As reported Thursday, United States men’s national team general manager Earnie Stewart plans to speak with at least 6-7 candidates before hiring a manager some time before the end of the year.
Plenty has changed since Bruce Arena left the USMNT following a deplorable loss to Trinidad and Tobago and the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, so the bookmakers’ favorites of a year ago are not quite the same.
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Peter Vermes, David Wagner, and Patrick Vieira have all either committed to their former club or taken on a new and significant adventure. That’s also pretty much true for Jesse Marsch, who is assisting at RB Leipzig and likely wouldn’t have left New York Red Bulls midseason if he truly wanted or felt he was in the running for the gig.
Juan Carlos Osorio’s time has come and gone as a favorite with his new employment at Paraguay.
So who would you guess is on the 6-7 presumably male list now? Let’s give it a go, assuming that Arsene Wenger, Antonio Conte, and Zinedine Zidane await bigger club challenges.
- Tata Martino — The Argentine has yet to commit his future to Atlanta United, and the Five Stripes have been linked with David Moyes should Martino go. It’s easy to connect the dots and make him the favorite.
- Gregg Berhalter — Stewart’s former USMNT teammate has won at Columbus with several different styles of play (and degrees of talent).
- Caleb Porter — On the original list, Porter has had success at MLS and in the NCAA, the lone blemish his failure to qualify the U.S. U-23 men for the Olympics.
- Tab Ramos — The longtime U.S. U-20 coach has the faith of the federation, and it would follow the Gareth Southgate model.
- Dave Sarachan — Makes sense to include the interim boss, whether serious about hiring him or not.
- Laurent Blanc — The outsider’s name won’t go away, and the former Bordeaux, France, and Paris Saint-Germain boss could be in the running.
The other names that don’t seem fit to join the above list but could be in the discussion: Jason Kries could be a wild card after leaving Orlando City; David Moyes, who’s reportedly put his name in the ring; Dick Advocaat, who is 70 but has worked with Stewart and has loads of club and country experience.
