New England Revolution Name Brad Friedel Club's New Manager
U.S. men's national team goalkeeping great Brad Friedel is now an MLS manager.
The New England Revolution hired Friedel on Thursday, making him the successor to Jay Heaps, who was fired during a Revolution campaign that concluded with the club missing the playoffs. Tom Soehn, who took over in the interim after Heaps' dismissal, will not return, nor will any of his coaching staff. Friedel, who has been a coach in Tottenham's academy and with the USA U-19 national team, will embark on his first club head-coaching gig, leaving his post as an analyst at Fox Sports to take the helm of the MLS original.
Friedel, who backstopped the USA to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, was part of three World Cup teams and enjoyed an illustrious club career both at home, with the Columbus Crew, and abroad, with Liverpool, Tottenham, Galatasaray, Aston Villa and Blackburn.
“While Brad's professional playing pedigree speaks for itself, it is his competitive character and commitment to winning that make me confident his incredible career as a player will translate to success here in New England,” Revolution GM Michael Burns said in a statement. “He demands the best out of himself and his players and has a strong presence both in the locker room and on the sidelines, which is why we believe he is the best choice to lead the Revolution.”
According to Goal.com, Friedel emerged from an interview process and coaching search that included a number of big names–including recently resigned U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena and former Revolution players-turned-coaches Giovanni Savarese, Pat Noonan and Steve Ralston.
Friedel's hiring is the second coaching move in MLS in as many days after the Montreal Impact hired former Lyon and Aston Villa manager Remi Garde to take over for the ousted Mauro Biello.
