Okay, that makes some sense. But you are still lacking a target forward. I don't think that you can win this league without a big target forward which Seattle realized and went and got EJ, who ended up getting injured for the first playoff game anyway.
How many games did those oldsters (Corradi, Ferrari, Rivas, Nesta) on MTL miss this year due to injury/fitness concerns? Had to be dozens all together. Debating their quality is irrelevant when they're constantly out of the lineup with injury. Marsch won't wind up at Chivas unless as some assistant--they are clearly going to hire a Mexican coach given the front office shakeup. He could go someplace directly as an assistant, or bide his time until the carousel starts spinning again next Spring. If the Pareja experiment doesn't pan out by May or June, I could easily see him winding up at Colorado. Once you go back down to being an assistant in MLS after being a head coach, all the luster fades and you're yesterday's news just collecting a pay check. For the next 6-8 months, Marsch can ride his good reputation coming off of this, and I would keep a close eye on the Rapids situation.
I think that two of those three players were actually good additions. Corradi didn't do much (he was never all that good, even in his prime). But Di Vaio remains a dangerous player - an excellent finisher, who looked to still have enough spring in his step to find space and latch onto through balls. And while Nesta may be past his expiration date, he's still a very good MLS defender when healthy, and was also probably something of marketing draw. Both of those players helped Montreal put up strong home results and attract some attention in their first year, and that might end up being important in the long run. Montreal fans might not have the same level of tolerance for initial futility as, say, Toronto fans.
No, I meant a coach at a Canadian MLS club. Aron Winter is the apparent winner, which I find amazing, although Rennie has a chance to beat him (assuming Vancouver does not start next year how they ended this year).
Yeah, I wonder if Rennie is on the hot seat in Vancouver at the beginning of next year. If I was an owner and been told to pay millions for DPs that made my team worse than it was at the beginning of the year, I wouldn't be too happy about it.
I don't know the inner workings of the team as well as someone who is there might, so its hard to say if this was indeed a good decision. Marsch, from my perspective, was an excellent coach for this team this first year. If the differences between him and the front office really were that out of line, than I suppose it is better to address the issue sooner rather than later. As for the aged Italians, I think they have their place. Di Vaio is a fantastic role model and teacher for Wenger, who will likely become Montreal's leading striker in a few years. Nesta, on the other hand, helps teach our young guys at the back who will make up our defense down the road. Ouimette, Valentin and Iapichino and even Brovsky have potential, and Nesta is one of the best guys we could have their to provide them with practical advice. Plus, its not like Di Vaio and Nesta are pylons out there. Both still have a year or two left, and in that year or two I think part of their role is to nurture the future of our team. Now, if Saputo and co. continue to bring in Italians close to retirement for the next year or two, I'll have a problem. They've got their experienced Striker, and they've got their experienced Defender. Lets let them team our young stars, and focus on finding another DP who will be around for a while. Back on topic though, if Marsch's view of how to nurture the young guys differed from the front offices', than its good this was dealt with now. Hopefully they have someone in mind to replace him. Hopefully they screen that person to ensure they have a similar perspective as the front office. And most importantly, hopefully this decision doesn't backfire. I had nothing against Marsch, and actually quite liked him. So until this proves to be a horrible decision (which we won't know until the 2013 season), I'll trust Saputo.
Unless Pareja's failure takes down Bravo as well there's no way Marsch ends up in Colorado. Bravo has been very clear that the South American influence added to the team's style this year is exactly what he wants.
Well -- that's the line of thinking Marsch probably took issue with. Di Vaio and Nesta will both be 37 next season and take account for a considerable amount of salary. Both are likely to see performances and health continue to regress year over year. Given Nesta's injury history, I'd be shocked if he played over half of Montreal's games next season. I can't imagine Marsch was thrilled with the argument of marketing success to retain them and continue to play them. The roadmap for expansion team international acquisition is clearly Seattle. Invest in relatively younger international players who can be part of a longer term answer for the squad such as Montero, Gspurning, Johansson, Hurtado, Tiffert, and Rosales. They don't all work out (see the dumping of Fernandez this season) but when they do they provide a backbone for success on multiple fronts (see CCL and MLS success) and a quick and consistent improvement in the level of play. Montreal has done some of this with the likes of Felipe and even Bernier who has a number of productive years ahead of him. However, Di Vaio, Corrardi, and Nesta are simply blocking the potential identification and development of other players that could be part of a more consistent and longer term solution for Montreal. They are the type of players a team acquires that is one or two pieces away -- not that is trying to build a roster and franchise. If Marsch stood up and said it's crazy to retain and take up valuable salary cap room and roster allocations on a bunch of 35 year olds I struggle to think of any argument that would suggest that stance was wrong for the long term success of the Montreal franchise. These were bad acquisitions at the time and they're only going to look worse as the players age.
