News: MLS Coaching and Front Office - News & Discussion Thread 2025-26

I know his stint as HC in Chicago was deemed a failure. But he’s gotta be a worthwhile addition to any coaching staff that he can jive with.

 

Crepeau purposely handled outside the box because he wanted Pareja to get fired!

Kidding, of course. Crepeau has to feel worse now than he did Saturday night.

 

Honestly, 5years at the helm of any club is a good long while and probably the ideal time to switch things up. The crazy thing is that teams keep signing coaches for longer term contracts even if they are not feeling totally on board with the coaching direction.

Pareja just signed a 3yr extension a year ago. That would have seen them through the WC and the calendar change to the end of 2028. It just seems odd that they’d fire him mere months into the start of the new contract.

 

The three longest tenured MLS coaches:
1. Brian Schmetzer - Seattle - mid-2016
2. Greg Vanney - LA Galaxy - 2021
3. Pablo Mastroeni - Salt Lake - mid-2021

 

Schmetzer - no reason to get rid of him

Vanney - a bit interesting that they’ve kept him, but he also kinda gets a “reset” after Klein was kicked to the curb in May 2023. He did win them a cup! And the team has blown their whole load of GAM over the last couple of years to make that happen. Puig’ ACL is why they aren’t great right now, but other teams have lost DPs and not fallen so hard. He’s signed through 2028.

Pablo - It has been a very bumpy ownership ride. He has had his assistant staff swapped out wholesale twice now. I’m guessing he has a short leash to do something special this next year or two. By then, both parties might want to move on. I’m not seeing details of how long his contract was extended, but it seems like 2028 is a recurring theme.

 

Never awarded Coach of the Year Schmetzer and his bunch of American outcasts just keep on winning.

 

He’s no Peter Vermes.

 

I think outcasts is an unfortunate characteristic. Morris and Arriola were peripheral players who are now in their 30s, Ferreira might be considered an outcast (I can't believe he's only 25), Roldan is back with the nats.

I prefer to think of Seattle as a primarily home-grown/West Coast team.

 

I guess this goes to show there's no one "Better Than Ezra"?
Sorry for the musical reference, but I couldn't resist!

 

You're not wrong in that regard. Here's who played for the Sounders yesterday in the Champions Cup; I grouped them by birthplace - only 3 states are represented, all in the West, plus internationals:

Washington (4): Brunell, Kingston, Ragen, Rothrock
California (5): Arriola, DeRosario, Kossa-Rienzi, A. Roldan, C. Roldan
Nevada (2): Lopez, Musovski

International (5): Ferreira (Colombia), Frei (Switzerland), Nouhou (Cameroon), Petkovic (Serbia), Rusnak (Slovakia)

 

If Sounders fans weren’t generally so insufferable, I’d like the Sounders a whole lot more.

 

In a religious sense, I always thought the more we suffer in life, the greater our eternal reward?

 

Colombia and Cameroon could be considered West Coast...

 

He started 9 Americans including Arriola with his first start after injury. Morris is still injured. The guys like Kosa-Rienzi and Rothrock whose names nobody even heard a year ago keep on producing. There is a kid called Brunell whose name I didn't know a month ago starting. Mighty Alex Roldan is playing CB with all his 150 lbs. I'd prefer to think of them as a bunch of overachivers led by the top American coach.

 

Below is the Sounders starting lineup from the Vancouver Champions Cup game. Seven of the 11 players have double-digit senior team international caps (info based on Wikipedia), while one more had caps for the US U18 or U19 team. That's hardly a "bunch of overachievers".

DeRosario - Guyana international (11 caps)
Ferreira - US international (23 caps)
Rusnak - Slovakia international (37 caps)
Arriola - US international (50 caps)
Brunell - US Youth international (5 US U18 caps, 1 US U19 cap)
C. Roldan - US international (43 caps)
Nouhou - Cameroon international (48 caps)
Ragen
A. Roldan - El Salvador international (25 caps)
Kossa-Rienzi
Frei - Switzerland Youth international (1 cap U15)

 

Sorry, I don't take De Rosario's, Frei's, Brunnel, and Alex Roldan international cups seriously. It's basically C. Roldan, Ferreira in his first good year after injuries, and Arriola who is barely over injuries.
And Rusnak, of course.

 

Or looking at it from another angle


Arriola - US international (50 caps)
Rusnak - signed by RSL from mid-tier Eredivisie club
Nouhou - plucked from Cameroon 3rd tier aged 18
Ferreira - Dallas HGP
Brunell - HGP
Ragen - HGP
C. Roldan - draft pick (WU)
A. Roldan - draft pick (WU)
Kossa-Rienzi - draft pick (WU)
Frei - TFC draft pick
DeRosario - signed from CPL

 

If I owned an MLS club that wanted to emphasize its academy, I’d seriously consider backing a metaphoric Brinks truck into Pareja’s driveway and hiring him. Pay him well, AND give him bonuses for when academy graduates play for the first team, AND give him a cut of transfer fees. LAFC for example should do this.

He’s a good coach, but he's the best developer of talent.

 

The Bruce arena treatment?

 

I'm going to disagree with @jaykoz3 on part of his point. Yes, the league and clubs don't owe anyone transparency on HR processes. That's why its not a problem we don't know what Arena got disciplined for and we don't need to know what the details of the Tanner investigation is.

It is, however, completely within the SOB's realm to state that the club they support needs to take a stance against what's already been reported on with Tanner and not employ somebody like that. The Union doesn't owe the SOB an official statement of what happened, but what happened is already out there and the SOB is completely within its rights to state that's unacceptable to them.

Part of the impetus to this, I think, is because the current reporting doesn't reflect jaykoz3's belief that the Union will kick him out. The general tone that I get from Tannenwald and Mauer is that he will be returning to the organization post-suspension. If it was more obvious he wouldn't be and/or that he's going to be shown the door shortly after that then I doubt the SOB take this step.