The New England Revolution have hired Brad Friedel as their new head coach, sources have confirmed to Goal.
The former U.S. national team goalkeeper and longtime Premier League standout will take over the Revs in what will be his first professional head coaching job. Friedel spent the past two years coaching the U.S. Under-19 national team along with working as a television analyst for Fox.
Sources tell Goal that New England chose Friedel after initially reaching out to former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena about the job. After some initial discussions with Arena, the Revs ultimately decided to hire Friedel. An announcement could come as soon as Friday.
ESPN analyst and former Revolution star Taylor Twellman first reported Monday that Friedel was the front-runner for the position.
The 46-year-old World Cup veteran returns to MLS 20 years after leaving the league as a player with the Columbus Crew to embark on what would wind up being a record-setting career in Europe. He retired with Tottenham after the 2014-15 season, having spent time with Spurs, Liverpool, Blackburn and Aston Villa.
A U.S. international who starred at the 2002 World Cup, Friedel will look to help turn around a New England team that endured another disappointing season, which saw the firing of longtime coach Jay Heaps. Assistant coach Tom Soehn delivered good results during his stint in charge late in 2017 but was ultimately passed over for the job after being interviewed for the position. Soehn and assistant coach Carlos Llamosa were let go by the Revs on Monday.
New York Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese, U.S. national team assistant Pat Noonan, San Jose assistant Steve Ralston and U.S. U-18 coach Omid Namazi were among the other candidates to interview for the position.