New England Revolution Hire Brad Friedel as Manager

“Brad has been a leader throughout his illustrious career and is regarded as one of the most successful players in U.S. history with experiences spanning multiple continents, leagues and levels of competition,” said Jonathon Kraft. “We believe his playing and coaching experiences along with his commitment to compete at the highest level will allow him to be very successful in our league.”

Friedel’s coaching experience doesn’t scream “MLS Head Coach” right away, but there is something there that must have grabbed the New England Revolution’s attention. He had been the head coach of the U-19 Men’s National Team since January of last year. He was also an assistant coach under Tab Ramos during the Under-20 team’s CONCACAF Championship triumph. Friedel does hold a UEFA Pro licenses, which is the highest one awarded by the federation. He also spent time coaching within the Tottenham academy setup during the end of his playing career there.

Friedel and the Revolution have also brought in new people to the coaching staff already. They’ve hired Mike Lapper and Marcelo Nevelef to the technical staff. Tom Soehn, Carlos Llamosa and Aidan Byrne will not be back with the club in 2018.

Final Thoughts

Friedel isn’t the most attractive coaching option out there, at least to the American soccer cult. Most die-hard Revs fans are concerned that this is just going to be Jay Heaps all over again: a significant name within US Soccer, but not at all the best candidate available.

While it would’ve been nice to see the Revs go out and do something crazy and hire Marco Bielsa or “Big Sam” Allardyce, or even Ronald Koeman, someone with legitimate coaching experience, Friedel is yet again a safe hire for an organization that loves to play it cheap and safe, at least with their soccer team.

The Revolution are never going to be like the Patriots. They’re never going to play it smart. They’re playing with house money with the Revs. That’s how it always is going to be. They’ll take the cheaper, less proven option time and time again because they don’t feel the pressure in New England when something goes wrong with the Revolution. I don’t want to say they don’t care, but they probably don’t care a whole lot.

That said, Friedel could still turn out to be a halfway decent hire. He has the licenses, has at least more experience than Jay Heaps, and is probably going to bring a much needed fresh outlook. Don’t count Friedel out yet. But Revs fans’ feelings about the hire are more than valid considering their teams track record when it comes to coaching hires.