This afternoon, Orlando City B, the reserve team, revealed its new head coach. Manuel Goldberg, the club’s assistant coach, has been elevated to head coach for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season. After Martin Perelman, who is currently an assistant with the MLS team led by Oscar Pareja, steps down, Goldberg becomes the fourth head coach in OCB history and its second coach in the MLS NEXT Pro era.
“With the system we’ve set up in the club, promoting from within is always something we strive to do if possible, and with Manu, the choice was clear for us,” Orlando City Vice President of Soccer Operations Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “He’s a talented, young coach — the youngest head coach in MLS NEXT Pro history — and he’s constantly connected with the first team and academy coaching staffs, making him the right choice for us in a season where we’ll be focusing on the development of players and promotion to the first team even more than ever. We’re excited to have Manu leading OCB now and we’re excited for all that he’ll accomplish.”
At 30 years old, Goldberg becomes the youngest coach in MLS NEXT Pro history, which dates back to 2022. The previous youngest coach was Brett Uttley, who took over as Austin FC II’s head coach in December 2022 at 32 years old.
Goldberg spent the last two seasons with OCB as an assistant to Perelman. He was a part of the coaching staff that saw four members of the Young Lions sign first-team contracts and qualified for the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs for the first time last season.
After a three-year professional playing stint in Israel, he started his coaching career in 2015 with Hapoel Katamon. Prior to joining Barça Academy PRO Miami as a competitive program coach, he worked as an assistant coach with Club Nautico Hacoaj in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 2017 to 2019. He was brought on by Orlando City as Perelman’s first assistant with OCB following two years of living in South Florida.
Goldberg has already been hard at work with the Young Lions this preseason, preparing for the upcoming MLS NEXT Pro season. The top of Orlando City’s development academy will begin play Saturday when they take on Atlanta United 2 in Kennesaw, GA.
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