The U.S. Men’s National Team head coaching search will go on throughout the year, but one former star has listed a few names he’d like to see in charge.
Landon Donovan went on the Sports Illustrated Planet Futbol podcast and discussed the ongoing USMNT rebuild, including who he feels should take the reins of the USMNT.
“Personally, I would like to see an American,” he said. “I think Americans as a general comment understand the American player better. They understand the league better. They understand the culture better. And it’s better for the development of our coaches in this country to have that experience.”
He then offered up a few suggestions.
“I think Peter Vermes has been excellent in Kansas City. I got to know him a little bit last year. [Gregg] Berhalter I think has done a really good job with very limited resources in comparison to some of the other teams. I think Greg Vanney has been terrific in Toronto. Caleb Porter has done a great job.”
“Times are much different, and now there are a number of good young American coaches who have really done a good job,” Donovan said, “and they’re more in tune with the modern game and I think would be well-suited to coach the national team.”
Donovan himself has been with the national team under Americans Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, and under Jurgen Klinsmann, a German.
While the coaching search is a big one for Donovan, the Club Leon forward has his eyes set on another challenge: youth development.
“The part that I personally am most passionate about is youth development. And that goes for boys and girls, men and women,” he said. “I don’t have the experience on the women’s side, so there would be people much better suited to handling that. But for me, the part that I’m most passionate about and that I think we still have a long way to go with is the youth development part.
“I just see too many really good players being developed around the world, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why we aren’t doing the same. My goal is I want to win a World Cup. Not me as a player, but as a U.S. Soccer fan I want to win a World Cup. And the way you do that is by developing players that can win a World Cup. And I just don’t think we’ve done a good enough job of it.”