NASL Podcast Episode #30 – Interview with Minnesota Stars FC Head Coach Manny Lagos
Welcome to episode #30 of the IMSoccer News North American Soccer League Podcast.
In past weeks, Gerry Wittmann , Jay (Yankiboy) Long, and yours truly, Brian Quarstad, have been interviewing all 8 of the NASL head coaches.
So far we’ve interviewed Carolina RailHawks’ coach Colin Clarke, Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Ricky Hill, Atlanta Silverbacks’ Alex Pineda Chacón, FC Edmonton’s Harry Sinkgraven, San Antonio Scorpions’ Tim Hankinson, Puerto Rico Islanders’ Adrian Whitbread and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers’ coach Daryl Shore.
This week’s guest is Minnesota Stars FC Head Coach Manny Lagos.
Lagos played with the likes of Amos Magee and Tony Sanneh in high school for St. Paul Academy where his father, Buzz Lagos, a pioneer of the modern game in the US, coached the young players. They all went on to play for the Minnesota Thunder which Buzz founded and each played in MLS as well. Manuel spent some time in Europe but came back to be a member of the original New York Metro Stars. He went on to play for 5 MLS teams in 9 seasons and won 3 MLS Cups. He was also a member of the 1992 Olympic team and made several appearances for the US Men’s National Team.
This is the third season that Lagos has been at the helm for the Stars. Last year, after guiding his team to a 6th place finish, his team went on to win the inaugural 2011 NASL Championship and was named Coach of the Year.
In this podcast Lagos talks about the difficulties in finding players for a team that is league-owned. He also speaks about rookie Miguel Ibarra and tells his secret for his team’s knack of pulling out points late in games. We also talk to him about the recent disappointments of US National Team performances and he shares with us his perspective on youth development in the US.
Jay and Gerry and I also take a few minutes to run down this past week’s games.
Please join us in this latest episode of the IMSoccer News NASL Podcast.
You can find all past episodes of the North American Soccer League Podcast here.
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Great interview with Coach Manny. I have had the unique experiencing in having been able to watch him at all levels of his playing career and now watch him as a coach. While I enjoy watching Manny coach during matches, I love going to Stars training sessions and watching him train the young lads. Manny brings a passion and high level of intensity to his training sessions and soccer. Heis doing a great job carrying the torch for soccer in MN.
BQ, great comments about Manny and his humbleness. I always appreciate it when I am over at the NSC and Manny makes it a point to say hi to me and shake my hand. He is a great role model for his players and does a great job representing and being the face of the organization.
PS: The secret to Manny’s success is that he is a magician. I swear the guy hides a magic wand in his jacket! At the end of the day, Manny is tops!