SIGI SCHMID
Without a doubt, the man at the helm in Seattle since 2009 is the coach who has had the most MLS success on every level. In charge of the LA Galaxy between 1999 and 2004, he was named MLS Coach of the Year in his rookie season. In 2000, his club won the CONCACAF Champions League, the last intercontinental title to be captured by a team from the United States. In 2001, the Californians won the US Open Cup; in 2002, the club finished atop the regular season standings and captured the MLS Cup. Despite good results in 2003 and 2004, something happened and Schmid was let go over the summer. After a brief stint with the U-20 American team (which he coached in 1998 and 1999), he rebounded with Columbus in 2006. Known as a master tactician, he had some difficulties in building the squad, but in 2008, he exploited his players’ offensive abilities to perfection. Columbus finished atop the standings and went on to win the MLS Cup, while Schmid was named MLS Coach of the Year for the second time. Seattle, which made the jump to MLS in 2009, was so impressed with Schmid that the organization lured him to the state of Washington for its inaugural season, a smart move that brought the city its first US Open Cup. History repeated itself with a second consecutive US Open Cup, the first time an MLS team pulled off that feat since the competition was born in 1914.
BRUCE ARENA
Bruce Arena doesn’t boast the same track record as Schmid with American clubs, simply because Arena was busy managing the U.S. national team for eight years. Prior to that, Arena took his first steps in MLS with DC United in 1996, during the league’s inaugural season. Also under contract with the national U-23 team, he held both jobs until the end of the Atlanta Olympic Games. That didn’t stop him from leading DC United to victory in both the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup. DC United won for a second time in 1997, the year that Arena was named MLS Coach of the Year. Better yet, in 1998, his club excelled on the international scene, winning the Champions League on U.S. soil for the first time in history. Following that, the national team wasted no time, naming Arena the squad’s head coach in 1998, a position he held until the conclusion of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He then found work in New York, but that season-and-a-half failed to bear fruit. In 2008, Arena headed for the LA Galaxy, a team in complete freefall since 2005, despite the arrival of David Beckham. Arena rebuilt the team and had an above-average 2009, which was enough to earn Arena the leagues top coaching honours once again. In 2010, the Galaxy finished atop the regular season standings. As a player, Arena was a one-time American international, in an era when soccer was severely underdeveloped in the United States. Arena was also living a double-life as a lacrosse player, even playing a season with the Québécois de Montréal in 1975.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>BOB BRADLEY</b>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In 2006, Bradley took over for Arena at the head of the national program, a position he held until just a few weeks ago. In 1996, Bradley was Arenas assistant with DC United, but eventually found his own way with Chicago in 1998, a club that was making its MLS debut. That first season couldn’t have gone any better, with Chicago winning the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup, with Bradley being named the MLS Coach of the Year. He captured his second U.S. Open Cup with Chicago in 2000. After a disappointing 2002 season, Bradley left for New Jersey to take care of the MetroStars, a team with a reputation of never meeting expectations. He took his team to the U.S. Open Cup final, but lost. Following that, it was off to Chivas in 2006. Under his tutelage, the California club did better than in its first season, but Bradley left for the national team coaching job before the end of the season. His biggest moment with the national side was a victory over Spain in the Confederations Cup in 2009.
THOMAS RONGEN
Dutch-born and Ajax-trained, yet not skilled enough to play for that club, Thomas Rongen moved to the United States and spent the majority of his career in the NASL. He then turned to management and made his MLS coaching debut with Tampa Bay in 1996. The Floridians finished atop the standings that season and Rongen was named MLS Coach of the Year. The following two seasons with New England were less than impressive. In 1999, Rongen replaced Bruce Arena at DC United. He took over a solid and ambitious group, which was the best team of the regular season and managed to capture the MLS Cup. The following season was a disappointment and Rongen was fired in 2001. The national program jumped on the opportunity and named Rongen as the head coach of the U-20 team, a position he still holds today, despite a brief and disappointing stint with Chivas USA in 2005.
BOB GANSLER / DOMINIC KINNEAR
Picking one of these two men is nearly impossible because of their comparable track records. One common thread between the two is that they each managed only one club: Kansas City for Gansler and San Jose/Houston (the team was relocated by MLS in 2006, the manager and majority of the players followed) for Kinnear. Gansler enjoyed his greatest success in 2000, named MLS Coach of the Year with Kansas City, which had finished atop the regular season standings and went on to win the MLS Cup. He added a U.S. Open Cup to his already impressive trophy case in 2004. The man in charge of the U.S. national team at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Ganlser left Kansas City in the middle of the 2006 season and was named as an assistant coach with Toronto in 2007, before eventually stepping away from soccer for family reasons. Kinnear was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2005, the year San Jose finished atop the standings. In 2006 and 2007, he won the MLS Cup two years in a row with his club that was relocated to Houston, a team he’s still coaching today.
Matthias Van Halst, Impact Média
