New York Cosmos coach was interview candidate

On Wednesday, Empire of Soccer put out an article about numerous MLS teams considering New York Cosmos head coach and team sporting director Giovanni Savarese as a coaching target. The Seattle Sounders were mentioned in the article as being a team looking at Savarese.

We have been able to confirm Empire of Soccer’s report that Savarese was being considered to be the next head coach of the Sounders. A Sounders source told us he was on their list of potential candidate and likely would have been interviewed if they ever actually starting interviewing candidates. Brian Schmetzer’s performance — and eventual hiring — has obviously rendered that process moot, but Savarese is the first publicly identified candidate.

Since Savarese was announced as the head coach of the Cosmos in 2013, he has been extremely successful. He has led them to two league titles in 2013 and 2015. In his time as the Cosmos head coach, he has a record of 55-19-29 (W-L-T).

Prior to being named head coach, he took the role of Director of the Cosmos Academy in 2010 with a focus on developing youth talent in New York.

Savarese also spent five years playing in MLS, from 1996-2000: three years with the New York MetroStars (1996-1998), one year with the New England Revolution (1999), and one year with the San Jose Earthquakes (2000). He played over 8,000 minutes in his MLS career and scored a total of 51 goals and added 15 assists.

Savarese basically checks all the boxes MLS teams are looking for, and the NASL is having all sorts of issues currently. He seems to be a hot commodity at the moment and I would expect him to become a coach in MLS sooner rather than later.