How Swede it is: Quakes hire Stahre as new coach
European replaces Leitch in team’s latest staff shakeup
The pivot toward Europe has continued for the Earthquakes, who Friday named Swede Mikael Stahre as the team’s fourth coach in four years.
Stahre of BK Hacken will replace Chris Leitch, who after 18 games of coaching returns to his position at the team’s technical director. Chief assistant Alex Covelo also steps aside to continue his job as director of methodology.
But the Quakes will retain assistant Steve Ralston, who came to San Jose three years ago with former coach Dominic Kinnear.
General manager Jesse Fioranelli made the change six months after promoting Leitch in a stunning midseason shift. At the time, the new general manager said Leitch wasn’t a stopgap after Kinnear’s dismissal.
But Friday Fioranelli said he and Leitch reconsidered after
the season ended in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs with an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at Vancouver.
“With Mika, we realized the priorities we have for the next years to come align with his skill set and track record,” Fioranelli said in a conference call Friday.
Stahre, 42, has coached for a decade, mostly in Sweden with clubs including Vasby United, AIK, and IFK Goteborg. He also coached in Greece and China.
Hacken finished fourth in the recently concluded Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top league. Stahre had a 14-610 record, and plus 14 goaldifferential in his only season with the Hedge. Hacken had finished 10th the previous year.
Fioranelli had a previous relationship with the Stockholm native, who was one of three finalists to take the Earthquakes in a new direction.
“What struck my mind is the players we’ve spoken with said this is a coach who gives” them “security,” Fioranelli said. “He makes me feel like I can improve. With Mikeal we have a great leader.”
Although the Quakes made the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time since 2012, Leitch’s rookie campaign was marked by inconsistent performances. The Quakes were 7-9-2 under Leitch with all of the losses lopsided.
Leitch had been asked to step onto the field from his executive role when Fioranelli decided to let Kinnear go in June. The former Earthquakes fullback had no managerial experience other than earning coaching licenses in France.
The second half of the season was marked by upheaval with Leitch replacing all-star goalkeeper David Bingham for newcomer Andrew Tarbell. Also, designated player Simon Dawkins and veteran Cordell Cato were cast aside for reasons that have yet to surface publicly.
The changes perhaps were inevitable with a Swiss new general manager tasked with re-energizing a lowly
club that has made the playoffs only three times since re-entering MLS in 2008.
Fioranelli, who worked with AS Roma before joining the Quakes, has brought a European flavor to the roster and now the coaching staff. Stahre probably will hire an assistant to replace Covelo and a goalkeeper coach to take over for Tim Hanley, who part ways with the club last week.
“I’m going to give everything I have to the Quakes and I am very excited about being a part of the future of the club,” Stahre said in a
statement.
MLS teams have not always fared well with foreign coaches perhaps because of a cultural chasm. But Fioranelli said the coach’s nationality had no bearing on the hire.
“We want to stay true to the players in the United States,” he said.
Argentine Tata Martino has immediately turned Atlanta United into an Eastern Conference power in its first season. Martino has coached the Argentina and Paraguay national teams and FC Barcelona.