1. It's good to see that first class of MLS players now transitioning into coaching, directing, scouting, and administration. It will be interesting to see what the long-term impact is on the game in the States, b/c it will be the first class of Americans (not naturalized citizens) who were decent players (ie: not Bob Rigby or Bob Smith or Tony Crescitelli) who played the game, got some international experience and then stayed in the game but not as players. Of course Henderson isn't the first but between Doyle, Lalas, Harkes, Wynalda, Balboa, and so on, we're see those MLS pioneers start to step into new soccer careers. 2. Technical Director. I believe DCU was the first team to formally add that position in MLS with Dave Kasper. At the time on the DCU boards, there was a lot of: "what the heck does this really mean?" and "is this is a backup coach in case Ray Hudson stumbles?". Now many more teams have some version of this. I have to wonder: how much of this is because teams see a true fit (ie: it's a good idea) and how much of it is just kind of copying other teams (whether it makes sense or not)? That's not a slam on Henderson, just a question about the role of TD.
I'd LOVE for Seattle MLS to 'copy' the DC United approach as much as possible when it comes to on-pitch success.
TD finds players who fit the team. GM makes players fit the team's budget. my .02 maybe its' better if the two are split, even in the players sake.
Players seem to play better when they aren't injured . If FIFA had any balls at all they would ban artificial surfaces.
Perhaps it was inevitable that it was done over coffee. After Chris Henderson -- veteran of 317 career games, five teams, 51 goals and 11 MLS seasons -- hung up his playing boots in 2006, he wanted to stay involved in the game. So he joined the Kansas City Wizards staff, while keeping one eye on his hometown of Seattle. "That year was perfect for me. Kansas City have new owners, working on a new stadium and could be seen as being a completely new set up" said Henderson. "My friend and former teammate Peter Vermes was the technical director there, and while I was coaching I was able to learn from him. Adrian Hanauer [part owner of MLS Seattle] and I are friends. So we met for coffee and the position of technical director of the new Seattle team came up. It was perfect." http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080129&content_id=136958&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
and yet another Henderson interview, this one from Frank MacDonald over at www.MLSinSeattle.com: http://www.mlsinseattle.com/article.aspx?id=880 “We want to be a successful team from the very beginning, and there are many things we can do as an organization to prepare for that before we even pick a team,” says Henderson, whose vision of the team operation is quite clear, right down to the devilish details. There’s little wonder why general manager Adrian Hanauer would tap Henderson for his first hire. He’s played at the international level, overseas and, perhaps most importantly, in Major League Soccer for 11 years. What’s more, Henderson is homegrown, a native of Everett and graduate of Cascade High. “First off, Chris is highly respected within Major League Soccer and he’s a great person,” says Hanauer. “The fact that we could bring one of the most successful soccer players to ever come out of the Northwest back home, was a bonus.”
More directly from the pen of Chris Henderson today: http://mlsinseattle.com/article.aspx?id=932 We’re in the process of setting up a system where every single MLS game is going to be on our desk the next morning in DVD or DVR’d. USL games will be part of our scouting this year, so there are a lot of games to see and study. We need to get a lot of background on all the new players who have come into the league, both the foreign players and the new draft picks. We want to go into 2009 knowing about these new players. And we want to build information not just about players in MLS but in world soccer, and that’s it’s good that the owners are into this as well. It will definitely help when we go look for our foreign players. That’s something that really impresses me about our ownership group. The whole group is very into what’s going on in world soccer and MLS. They are into the sport, and which players are doing well. They are not just here for the business side; they’re in it for the soccer side, which is great.
Interesting. I'm sure he knows his stuff. I actually miss his style of play. I always felt bad for him with the national team because despite his many caps, he never started or played in a senior World Cup game.