Attacking Options

Soccer America is reporting that Chicago's coaching search is down to either Tom Soehn or Jesse Marsch. I've seen no mention of Eric Wynalda since his name showed up on ChicagoNow, which makes me think that someone, somewhere, was trying to get Waldo's name into the conversation, and played Sam to make it happen.

As for Soehn and Marsch, I'm biased heavily towards Jesse, mostly because I don't see much difference between Soehn and Denis Hamlett. If we're going to go with a former MLS defender who struggled to get offensive production from a talented lineup, why get rid of Denis in the first place? That's not "a different direction."

Jesse Marsch is an unknown as a coach, and I don't dispute that, but I think he's got the pedigree -- primarily the Ivy League degree -- that will convey to owner Andrew Hauptman that he knows what he's talking about and should be left alone. Given all the talk of how hands-on and micromanaging Hauptman can be, there are really only two kinds of managers that will work. Either you get a pushover that has to kowtow to whatever crazy shit Hauptman read on Internet message boards this week, or you get someone who can convince him to back off. What I'm hoping is that Marsch can get over any rookie coach jitters and demonstrate his knowledge of the game to the point where he could gain some independence. Denis Hamlett clearly never got over that hump.

Neither of these two choices gives me as much confidence for developing younger players -- or rehabilitating someone like Eddie Johnson, if we could get our hands on him -- as someone like John Trask from UIC, but I could be wrong there. And I'm not entirely sure how either a former defender or defensive midfielder is the key to unlocking the attacking potential of the team that everyone likes to go on and on about.