Nowak, the 352 and Olsen- not a good match

[ursula]

A lot is being made, both on this board and in the soccer press, of what a great year is Benny having. Part of the accolades though are mixed with the observation that his goal scoring is way out of whack, that he should not be scoring so much. That he's a great pest but the offense is unexpected. Good old Benny with the bum ankle getting lucky...

The is revisionist history.

Lets review Benny's career for a bit:

1) Bursts on the scene in 98, winning the rookie of the year award as a right winger, even though the team already had two very good wingers in Harks and Sanneh. That year he played in 31 games, started 24 and had 4 goals(6th on the team) and 8 assists (tied for 3rd and ahead of Harkes or Sanneh). Clearly he was forcing his way into the starting lineup, even though Sanneh was hurt for part of the year and if Sanneh had not moved to Hertha Berlin in the offseason, DCU would have moved Tony to right back (and not acquired Sonora).

Its also clear that even as a rookie right winger he was an offensive force on a team loaded with talent.

2) 99 saw Olsen's production increase to 5 goals (4th on the team and most from the midfielders) and 11 assists (tied for 4th on the team). With Harkes and Sanneh both gone the team started a bit slow as the offensive tilted to the right side of the field and opposing teams could scheme their defense that way. That changed when the team traded back for Maessner to give some balance to the attack. Olsen of course won the MLS Cup MVP award. Again, this is as a right winger. This year saw him start to get integrated into the Nats and it was obvious to everyone that Benny was the future starting right winger for the Nats for at least the next 2-3 world cups.

3) Disaster for DC and to a lesser extent, Benny. First to worst. Benny wound up playing only 13 games for DCU, recording 1 goal and 3 assists. Two factors were involved in this scant playing time.

a) Nats U-23 duty. Directly after the 1st United win of the season (that great victory over Chicago where we won 3-2 on two stoppage time goals- the 1st an Olsen assist, the 2nd an Olsen goal) he went to the Olympic qualifying tournament in Hershey- and played great. It was his team. Then late in the season he went to the Olympics themselves. He wasn't so effective there because...

b) Injuries. He kept getting nicked up. Ankles...

4) But he healed up and it looked like DCU was going to lose Benny overseas as they sent him on loan to Nottingham Forrest who loved him until his ankle got crushed. The 01 season was a total loss for Benny. It wasn't until the 02 season- the last 10 games- before Olsen could play again and even then we all could see that he was still recovering.

5) Then came the 03 season and for that Ray Hudson team that was offensively offensive, Olsen more than held his own. He played in 26 games, recorded 4 goals (4th on the team again, two away from team high) and 7 assists (tied w/ Marco for team high). Again, this was from the right wing, not normally the place where a major part of a team's offense comes from. This on a team with just 38 goals on the season. What really made it obvious on how important he was to the team's offense was happened to the team when he got a season ending injury: Including the game he got hurt in the 6th minute, the team had a record of 0-3-2 to finish the regular season, scoring two goals just once and losing to Chicago in the playoffs 2-0 each game.

6) The 04 season loomed bright, what with Hudson being canned and Nowak taking over. All us fans were wondering what the team would look like- it appeared that Nowak was changing the formation from the 442 it had normally used to the 352. Marco was retired, would Convey take those old keys? Or perhaps Stewart? Nowak surprised us all when he kept Convey and Stewart on the wings and started the season with a central mid of Dema, Carroll- and Olsen. It wasn't really clear on who, if anyone, was the a-mid (Dema or Benny) and until Christian Gomez came on board the offense was very dependent on Moreno to create and score.

When Christian joined the team (and Convey left) it shuffled things around but still Benny stated in central mid. It was suggested by Nowak and Arena (on the Nats) and then posters here that Olsen and his ankle were no longer up to the task of winger, particularly the wingback position in a 352. He would up the season still with a workmanlike 3 goals (5th on the team) and 4 assists (tied for 3rd), but as I said above even Arena thought Olsen couldn't handle the demands of a winger on the international level anymore.

7 & 8) The last two years of the Nowak era were more of the same for Olsen: central mid where his grittiness stood out more than his flair. He was selected to the Nats last year in the WC for his efforts but by then any memories of him being an offensive force had disappeared: from his coaches, his fans, even himself. 05 saw him with 2 goals (both in the same game) and 4 assists, last year 2 goals 3 assists. By now his persona had totally changed from when he was a rookie.

9) Redemption thy name is right wing.

This year with Tommy Soehn as the coach started as one of transition. The CCC saw the team still trying Nowak's 352, though Benny started that first game on the wing. the second game saw him in the middle again (as a sub for McTavish).

Looking back at the CCC games though, one can now see that Soehn was thinking of changing things up from the Nowak era. It took awhile though and a bad start in MLS to see what he had in mind though. But eventually we saw a reconstituted 442 with Benny as the right winger again. And if you look back at the early season you will see that it wasn't long after Soehn had settled on the 442 before Benny pulled his hat trick against TFKAM.

