Earnie Stewart arrived with a vision. For better or worse, on a momentous Chicago morning last August, U.S. Soccer’s first general manager walked through the gates at 1801 S. Prairie Ave. to stabilize a rudderless program. He came with a plan. A few months later, he hired a coach to implement it. And finally, after years of clamoring for some direction, U.S. men’s national team fans had what they’d clamored for.
Stewart’s arrival represented a stark departure from the scatterbrained reign of Jurgen Klinsmann. A welcome end to the aimless interim.