GTB On USMNT: The Definitive Guide to Picking a New Manager

It is de rigueur for American footie fans to weigh in on the search for the next USMNT manager, and we're nothing if not rigueurous, so we'll plunge right in. In our inimitable style, short on analytical rigor and long on winging it. 

I've heard a couple of good arguments from various pundits on the topic, which I'll repeat for your benefit and use as guideposts for my thinking. First, we compete globally, so it would good to have a manager with a broader perspective than just American soccer. And secondly, this is an 18-month job. We're not looking for a program builder. We need to use the talent we have the best way possible to maximize our achievement in World Cup we're hosting in 2026. Anything beyond that should be the Federation's focus*, not the manager's. Hat tip to Taylor Twellman for the spot-on second point.

*Of considerable note, the Federation is peopled by cronyistic doofuses, which perhaps makes 2026 an even more do or die priority.

Others have suggested that we need a manager who's held the reins of a national side, and while I think that wouldn't hurt, I'm not sure it's mandatory. We need a coach with a track record of building teams that win. Full stop.

There have been a lot of names bandied about in the press, from big names like Jurgen Klopp to Americans having success in Europe like New Jersey's own Pellegrino Materazzo, who coaches TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, to MLS long-timers like Philadelphia Union's Jim Curtin. Those are all fine coaches, and if we can get Klopp, we should get Klopp - that would be a homerun hire on the field and in the boardroom. But he just left Liverpool because we was burned out, and he's reportedly rebuffed U.S. Soccer's initial entreaties. So we look elsewhere. 

Look at this stud

For me, there are three names I'd like us to take a run at. The first one is a reach, but he did spend part of this summer in Montana, and he reportedly really loves America. He's also the all-time leader in Champions League trophies as a manager, and while he's never managed a national side, he did play for Italy for 10 years, including at the 1990 World Cup. I'm talking, of course, of the great Carlo Ancelotti, in the conversation for the best manager in history. The five-time Champions League winner has won everywhere he's coached, with league titles in England, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany to his name. If he's interested, he's a no-brainer.

And if he's not, I'd like U.S. Soccer to hire either LAFC's Steve Cherundolo or Columbus Crew's Wilfried Nancy. Neither are particularly sexy, and there will be those who are gun-shy about hiring another coach directly from MLS after Gregg Berhalter's mixed tenure. Cherundolo and Nancy have very different profiles than Berhalter, however. The former is arguably the best outside back to ever represent the U.S., and played and coached in the Bundesliga before coming back the America to take the LAFC job. In his first two years in Los Angeles, Cherundolo won an MLS Cup and lost in the final of another. This year, his third in L.A., the club has the best record in the Western Conference. He checks the boxes for me, having international experience and a winning background.

This is the way

Nancy played in the lower rungs of the French professional system before coming to North America to coach provincial sides in Quebec before joining the CF Montreal (then Montreal Impact) youth system in 2011. He joined the coaching staff of the MLS side in 2016 before being promoted to the head job in 2021. The long-time mediocre club finished a best-ever second in 2022, setting franchise records for wins and points (and an MLS record for road wins). Nancy left Montreal after the 2022 season, largely because owner Joey Saputo is a notoriously hot-headed dickbag.

He joined Columbus Crew next (which is the club Berhalter left to take the USMNT job), and proceeded to win MLS Cup by beating Cherundolo's LAFC in his first season at the helm in Ohio. His teams' playing style is proactive, flexible, and positive, all attributes that fit the American soccer mentality, and he's had immediate success at both of his professional stops.

U.S. Soccer's Matt Crocker has a lot of eyes on him as he makes the decision about the next manager for the national side. He's the same guy who flubbed the call to bring back Berhalter, so it's no stretch to say that this hire will determine the course of his career. He may be tempted to go for a known quantity. Wilfried Nancy won't move the needle in the public's mind, but he may well be the best bet for our 2026 hopes.