The U.S. Soccer Federation is in no rush to name the new men's national team head coach, reports the Washington Post's Steven Goff.
Citing multiple sources familiar with the situation surrounding the vacant USMNT post, Goff's report on Monday morning states that the USSF is not planning to fill the position before the organization's presidential election in February and may even wait until until after next summer's World Cup to appoint the team's next full-time head coach.
The US have been without a head coach since Bruce Arena stepped down in October following the team's failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia. Arena's assistant, Dave Sarachan, led the team in a Nov. 14 friendly against Portugal, and would likely return for the team's annual January camp as well as a Jan. 28 friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In addition to one source saying that an appointment before the USSF presidential election is "highly unlikely," sources also added that the federation had not decided what process to use in hiring a coach, and that the federation has not interviewed anyone for the job or created a formal list of candidates.
The federation has issued one official statement on the coaching situation since Arena resigned his post:
“As this is the start of a five-year project to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and grow the national team, we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to find the right coach to lead the program. As such, there is no specific timetable. We are developing a strategic approach to selecting the next head coach, and we will be thorough and methodical.”
For more details on the coaching search, as well as how the upcoming presidential election may affect the search, be sure to check out the full report in the Washington Post.
