Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Revs Reportedly Hire Brad Friedel As Manager


GOAL-The New England Revolution have hired Brad Friedel as their new head coach, multiple sources have confirmed to Goal. 

 The former U.S. national team goalkeeper and long-time English Premier League standout will take over the Revs in what will be his first professional head coaching job. Friedel most recently spent the past two years coaching the U.S. Under-19 national team along with working as a television analyst for FOX.

We have the #WojBomb and the #ShamsBomb in the NBA. I think we need to officially start up the #IvesBomb. Big news from Ives Galarcep, one of the most trusted reporters in US soccer. Former US goalkeeper Brad Friedel will soon be announced as the 7th manager in New England Revolution history.

Friedel had a brilliant career that spanned over 20 years and, aside from a 38 game stint in Columbus, entirely abroad. His 544 professional matches saw him suit up for the likes of Turkish giants Galatasaray and England's Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in 82 matches for the United States.

Former Rev and current ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman first broke the news that Friedel was at the top of the Revs wish list.


The news has proven to be polarizing early on. Some fans wanted a more proven choice with more managerial experience, while others argue that bringing Friedel in is just as risky as hiring a European manager like former Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti (not that the Revs had any chance in the slightest to land him).

Among the names in the running were New York Cosmos manager Gio Savarese, US national team assistant Pat Noonan, San Jose assistant Steve Ralston and US U-18 coach Omid Namazi. Bruce Arena, former LA Galaxy head man and USMNT manager from 1998-2006 and most recently November 2016 (following the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann) until his recent dismissal after the US failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, was the other finalist opposite Friedel.

Following his playing days, Friedel has worked as a broadcaster for FOX Sports while coaching the US U-19's not he side. Friedel has been at the helm of the U-19s since their inception in January 2016. Under the former US international, the Baby Nats hold an 8-8 record, though they have not played a match since a 2-1 win over El Salvador in early February 2017.

It may be fair to say he could be a bit rusty when it comes to being a head coach as a result. And the entire situation makes it fair to question the hire. You have a raw coach now with a team that got the previous manager in Jay Heaps, a Revolution legend, fired in September. This is not a rebuilding team in the slightest. I would be far more confident in the move if the Revs were starting from scratch and Freidel were really able to set his team up the way he wanted. But you currently have a squad full of MLS veterans, and good ones at that despite their underachieving nature we have seen the past few seasons.


So instead we get Friedel being thrown to the wolves and being expected to figure out how to get the likes of Lee Nguyen, Kei Kamara, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo, etc. to click. One thing I will say is that he inherits an interesting defensive situation. The back line has been a mish-mosh of personnel. Cody Cropper will be the likely #1 choice at goalie again next season, so hopefully Friedel can help the youngster take his game to the next level, while also helping the likes of Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Claude Dielna, Benjamin Angoua (if he comes back) and Chris Tierney gel into a better defensive unit.

Adding to the Revs problems, in my eyes, is the problem with the personalities in the dressing room. You have a lot of egos to manage, which is why Savarese was a hot choice among fans given his experience in that type of setting. We saw Tierney wear the captains armband a few times late in the season despite Nguyen actually being the captain. Hopefully Friedel can nail down the egos and get a strong identity starting with a captain who will wear the armband whenever he is on the field.

All in all, its not really a great situation for Friedel to come into as his first true professional managing gig.

Friedel is friendly with Revs GM Michael Burns as well, so there is some familiarity in that regard.
On Burns, prominent soccer agent Ron Waxman had choice words regarding the man and the hiring of Friedel.




The tidbit on other teams or agents not wanting to deal with the Revs (read: Burns) is the most  troubling thing in that thread. This would make Brad's job that much harder in trying to shape the roster to his liking. There was an unconfirmed report on Reddit that former Rev defender AJ Soares refused to come back to the team  few years ago as long as Burns was still involved, and these Tweets from Waxman only add to the legitimacy of the rumor.


It's an interesting time to be a Revs fan. We have a new, inexperienced manager who will try top deal with a roster in a weird place and a GM who apparently has no fans around the rest of the US Soccer community. Can Friedel set up a style of play suited for today's MLS? Can avoid the mistake of Jay Heaps and adapt fast enough to keep New England competitive and keep himself employed? What will this fresh mind do with this Revs roster?

The last two points on Friedel, one for and one against:

Against-He played for Tottenham and I, as an Arsenal fan, cannot root for him on principle.

For-He looks like Red Skull from Captain America.

Bonus Point-Hopefully he can add the Boston Accent to his already weird voice. 


It's not quite English and not quite American and almost sounds a bit Dutch. His accent doesn't have home. We will give your voice a home in Boston, Brad. Drop your R's and come home. 

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