Jesse Marsch wasn't afraid of going up against David Beckham in his playing days at Chivas USA.

The 2010 season for Chivas USA wasn’t really a disaster but it was certainly a disappointment for a club that had seen the playoffs and success the previous few seasons before it. With Martin Vasquez gone the club has to go into a new direction and get someone who can get the club headed where the team needs to go.

MLSSoccer.com had a nice breakdown of the rumored candidates for the opening with Chivas USA earlier today. For those who don’t know the guys rumored to be in the running are former Chicago Fire boss Denis Hamlett, former Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch, current Real Salt Lake assistant Robin Fraser, former US Men’s National team striker Eric Wynalda and former USMNT boss Steve Sampson.

All good and qualified candidates in their own right if you ask me.

On paper it seems like Sampson or Hamlett would be good fits based on their coaching experience. Sure Hamlett didn’t do all that well in Chicago but a change of scenery can always do something good to a person. We all know that Fraser is thought of as one of the league’s top assistants so getting him would be pretty big for the club and for Fraser.

The more I look at this the more I lean towards wanting to see someone like Marsch or Wynalda get the gig. I know my friends in Salt Lake will be happy with that as it means they get to keep Fraser, who will get a head coaching gig before long you can count on that.

Wynalda or Marsch present different and unique approches to the position. Both would bring a different sort of passion to the team that is needed. Wynalda could give the club a certain buzz that has been lacking for years now while Marsch knows the club well and could inject his tempered personality onto the team. But the risk is there with both as neither have had any real head coaching experience. Wynalda for the most part really has no solid coaching experience to speak of as it is.

This club needs a good shot in the arm no matter which way you look at it. They have a decent young core of players in Blair Gavin, Jesus Padilla, and Justin Braun. With a fairly high draft pick in next month’s SuperDraft (they have the 4th overall pick) they stand to get another quality young player.

A lot needs to happen to change this club but getting the right coach for a change will be huge. I know Wynalda is a risk and Marsch may not want to leave his current post as an assistant to Bob Bradley with the USMNT but each are guys the team has to look at here. The club can’t settle for a coach like they and others in the league have before. In this growing league you have to be willing to take a chance every now and then and going after one of these two guys would be just that.

So who would you want as the next Chivas USA coach? Someone like Marsch who knows the club? Someone like Wynalda? Or someone with a bit more experience?

How has Eddie Johnson has changed our lives? New WVH writer John Parker takes a look.

By John Parker

Brian Mcbride was a good player. So was Joe-Max Moore. Eric Wynalda held the American scoring record for nearly a decade.

Alright, I don’t know where to start with this, and my free writing is a little sub par here. But there is a point, and it’s not that subtle. The US has produced some adequate players up top, but the position has been the country’s Achilles heel…and an anomaly. This is a nation that hosts the most astonishing athletes in the world, and yet cycle after cycle we see gadflies, overachievers and “hard workers” leading the line. Meanwhile, the Damani Ralph’s of the world were entering the MLS and snatching golden boots.

Before the 2006 cycle, this is what we not only experienced, but expected. We waited on the coming Hispanic infusion that would introduce craft to the position; the demographics of America were rapidly changing, and the future of American soccer supposedly with it. We would see a new breed of player, one who preferred to play on the ball, to strike it from distance and to create for his teammates. Brian Mcbride was great, but we could improve.

But then something curious happened. Eddie Johnson, an American striker with sub par ability on the ball won the golden boot with the U-20’s, and then again with the MLS. It was astonishing…because he was an astonishing athlete. Playing off the hips of the defender, Eddie looked to impose his will with his speed. He didn’t finish off of crosses or set pieces but rather through balls. He was introduced to the National Team and quickly reeled off seven goals. The message boards lit up. People bought the jersey they were sure to wear for a decade…after all, who offered what Eddie did up top? Those seven goals may have been somewhat of a fluke, but they may also have been proof of something greater than just Eddie. The American style, with its counter-attacks and its high pressure defending (which leads to interceptions up the pitch) could take advantage of a forward who routinely got behind the defense. The Twellman’s of the world slowed down our attack when, if anything, we needed to be speeding up.

