I’ll ask this question to you but I am curious to see what people think about this in general. What do you expect from ROI of one wasted season? Are we looking at a Rockies/Avs situation where one out of four or five season’s is good? Are you expecting one wasted season to set up a dynasty? Do you tolerate more than one wasted season to set up a dynasty?
Well I predicted at the beginning of the season we'd miss the playoffs. I did not expect to lose 7 of 8 in the middle of the season though, that's much worse than we should be playing. But given a new, green, coach bringing in a new system I expected we would struggle to find our feet. I was willing to put in that investment because I expected it would set us up well going forward to put together a team that could challenge for the top similar to what *spit* Salt Lake has done recently. I am not looking for a situation were only 1 of every 4 or 5 seasons is good (I feel like that's where the Rapids have been historically) nor am I willing to burn multiple seasons if the end result is going to be Salt Lake's one MLS Cup and pretty play but no trophies. I felt like at the end of 2011 we were a team that could be turned into something better with the right coaching/leadership. I didn't believe that Smith was that coach and I wasn't sure (then) if Bravo was that leader because the FO had been so general on who had responsibility for what. While Pareja talks the talk of that type of leader I haven't seen enough actions out of him yet to believe he can do it, but again, small sample size. If he's not the coach then clearly Bravo is not the leader since this direction and system is his baby and he chose Pareja.
That's a very good question. I think, given parity in MLS, one wasted season should get you several years of success assuming you build a roster with young improving players. Any more than one year out of the playoffs screams of mismanagement. There are just too many spots available and the level between the best teams and the worst teams is just too close. I also don't think dynasties in MLS are going to come along all that often given how strict the salary cap is. Improving players need to make more money and if they don't they move on, either in MLS or elsewhere. With this model it's going to be pretty tough to win every year.
Personally, I am of one belief. That is that MLS sets up its playoff system so that even a .500 team can make it. I expect to be near .500 every season. Even a few games below would have not been the end of the world to me. Call me a True Believer like Big Chil but I had a hard time excepting the fact that this season is wasted. I didn’t sign up for rebuilding; it was not part of my vision. I’m honestly disappointed that the house of cards was so shaky that they can’t muster ~.500. I expect constant improvement. I do not like to see coaching and player downgrades. I honestly believe that a couple of good signings to replace Pablo and Smith would get us to that just below .500 mark easily. You combine KSE’s reputation, the Avs history, and the proloooooonged exit of a To Not be Named it becomes pretty scary to me. I think a good joke for the OP “haters” would be, ‘hey, if you think we need to replace the coach you’d better hope he wins something.’ I would think one season is more than enough to right the ship. Another question I have is; are we currently righting the ship or are we sinking? It’s really hard to tell. There has been some seriously mixed messages in the signings and the lineups.
Casey was barely off his 2010 goal scoring pace in 2011 prior to his achilles injury. He's way off both 2010 and 2011 this year, with 2 less games then in 2011. Maybe the achilles is harder injury to come back from, but he's looked spry enough when he's been on the field. He's got 2 goals for 27 shots so far in 2012, in 2011 he had 6 goals for 18 shots. Somehow he's getting more shots, but poorer results this season. Maybe he's off, or maybe the setup doesn't favor him so much. I think GS coached the team to play to their strengths. He took what was available and worked with it. In the case of these guys - Omar, Casey, and Wynne - they weren't heading in any particularly positive direction when they started playing for Smith. In the case of each they took a step up under him. I don't think that's because they loved the guy, or even felt inspired, I just think that Smith played to their strengths. Pareja, maybe by choice or Bravo's direction, is charged with doing something different, and I don't think that something as stated - possession, formation, attractive - really fits these guys. There seems to be a belief that the secret to playing attractive possession oriented soccer came down to a coaching decision and then the guys will just perform. At least, if that's not what's believed then the Rapids actions don't make much sense. I don't think it is so easy, and the change isn't going to suit everyone. The play and results so far suggest that it doesn't suit several players. This doesn't strike me as a particularly shocking revelation.
As much as I would like to respond, I've just been threatened to be banned for being critical of the Rapids or I guess I was too vulgar or harsh against somebody? I don't know. But I guess this is the end of the road for me, I don't like posting at a place where I'm going to be bullied by moderators. Farewell folks, hope it doesn't take to many years before the Rapids figure it out.
Banned for what? Being angry? Open discussion requires all views so I think that's nonsense. Regardless of whether I agree or disagree, we are in danger of becoming MSNBC or FOXNews if we start censoring people with dissenting viewpoints. Anyway... to the real reason I wanted to post: I think what many people are scared of it a culture of mediocrity due to financial laziness developing. There is a nasty tendency amongst humans to see patterns where none exist, therefore we end up with conspiracy theorists. I think that KSE's parsimony, on top of Silent Stan's hands-off ownership style transmogrifies in people's minds to be "Stan is purposely sending the Rapids into a death spiral so he can write them off as a loss!!" as if he is the evil owner from Major League. All of us here have invested a substantial amount of emotional energy into this team and the thought that someone would callously toss that all into the bonfire is pretty unsettling. Our results suck. The 2012 Rapids suck. We traded away Kimura for nothing. We acquired a bunch of new players who either suck (Edu) or who are good but we never play (Hill). End of story. Certainly, something needs to change in order to be successful, but whether that's firing the coach, overhauling the roster or just tweaking things, who knows right now? Yeah, this season is a wash. They suck. The worst has happened and, somehow, we're all still alive. Why don't we all just pop some popcorn and see what happens next cause they really have nowhere to go but up.
