The wait is almost over: We are just 6 days from #MLSisBack, the same number of days as new coaches in 2019.
Last season saw a record amount of turnover in head coaches in Major League Soccer, with nine clubs parting ways with managers in 2018. Three took over during the season, leaving six fresh faces for this season.
The faces aren't unknown, though.
Columbus Crew SC hired former Portland Timbers boss Caleb Porter, while the LA Galaxy appointed former MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Supporters of the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC should remember new San Jose Earthquakes boss Matias Almeyda, as he guided Chivas to a Concacaf Champions League title last year, eliminating TFC and RBNY along the way.
Former LAFC assistant Marc Dos Santos takes over the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2019, FC Dallas promoted academy director Luchi Gonzalez to head coach while Atlanta United hired former FC Barcelona and Holland star Frank de Boer.
De Boer inherits the league's reigning champions, but with great teams and star players comes pressure and expectations. He had tremendous success in his first managerial gig with Ajax, winning four consecutive league titles, but didn't last long with Inter Milan, nor Crystal Palace.
Porter returns to Ohio, where he built an NCAA powerhouse at the University of Akron, to lead the Crew's new era under new ownership and leadership, with former TFC mastermind Tim Bezbatchenko appointed club president.
Almeyda has enjoyed success wherever he's managed, winning trophies at River Plate, Banfield and Chivas. He managed against Schelotto when the two were in Argentina; now the pair will add another wrinkle to the Cali Classico as GBS joins the Galaxy from Boca Juniors, where he won two league titles and finished runner-up to Pity Martinez and River Plate in the 2018 Copa Libertadores.
Dos Santos has helped the Whitecaps undergo a complete rebuild this offseason, with 15 players in and 21 players out. The club are without four of their top five leading scorers from 2018 as Dos Santos truly made a clean slate to build on this offseason.
Gonzalez will help FC Dallas turn up the volume on their already well-trodden path from academy-to-first-team in 2019.
How will the six new bosses fare in 2019?