Don’t beat yourself up for falling for the hype to early. I did…and your favorite blogger probably did too. After all, it’s not like we could complain that Eddie’s ball skills didn’t compare with the rest of the pool. We’d later realize how much better Mcbride’s first touch was, or how much better Moore was off the ball…but the point is for a youth player it was tough to criticize him in comparison (remember, he was battling Taylor Twellman for a spot).

Yes, in the end it did not work out with Eddie. However, his fiery start revealed a seed that is just barely now sprouting. The American striker was not going to be born out of Latino influence but rather an American one. Our obsession with physically dominating our opponents…of physically imposing our will…that was the future of the position, and one that fit our American sensibilities.

Yeah, we are still lacking at the position, but let’s go back to the beginning of the current cycle. Eddie Johnson was beginning to be exposed…and…and…who started against Mexico in the Gold Cup? (Hint: one isn’t a forward, and the other probably won’t be there this summer. Look it up…it took me five minutes to figure it out too.)

Now, the trail-blazing Eddie Johnson has left us with two (yes two!) options up top who offer an array of talents. I know Davies is injured, but as an American product, he must be discussed. You see, we now have a striker tree building from Eddie. One branch, Jozy Altidore, offers extraordinary power, good speed, and a penchant for taking players on off the dribble. The other, CD9, has fantastic speed, good power, and consistently attack the goal with fiery determination. Both can score off through balls, or create a goal themselves. They can play off the defenders hip, but can also be effective receiving it with their backs to the goal. In general, they’re advantage is an athletic one coupled with adequate skills and a confidence we haven’t seen in our past strikers…it’s a confidence that wants to take over the game rather than simply be a cog. Yes, “team” play is great, but sometimes you need more from your strikers than target play. Sometimes you need a goal like Jozy’s against Spain, or Charlie’s against Mexico. Sometimes you need it from both your strikers.

So where do we go from here? Sheer math makes me believe that the previously mentioned dearth of Hispanic influence will be overcome. However, if you look at the current prospects, the proof points more to the growth of the Eddie tree.

• Brek Shea, a tall, lanky winger/striker was taken second by FCD in the draft a couple of years ago after a display of speed and flair at the combine. He may not be a striker in the end, but the mere fact that he was drafted with the position in mind was proof of a new American mindset. He still might have a future at the position.
• Robbie Findley will probably see little time on the pitch for the US in any competitive matches, but Findley seems to have become a preferred option to the Conor Casey’s of the world because of what he offers athletically (which, unfortunately, is about all he offers).
• At the U-20 level, Juan Agudelo and Stefan Jerome seem to be top options for the next cycle. Agudelo is looking at offers from NYRB and Millionaros because of an intriguing balance of size, speed and technical ability, especially at his age. Jerome, who has fallen off quite a bit since his stunning performance against Brazil a couple of years ago, is a tall, lanky striker with speed and desire to beat his defender off the dribble (perhaps too much). [Note: The other striker here is Jack McInerney, but he is unlike any American striker produced, so I’ll pretend he doesn’t exist for the purposes of this article]
• Then there is the 2010 draft. Teal Bunbury may be playing for Canada, but he fits the mold, and MLS large GA offer is proof to his value in the American game. However, Danny Mwanga, the first pick of the draft, should be of more interest to us. Mwanga told a soccernet reporter he hoped to play for the U.S., and given his status as a refugee with a green card, he shouldn’t be too far away from his citizenship. As a 6-2 striker who wows with both elite level athleticism and the technique to match, he would be a natural fit in the new breed of American striker.
• Finally, there is Alfred Koroma, the 15 year old who recently left Bradenton after beginning his second cycle. Koroma was highly advertised as the star of the new class as a player who was not only physically dominant but also technically advanced. Yes, he is young…but Jozy got his first cap at 17 and Koroma will turn 19 before the next world cup.

All of this is admittedly wild speculation. All the speculation, however, points towards one conclusion. Many of these players won’t make it, but the fact that almost all of America’s top prospects at the position fit the Davies/Altidore mold speaks to what we can learn from the past and expect of the future. Current trends point towards a focus on strikers with the ability to get behind defenses off the ball and to overtake them off the dribble.

