The New England Revolution have hired Brad Friedel as their new head coach, according to Goal.com’s Ives Galarcep.
The US national team’s starting goalkeeper at the 2002 World Cup and a longtime standout in the English Premier League, Friedel has never coached a professional team. He spent the last two years as head coach of the US Under-19 national team while also working as an analyst for FOX.
Galarcep also reported that New England chose Friedel after first contacting ex-USMNT coach Bruce Arena about the job. He added that an announcement about the hire could come as soon as Friday.
ESPN’s Taylor Twellman reported on Monday that Friedel was at the top of the Revs’ wish list for their head coaching position. New England fired former head coach Jay Heaps in September, and were led for the final five games of the season by interim head coach Tom Soehn. Galarcep reported that Soehn and assistant Carlos Llamosa were fired by the club on Monday.
Friedel, 46, played in MLS with the Columbus Crew in 1996 and 1997. The Ohio native left the league to sign with Liverpool after the 1997 season and spent the next 18 years in the Premier League, racking up 476 career appearances with Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa and Tottenham before retiring in 2015.
In addition to Friedel, Arena and Soehn, the Revs also interviewed New York Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese, USMNT assistant Pat Noonan, San Jose assistant Steve Ralston and US U-18 head coach Omid Namazi, according to Galarcep and a variety of other media outlets.
