San Jose Earthquakes set to hire Luchi Gonzalez as manager: report
The San Jose Earthquakes have reportedly decided on their next manager, but it’ll be a while before he takes over.
Luchi Gonzalez, a former MLS player who made his senior team debut with the Earthquakes, is set to head up the team, according to a report from MLSSoccer.com’s Tom Bogert. The team has scheduled a news conference Wednesday afternoon to announce its new head coach, but did not identify their choice.
Gonzalez is currently an assistant with the US men’s national team, which is set to participate in the Qatar World Cup in November. He will begin his tenure with the Quakes following
San Jose is currently in 13th place in the 14-team Western Conference, nine points away from the seventh and final playoff spot.
Currently heading up San Jose’s senior team is Alex Covelo, the interim manager called up from Earthquakes II in April when the team fired Matías Almeyda following a 0-4-3 start to the season. Under Covelo, the Quakes have been middling with a 5-7-6 record, unable to climb out of the hole made early in the year.
Gonzalez, now 42, was drafted by the Quakes with the sixth overall pick in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft, but he only played 47 minutes in his rookie year before being dealt to Columbus and eventually moving to Swedish side Bodens BK. He made a stateside return with the Colorado Rapids in 2005 and 2006, then played with second-tier teams Miami FC and the Minnesota Thunder.
Following his playing career, Gonzalez got into coaching and spent time as the academy director for FC Dallas, eventually rising to senior team manager for the club before the 2019 season.
He spent three seasons at the helm of FC Dallas, going 28-26-32 before being fired and signing on as an assistant with the USMNT.
Gonzalez, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Peru, will take over an organization that has finished higher than sixth in the Western Conference just once since returning to San Jose as an MLS franchise in 2008.
