Wilfried Nancy at the head of the American team?

Wilfried Nancy certainly said some words during his All-Star press conference on Monday. But it’s what the MLS team’s head coach didn’t say that has us most curious.

The Columbus Crew coach, where the match against the best players in Liga MX will be held this Wednesday, was asked if the position of coach of the United States was a job he was considering. The former CF Montreal player is at the center of rumors placing him as Gregg Berhalter’s successor at the head of the American federation since the latter was ousted after a disappointing Copa América.

“Listen,” he began, smiling. “With great humility, we are all competitors. It’s in us as human beings.”

Already, we are far from a categorical no.

“I don’t know if it would be a promotion or not,” he continues. He is sitting alongside Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati) and Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy).

“We always try to challenge ourselves. I have no limits. I am very grateful [d’être lié à ce poste]. It’s the national team. For me, life is about moments. I have to be ready for the moment. If the moment is right, I’m going to do it. But I don’t control those kinds of things.”

Nancy, since his two seasons in Montreal, has been recognized throughout the Garber circuit as one of the tacticians with the most exciting style of play. A football that allowed him to finish second in the East in 2022, then win the MLS Cup in 2023. Would he be able to deploy it in the national team as he did in club with the CFM and the Crew?

“My challenge is to execute this style of play everywhere,” he concedes. “It’s not something I try to do: it’s the way I see football. It’s a way of life.”

A different challenge in the national team

Certainly, Wilfried Nancy believes he has the ability to take the reins of the American men’s soccer team. But he is also right to wonder whether it would be a “promotion or not.”

At the club, Nancy can work with his players daily for months. He has matches every week, which allow him to perfect his ideas. He will certainly have offers from European clubs, perhaps even in the near future. Why not a return to France? From there, his career would indeed be “limitless”.

In the national team, the challenge is quite different. The coach only has a few days of training per international window, before playing one or two games per break. His players arrive from all over the world, with ideas for playing at club level that must be reworked quickly when they arrive in the national team. And in the United States, criticism is swift. The environment, from analysts and supporters, is not always healthy.

But there are the big tournaments to balance all that out. If Nancy gets the job, it will be to lead the U.S. team during the 2026 World Cup. It’s not given to all coaches to lead a team in a World Cup, much less at the helm of a team that will play it on home soil.

It’s hard to say no to that.

Choinière, “constant”

Another non-verbal response caught our attention during Nancy’s press conference. The former Impact player laughed when we asked him if he would see Mathieu Choinière on his Crew team, given the CFM player’s trade request.

Let us recall that it was Nancy himself who recalled Choinière with his team of MLS stars.

“No,” he answers quickly, a smile on his face. “I selected Mathieu because he is simply consistent. Consistent in what he does, whether it’s in midfield or when you have to help out on the wing. He deserves to be here, and that’s why he’s with us.”

Moreover, Nancy says he is “very grateful” to have the chance to be the coach of this MLS all-star team. And despite all his success in MLS, he does not forget his roots in Quebec soccer: he went through UQAM before playing for 11 years with the Impact.

“I know where I come from,” he said when asked about it. “That’s why I appreciate every moment. The idea is to maximize those moments. Yeah, I’m happy.”