No Star General

Looking back on the season, we've had our chances, and missed the ones that would have put us into the playoffs by now. Say what you want about the last half of the season, but the battle begins in camp, not when the army takes the field. A good general does his homework, remembers the past, pays attention to the scouting reports, and prepares his troops for the coming conflict. Now it's true that on any given Sunday or Wednesday or any other day of the week, a team may be victorious without a clearly defined strategy, but I would be willing to bet the win column heavily favors the prepared. Fortune may favor the bold, but the unprepared usually end up bloody. I do not question the talent nor the potential of Jason Kries. What I question is promoting the soldier to general and bypassing the ranks of experience that one gathers along the way. In my own experience I have grown into the role that I was originally given, but my staff was much smaller at the time, in fact it was just me. As the workload increased, the employees necessary to manage that load also increased to a now larger, but not quite huge, staff. Along the way I have made my share of mistakes and learned the proper way to handle various situations in the corporate jungle, but as I made those mistakes, the company did not crumble because I wasn't given the reigns of the company when I walked in the door.

There's a reason why almost every corporation and military system depends on experience to move employees and soldiers through the ranks. Can you imagine the outcome if a Lieutenant fresh out of West Point was given the reigns for the D-Day Invasion because he was "bold" and showed tremendous initiative? Am I suggesting that soccer games are as important as liberating Europe...absolutely not. When someone gets their pilots license are they handed the yolk to an Airbus (is that more palatable)?

What did we expect? What was Dave expecting? Again, I don't question his potential, but Dave dropped Jason behind enemy lines without a weapon, a compass, or a map, and sadly for us fans, it may be years before he "secures the bridge".

Born to Lose...or Draw

Our chances to make the playoffs were thin from the beginning. We came within a whisker of making the MLS Cup in '08, and even as the pain from the loss lingered, we set out to do what we had to do. The only problem is...we didn't. We had what we thought was a short list of improvements that would allow us a soft stroll into this years finals. But we fell asleep at the wheel. Every good team knows that a core of returning players is the key, but you have to make steps forward, not sideways. Filling holes in the boat is different than buying a new one, you're just biding your time until it leaks again, and a good coach will work hard in the off season shopping for a faster boat for the day when old Betty hits the bottom of the harbor.

We have two deficiencies that are haunting this team, and will continue to do so until changes are made. Call it solid financial management in a down economy, sentimentality, or simply stubbornness, the fact of the matter is, this team needs a quality striker and it needs an experienced coach, both of which we were unwilling or unable to pay for. 

Imagine you're the owner of a small or mid-size corporation and the world loves your product. Your management team keeps telling you that unless you invest in new technology your product will be obsolete in 2 years. Why invest millions when the people are already buying your shiny pet rocks. Why not just patch the old machines and make it work.

We're still buying the product, so why buy the shiny new machines, after all we might just squeak into the playoffs with some popsicle sticks, duct tape, and a little luck.

These are the times that try mens souls...

The question has been asked whether or not RSL fandom onlne is on the wane. Whether or not our collective quantity of posts on BigSoccer has diminished, I cannot say. What I can speak of is my own experiences and tendancies which I see not as an alarming situation, but a shift. My passion for all things RSL has not fallen off, but my posting and random thoughts have been reduced for several reasons. 

First and foremost my sons participation in competitive soccer has increased this summer, and I see weekly improvement, which I cannot gleen from RSL games as of late. Second, it seems as though the RSL BigSoccer boards have become more a forum for bitching about the Front Office and any topic worthy of an intelligent and insightful banter quickly turns into nonsensical back and forth between individuals that take the thread far beyond the subject into weeds to long to tread into. Third, I find myself enjoying the games more this year because of the comraderie we've found in Section 26, which gives more satisfaction to me and my family than spending countless hours on BigSoccer waiting for a response to my question posed or opinion offered only to see those online fly right by it and explain why Howard the Duck was the greatest movie never awarded an Oscar. 

Do not misunderstand, I will always be at every home game, and on my couch watching each road disaster, but it's the people, not the computer, that make me a fan, because the team isn't convincing me that they're going anywhere this season.

