I'm personally of the opinion that a good coach hires assistants to shore up their weak spots. Maybe this discussion should be more about the adequacy of assistant coaches in this league than about head coaches. Personally, based on the performance of teams lead by MLS assistant coaches who have been hired on as head coaches, I think we're doing pretty well developing our own top coaching lines (particularly the Arena school). I'm excited about the number of very good coaches that the US seems to be developing, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the current assistants stepping up to the coaching ranks in the next few years, particularly from Chicago and now from Metros. Anyone who was at the draft this year probably came away impressed with the knowledge of the American player that many of the college coaches expressed in their interviews, and based on the performance of several of their top recommendations, it seems that we need more coaches with that kind of knowledge to improve identification of top college and high school players for MLS. Doubtless, it takes different skills to identify and to improve players, but not every player thrives in the same environment. We've seen players go from one team in this league to another and improve rapidly their play. Other players just couldn't improve in MLS and needed some time with a coach teaching more basic skills in one of our lower divisions to make the improvements to their game needed to compete in MLS. In summary, there's plenty to look at in MLS and the A-League and below that is good about US coaching.
C'mon, people. Frank Yallop is from Canada. Which really means he's from America. He's as foreign as the thread-starter is intelligent, which is to say not at all. If we want to discuss the role of foreign coaches in American soccer, let's talk about the lower levels of the game -- where teaching goes on. I do think American soccer would benefit from an influx of good foreign soccer teachers at the youth levels. But not in MLS.
"Let me put it this way: Have you ever heard or Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? ... Morons!" ---- ---- Seriously, I see MLS as the place to develop coaches as well as players. Fact is, we have begun to export coaches to other countries. Another fact is that "imported" coaches have tended to struggle in MLS. Laurie Calloway (96-97 Clash) England 0.426 20-27 (5-10 SO) Fernando Clavijo (00-02 Revs) Uruguay 0.432 22-31-13 (2-1-13 OT) Carlos Cordoba (98 Fusion) Argentina 0.421 8-11 (5-0 SO) Jorge Espinoza (99 Clash) Chile 1.000 2-0 Eddie Firmani (96 Metros) South Africa 0.375 3-5 (2-0 SO) Ken Fogarty (99 Wizards) England 0.000 0-3 (0-1 SO) Bob Gansler (99-02 Wizards) Hungary 0.487 44-47-21 (2-4 SO, 0-4-20 OT) Bobby Houghton (96 Rapids) England 0.355 11-20 (2-4 SO) Ray Hudson (00-01 Fusion, 02 United) England 0.532 26-31-11 (3-3-11 OT) John Kowalski (97-98 Mutiny) Poland 0.426 20-27 (3-4 SO) Timo Liekoski (96 Crew) Finland 0.273 6-16 (2-5 SO) Bora Milutinovic (98-99 Metros) Serbia and Montenegro 0.242 8-25 (4-5 SO) Alfonso Mondelo (98 Metros, 01 Mutiny) Spain 0.372 17-29-1 (2-0 SO, 0-0-1 OT) Ron Newman (96-99 Wiz(ards)) England 0.500 50-50 (14-9 SO) Steve Nicol (99,02 Revs) Scotland 0.543 12-10-1 (1-0 SO, 0-1-1 OT) Lothar Osiander (96-97 Galaxy, 99-00 Clash) Germany 0.443 31-40-8 (5-9 SO, 0-1-8 OT) Carlos Alberto Parreira (97 Metros) Brazil 0.406 13-19 (2-2 SO) Carlos Queiroz (96 Metros) Mozambique 0.500 12-12 (1-2 SO) Brian Quinn (97-99 Clash) Northern Ireland 0.461 35-41 (14-9 SO) Thomas Rongen (96 Mutiny, 97-98 Revs, 99-01 United) Netherlands 0.478 82-90-8 (12-13 SO, 2-4-7 OT) Sigi Schmid (99-02 Galaxy) West Germany 0.616 61-35-16 (1-2 SO, 7-5-16 OT) Frank Stapleton (96 Revs) Ireland 0.469 15-17 (6-2 SO) Roy Wegerle (01 Mutiny) South Africa 0.136 1-9-1 (0-1-1 OT) Ivo Wortmann (98-01 Fusion) Brazil 0.434 21-28-4 (5-4 SO, 0-0-1 OT) Frank Yallop (01-02 Earthquakes) Canada 0.583 27-18-9 (1-0-9 OT) Octavio Zambrano (97-99 Galaxy, 00-02 Metros) Ecuador 0.587 80-55-8 (5-4 SO, 4-3-8 OT) Walter Zenga (98-99 Revs) Italy 0.361 13-23 (4-8 SO)
Yallop played in MLS and was an assistant in Tampa Bay. Nicol had coached in the USA for several years before he was named head coach for the Revs. During that time, he held such glamourous posts as head coach of the Boston Bulldogs in the A-League, assistant coach for the Revs, and two stints as interim head coach of the Revs. So if you're pointing to Messrs. Yallop and Nicol as proof that foreign coaches would benefit MLS, then I would like for you to name which A-League teams your hypothetical imports are going to coach before they step up into MLS.
Maybe you should visit the Metros forum more I'm much happier with Bradley. I wouldn't mind seeing some foreign guys working with the youths in Bradenton.