1. Yallop (5th year) 2. Vermes (4th year) 3. Olsen (3rd year) 4. Backe (3rd year) 5. Kreis (6th year) 6. Klopas (2nd year) 7. Schmid (4th year) 8. Arena (5th year) 9. Kinnear (7th year) 10. Warzycha (4th year) 11. Rennie (1st year) 12. Marsch (1st year) 13. Hyndman (5th year) 14. Pareja (1st year) 15. Hackworth (1st year) 16. Heaps (1st year) 17. Porter (1st year) 18. Fraser (2nd year) 19. Mariner (1st year) --------- Correct any if I am incorrect at all. I know many of these are technically fractions of years, but you get the idea. I am not sure what expectations Montreal had of Marsch, but it was a tough year for coaches with limited time at their club. You just don't see many make the playoffs in their first attempt. Rennie (the lone exception) backed in because Columbus happens to be in the east. Obviously have to see how off season goes, but I'd be surprised if a first year manager makes the playoffs in 2013. Have to build in MLS, and that takes time.
From the outside looking in, I could see why some people have a hard time understanding this move. Everyone agrees that they did well for an expansion side, but they should have done much better. If you look at the numbers closely enough, you'll we see the number of times this club took the lead on the road, but wasn't able to hold on. You'll also see the number of soft goals allowed in the last minutes of games, as well as the number of goals allowed off set pieces. All of this adds up to lost points, that could have been avoided with better coaching. Jesse Marsch was also influential in the personnel moves made by the club. Given his MLS experience, and contacts, his opinion weighed heavily in bringing in players. Here are some of the decisions he was directly involved in; 1. Drafting Brian Ching in the expansion draft 2. Picking Andrew Wenger first over all, over Darren Mattocks 3. Acquiring the likes of Justin Braun, Donavan Ricketts, and Tyson Wahl 4. Trading Eddie Johnson's rights for Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle 5. Benching Patrice Bernier At the end of the day, Joey Saputo decided not to accept mediocrity.
Is Vancouver the only place in Canada with actually competent ownership? Looks like we'll be having only one Canadian club in the play offs for a few years yet.
I wouldn't write off Saputo. Despite his short patience with managers, he always gets the job done in the end. I may not love the Impact but I do respect them.
Yeah, those decisions definitely played a large part in this, except the EJ move. Saputo made it clear that it was a unanimous decision based on Johnson's strong desire to go back home. Keeping him would be another Brian Ching situation. I'm sad about the move, since I really liked Marsch as a personality, but I can't argue against the large number of faults listed above. Patrice Bernier had an written interview today for the main french sports network. http://www.rds.ca/impact/chroniques/350656.html
With 3 coaches in 2 seasons, and a series of missteps with fans in the first season, I wouldn't be too quick to praise Vancouver's ownership. I do think they are on the right track overall but that first season was not exactly the smoothest off or on the field.
Which would be fine in other nations where ambition and spending has more directly correlation to quality. I touched on this in a Toronto thread that MLS is a league where you build a club over time often suffering through mediocrity and peak having some strong years. In league history only Seattle have been exception (and time will tell over next decade with them) of avoiding mediocrity. I am curious as what does Montreal do if they finish the same or worse point or table position wise in 2013? We shall see.
As a fan I'm really hoping that doesn't happen. I really do think Montreal has the skill to have made the playoffs. That being said, Marsch wasn't let go because management was unhappy with the result. It was a difference in opinion regarding the future of the team. I'm sure whoever comes in next will be expected to take the team to the next level, but its not like Montreal has put themselves in a position where they have to fire a coach who doesn't make the playoffs. The result doesn't seem to have had anything to do with Marsch's departure.
The Union has a midfielder with flair that we can sell to the Rapids. He should fit in well with a South American style.
Good timing to change the coach, the next one will have all offseason to put in place his mentality.v If we get a decent pre-season (no injuries, a lot of matches, find good wingers) we'll easily make the play-offs next year. Saf for Marsch, the guy was becoming fluent in French (even gave few interviews in French) but I'm sure he'll find a job pretty soon.
I understand that they had no choice but to deal Eddie Johnson. I just feel like they could have gotten much more then Fucito and Neagle.