With Carlos Cordeiro officially in office as U.S. Soccer president, the focus has turned towards filling yet another major position. It’s a newly-created one, and it’s a hire that will have a major impact on the U.S. Men’s National Team for years to come.
Cordeiro reportedly met with Dan Flynn on Wednesday to begin the process of hiring a U.S. Men’s National Team general manager, and several candidates have already emerged. Goal USA reported that Carlos Bocanegra is in the mix for the job while Sports Illustrated says that Seattle Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey is also a candidate.
Bocanegra’s Atlanta United is fresh off an incredible debut season that also served as Bocanegra’s first campaign as an executive. After constructing one of the league’s most dynamic and exciting rosters, Bocanegra was promoted this offseason by being named the club’s vice president.
Lagerwey, meanwhile, has continued to build on success at Real Salt Lake following his move to the Seattle Sounders. Since joining the club, Lagerwey’s Sounders have been to two MLS Cup finals, winning in 2016 before falling in the 2017 rematch against Toronto FC.
Even if Lagerwey and Bocanegra are the only two names with links to the job thus far, they aren’t the only two candidates, though, as the process is expected to be a thorough one.
There are several potential candidates in MLS, including FC Dallas’s Fernando Clavijo and Philadelphia Union executive Earnie Stewart. The first has build FCD into a Homegrown-led powerhouse in recent years, while Stewart’s work both in the Netherlands and with the Union give him a strong resume. Both also have USMNT experience, making them more than familiar with the program.
The same could be said about Eric Wynalda and Kyle Martino, two candidates that fell short in the recent U.S. Soccer election. The two “change” candidates built platforms based on rebuilding the technical side of the game, making the potential fits for a GM role that fits their skillset more than the presidency.
With that said, who would you want in charge? What do you expect from the process and what do you want to see from the USMNT GM?
Vote in the poll below and state your reasoning in the comment section:
[polldaddy poll=9940086]
whoever it is, we go nowhere fast without addressing the below, reposted
youth development
that is: get the money and resources BEYOND the super clubs catering to suburban soccer moms
also, our soccer culture is not maturing; without leadership folks still talk about possession soccer as if it’s the only way, and playing out of the back as if it’s the only way to judge and build teams and players.
in reality, there are lots of ways to play effectively, depending on many variables, and our kids should be exposed to learning ALL of them…and our US soccer culture does NOT get that; it still thinks the best players should play striker and that if you’re a defender it means you’re not as good…still lots of that BS in our naive yet evolving soccer cutlure
Can anyone tell me what this GM role is supposed to do? What’s the job description?
Traditionally the GMs main job is building a roster within the rules of the league or under salary cap, contract negotiations etc. none of that applies in international soccer. The manager is not actively coaching the team 97% of the time and can build his own roster with the help of scouts/assistants. There are no contract negotiations that Ussf can’t already handle… I’m just confused.
Klinsmann only accepted the US manager position because he was also given the role as technical director. In 2006 he declined the job because Gulati would not give him the technical director title. The technical director “is responsible for supervising and expanding the country’s infrastructure for developing soccer talent, which includes selecting coaches for the youth national teams, helping design the curricula for the coaches of youth clubs, overseeing scouting, and increasing the federation’s footprint both in terms of its commercial presence (i.e., increasing revenues) and international reputation.” The coach “is to develop the skills of his players, recruit players to the national team, monitor the performance of his players at their respective clubs, manage the other U.S. men’s coaches (goalkeeping coach, fitness coach, etc.), oversee training sessions, plan tactics for games, scout the opposition, select rosters for games, interact with the media, and win games.” Seems like US Soccer is trying to pry Klinsmann’s old role into 2 positions.
The question is, when we do go to hire a high profile manager, especially one from Europe or South America, they may want the dual role like Klinsmann had.
I know the histroy of the Klinsmann hire, but we we still have a Technical Director role too right? that leaves me with he same question. What does US Mens National Team GM do?
Maybe someone like Caliguri could recruit someone like Conte once he’s done at Chelsea.
Monty Brewster
Give the job to Garth Lagerwey. He has a proven record. If not then, Carlos Bocanegra, maybe he can recruit Tata Martino.
Before he joined the Union, I would have agreed with having Stewart on the list. His time with the Union has severely tarnished that opinion.
Granted he has been hamstrung by an owner with no $$, but other small dollar teams have done 10x what Ernie has accomplished in his time with the Union.
Steve CHerundolo should be this, no question. Pay him more than what he’s making in Germany and close the deal. The state of soccer in America is laughable
I like this!
id like to see him in an “on the field” position like YNT head coach or USMNT assistant coach.
Claudio Reyna should be a candidate as well.
I think there are quite a few people who would be good for the job, including the ones listed in the article. But, one thing we need to take a look at is who steps in as VP? Now we have two large roles to fill and we need to ensure that the job description is properly disseminated to the candidates so we have the right person for each role. I wouldn’t want the best potential GM to take the VP role and vice versa. So, it’s important to take that into consideration. Not to mention, the creation of a technical department (would require a Technical Director), which I believe is another aspect of Cordeiro’s campaign. For me, Kyle Martino needs to be in there somewhere, but likely the VP. Have someone like current MLS GM’s, with proven track records (including sourcing from talent pools across the globe), be our USMNT GM. Have a technical director be someone like Claudio Reyna, Jurgen Klinsmann (if willing to return), etc. In essence, make sure we are putting our best foot forward to make adjustments where necessary, keep what is already working, and create a system that allows for the most talent to be found and ensure they have the desire to play for the USMNT.