With Davies and Altidore taking two positions in the next cycle, two remain open. Will we see an entire leading line built in a similar fashion? Will it become a position of strength? Will the American striker become a unique character in the world of soccer?

All of this is unlikely…but it’s still cool to think that Eddie Johnson may have changed American soccer forever.

Editor’s Note: John Parker is new to WVHooligan.com. Feel free to leave him a comment below.

I first read this report earlier this morning and thought the idea was a good one. Goal.com is reporting that former US Men’s National team star Eric Wynalda is in discussions with the Chicago Fire about their head coach opening.

Fire technical director Frank Klopas flew down to the LA area recently to meet with Wynalda. Klopas has interviewed several candidates in the search for Denis Hamlett’s replacement. Two successive appearances in the Western Conference final wasn’t enough to save Hamlett’s job, as locker room disturbances and a lack of titles brought an end to his two year stint as the Fire head coach.

Now some don’t like Wynalda, some hate him and I’m sure there are few out there that do love him. I really have no issue with him and the things he’s said over the years on ESPN and now on FSC.

He may not have the coaching experience but in a way I kind of think this is the shot in the arm the Fire need here. They’ve been good for the last few years but haven’t gone to that next level. With a guy like Wynalda leading the way it could work out. In a way I’d kind of like to see this happen.

The league has nine clubs now that Tampa and Baltimore have jumped ship and they could look to add a tenth with the possibility of Rochester leaving the USL after 2010.

Currently there are only 5 teams remaining from last year�s USL-1 season.� Austin, Cleveland, Portland, Puerto Rico and Rochester, with the expansion team of� New York bringing the league to 6. Some may say what about Charleston? Well, they are headed to the USL-2 in the form of a self-relegation. Some folks are saying Cleveland could easily do the same.

Let’s not forget that after this next season for the USL they will stand to lose Portland. That bring their lovely total down to just four for the 2011 season unless they get some expansion sites up in a hurry before then.

The USL does looked doomed here but will this NASL really work? Vancouver and Montreal are headed MLS’s way in the near future but this little league could be fine if the chips keep falling for the USL. But the thing that worries people like me is how in the world will they get all their crap together before the start of the season next year? At the very least they could have a website up now that they have a name but since http://www.nasl.com is already taken they could be in trouble on that front.

Things do look good for the TOA, or now rather the NASL, which is still a stupid name in my mind to go with.

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Wynada On His MLS Time

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He still regrets coming back to MLS when it started up. I respect Wynalda but its a douche bag kind of thing to say about a league that probably did him more good than anything else. I’d be willing to be we would have never see him in broadcasting had it not been for MLS.

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Missed PK and What It Means For Donovan

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An excellent point that I thought about last night when I saw Landon Donovan blast his PK try over the bar and into the 40th row. How will that missed PK affect his potential to go back to Europe this winter? Hell the bigger picture that I am concerned about here is how will it affect him going into next year’s World Cup. We need Donovan to be the dominate player he was in the summer and not the LandyCakes we’ve seen in the past and during that PK try.

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Duka Ready For MLS

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So young Dilly Duka didn’t get a contract in Europe like some had figured so he will stay with MLS and get selected in January’s SuperDraft. The kid sounds excited though about coming to MLS and I think he has a great shot to do something special here for a couple years before heading to Europe.

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More Somerville Talk For Revs

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The Revs have been “talking” about building a stadium in Somerville for a couple years now. Will they finally do it is the question. They definitely need to that is for sure. We know they need to get out of the NFL stadium that they are in right now because they cannot draw well in there at all.

Garber sees growth in MLS. (Getty Images)

I’ve spent a good portion of the day collecting my thoughts on a couple subjects and then it happen to be the same day that MLS commish Don Garber had his State of the League address. Yeah, let’s just say some of his comments just made my head go nuts (and your’s too judging by some emails).

For a full rundown of comments made by Garber head over to the Soccer Insider blog for lots of good quotes. Anytime The Don speaks we seem to listen and then discuss at length.

