By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 2, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Despite the Memorial Day holiday, Monday wasn’t a quiet one for Major League Soccer. Two clubs, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Chicago Fire became the first of the 2011 season to dump their coaches. Teitur Thordarson felt the axe in Vancouver, while Carlos de los Cobos was relieved of his duties by the Fire. This early in the season, the timing of both moves is noteworthy . Both coaches were handed faith entering 2011 while facing significant questions about their ability to win.
Thordarson was a holdover from Vancouver’s final three years in the second division. His remaining in the job when the club made the jump to Major League Soccer was mildly surprising. Both Portland and Seattle, expansion MLS sides “moving up” from USL, chose to hire coaches with prior experience in the League.
Thordarson’s resume prior to taking over in Vancouver is littered with a string of Scandinavian stops and a year in his native Iceland. In a League that traditionally punishes foreign coaches not familiar with Major League Soccer’s roster rules and playing style, Thordarson faced an uphill battle from the beginning. Even a successful second division coach wasn’t likely to have an easy time adapting. Just a few months into their inaugural MLS season, and Vancouver has already triggered the change.
Perhaps the wheels might have also been greased by the club having a coach-in-waiting already on the payroll. Former DC United head coach and longtime MLS assistant Tom Soehn steps into the position from his role as Director of Soccer Operations.
Soehn’s MLS pedigree as a coach is hardly overwhelming, but with the Whitecaps underachieving, the club’s management decided to take the easy way out. Fire the guy with zero MLS experience prior to this year and hand the reigns - seamlessly? - to a coach who knows the League cold. The Whitecaps are last in the Western Conference, so the change looks like a signal of intent from an expansion team that isn’t just “happy to be here.” The new wave of MLS expansion teams have greater aspirations than their predecessors.
Chicago’s situation is a different animal. The Fire have more than underachieved in recent seasons, they’ve nosedived into mediocrity. Carlos de los Cobos was also retained despite some concerns stemming from 2010, though any doubts were of his own making.
The Fire finished out of the playoffs last season, de los Cobos’ first at the helm, while carrying big salary players and American legend Brian McBride. Like Thordarson, the Mexican de los Cobos was fighting against history as a foreign coach entering the League without MLS experience. de los Cobos didn’t have the benefit of lower expansion team expectations. The Fire is on a lengthy turnaround, trying once again to get back their reputation as one of the League’s elite. Their 2011 start was the worst in club history, deeming it necessary for ownership to make a change.
In steps Frank Klopas, the Fire’s technical director since 2009 and a former MLS player. Klopas, like Soehn in Vancouver, carries the “interim” tag as he takes over the head coaching duties for Chicago. Unlike Soehn, Klopas has no MLS coaching resume. His one stint as a manager was three years with the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Chicago Storm. Klopas is untested at this level, yet has been handed the keys to a very distressed Fire season. Time will tell if the fresh start pays dividends.
Both Thordarson and de los Cobos were not only victims of their own lack of success, but also the internal workings of their respective clubs. It wouldn’t be cynical to think that Soehn stepping in for Vancouver was an outlined contingency plan from the beginning. de los Cobos simply didn’t perform, but his status might have been more tenuous with Klopas waiting in the wings. Both clubs now have men in charge wearing multiple hats, a situation that is not always conducive to long term success. Clubs around the world are learning that it’s a unique managerial talent that can both assemble a squad and lead them on the field.
Just ask Sporting Kansas City. After dismissing Curt Onalfo during the 2009 season, technical director Peter Vermes took over on an interim basis. The interim tag was removed at the end of ‘09, and Vermes remains head coach two years later. In charge of a team he himself put together, Vermes couldn’t reach the playoffs in 2010.
While noting that the club is on a difficult extended road trip to start this season, Sporting is dead last in MLS with just five point through nine matches. Vermes’ tactics are under constant scrutiny, and the club’s signings have yet to come good enough (though injuries have been a problem) to help the club get over the hump. Would things be better if Vermes was wasn’t doing two jobs at once?
MLS isn’t Europe. All-powerful managers - head coaches also responsible for picking players to sign - are not the norm. The American model split the two jobs, as is done in other sports, because a separation of powers can provide better prospective.
Only a few MLS coaches successfully juggle the two sets of responsibilities. Control of both who is signed and who plays can lead to a decided case of myopia, even for coaches who are adept at each. It’s worth pointing out that though England maintains the tradition of the manager, several clubs are choosing to install separate personnel to find - and ultimately sign - new talent.
The issue may not present itself in Vancouver or Chicago in 2011, and both teams could find permanent replacements by the time 2012 rolls around. For the time being, however, Soehn and Klopas hold more power than than history suggests they should.
Jason Davis is the founder of MatchFitUSA.com. Contact him: matchfitusa@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davisjsn.
