I just discovered that United has a "Technical Director," Stuart Mairs, who is slotted between Kasper and Ashton in the hierarchy. He is supposed to "manage and oversee coach development." Who knew? And what's been the result?
Well, DCU has developed several coaches. For other teams That quote does not contain anything saying it's to develop them for ourselves
Two other coaches contacted by D.C. United from preliminary search list: Eddie Howe and David Wagner. Both, however, planning to pursue new opportunities in Europe. #dcu #mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) November 13, 2020
I would think that Schalke's woes would have sunk Wagner, but Howe might have been an excellent choice.
Incompetence tends to feed on itself and then attempts to reproduce, thus spawning future generations of incompetence. It’s Mother Nature’s way of creating food for higher life forms.
Hiring Jill Ellis would certainly send a message, but it might not translate into success on the pitch. Venturing gingerly into dangerous territory, I wonder how our Latino players would react to a female head coach, especially one whose spouse is also female. I just don't think they are likely to be as "woke" as native-born players. But if they could buy in I think it might work. Yes, Ellis has had the luxury of coaching the talent-laden USWNT and won't have that advantage here, but she also expects excellence, and it could rub off. Better still, she seems really to be interested, even knowing how different a mid-mediocre men's team is to her talent-rich women's national team.
I think the much larger issue with Ellis is that she has no coaching experience with a club. Her teams always have been assembled from the very best of the best. In other words, she had to turn away talent, not hunt the bargain bin for undiscovered treasures like DCU does. In some ways despite her success and tactical acumen, she would be a "new hire" like Olsen in that she would be learning many things on the job. I just think that the fact that she would be looking down the bench at the Axel Sjobergs of the world for subs or injury replacements rather than a player that would be starting on any club in the world would be a real culture shock.
She had a very successful record as a college coach, where she didn't necessarily have the best of the best, but I take your point.
I hope her tactics don’t suck. Would hate to get halfway through the season and call her tactics “Bennyball with a bra”
one can win despite the coach, although the team's record with her at the helm would indicate that was not the situation.....
Yes, the team had extremely talented players. But at that level it was more managing egos and personalities. The most remarkable thing was managing the team transitioning from the previous generation (Carli Lloyd) to the next (Rapinoe, Ertz, etc).
Update on #DCU's head coaching search - in addition to Ezra Hendrickson & Chris Armas, United are speaking to a third #MLS-based candidate — Seattle Sounders assistant Gonzalo Pineda. Club have spoken with him multiple times, sources say, and consider him a finalist for the job.— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) November 17, 2020
Well, he's an assistant to the current Coach of the Year, so there's that. You never know how stuff rubs off, but Curtin is one of the top 5 coaches in the league, I'd rate maybe Pareja, Vanney, Vermes and Bradley over him. I think right now, he's better than Arena and Porter.
Goff reports that Asst. Coach Nolan Sheldon is leaving to take a similar slot at expansion side Austin FC, joining former DC United players Josh Wolff (Head Coach) and Davy Arnaud (Asst. Coach). He probably figured that a new coach here would be unlikely to retain him. Sorry to see him go - I think he was pretty competent.
Of the finalists, there are several good options. Hendrickson, Pineda, and Noonan would all be great. Pineda would have the upside of speaking Spanish and attracting Central American/South American talent. Of these options, Hendrickson has the most coaching experience (12 years), followed by Noonan with 7 years as an assistant, and 3 years for Pineda. So Ezra and Pat have the edge in experience. Chris Armas did win the supporters' shield in 2018, but he came in half-way through the season after taking over for Jesse Marsch, who largely built that team.
Agreed. Articulate, expresses actual information and answers questions. Quite frankly, haven't seen that in over 10 years here.