Who will United hire as coach?
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
11/03/09 11:00 PM EST
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With the departure of Tom Soehn, D.C. United faces the prospect of hiring its sixth coach before its 15th season. Who will be the next Bruce Arena (two MLS Cup titles, three finals), Thomas Rongen (one MLS Cup), or Peter Nowak (one MLS Cup)? Here are five candidates, including one that really shouldn't be considered:
Dave Sarachan » A current assistant at Los Angeles, Sarachan had the same job in D.C. from 1998-99. He spent four and a half years as head coach of Chicago, earning coach of the year honors, the best record in MLS and reaching the MLS Cup final in 2003. In fact, the Fire should've never let him go.
Richie Williams » Currently in his second stint as interim head coach for the New York Red Bulls, Williams has valuable experience on the sideline. A Virginia graduate, he also won three MLS Cups as a player in D.C. The Red Bulls would do themselves a disservice to let him go, but moves like those are what have created the worst franchise in the league.
John Spencer » The four-year Houston assistant and former MLS player from Scotland is a leading contender for coaching vacancies every offseason.
Curt Onalfo » The former D.C. United player and Virginia alum was head of McLean Soccer Club before getting his first head coach job in Kansas City two years ago. The Wizards fired him in August -- not exactly a sign of success.
Sasho Cirovski » He's essentially a tenured professor at Maryland, where he's spent the last 17 seasons and has two NCAA titles in the last four years. Ditching that cache for MLS hardly seems logical or likely.
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