With MLS on a break for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, this seems as good a time as any to talk about first-half superlatives – in this case, the Midseason Coach of the Year.
We polled members of the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff on the issue, and here are their takes on the best head coaches so far:
Matthew Doyle, Senior Writer
Veljko Paunovic (Chicago Fire). And it's not particularly close for the exact same reasons everyone else is saying. Nobody's done back-to-back Wooden Spoons before, and now the Fire are following that up by averaging 2 ppg and sitting atop the Shield standings. The coach gets dap for that.
Simon Borg, Editor-in-Chief
Patrick Vieira (NYCFC.
The Frenchman has had to integrate no fewer than seven new starters into NYCFC in 2017, including four international newcomers to MLS (Callens, Wallace, Ring, Sweat, Herrera, Johnson, Moralez). That's even more than the revamped Fire and it comes on top of managing a tricky Andrea Pirlo situation. Meanwhile, Tommy McNamara was named to the preliminary roster for the Gold Cup under Vieira's tutelage and young Jack Harrison, who Vieira has continued to nurture, is probably not too far behind.
Benjamin Baer, New Media Editor
Veljko Paunovic (Chicago Fire).
He and GM Nelson Rodriguez implemented a vision for what this club could be when they entered the picture prior to the 2016 season. Just 20 months later, they have built the Fire up from the worst team into the league to possibly the best. It's quite an accomplishment.
Charles Boehm, Contributor
Toronto FC are tied with Chicago atop the Conference and Supporters' Shield standings. They've lost only three games in the league, and four across all competitions, are the only MLS team with a winning record both at home and away, and already won a trophy, their second straight Canadian Championship.
And they've done all that despite Seba Giovinco suffering through a slow start and missing more than a month's worth of action — part of an extended period in which the Reds had to do without one or more of their star DPs. Greg Vanney (Toronto FC) has adeptly juggled all this, plus an at-times brutal schedule, a deep roster with no shortage of egos and personalities, and arguably the league's most nuanced tactical outlook.
David Gass, ExtraTime Radio host
Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas).
Would Toronto FC be on the top of the standings if they were missing Giovinco? Would Chicago without Nikolic or Schweinsteiger? Pareja kept FC Dallas in the Top 3 on points-per-game without Mauro Diaz, his best player. That cannot be overlooked.
Nicholas Rosano, Senior Editor
Veljko Paunovic (Chicago Fire).
Forget worst to first – the Chicago Fire have risen from the pits of despair to first, and they’ve played some damn fine soccer along the way.
