San Jose Earthquakes Fire Head Coach Mikael Stahre

Mikael Stahre. Photo by Chris Brown/CSM/REX/Shutterstock

Swedish manager Mikael Stahre didn’t manage to last a full year with the San Jose Earthquakes, with the team announcing that they have fired the 43-year-old on Monday. Alex de Crook, the assistant coach who served under Stahre, was also relieved of his duties. Steve Ralston, member of the Earthquakes’ coaching staff, will take over the team on an interim basis.

San Jose Earthquakes’ decision to sack Mikael Stahre didn’t surprise anyone, especially since the team has been playing poorly in the 2018 MLS season. Earthquakes are currently pinned down to the bottom of the Western Conference and are the worst team in the league record-wise. Although it looked like things could change for the better in late August, when the team managed to get a stretch of positive results, defeat from Vancouver and then 1-5 loss against Sporting KC on Sunday left Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli no choice but to try with a change of scenery.

I would like to thank Mikael and Alex for their hard work and professionalism this season,” – said Fioranelli in a statement. “Mikael has qualities, both as a person and a coach, that will be missed by players, staff and the front office alike. We felt we needed a change and decided that the six remaining games represent an opportunity for all of us to begin heading in a new direction and to evaluate our options actively with a single goal in mind: to strengthen our First Team for the upcoming season and beyond.”

Before taking over San Jose Earthquakes, Mikael Stahre coached in his native Sweden as well as Greece and China. He joined Earthquakes in November and managed to get only two wins since then.

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