Over the Top & Underperform

It's all fine and good to get upset at the performance, or lack there of, last night against San Jose. I posted many comments throughout the second half, disgusted with almost every aspect of our game. The playoffs cannot be obtained this early in the season, but as many commented on Big Soccer, it can certainly be lost...this unfortunately is where we find ourselves. Rather than take the normal approach and highlight the play of a few, in the proceeding lines I will offer my take on the entire team collectively, then focus on the individual players. Why you might ask, because I need to get it off my chest before I continue with my Sunday, and, though I never played professionally, I have been a player & student of the game my entire life and my wife no longer wants to hear my observations, so print is the only medium I have left...here goes:

TEAM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'M TIRED: 

We look tired EVERY game in the first half. We're supposed to be well conditioned...what happened (keeps happening). My take: high pressure to begin the game all over the field makes absolutely no sense. This is not the EPL and our tired legs make us that much sloppier in the second half...pick your spots to defend. If we're going to defend as a team, let's try light pressure when there's no immediate danger and stop killing our players legs in the first 20 minutes of the match. Like I keep telling my son, make them beat you, don't dive in and beat yourself.

POSSESSION ALONE DOES NOT EQUAL QUALITY SOCCER: 

We can knock the ball around all day, and the many quick short passes between Javi, Kyle, Will, and Ned are great to get out of immediate pressure, but it's not getting us anywhere. Sometimes I think JK gives the guys a Snickers bar every time they complete 5 quick passes in a row. Let's think about what's happening while we're playing keep away, they opposition is getting back in numbers.

GIVEAWAYS:

With our Diamond Midfield we're all about possession, so we dink around with the ball to relieve pressure, then we knock the ball out wide to Wingert or Russell, but instead of continuing to move the ball around and look for the opening, we lose patience and serve a worthless ball into the box where we usually have maybe 3 people against at least 6 or 7 defenders. Where's the patience? 

JOINING THE ATTACK:

I've addressed this before, but I'll bring it up again. Either serve an early ball when everyone's running and there's still space in the final third to put the ball into (see Clint Mathis) or have the patience to work the ball around and look for the opening. You can't setup the half court offense and then serve a shit ball into the box, because the midfielders who ran to join the attack now have to run back and help defend and there's NOTHING MORE FRUSTRATING THAN SPRINTING TO JOIN THE ATTACK AND WATCHING YOUR TEAMMATE PISS THE BALL AWAY. After a few or several times (depending on how committed the player is) of running your ass off for nothing the player will STOP MAKING THE RUNS ENTIRELY because it will most likely be a waste of time and energy.

MAKING RUNS OFF THE BALL:

The only time Yura & Findley make runs (Robbie's gotten better at this) is when they're expecting the ball to go over the top or into the corner. When we're setup for our "possession offense" the majority of our team (especially at the top of the box) are simply standing there clogging up the box (the only place we can score from) waiting for the ball....move dammit, move!!!!! I want to see some runs, clearing runs that distract the defense and mix them up a bit. Escalada & Espindola were actually trying to do this a bit yesterday and it seemed to be working a little until we completely abandoned attacking on the ground and went back to the over the top ball which wasn't effective especially since Findley & Yura were on the freakin' bench!!!

ATTACK: 

We were successful last year, and earlier this year because when there was a turn over we ran at the opposition, we actually attacked with speed and took defenders on. Now, we look for the back pass EVERY TIME to make sure we maintain possession. Which is fine and good, but we're losing any amount of attacking advantage there may have been.

ATTACK II:

Step One: Run at the defense, if you make them miss, then go to goal

Step Two: At the very least, make a defender commit to you and dish to your teammate who hopefully is making a slashing run (I know this is a lot to ask)

Step Three: if you're getting nowhere, get the ball to someone else and let them try (in hockey, this would be the equivalent of cycling behind the net, or in basketball, re-setting the play)

Step Four: don't just give up and throw a worthless ball in the air unless you actually have someone to get it to

TEAM DEFENDING:

We defend as a team and attack as 1 or 2 (depending on the formation). Why is Javi defending as deep as our fullbacks. How is he supposed to lead the attack if he has to sprint 75 yards to even get into a position to feed the forwards? Again, why are we high pressure all over the field, especially when it's nil-nil or we're winning? Why can't we play containment style of D in the middle third? The only place you NEED to win the ball is when the opposition is in a scoring position. Stop diving in Kyle, Wingert, etc, make THEM beat you!

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS:

Let's make sure we're clear on who we have and what they're good at (if anything):

Findley = fast and usually good quick shot when he has a CLEAR chance. If it's up to him to create the opportunity, there better be heaps of space and only one defender

Yura = not sure what Yura's good at, mostly disappointed with the fact that he's the BIG GUY we have but surrenders like a Frenchman when he gets bumped. Tired of watching him lose the ball, especially when he shielding the defender...pathetic so far this year.

Espindola = needs the ball on the ground to his feet so he can work his magic. Best when given a ball while he's moving and facing the defender. Not an over the top kind of player

Escalada = loks to be a lot like Espindola, yet not as good

PLAYERS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

THE GOOD OR ALRIGHT

Rimando: 

what can you say, he's a stud, would be a lot worse if he wasn't here. Plays with passion and should be captain in my opinion

Borchers: 

Nat plays hard every game, can't remember a game where he was the one who blew it. When mistakes happen they tend to be because Jamison put Nat in a bad situation or someone else blew it.

