Congratulations to Martin Vasquez. Thanks to the service he put in while a member of the Galaxy's staff in 2004 and prior, Vasquez was able to form a connection with Jurgen Klinsmann and now the latter is taking Vasquez to Germany. Vasquez has agreed to join Klinsmann on Bayern Munich's coaching staff for the 2008-2009 season.
Vasquez is one of the good guys. Why he has been unable to land a head coaching job in MLS before is beyond me.
Now Vasquez has six months to learn German and get himself situated in Bavaria. Not bad.
ADD: Okay, back now in front of a computer and not on my phone. Easier to type this way.
As a commenter pointed out, Vasquez has been with Chivas USA since 2005. Yes, I think I've ran across Martin a few times since I've been covering the team. He's always been the slender middle-aged assistant coach. He was that way under Thomas Rongen. He was like that under Hans Westerhof and Bob Bradley and Preki. He won't be around for the 08 season though. He's leaving his job effective immediately.
Maybe Martin's problem is that he's a bit reserved. He certainly isn't as talkative as Thomas Rongen and doesn't have the presence of a Bob Bradley. Westerhof and Preki are each somewhat loose cannons but they can crack the whip on the lads. Martin's more of a lead-by-example type and perhaps that's why he was passed on by. I mean, the guy's got credentials. He's the only player to ever play for both the US and Mexico national teams; he was a player in the league and went on to work as an assistant on both LA teams (and the Spirit of the WUSA before then). I was always amazed why his name didn't pop up more when a coaching job opened up around the league.
Vasquez was born in Mexico but came to the US when he was 12 and progressed through the levels here in the US. He played for Cal State LA before stints in the Mexican league with several teams, including Atlas. Pretty impressive. Now, he's gone the indirect route to Europe as well.
Anyway, congrats to Martin.
You forgot to mention he's been at Chivas USA since 2005. Damn, I miss Kornerpocket.
ReplyDeleteI posted that from my phone and got tired of writing that way but thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteVasquez has been with the team that passed him over three times for a coaching job, er, Chivas USA since 05.
What a great move for Vasquez, I think this makes him along with Bob Bradley the highest profile US coach. And since Klinsmann likes to delegate duties, Vasquez will certainly have a lot of responsibility with Bayern. You might even argue he will have the highest profile coaching job of any American. He'll definitely have more media and fan pressure on him than will Bradley!
ReplyDeleteIf Bayern are successful under Klinsmann, Vasquez will have a long list of future job opportunities. And frankly even if they aren't that successful, Vasquez should land on his feet.
I wish him well.
Martin has always been a classy guy. Preki is a character, but I was surprised Martin didn't get the coaching job.
ReplyDeleteI interviewed him once and he told me that one of the proudest moments he had as a player was in a U.S. uniform in Azteca, where the crowd began to cheer the Americans towards the end of the match. It remains the only time the U.S. has not lost at that stadium.