.
  24. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The two guys that those fanbases have been blaming for years, we'll soon find out if they were the real problems or just scapegoats.
     
    jaykoz3 and HectorM repped this.

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