3 Boxes Patrick Vieira Checks For The USMNT — And 1 He Doesn’t

According to TUDN reporter Michele Giannone, the search for a new U.S. men’s national team manager may be coming to a quick conclusion, with Giannone sharing on Thursday that former New York City FC and Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is in negotiations with U.S. Soccer to take the job.

While Vieira may not have been the top name on most lists when the job opened, he was certainly in the general conversation. And with his departure by mutual consent from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, made official on Thursday, it might be a matter of when — rather than if — he is unveiled by U.S. Soccer.

Assuming Vieira is the man, he would check a lot of boxes that critics of previous USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter and the USSF in general would have had on their hypothetical rubricks. But maybe not all of them.

Let’s take a closer look:

Familiarity With American Players

While the majority of Vieira’s playing and coaching experience comes in Europe, the former Arsenal and Inter Milan star made his senior managerial debut at New York City FC, where he spent two-and-a-half years in charge.

It’s a long enough tenure that Vieira should have gained a sense of the talent pool within America’s top domestic league beyond just his club, where he coached current USMNT pool players like goalkeeper Sean Johnson, Joe Scally and James Sands.

Vieira was the second manager hired by then-NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna, whose son Giovanni Reyna was part of the club’s youth setup at the time.

The younger Reyna — who is now a regular USMNT starter — moved to Dortmund’s academy in November of 2018, a few months after Vieira’s departure to take charge of Nice in Ligue 1.

Vieira also coached U.S. defender Chris Richards during his tenure at Crystal Palace.

Distance from U.S. Soccer’s Inner Circle

The link between Vieira and the older Reyna may ring some alarm bells among those who recall the ugly saga that involved Reyna and former U.S. manager Gregg Berhalater immediately following the 2022 World Cup.

But more generally, Vieira should have enough distance from inner circle of U.S. Soccer power brokers to avoid the kind of personal clashes that led to that saga.

The entirety of Vieiria’s development as a player came in Europe, through the French domestic league youth system and then in the English Premier League and Italian Serie A. With the exception of his NYCFC tenure, his coaching experience is also entirely from England and France.

Name Recognition

While Vieira’s credibility perhaps comes more from his playing career than his last nine years as a manager, he is the most known commodity to take the job since Jurgen Klinsmann.

Star power doesn’t make a good manager, but it does buy a level of confidence from a fanbase that had reservations that the U.S. wasn’t willing to go after someone with experience at the highest levels of the game.

Vieira won an astounding eight domestic league titles, was one of the youngest players on France’s 1998 World Cup winning squad, and a regular starter on the team that reached the 2006 final.

Managerial Track Record

This is the part where U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker might be taking a risk given the mixed record of Vieira’s managerial career.

Vieira hasn’t been bad anywhere. His NYCFC teams were a considerable improvement from that of the club’s first manager, Jason Kreis. And his teams at Nice and Crystal Palace never seriously flirted with relegation and at times drew plaudits for their playing style.

But NYCFC also improved after Vieira’s departure, and Vieira also wore out his welcome at the next two clubs. His Strasbourg side finished 13th in his lone campaign in charge last season, 10 points clear of the relegation places.