The search for the next USMNT head coach is always taking turns, and one new aim for the side could be Rafa Benitez. As one of the top coaches of the last 20 years, Rafa Benitez has had managerial success in both Spain and England. His resume includes stops at Liverpool, Real Madrid and clubs in Serie A. He had varying success with different clubs, but he remains one of the top coaches without a club or country. Guillem Balague, a renowned Spanish journalist, has pipped Rafa Benitez as a sensible option to fill the void at the USMNT.
The USMNT has lacked direction at the top. At times, the side has looked disjointed between the Federation and the players on the field. Gregg Berhalter never fit that role, instead playing up to US Soccer during his lengthy tenure with the USMNT. In Balague’s eyes, Benitez could be that person.
“Rafael Benitez is someone who would bring [the USMNT] a manager or a coach who would make the team better,” Balague said on CBS’s Morning Footy. “He’s got the bigger picture in his head. He has been a manager in England, China where he developed the academy as well as the first team. Of course, he comes from Spain and has been at the academy of Real Madrid. Imagine if he put all that not just in the men’s first team, but also in the Federation.”
That is what makes Benitez such a fascinating candidate should US Soccer reach out to him. Benitez would take his experience as a first-team coach for nearly the last 30 years and apply it to the USMNT and US Soccer as a whole.
“He would not just want to be the coach,” Balague said. “He would be a guy that helps develop football in the United States.”
The concern with Benitez, if US Soccer were to offer him a contract, is if he would be a good fit with the USMNT. His stops at clubs in Europe often end prematurely. Poor results have led to midseason firings multiple times. That is what happened at Everton and Celta Vigo, the two jobs he held most recently.
However, tournaments are somewhere Benitez has done well. The standout of those is the UEFA Champions League triumph in 2005 with Liverpool. That was not necessarily the strongest team in England, let alone Europe. However, Benitez pulled out one of the biggest comebacks in soccer history by defeating AC Milan in Istanbul that year. He also won the Europa League and reached another Champions League Final during his career.
Tournaments are key for any national team as coaches have minimal time with their players. Benitez has never coached a national team, but he would be a recognizable name that the USMNT could need to jumpstart a period of success.
Talk of Benitez arose after another Spanish coach, Luis de la Fuente, said he was interested in joining the USMNT. The current Spanish national team head coach just won Euro 2024, so it was a shock to see reports linking him to the United States.
Balague pointed to the fact that de La Fuente is on very low wages with Spain. His rumors to move to the United States could be an easy way for his team to bump his wages after delivering Spain its fourth European Championship title. Consider it similar to a player demanding better wages, so the rumors begin swirling over a potential move. Balague does not see it as realistic that de le Fuente would want to leave Spain, particularly with the success a relatively young side showed at Euro 2024.
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