FC Edmonton went on the search for a new coach.
What they ended up finding was a Koch.
Former United Soccer League coach of the year Alan Koch (pronounced KAWCH) was named the new head coach and director of football operations of the Canadian Premier League club.
The 45-year-old South African-born former junior national player in his home country has been around the block when it comes to North American soccer. As head coach of FC Cincinatti over the past three years, Koch has experience in both the USL and Major League Soccer after seven seasons heading the men’s soccer program at Simon Fraser University, while also coaching different levels within the Vancouver Whitecaps organization.
But it would be hard to argue he came into any of those places facing the same sort of challenge he has waiting for him here, just as soon as weather permits safe travel from his home in the Okanagan.
“I know coaches speak about projects, this is a project, that we finished at the bottom,” said Koch, who, back in FC Edmonton’s early days, actually faced them in a friendly while coaching at SFU. “But how quickly can we flip this on its head? That’s going to be a big, big part of it.
“I feel my job is to come in and make everybody, the club, the community partners fall in love with winning.
“That’s what we need to do. Winning is a lot more enjoyable for everybody.”
That’s not to say the current edition of FC Edmonton and its supporters didn’t love to win before. They just didn’t get many opportunities to show their emotion over the two years the CPL has been in operation.
In 37 games over the past two seasons, FC Edmonton has gone 10-9-18 (W-D-L), including being held winless (0-1-6) at The Island Games tournament that took the place of the original 2020 schedule. In that span, they have been outscored a total of 50-34 (minus-16), while tallying an average of less than one goal a game.
“I think the struggles, if I can call it those, of this last year are something that motivates me,” said Koch, who takes over for Jeff Paulus, who stepped down in September, following the tournament inside the P.E.I. bubble. “It’s an opportunity I’m incredibly excited about. It’s something to come in and can we turn this around? And can we turn it around very, very quickly?
“I’m very much a builder and I like to go in and get my hands dirty and do the work that we have to do to have that success. I think I’ve shown that in my career at the different places where I’ve gone.”
After having risen to the head coaching ranks and joining SFU in 2008 and up until the COVID-19 shutdown in March, Koch has a 67-39-49 record for a .432 win percentage across the various professional levels. But his greatest success came prior to making the jump to the pros, having earned an impressive 105-16-5 record in the NCAA Div. 2 with the Clan, who became the first non-American school to get nationally ranked, reaching as high as No. 1. They won four Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships while making back-to-back Div. 2 Final Four appearances.
Beyond the university level, Koch’s squads outscored the opposition 235-220 (plus-15).
“I pride myself on playing attacking soccer, and that’s obviously philosophically,” he said. “But to do that, you’ve got to have attacking players. Players that can come play the way that I want them to play, but also players that captivate the market, and we have to have players that come out and do that.”
What that means for the future of a club that, up to this point, put plenty of faith into homegrown talent remains to be seen, roster-wise.
“First off, I’m going to stick my neck out, we’re coming in to win,” Koch said. “But I’m very well aware of how we need to embrace the local community, and that’s not just players, that’s fan supporters, partners and everybody.
“So, if there are local players that can help us do that, of course, we’re going to embrace them. We’d rather have players like that, that we have an attachment to, to work with. And without mentioning names, there definitely are some.”
So far, since the addition of new general manager Eric Newendorp this off-season, the club has already re-signed Leduc product Antony Caceres, and Edmonton’s Marcus Velado-Tsegaye and Chance Carter for the upcoming season, while top striker Easton Ongaro is currently on loan to the Danish professional club Vendsyssel FF.
“There are players from Edmonton that are there right now that I think have potential and we can work with them to help progress along their personal careers,” Koch said. “But they can also help us achieve our desired outcomes.
“But I’m definitely not going to say we’re only going to go local and I’m definitely not going to say we’re not going local. We’re going to try to create a bit of a hybrid … and work towards winning. And that’s not going to happen overnight.
“There’s a lot of work ahead.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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