The LA Galaxy today confirmed Greg Vanney, who previously headed Toronto FC, as their new coach.
The job has been vacant since Guillermo Barros Schelotto was fired with three games to go in the 2020 regular season, a season in which the Galaxy failed to make it to the postseason for the third time in four years.
Kinnear, part of the Galaxy’s assistant for the past four seasons, has assumed the role on an interim basis for the second time in his tenure at the club.
Vanney resigned from Toronto on December 1 after an affair with the Reds that lasted nearly seven seasons. Prior to his arrival, Toronto had never qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, but with Vanney, the team became one of the elite teams in MLS.
In 2017, the Reds won a domestic treble of the MLS Cup, Supporters Shield and Canadian Championship. Toronto reached the MLS Cup finals two more times and also won the Canadian Championship in 2016 and 2018. His overall record with the Reds was 112-82-56.
When announcing his departure from Toronto after a season that saw the team relocate to Hartford, Connecticut for part of the campaign due to travel restrictions from COVID-19, Vanney gave mixed signals about how soon he would return. lead.
On the one hand, he said he wasn’t the type of person to “sit still for a long time,” but he also said he needed a “mental health break”. Now it looks like his period away from management will be very short.
In Los Angeles, Vanney will try to restore the Galaxy to its former glory, a history that spans five MLS Cups.
Vanney spent seven seasons with the Galaxy during his playing career, one in which he joined teams that won the 1998 Supporters Shield, the 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup and the 2001 US Open Cup. He was also part of the team. for DC United who won the 2007 Supporters Shield.
Vanney also spent time playing with France’s Bastia, FC Dallas and Colorado Rapids.
Internationally, Vanney played 37 games for the USMNT, scoring one goal. He was part of the team that won the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.