Manuel "Manny" Lagos (born June 11, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He is the former head coach of Minnesota United FC.
Club career
Early career
Born in St. Paul, Lagos played college soccer for the NCAA Division-I Milwaukee Panthers from 1990 to 1992, and was named an NSCAA First-Team All-American in 1991. During and after college, from 1990 to 1996, Manny played for his father with the Minnesota Thunder, first as an amateur and a founding member of the club, and later as a professional. Amidst his Thunder days, he also had short stints with Clermont Foot in the French Third Division, and in Spain's lower divisions with Lleida. Upon leaving the club for MLS in 1996, he was inducted into the Thunder Hall of Fame with career totals of 29 goals and 12 assists; his brother and teammate, Gerard Lagos (who played for the team from 1990 through 2001) is also an inductee. In 2006, Manny was elected to the USL Hall of Fame. but his season was cut short after he tore his left-knee's ACL, MCL, and LCL in a single horrific injury just six games in.
Lagos' vagabond MLS career took him to the Tampa Bay Mutiny with Ritchie Kotschau on August 2, 1999, part of a trade for Sam George and Paul Dougherty. He came back swinging, scoring 4 goals in 10 games and earning Player of the Week honors. Lagos continued his momentum in 2000, when he scored 8 goals and added 7 assists in 1500 minutes, making him the league's tenth-place leader in points per game, but he would eventually request a trade for personal reasons, as his wife disliked Tampa and wished to pursue her law career elsewhere. and played for the Earthquakes from 2001 through 2003, starting regularly in every season and winning MLS Cups in the bookend years. He enjoyed what was likely his best season in 2001, playing a key role in the Earthquakes' playoff run by adding 3 goals and 2 assists to regular season totals of 8 and 8. After his tenure with the 'Quakes, Lagos was traded to the Columbus Crew for a third-round draft pick, Manny played 18 games and scored 1 goal for the Crew that year, but never really recovered from the last of his many knee surgeries, seeing his playing time dwindle to 5 appearances in 2005. He was waived by Columbus that May to make room for Chris Henderson and retired in June. Lagos possessed an unusual style on the ball where his technical skill and knack for dribbling past opponents belied his superficially clumsy appearance. He is remembered as a talented player who was dogged by knee injuries throughout his career. His first full cap for the senior national team did not come until over nine years later, on December 9, 2001, against South Korea. He earned three caps for the US from 2001 to 2003, scoring no goals.
Managerial career
In January 2006, Lagos was named the Director of Soccer Operations for the Minnesota Thunder. In this role, he has placed particular emphasis on youth development, community relations, and the team's stadium search.
Lagos led the Stars to victory in the 2011 NASL Soccer Bowl, and to a runner up finish in the 2012 Soccer Bowl. After a disappointing 2013 season at the helm of the rebranded Minnesota United FC, Lagos led the Loons to the spring and regular season titles in 2014. He was named the NASL Coach of the Year in 2011 and in 2014, the only coach to have won the award twice.
At the conclusion of the 2014 season and the firing of Tampa Bay Rowdies coach Ricky Hill, Lagos became the longest tenured coach in the NASL. In five seasons with Minnesota, Lagos has a coaching record of 54-47-38 (W-L-D).
Upon the move of Minnesota United FC to MLS, he transitioned to a role as Sporting Director of the club.
Personal life
He is the son of Buzz Lagos, an American soccer coach at both the college and professional levels, and the youngest of eight children.