Olave:

Solid in the air, and a physical force to be reckoned with, but his mental mistakes and lack of one on one covering in the box has hurt us time and time again. I'm disappointed with his play, as a defender your mistakes lead to goals, and too often his focus let's him down. Maybe we should play a 4-4-2, with Olave as the Stopper and Borchers as the sweeper instead of a flat back 4.

Wingert:

Great first year with us, but since the new contract he's been horrible. Chris is a serious liability in the back now, and when we have a healthy alternative, he should be the first to go

Russell: 

jury's still out on Robbie, although he's not our problem in the back, I don't think he's rock solid either. However, I think Robbie would work best in a stopper situation in front of Borchers and behind Kyle. He's got speed and size, but also a solid soccer brain, and more composure and covering ability in the middle defensively would be great.

Beltran:

Can scare the shit out of me at times, but seems to be grasping the game a little better. Style is a bit unorthodox and his height is a liability, but couldn't do worse than Wingert at this point.

Will Johnson:

Where is the Will Johnson we saw last year, under control, speedy and taking players on the final third. It appears as if he's been sucked into the Diamond Midfield mentality and looks uneasy and unsure of himself unless he's passing the ball laterally or backwards. He's the only one on the team with limitless energy, so get him the ball 25 yards out and let him try and beat someone going to goal.

Kyle Beckerman:

This is a tough one, I don't know if Kyle is having a tough year or the system sucks for his style of play, but if I see another game of Kyle and his form of high pressure diving at players I may have to stop listening to Bob Marley in disgust. Your defensive center mid simply needs to slow down the attack, not dive-in & miss giving the opposition more numbers in the attack.

Clint Mathis:

Clint's not on the field for defense, so don't expect it, nor should we, because we need players to be more committed to the attack if we're going to have one. Has he had off games, sure, but if you go back and watch our games so far this season, I'd be willing to bet that most of our best offensive chances started with an early ball or quality through ball from Clint. I'm still on his side, because he may be older and a little slower, but his soccer mind is still top notch. I actually think if JK were to get canned and Checketts has to keep it in the family, give Mathis a shot...I know you think I'm crazy, but hear me out on this one. He was on the Nats, he's played outside the US, he's more passionate than most of the players & coaching staff, and he's not afraid to tell is teammates that they're playing like shit.

Javi:

Javi looks tired every game about 30 minutes in. He spends too much time and energy trying to be cute, mouthing off to the referee, and fighting with whoever is getting into his head to be effective this year. But like Kyle, I'm not sure who's fault it is, because it's clear that opposing coaches know exactly how to play us.

Grabavoy:

Ned plays the style of defense that I prefer and think is more effective. Which is to say that he tries to contain the man with the ball rather stabbing at it and missing. Many might say that this isn't aggressive enough, but my response to that: the only place you NEED to take the ball away is within scoring distance. Playing containing defense in the middle third of the field means we wouldn't wear ourselves out, and we would force the opponent work harder (wearing them out and frustrating them - which is what everyone does to us!) So far, I like Ned and hope that he starts as the defensive ctr mid against Colorado.

Yura:

Starting to look like a failed experiment, which is sad because he could be a physical force to be reckoned with. Does not have the touch to beat players one-on-one unless he's in the box and the defender has a greater tendency to over commit, otherwise all defenders need to do is back off a step and let him try and dance, which usually results in a turnover. I'm starting to believe that Yura just doesn't get it, and as we used to say back in college, you can't put in what God left out, and Yura just doesn't understand the game.

Findley:

He's our best scoring threat still and you gotta love the guy because he busts his ass every game. If he had good touch, holy shit would he be dangerous. If I were coaching Robbie, he'd be on another field by himself for half of practice juggling and doing simple touch drills. Sadly, he seems to be the only one that makes runs to get open in the offensive third.

Not reviewed because I haven't seen enough of them this year: Joy, Espindola, Escalada, Cox, Alexandre, Horst, Nunez

There you have it almost 2 hours of my life, now I feel better, thanks for reading!!!!

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http://4foosball.blogspot.com/

We've gone from Suck to Blow

1) Olave is not to blame for Seitz' injury...he was attempting to clear the ball. A defender cannot pause to see (or ask) if the Keeper is coming out to make a play on the ball, because indecision leads to cheap goals. As a defender you must attack the ball to clear it, again waiting on the ball also leads to cheap goals. Keepers are taught taught to make their presence known (yell) when leaving the goal line especially when their teammates are in their path, because defenders typically have their backs to them.

