Even if he's unfamiliar with the actual responsibilities of his new job as technical director for Red Bull New York, Jeff Agoos was back in familiar territory Saturday night. He was in the bowels of Giants Stadium, accepting congratulations from some of the Chicago Fire players on their way to pregame warmups.
Make no mistake, Agoos is happy to be back in MLS, happy to be back in New York, even if he's not sure what he's going to do with the New York Red Bulls as of Jan. 1.
"I've got to be honest," said Agoos, whose wife works in Manhattan as a producer for ABC News. "I really don't know what this is going to entail. It's going to be a pretty steep learning curve, the first year for sure. My responsibility, as I've been told, is everything on the soccer side; whatever I can do to make this team better and win championships."
Winning championships is something Agoos knows better than anyone else in the history of Major League Soccer. He has five MLS Cup rings, winning three with D.C. United and two with the San Jose Earthquakes. He's an eight-time All-Star, a three-time MLS Best XI selection, MLS Defender of the Year in 2001 and a member of the league's All-Time Best XI in 2005.
But while his individual accomplishments are unparalleled, Agoos knows it won't be a solo effort as he makes the transition from player to front office staff.
"It's not going to be me and the rest of the team," he said. "We're going to have to work together. The staff is going to work together to put this thing together."
Agoos will get to work closely with Bruce Arena, someone he's played for at the University of Virginia, D.C. United and the U.S. national team. And he'll do so alongside former D.C. teammates John Harkes and Richie Williams.
"Soccer is a small world, especially in the United States," Agoos said. "It's a 3,000-mile country from coast to coast but it is very small in terms of who you know and the circles you go in. These are certainly people I have a tremendous amount of respect for."
Officially, Agoos will be responsible for scouting players at the amateur and professional levels, both domestically and internationally. He will also work with the MLS league office on technical matters pertaining to the club.
He retired from professional soccer following the 2005 season, a year in which he started 25 games for the MetroStars. Agoos, who is second all-time with 134 national team caps, got to witness the World Cup from a different perspective this summer, broadcasting games for XM Satellite Radio.
"It was great. It was sort of an eye-opening perspective because I get to learn things from your perspective, trying to figure out the work going in, learning what guys are like, learning formations," Agoos told a pair of reporters. "When you're doing a game like Ecuador and South Korea, for example, you don't know a lot about those players because you don't see them a lot. So you have to do a lot of groundwork. I got to learn the business from a different viewpoint, which was great. Plus, I got to see the World Cup -- every game -- to be at the World Cup and enjoy the experience."
His most memorable moment in Germany?
"Portugal and Holland obviously was pretty memorable," Agoos said. "I called the game, and so it was very memorable. You have the Zidane incident in the final.
"I was at the first game. We did it live in the stadium in Germany. The first goal was unbelievable (by) the Germany left back (Philipp Lahm). Absolutely incredible. That really put Germany on the path in doing what they did (finishing third overall)."
Is Agoos, himself a left back, a bit biased?
"That's why I said it was incredible," he joked. "I called it the goal of the tournament."
Agoos is excited about opening a new chapter in his life, another opportunity in the sport he loves.
"I've had a little more than a year off by the time I get back to this in January, it's good," he said. "I've had plenty of time off. I think it was time to get into something and this opportunity presented itself. It's something that's a good fit. I know Bruce, I know Richie and I know John. It was something I was very interested in doing."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
