The Columbus Crew continued to fill out their coaching staff on Friday before next week’s MLS SuperDraft, adding MLS goalkeeping great Pat Onstad and European coaching veteran Rob Maaskant to the squad.
“Both of today’s hires make our club stronger heading into the 2014 season,” Crew sporting director and head coach Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. “Pat is very professional in how he approaches the game, and he brings versatility to his new role. He has great League experience and a winning pedigree, and those are attributes that attracted us to bringing him onboard.
“Rob brings a wealth of experience to the table and tactical knowledge to the first team from his career across Europe. He’s also going to be a strong resource for our club.”
Onstad (above) is well known in MLS circles as one of the most successful goalkeepers in league history and a three-time MLS Cup winner with the San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo. He was also a two-time MLS Goalkepeer of the Year (2003 and 2005) before he retired in 2010.
Onstad last served as the chief scout for Toronto FC, but also spent two seasons as an assistant with D.C. United in 2011-2012. Josh Wolff – who the Crew named as an assistant earlier this offseason – also worked with D.C. in 2012-2013.
Maaskant arrives from a coaching stint at Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk. His head coaching tenure has also included Dutch first-division and second-division club management as well as time in the United States in the Premier Development League with the Houston Dutch Lions in 2012.
An eight-year pro with various clubs in Europe, Maaskant played with Berlhalter at Dutch side FC Zwolle during the 1994-95 season.
In other coaching news released Friday, the New England Revolution announced they have added former MLS head coach Tom Soehn to the staff as an assistant.
Perhaps best known for his successful stints as an assistant coach under Bob Bradley with the Chicago Fire and later with Peter Nowak at D.C. United, Soehn served as the head coach in DC when the team won the Supporters' Shield in 2007 and the US Open Cup in 2008. He stepped down from the position after the 2009 season and went on to serve as the Vancouver Whitecaps' first director of soccer operations. He oversaw the club's acclimation to MLS during its expansion season in 2011 and served as interim head coach for five months that season before the two sides eventually parted ways in Nov. 2012.
“I’m very excited to add Tom to our staff,” Revolution head coach Jay Heaps said. “He brings a tremendous amount of experience in MLS – as a successful assistant coach, head coach and team executive – which will prove valuable to the Revolution. Tom was someone I very much respected as both a player and an opposing coach, and we’re excited to get him working with the team and the staff this weekend.”
Said Soehn: “I’m excited to join the New England Revolution. I’m looking forward to getting to work with Jay and the staff and beginning our work for the 2014 season."
