Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Brian Boswell, U.S. Women's National Team Coaching Candidates
Guest-blogger Brian Boswell, coach of Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women of the Women's Premier Soccer League, a team that is usually a contender for the national championship, is familiar with many of the prospective candidates for the U.S. Women's National Team coaching job.
For instance, he coached Carin Gabarra (Jennings) when she was growing up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In a recent e-mail to me she cited him as one of two local youth coaches (Bill Merrill was the other) who helped provide a solid foundation to her career.
Here, he handicaps the field of potential successors to Greg Ryan, who was fired Monday:
There are two main female candidates, UCLA and Under-20 U.S. Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis and Navy’s Carin Gabarra Jennings, a former U.S. National Team star who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Under Ellis, UCLA is a perennial NCAA championship contender.
As coach of the U.S. U-20 team, she has the twin advantages of access to the inner workings of the U.S. Soccer Federation and knowledge of up and coming young players.
I have always found her to easy to talk to and a good person to coach against.
Would Jill give up the security of UCLA for the national team job? Her ego may say “yes,” but I don’t know. She would do a good job if it was offered to her.
Gabarra has done a great job at Navy; military academies are difficult places to recruit players.
One of the original greats of U.S. soccer, she was MVP of the 1991 Women’s World Cup and an Olympic gold medal winner.
Her husband, Jim, who coaches the Washington Freedom, is another candidate for the job. While she would have no problem commanding the respect of the U.S. team, she’s had great offers before. Would she leave Jim in Washington D.C.? I don’t think so.
The male candidates are former U.S. National Team Coach Tony DiCicco, Santa Clara University Coach Jerry Smith, the aforementioned Jim Gabarra, former coach of the WUSA’s San Jose CyberRays Ian Sawyers and Australian National Team Coach Tom Sermanni.
DiCicco, coach of Soccer Plus Connecticut in the WPSL, has also just accepted the position of coach of the Boston franchise in the new women’s professional league.
If the U.S. are looking for a coach just through next year’s Olympics, DiCicco, the highest profile candidate is the man.
Advantage: he knows the players and more importantly the inner workings of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Disadvantage: he isn’t the coach now, so something was wrong for Tony and the job to part company previously.
I have coached against Tony, who is courteous, professional, knows the game and a competitor. The post for the short term would still leave Tony available for Boston.
Smith has created a soccer dynasty at Santa Clara, the little Catholic school near San Jose.
He has the knowledge and ability to do a great job with the U.S. and has interviewed before for the job.
The husband of outspoken former U.S. national team star Brandi Chastain, he is open and honest and likely told the U.S. Soccer Federation things that at the time they did not want to hear.
Now it’s time for them to listen.
Jim Gabarra, coached the Washington Freedom to the 2007 W-League championship and also coached the club in the WUSA when the roster included Mia Hamm (a member of the three-person U.S. Soccer coach search committee).
He has coached at the highest level with the best players, has great knowledge of the women’s game and has accepted a position to coach in the new women’s professional league with the Washington franchise.
But I don’t think he would leave Washington, Carin and their three kids to spend a lot of time in California.
Brit Sawyers, who has the instant credibility that comes from being married to former U.S. National Team star Julie Foudy, has been out of coaching at the top level for some time developing his wife’s camps. Still, that would not stop him doing a good job with the U.S.
Sermanni, whose Australian team has put in some good World Cup performances, is surely worth a look. A Scot with a great sense of humor, he was coach of the New York Power in the WUSA, so knows the women’s game on the national level and has great club experience.
If the U.S. Soccer Federation decide they need a quick fix, DiCicco has the inside track.
If it’s someone for the Olympics it could be Smith or Sermanni, although any of the others are capable of getting the U.S. back on top.
Comments
Great analysis.
However, you left one person off the list. . . yourself.
Rated as one of the top five women's coaches in the world, and coach of the Ajax Women, defending national champions, as well as having coached many of the current WNT players seems to be a good fit.
And you live in the South Bay.
Posted by: ctsracing | October 25, 2007 1:30 PM