2) It was an accident plain and simple...a spilt second decision from both of them, no time for "I got it you take it". You can bet there would be a lot more people on these boards complaining if both of them would have stopped and looked at each other while someone tapped it in. I recv'd a bruised kidney from a play in college almost exactly like this one. Running full speed toward the goal, slid to clear the ball, keeper (on-rushing) slides to make the save, wet field, collision - keeper's knee to my back...out for 2 months. No ones fault, we were both going for the ball. Freak accident!

3) Bench 'Em or Start 'Em: It's time to take a serious look at several performances:
KYLE: has been VERY ineffective in the last 3 games as the Defensive Ctr Mid - when Ian comes back why not try Russell at D-Mid (good in the air & fast). Your defensive Ctr Mid should be good at being defensive!
YURA: piss poor, bad decision making and unable to strike a ball well. His size isn't doing anything for us.
WILL: we love him for his effort for 90 minutes, but he's no longer taking players on and beating them (which could be attributed to our forwards lack of ability in a) holding the ball up, and b) distribution)
WINGERT: new contract = sophomore slump. Chris looks like his mind is somewhere other than the pitch right now. Sit him down and get his head right.
FINDLEY, ANDY, GRABAVOY, COX: subs.
ESPY, ESCALADA: lace 'em up, it's your turn

We're at a crossroads...I understand we've built a family, and the organization as a whole functions better when we care about each other, but someone has to be the parent. JK, it's not your job to their best friend, it's your job to get them to perform to the best of their ability, and sometimes that means a kick in the ass instead of a hug. You should have started Saturday night with wind sprints after the game!
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http://4foosball.blogspot.com/

What's the 4-5-1

I don't fault Jason for implementing a new formation for road games, nothing else was working, but it requires selecting the right tools if it is to be effective. My criticism is based on the following truths about this team's style of play.

1) Our outside backs are encouraged (dare I say expected) to get into the attack at every opportunity
2) Our biggest strength is our midfield
3) Our main offensive weapons are speed (beating players outright) and the through ball from our creative midfielders.
4) We do not have all-star forwards capable of creating scoring threats consistently through their skill alone.

Using the items above accepted as truth, I have observed the following of the 4-5-1 in it's RSL incarnation. This may get technical, so go relieve yourself and grab a beverage, it may take a while.

1) Yura is not the right forward to be the 1.
In the 4-5-1 your forward has 2 options when receives or tracks down the ball: a) try to beat the defender marking you , or b) hold it up and dish to re-enforcements coming to your aid. You should only implement option A if you have one man to beat to be in position to score, yet Yura was taking on defenders by his lonesome all night, ignoring option B. This poor decision making leads too....

2) Wearing out your midfield.
Too often Saturday night, our midfield (and our outside backs) were rushing up the field to support Yura, only to watch him (or someone else) lose the ball foolishly by forcing something (which we tend NOT TO DO AT HOME). Nothing wears out your midfielders faster (and pisses them of as well) than running up and down the field to join the attack, only to have to slam on the breaks and sprint to recover from a turnover in hopes of....

3) Preventing an odd man rush and the resulting scoring opportunity.
With your midfield wearing itself out running up and down the field all night, possession and defending in the midfield becomes less and less effective as the minutes tick by. I'm sorry but Javi, Kyle, and Clint cannot run wind sprints for 90 minutes, but Will can. So I guess we give Will the ball and we hope he can get it to....

3) Robbie Findley
Why not Robbie instead of Yura? He's a lot faster so he could actually turn a ball over the top into a breakaway, and even though his touch isn't great, he's as good as Yura with his first touch usually being backwards.

If we don't beat KC on Saturday, we'll be lamenting more than the 4-5-1 when the boys come home from their extended road trip!

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http://4foosball.blogspot.com/

Killing Pablo

Pablo Mastroeni did his job...period. Skill is not his trade and you
would sooner find Pablo conductor of the NY Philharmonic than winning
the Golden Boot. It's why we love to hate him when we play against the
Crapids, but we cheer for him on the Nats Team. He's on the pitch to
pester the shit out of everyones center midfielder...that's it. When
you don't have finesse, keep throwing body blows and they'll at least
think about coming inside for the rest of the night. In NHL terms,
he's Shawn Avery, and he has a place on his team because of his
ability to get in the head of his opponent, and as we saw on Saturday,
Javi was so pissed at Pablo he was rendered useless. Job well done
Pablo...now Mr. Kreis, who's gonna shadow Pablo in SLC when we play
the Crapids next, because if were relying on the league to tae Pablo,
we'll be waiting for a VERY long time!

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http://4foosball.blogspot.com/