US Women's National Team 2008

New thread as we look to see who the new coach will be, what new tactics she/he might bring, and which players (new or old) will be called to play for the team in 2008.

I'd like to see Jerry Smith from SCU get the job but I like some of the other candidates I've seen on rumored short lists: Sundhage, Sermanni, Krikorian, even DiCicco as an interim coach just for this Olympics.

whoever the new coach is, it looks like the first issue will be to deal with reinstatement of Hope Solo and how that will affect the team. If Wambach & Lily still have a major problem with Solo, I fear that she will not be part of the squad, new coach or not.

Smith just signed a new long-term (8 years, I think) deal at Santa Clara. Not that those can't be broken, but I think he has a pretty comfortable situation at Santa Clara. It's also been a number of years since he's worked with the USSF, either with any of the youth teams or at their coaching schools.

Here's a couple of articles talking about the candidates;

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...root=us&cc=5901

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20...1s24soccer.html

Yes. Smith is in a great situation at SCU but maybe he might be tempted with the four year challenge - especially with the possibility that his wife Brandi could hold the SCU job for him for that time.

Don't get me wrong. Smith would be at or near the top of my list if I were Sunil. His SCU teams play the kind of soccer I think the national team needs to gravitate towards.

I just don't see him making the change unless the money is just too good, the USSF buys his way out of the SCU contract (should that be necessary) and he's in the mood for a life change/challenge. It's the latter I think he'd struggle with the most.

And wouldn't naming Jerry Smith, aka Mr. Chastain, be a continuation of the influence of the US' golden generation of players? Plus if I recall that Mark Zeigler article cited a few weeks ago here, Brandi Chastain was one of the leaders of the rebellion against April Heinrichs, a rebellion which was not looked upon pleasantly by the powers that be in the federation. I just don't see Gulati now handing over the job to Chastain's husband.

Is it completely out of question that one of the US' golden generation of players becomes a coach (the coach)?

I have to think that somebody from that group went into coaching or wants to go into coaching.

I guess that is my real question...did any of those players venture out into coaching?

Besides April Heinrichs, the only one I know who has been the head coach at a major institution is Carin Jennings-Gabarra who has been at Navy for a decade plus.

Brandi Chastain was an assistant at SCU for several years before WUSA started and right afterward. Others may be assistants or coaching clubs but I'm not aware of those situations.

As for the rebellion, Mia Hamm was a leader in Heinrichs's ouster and now she's on the search committee for the new head coach. With Hamm on the committee, I still think Jim Gabarra has a great chance to be named interim head coach for the 2008 Olympics.

From what I'm hearing, don't be surprised if Tony DiCicco returns.

Bruce Arena is available now too!

Seriously sounds like DiCicco would be the best possible choice.

I know that DiCicco has interviewed and came away from his interview feeling very good about his prospects. Doesn't necessarily mean he'll be the choice but, like X, I think he'd be a good choice. I'd have to agree.

DiCicco would be a safe popular choice for the Olympics. Since he's already contracted to coach in the new league in 2009, this would give USSF time to find a candidate who can build the next World Cup team to challenge Germany in 2011.

My understanding is that DiCicco would give up the Boston job. Was told yesterday, it's down to him and Sundhage.

Announcement scheduled for this afternoon. Washington Post's Steven Goff says it'll be Sundhage.

Sunil Gulati always wnated to hire a foreign coach for the US national team, oops that was the other gender's national team!

And Sundhage is the new coach. This article paints a good picture of her and her ability to relate with her players. You'll also note in the linked article that she intends on bringing Hope Solo back onto the team and that she also wants to install a possession style game. In other words she seems the antithesis of Greg Ryan who can now go relive his life's ambition and become a Pat Onstad impersonator!

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-u...ov=ap&type=lgns