Speak English? You could be the next USMNT manager

Approaching 11 months since the disaster in Couva and the United States men’s national team still remains without a permanent manager. USMNT GM Earnie Stewart spoke to the media ahead of the team’s first post-World Cup friendly to give some interesting updates in the search process.

Stewart revealed on Thursday that he has yet to officially interview any candidates for the position, but has talked to “six or seven” potential managers or their agents in an informal fashion. He would not directly identify any of the names, according to reports.

One interesting revelation from the chat is that Stewart will require the next USMNT manager to be able to speak English.

That seemingly rules out some high profile candidates abroad who might be available and even possibly remove a name that has been bandied about a lot, Atlanta United’s Tata Martino.

Obviously communication is a huge requirement in sports, but as Martino himself proves, the language barrier is easily overcome if you know what you’re doing. To completely rule out a non-English speaking manager is an interesting development.

The timeline for when a manager will be hired still remains vague, but end of the year seems to be the goal and the appointment could come as early as November, according to ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle.

Stewart says that he’s currently drawing up a profile and then will narrow the candidates that fit that profile down to a short list.

“From a profile, a style of play, all those things, there will be somebody that jumps out in everybody’s mind...you will sit down with that candidate. That’s very clear. You’ll find out with everything we’ve already put in place and the characteristics if that all meets. It could be that it is one candidate.”

-Earnie Stewart; Source: ESPNFC

Stewart confirmed a report from earlier this week that the new manager would be based out of the USSF’s offices in Chicago. He also says that the hire will not be involved in picking the coach for the U-23 team that will attempt to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. That responsibility will fall on himself, Tab Ramos, and chief sport development officer Nico Romeijn.

While we’re still no closer to knowing who will be chosen to led the new look USMNT into the next cycle, we seem to have at least some vague parameters for what the GM is looking for and an idea of when a decision could be made.