With more teams (16) and the same number of playoff berths (eight), the battle for a Major League Soccer (MLS) post-season spot becomes that more intense and more competitive. Translated, more coaches will find themselves on the hot seat earlier and more probably will face the axe this season.
As the league upgrades itself with more soccer-specific stadiums, slightly higher salaries, and guaranteed contracts for veteran players, there is so much more at stake and much more to lose. And the loses could come in the way of a coaches' job if a team underachieves or fails to reach goals or the playoffs. Remember, a coach that is considered safe in the pre-season is always a horrible start of a long winless or losing streak away from getting sacked.
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer analyses the challenges each coach will face (in alphabetical order by Conference):
Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire
Perhaps this is the year a foreign coach breaks through what has turned into a steel ceiling - a plus. 500 record. Sooner or later it has got to happen, right? Mexican Carlos de los Cobos, who replaced Denis Hamlet as the Fire chief, will try to make some history while trying to keep the team competitive and in the playoffs. That's most likely without fellow Mexico Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Barring a horrendous beginning, he should get through this season.
Columbus Crew
Depending on your vantage point, coach Robert Warzycha acquitted himself pretty well in his first year as coach as the Crew captured the Supporters Shield. However, the team stumbled in the opening round of the playoffs as Warzycha benched star Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Just wondering if there will be fallout from the controversial move this season and if it will affect the team. Warzycha is safe through the regular season, but the Crew need playoff success.
DC United
Curt Onalfo is accustomed to challenges. He was the advance scout in the Caribbean and Central America (no mean feat traveling by yourself) for former U.S. national coach Bruce Arena for 2006 World Cup qualifying. His next challenge is trying to find a way to turn around this once powerhouse of a franchise. He should get a pass in his first season.
Kansas City Wizards
Did someone say hot seat? Technical director Peter Vermes fired Onalfo and took over the coaching reins last year, but the Wizards still failed to make the playoffs. You have to wonder what a bad run does to the coaching job in Kansas City. His assistant can step right in - former MetroStars and L.A. Galaxy coach Octavio Zambrano.
New England Revolution
While some teams seemingly change coaches whenever the mood hits (see New York Red Bulls), Steve Nicol has become an anomaly. He will start his eighth season in charge. A three-year run is considered pretty decent in MLS. Nicol's challenge this season is piecing together a competitive team after losing his right-hand man (assistant coach Paul Mariner) last season. Even if the Revs miss the playoffs, Nicol should be considered untouchable unless he leaves of his own choice.
New York Red Bulls
Like the Fire, Swedish coach Hans Backe needs to go where no other foreign coach has gone before - a winning record. He probably won't change lineups and formations as quickly as his predecessor, Juan Carlos Osorio did. Backe has not promised the moon, so expectations aren't that great, although the team will have the added pressure of the new Red Bull Arena. You can only sell out a new stadium for a certain amount of time before the fans get turned off.
Philadelphia Union
One game certainly does not make a season, although the entire MLS universe now knows how much Peter Nowak must do after Thursday night's 2-0 loss at Seattle. Barring an 0-8-4 start or some dreadful record like that, Nowak's job should be safe. However, this team is nowhere near what Seattle was last year.
Toronto FC
After a successful two-year run at Chivas USA, Preki will try his luck in Toronto, which hasn't reached the post-season since joining the league as a 2007 expansion team. It remains to be seen if trader Mo Johnston, who could be the host of soccer's version of Let's Make A Deal, will help or hinder a team that seems to be always in flux. But if Toronto fails to book a spot in the playoffs this time around you have to wonder if Johnston's days could be numbered (before Preki winds up in the hot seat).
Western Conference
Chivas USA
The club hasn't been around as long as the Red Bulls, but Chivas USA actually averages more coaches per season than the team that invented the MLS sack. Martin Vasquez is the team's sixth in as many seasons. He coaches LA's version of Manchester City as Chivas USA, like it or not, is the second banana to the Galaxy and its celebrity soccer show at Home Depot Center. If he could find a way to close the gap, Vasquez will have done well. By the way, Vasquez is one of a handful of players who have performed internationally for the US and Mexico, so you have to think he can relate to Hispanic talent.
Colorado Rapids
The Rapids have done just enough to miss the playoffs the past three seasons. Gary Smith, who took over late in the 2008, definitely has some attacking players in Conor Casey and Omar Cummings to make life miserable for the opposition. If he can't get it done this season, you have to wonder if his days will be numbered. Smith did direct the Rapids to a 10-10-10 mark last season, one of the best by a foreign coach.
FC Dallas
Once one of the most stable of teams with coach David Dir directing the fortunes the first five years of the franchise, Dallas has been a merry-go-around at the coaching position the past decade. It has five men running the show, the latest being Schellas Hyndman. Hyndman has Jeff Cunningham, but that didn't help matters last season as the team fell short. Dallas is the only one of the remaining original teams that has failed to reach MLS Cup.
Houston Dynamo
If Nicol is the poster child for MLS coaching stability, Dominic Kinnear is certainly runner-up. He has ruled the roost in Houston since it moved there from San Jose in 2006, where he coached two years prior. Kinnear has done a remarkable job, winning two MLS Cups. This year he faces his greatest challenge, trying to replace the departed Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark in midfield. Even if Houston somehow falls short of the playoffs, Kinnear should be safe.
Los Angeles Galaxy
Sometimes its not way you start with, but what you end up with. You have to wonder what Bruce Arena will have at the end of the season. Will Beckham recover to regain his previous magic touch on passes and free kicks? And moreover, will Landon Donovan stay with the team after the World Cup or move on? But unless Arena rubs people the wrong way as he did with the Red Bulls - it looks like the southern California weather has mellowed out the former US national coach - his jobs (he's also GM) should be safe.
Real Salt Lake
After stunning everyone but its most ardent fans by earning MLS Cup honors, Jason Kreis should get a pass if the team stumbles out of the starting gate. Knowing the way the competitive Kreis coaches and demands of his team and himself, that is quite unlikely. But come October and November, RSL and Kreis will discover how difficult it is to repeat (only DC United - 1996 and 1997 - and the Houston Dynamo - 2006 and 2007 - have done it).
San Jose Earthquakes
After escaping from the David Beckham circus in LA in 2007, Frank Yallop returned to San Jose, trying to build a team from scratch. After a pair of disappointing seasons, will his third season at the Earthquakes helm be the charm? Coaches usually do not survive three years without going to the playoffs. Besides winning, Yallop's biggest challenge is trying to find someone who can put the ball into the net once in a while.
Seattle Sounders FC
Sigi Schmid, the only coach to direct two teams to MLS championship glory (LA in 2002 and Columbus in 2008), will try to make it a hat-trick. Don't bet against him. He has one shrewd soccer mind and knows how to coax the best out of his players. It certainly doesn't hurt playing in front of those voracious fans at Qwest Field. Safe.
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