It has been a week since he hopped on plane, met his team and started coaching Nomme United, a small, relegation-threatened club in Estonia. So far, Eric Wynalda has just one regret.
"I should've probably spoken to my wife before I jumped into this," Wynalda told USA TODAY Sports with a laugh.
In a way, Wynalda trekking to the Baltics for a relegation rescue mission is bizarre. A three-time World Cup veteran managing a club that plays at a stadium in a soccer complex with a seating capacity upgraded to 500 in 2024? He has performed under brighter lights. He could find a role much closer to home.
But in other ways, it very much makes sense for anyone who's paid attention to the former U.S. international forward for the past several years. Wynalda
has positioned himself as the pesky thorn in the side of the polished narrative that soccer in the U.S. is growing, that top-level players are being developed and that the country is just on the cusp of being a power in the global game. That's why his wife wasn't surprised once he actually delivered the news.
"It is in character," Wynalda admitted in a phone call shortly before midnight strikes in Tallinn. "I've been extremely critical of our system. I don't believe that it's conducive to real growth and real development."
The plan is for the move to be temporary. Wynalda has a 60-day deal to serve as the manager, pushing to keep the club Nomme United in the 10-team first division. Already, he oversaw a victory in Nomme United's top rivalry match and on Saturday, Wynalda watched as his team blew a late lead to the reigning champion, falling 3-2 after a stoppage-time winner.
The hope is to keep the club up, but then to give the neighborhood club more of an American flavor.
He already was linked up with the club, thanks in part to a long friendship with Chris Haitz, an American businessman married to Jana Kolukanova, an Estonian who twice represented her country at the Olympics in freestyle swimming.
The pair long had talked about that Estonian connection, as Wynalda worked through plans to help spur the development of American soccer players through his Wynalda Soccer Academy and works to help young players move abroad earlier. Things came to a head when they visited Estonia earlier this year for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship.
There, they deepened a relationship with Mart Poom. Now the president of Nomme United, Poom suited up more than 100 times for the Estonia national team as its goalkeeper between 1992–2009 during a decorated club career.
Like Wynalda, his principal concern now is player development, and Wynalda invited the ex-Arsenal player to watch the Wynalda Soccer Academy play the New York Red Bulls U-17 squad. The former internationals agreed to work together more, with Wynalda returning to Estonia in May to formalize a partnership.
"I fell in love with the place. I love their culture" Wynalda said. "I love the the environments that can be created here, and I just felt that it was a perfect fit for American talent to get a real taste of Europe and start to initiate some of our programs here. It was just a better entry point."
After the promoted club ran into struggles in the top division, Poom asked Wynalda if he would take over the first team. That led to the offer that Wynalda was so eager to take, he did so without consulting his partner.
He has enjoyed what he found, saying he watched the club's U-21 game and found the quality stronger than what he expected or what he sees in the U.S.
"It's better than any college game you'll ever see, and it's better than any second-tier professional team that you'll ever experience in America," he said. "Obviously, that's my opinion, and people could argue or refute that, but to be honest with you, I'm done with arguing with Americans about why America is not good at this. I'm just done."
Wynalda insists he wants to be about action, not talk. That has led to him to Estonia after researching other ways to get Americans to Europe or to find other alternate player pathways.
He no longer believes in American soccer, he says, but still has belief in Americans players. At 57, he also says he realizes he is no longer a young man. If he can't change the system from inside, he may need to work around the margins if he'll ever see his country win the World Cup.
He has a case study in Adyn Torres, an 18-year-old Atlanta United II player loaned to Nomme United who represents Puerto Rico internationally. Wynalda said he was interested in Torres after seeing him play, but that metrics said he would be limited as an attacker. The Washington D.C.-area native scored for Nomme United in the rivalry contest, with Wynalda citing his breakthrough as evidence that his methods can work for young American players.
"He scored his first professional goal to win the biggest game of this club's life because he changed his mindset," Wynalda said. "So, not only helping the Estonian players and the other foreign players who are here address their work the right way, but being able to have an impact on Adyn Torres' adventure was phenomenal.
"It was proof of concept, if you will, to to say, look, 'What are we doing? Like what are we developing? Are we developing a lot of guys who can play the game, or are we developing players who learn how to win games?'"
There is still some talk in Wynalda's life. Even from the Baltics, he is hosting his radio show on SiriusXM. It airs in the late afternoon in U.S. time, meaning he typically goes on air at midnight in Estonia and is on for several hours. That has him sleeping in shifts, resting before morning training, then sleeping again before waking up to prepare for his show. Then, he does it all again.
Strange, perhaps, but exactly where Wynalda feels he needs to be to push American soccer forward.
But, really? Estonia? Are there not options that make more sense? Places that are closer or at least have a direct flight from the U.S.?
Wynalda himself played in Mexico, where many Mexican-Americans have excelled in the past and dozens currently are in academies. American groups have bought into clubs all over the world. And of course, there are a number of leagues in the U.S. and Canada that are not Major League Soccer, be it the USL Championship where he coached the Las Vegas Lights in 2019 or other offerings.
For Wynalda, it's still Estonia that could hold the key.
"I think it is uniquely positioned," he said. "When you start to learn about Estonians, the culture and their mentality, you can be frustrated with the same things we're frustrated with. We had a coach in Mauricio Pochettino that said, 'Why not us?' And that's something that I gave a speech 12 years prior to him saying it, because I wanted to answer the same question. Estonia can be so much more than they are."
He hopes he can keep Nomme United up and set up a way for talented young American players to find a new way to play top competition at a young age - all while pushing Estonia to heights it has never known.
"If we can stay up - and I'll stay involved with this club - our goal is to win the league next year. And by winning the league, we will have players with the opportunity to play in the Champions League," he said. "That is real to me, and that is something that we can aspire to as a club and to be.
"America's a sleeping giant. Estonia is not. They're about to have their Icelandic moment, and I'm gonna be a part of it. So that's kind of where my mindset is."
It will take more than two months of managing or two years of youth scouting, coaching and player pathway creativity to make a difference for Estonia, a country that has never qualified for a World Cup or Euros. It will take longer than that to see the fruits of this project Wynalda believes is necessary.
For now, he's certain it's what he needs - so certain he'd sign on without his wife's OK.
"I'm in a country that has 1.2 million people. America's too big, Estonia is too small, but it makes this endeavor something that is - I don't know on brand, I guess," Wynalda said. "But it's reminded me that I do really love this game in a place that you never would have thought would be the place that would remind me of that."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is USMNT vet Eric Wynalda coaching in Estonia? He says it's for the future of American soccer
