Of all the MLS Year-End Awards up for grabs in 2024, arguably none stirs up as much debate as Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year.
That was evident on the latest Extratime podcast, with co-hosts Andrew Wiebe and Matt Doyle each making a compelling case for two frontrunners: Inter Miami CF's Gerardo "Tata" Martino and Columbus Crew's Wilfried Nancy.
According to Doyle, both candidates have made an impact beyond anything else previously felt in MLS.
"I think you could argue that these are the two best coaches that the league has ever seen in terms of what they’ve been able to do in both winning and player development," he said.
The case for Nancy
Ultimately, Doyle sided with with Nancy, who raised the bar on last year's MLS Cup-winning campaign by leading the Crew to the Concacaf Champions Cup final, the Leagues Cup 2024 title and a club-record 63-point haul in 2024 as Columbus head into the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs with their sights set on back-to-back league crowns.
"MLS teams aren’t built to compete for trophies across multiple competitions like that, and Wilfried Nancy has gotten this team to do it across three separate competitions," Doyle said. "... It’s a sort of a masterclass in showing what can be done if you have the ability to identify and develop talent and put players into positions to succeed.
"... Finding ways to manage that, it kind of blows my mind. And the best part of it, for me, is that this team plays such aesthetically pleasing, ambitious soccer."
The case for Tata
Wiebe countered that Inter Miami's Supporters' Shield-winning campaign and possible MLS single-season points record would not have been possible without Martino at the helm.
"Here’s my case for Tata: this team has been under the most pressure ever, he has managed more than one, more than two – a handful of players that no other manager in MLS history really has been asked to manage – certainly not in that scale," Wiebe said, referring to Miami's superstar-studded lineup featuring Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, among others.
However, Martino kept the Herons atop the league standings throughout the year even amid the long-term absence of Messi and several key players.
"They have just responded at every single turn, and so much of that to me isn’t just about the talent of the players on the field, it’s about a coach who could basically manage two different teams – one with Messi, one without Messi," Wiebe said.
"... It just feels to me that all the different attributes that a manager needs to pull on the levers have been pulled on, and it’s worked. And they’re doing something in this season, regular season, that’s historic. And not just historic, but responding to that level of pressure? I don't know. To me, the job Tata’s done is just absolutely spectacular."