Um, laters. BigSoccer is a hilarious and laid back place that has a very respectable demeanor for an anonymous message board. As much as I agree with some of your rage and positions, I believe that you should take the moderators warning at face. I personally doubt your claims of being bullied. You do not have a yellow or red card under your avatar. I think the onus has been on you to communicate your points better. If you cannot, the hits will roll on without you. On some level you will be missed but you are taking your toy and going home, trust me, on BigSoccer, you will almost instantly be replaced.
Back to Oscar. One thing that continues to bug me is his use of Wells Thompson. Granted I am not a huge Wells fan, but when you've already got Nane in the line up, why do you sub in wells instead of Hill? I'm not a tactical soccer genius, so maybe I'm missing something. Anyone have any theories?
I think Wells is great coming off the bench in the second half to defend a lead. Other than that I don't see a role for him.
The only theory I can think of is Wells brings energy to the field. Hill is more methodical and technical. Maybe OP feels the offensive players on the field are sufficient and what the teams needs is a jolt from Wells in the midfield.
For this reason alone, I actually kind of appreciated Hinchey's tweets that were critical of Omar and the players drive/effort. I think the guy is a fan and he wants the team to succeed. I'm thinking that with him, we might have the right guy in place in not letting all of the typical excuses be used for not building a winning club. The big question is does he have the knowledge to know whether Bravo or any other Technical Director has what it takes. We shouldn't expect Hinchey to know everything about soccer, but he does need to be able to know if they have the right person for the job of Technical Director. That will be his biggest test. I think it comes down to his defensive play. Mullan is our best two way player and I think that Pareja wants the right side midfielder to be equally responsible for defense as they are going forward because right now we sacrifice that on the left (mainly because we don't really play with a LM). Wells fits that role better than Hill because of his defensive abilities. Only at the end of the game does OP become desperate and sacrifices the defensive responsibilities of the RM and brings in somebody like Hill to fill that spot. Hill has been a forward/attacking mid throughout his career and really I think they view his competition as Rivero. The two of them haven't been on the field at the same time much and Hill's only start was when Rivero was injured. I will also say that Wells has looked more composed on the ball recently and I haven't cringed at his play nearly as much as in the past. I still wish we knew why Mullan was taken out though.
I think that's true of every GM ever in any sport (including Jeff Plush) and nothing special. As a Detroit Lions fan, I'm wary of the likable guys who always say what you want to hear. Talk is cheap, and the indisputable nature of the results on the field are why I enjoy sports.
He isn't. He also just doesn't do much that is readily apparent. He's kind of a riff on Mehdi, just without the "attacking/creative midfielder" label that raised expectations for Mehdi. But Wells seems to get judged by the same standard. At the same time, he's not all that good, either. He's just kinda there on the field.
It probably is true and you are right that talk is cheap. That is why I said his biggest test is whether he can accurately judge Technical Director talent.
It's kind of ironic that Kandji fits so well in to Houston's 4-3-3 system. Here is Matt Doyle's "Between the Lines" video about it http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2012/08/14/between-lines-houstons-dynamic-4-3-3 Shame Rapids didn't believe in him, or maybe it was just the chemistry here that didn't work? Either way, Kandji sure has mad a great impact on the left wing for Houston and I can't help wondering if he would have made a difference towards Pareja's vision of how Rapids should play if he had stayed with us a bit longer.
Yeah I think that is true. It is interesting that we let someone who could flourish in a 433 go while keeping a bunch of guys that don't seem to fit as well. Maybe there was nothing FO could do but I wouldn't mind seeing him in our lineup this year. I know he didn't produce much under Gary but I think our new direction would have suited him well.
I haven't seen much of Mac's play this year, but looking at the stats he's played almost 3 times as many minutes as Hill's played for us and has the same number of goals and 1 more assist than Hill. Essentially hill has played as much this year as Kandji did in his season+ in Colorado and they were both involved in 4 regular season goals total in their time here. Maybe Kandji would have flourished in Pareja's 4-3-3 had he not left but he wanted to leave. so far, based on his play under Smith and his stats in Houston, I don't think he's been a significant loss.
In fairness to Kandji he wasn't here long, made an impact, got hurt, and had half a season post injury on team in the midst of accumulating injuries. His window for helping the Rapids was awfully small.
True, he didn't get a ton of chances. And obviously he will always be a club legend for what he did in MLS Cup 2010. But I have a feeling if he was still here he would have just gotten Hill's limited minutes this season.
I've watched a bit and he looked pretty dangerous on the wing. Agree that it seemed he wanted to leave though so it is a moot point. It doesn't seem op loves hill though or he would probably be playing more.