Two major coaching announcements were made on Friday in Los Angeles. Here is a breakdown of what happened and who will be taking the reigns in the City of Angels.
L.A Galaxy
On Thursday, the L.A Galaxy announced that there were parting ways with Curt Onalfo and had hired none other than legendary MLS coach Sigi Schmid. Schmid, who is the winningest head coach in MLS history, left the Seattle Sounders almost exactly one year ago. Coincidentally, the first match Schmid will coach for the Galaxy will be against his former team.
“After a great deal of evaluation and careful consideration, we believe that Sigi Schmid is the best person to coach our team for the remainder of this season and into the future,” said LA Galaxy President Chris Klein in a statement provided by the team. “Sigi is one of the most experienced coaches in the history of soccer in the United States and he is an extremely successful manager that has proven himself to be a winner within Major League Soccer. Sigi has been one of the best coaches the history of our league and we have full confidence in him to lead our team moving forward.”
LAFC
On the same day, LAFC announced their inaugural head coach. The newest MLS franchise will be led by former U.S Men’s National Team coach Bob Bradley. Bradley, whose son Michael Bradley plays for Toronto FC, most recently became the first American head coach in England’s Premier League when he spent part of the 2016-2017 season as the head coach of Swansea City.
Bradley has an extensive coaching history, becoming the first American to manage a top-flight European club when he was the head coach of Stabæk Football in Norway. He has coached in MLS twice before, serving as the head coach for the Chicago Fire from 1998 to 2004 and Chivas USA in 2006. He has been with MLS since the beginning, serving as the assistant head coach to Bruce Arena when he managed D.C United in 1996. He will be leading LAFC into their first MLS season and their first year together as a team.