One big item that got a lot of people going loco today was the comment made about a single table format. Basically Garber bluntly told people to it’s not gonna happen next year so shut up. While I think the idea of single table is the right step for the league down the road I totally agree with not doing it next year.

The only thing I do disagree is not going to a single table format for the playoffs. What I mean by that is the league should restructure the current format to include the top eight clubs no matter the conference and get rid of the eastern and western conferences for playoff purposes. Keep the conferences for schedules and what not but let’s get rid of them for the playoffs. Basically I am tired like some of you of seeing a team from New York win the western conference and a team from Salt Lake win the eastern conference. What is this Major League Baseball 1992?

Garber also had a nice mention of future expansion to Montreal. That’s news we already knew right?

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Houston Stadium Update

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Cross your fingers folks because things in Houston surrounding their stadium is getting dicey because of the Mayor race. One is for the stadium issue and one is (almost without saying it) against it from the way I read things. For all of the league we gotta hope this deal goes through and the Dynamo are in a new stadium in a couple seasons.

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Detroit Stadium Sold…Soccer Team On The Way?

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We know MLS doesn’t know where the 20th club will be located in a couple years but don’t count on Detroit. While this news speculates a new soccer team is part of the deal to by the Silverdome don’t jump on the MLS bandwagon just yet. Seriously, don’t do it.

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Wynalda Regreats MLS Time?

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So he wasn’t happy about his time with Major League Soccer. Should we be shocked by this comment by Eric Wynalda? I don’t think so because he typically has these foot-in-mouth moments.

Evening Links and Thoughts appear on WVHooligan typically each day (Monday – Friday). We try to cover topics that surround MLS, the US national team and other items that are of interest. If you have a link for the ELT send them in!

I have no idea where this image came from. Ginge over at Ginge Talks The Footy found it off another site and where they found it I do not know. My guess it is a Facebook thing. Either way its funny nonetheless.

When Hitchcock was hired by the Hunts (FCD owners) he promised a number of sellouts in the first couple years of Pizza Hut Park. Since that time, the club has only seen a couple regular season games with the stadium nearly full. Those were Beckham games or MLS Cups. Not the number he had originally told the Hunts he would bring in.

So Hitchcock basically is out to save his job (he is in the final year of his contract) and thus Steve Morrow was left out of the mix because he probably had to tell the Hunts he couldn’t sell tickets when the coaching doesn’t translate in to success on the field. He threw out the excuse that the team was headed in the wrong direction, which most disagree with since it is such a young club.

A youth movement isn’t a wrong direction, its just a slower way forward.

But the firing of Morrow is yesterday’s news and the candidate search is on-going. The shortlist of names has apparently been cut down to three names according to Diego Aparicio of Al Dia in Dallas.

The big talk in Aparicio’s post was about the possibilities of former Mexican National team coach Hugo Sanchez as the next FC Dallas coach. Some like the idea, while others question if it is the right fit.

No word on those three names but Buzz Carrick is wondering if Eric Wynalda is one of those candidates.

So the mouth that is Eric Wynalda was in town today.� We don�t know whether he was interviewing for the coaching job today or not, but he did meet with a local club later in the day and confirmed he at least spoke to FCD.� We�ll continue to try and confirm if he is candidate for the job.

Most of the people who commented on the news basically said the same thing, “hell no.”

With names like Wynalda and Sanchez floating out there in the media it is apparent that Hitchcock is trying to find a big name to not only fill some seats at Pizza Hut Park but to ultimately save his butt. With the last two home games in Dallas getting gates in the 8,000 after the LA Galaxy sellout, Hitchcock will have to act fast if he hopes to start seeing the normal numbers in the 14,000 range and better yet those sellout figures that he was promising.

Honestly, the shortlist is probably Sanchez (if all possible), Oscar Pareja, and the owner favorite SMU coach Schellas Hyndman.

But then again, with a guy running the show in Dallas like Hitchcock its really hard to tell at this point what will happen. If he wants to sell out the stadium for each game, he has to bring in a big name to coach a bunch of young guys. I just doubt he will be able to land a guy like Sanchez though. This is a job that really has little security with him in place as GM. Plus the possible hiring of a Technical Director still looms.