Benny after that game acted surprised ("playing with house money") that he could score like that but as of this writing he has 7 goals and 5 assists. Essentially he has played his way into being one of the essential members of the offense (Olsen, Emilio, Fred, Moreno, and Gomez)- just like he used to be in the 442 under both Arena and Hudson.

I see no reason why we shouldn't see more offense from Benny. Yes, he has lost a step. But in a 442 in MLS he doesn't need that step as he is probably the purest winger in the league. He's just a natural; he is constantly outthinking his opposing wingers and fullbacks. Teams now have to account for his offense when playing United.

Its clear that under Nowak, Olsen was not a good fit. He just isn't a good central mid as the spaces get too clogged up for his runs. In the middle of the park, he's reduced to being a gritty defensive-type mid. A good one but nothing too special. But the wing shows his creativity and we need to realize that that creativity was there all along.

Except for the injuries and Nowak's moves, Benny has been the dominant winger in MLS history. That's how he should be remembered. That's what we should realize we have this year and in the next handful of years.

[cyberthoth]

Good post...

I'd argue that under Nowak a lot of people weren't good fits...Convey, Adu, Santino come to mind immediately. He turned the franchise around and won a title but I really think Nowak wasted too much time putting square pegs into round holes so to speak.

[JoeW]

1. But even Olsen said early on this season that while he'd make a go of it at outside mid, he didn't think he had it in him and didn't see that as a permanent switch. So even Olsen wasn't sure he was an outside mid.

2. I also think that a big part of Olsen's resurgence is b/c of the nature of this team. We've been a team that played a short passing game in the middle of the field. Teams learned that the way to beat us was to defend Moreno and Gomez and forget the outside mids.

Fred and Benny, to a certain extent, benefit from a league that is still paranoid of an aging Moreno and a slightly off-form Gomez.

3. I think the shift to the middle improved Olsen's game. He became a better defender. He became more of a team leader and example. I think he improved tactically. And he became more of an agitator.

4. You've got to look at some of the outside players Nowak started with. In 2004, we had Convey on the field. Adu was being looked at as our version of DeMarcus Beasley. We had Earnie Stewart. I'm not arguing that Olsen isn't good enough to start over Earnie or Bobito, only that given the talent on the team, it made sense to play him centrally (especially given the inexperience of Brian Carroll).

[ursula]

Good points Joe. Here's how I respond:

1) Yes, Olsen said that and I think he said that for two reasons: 1) He doesn't toot his own horn. We all heard his comments after the hat trick game- self-deprecating. 2) As I said, I think everyone, including Olsen, forgot what a good midfield winger he was and is. Arena kept saying he wasn't, and he hadn't payed wing a a 442 for three years before this year and only a year before that after his injury. But just because he(and we) forgot doesn't mean its true.

2) Yes, this team is much more diverse than Nowak's teams. Basically Soehn has solved the problem that Nowak never solved: how to spread the offense out beyond Jaime and Christian. Nowak temporarily solved his dilemma when we got hot at the end of 04 but after that it was an issue till he resigned. And its not like Nowak was completely bereft of personnel either. As cybertooth says, he had Convey and Dema and Adu. Too often Nowak put the square player in a round position. Thus DCU had to play a short passing game through the middle: there was no other option. Credit Soehn for seeing that Benny was still a natural winger and moving him there.

3) I don't know if Benny became a better defender by moving in the middle. defending on the wing and in the middle are different things and Benny was a good wing defender.

4) Yes Nowak had all sorts of players to fit into his puzzle and I do not disagree with the idea that Olsen is really taxed as a 352 wingback. Too much end line to end line running for him. Ultimately though with all that talent Nowak's offense degenerated to the Mo & Go show. To make up for Earnie and Convey leaving he inserted just Gros. Dema was out of position on the wing. Quaranta showed brief promise but, well talking about Tino is a act in frustration ain't it? Adu never meshed as we know. And he never found any other possibilities unless you think of Van Sicklin as a possibility. heh. (I know you don't.)

But this year we have Benny as a natural winger and Fred, not a natural winger, but talented enough to add width on the left- and we still have Gros as depth. Soehn also makes sure that his 442 has fullbacks who can distribute (Burch) and central defenders too (which to my mind is a big reason to like Vanney who is basically the long-awaited succesor to Nelsen in distributing out of the central defense.) So its our personnel moves and Soehn putting the square players into square holes that IMO has allowed us to move beyond the short passing game of Mo & Go.

[JuanMa]

...Fred and Benny, to a certain extent, benefit from a league that is still paranoid of an aging Moreno and a slightly off-form Gomez...

Hmmm... you could also argue Emilio benefits from Moreno and Gomez. So, basically, you have Moreno, Gomez, Emilio, Fred and Benny benefiting off each other. That is why we have a good team: multiple weapons! Slightly off Gomez and aging Moreno still need to be followed closely or they will punish you.

OK, now back to the thread topic: I thought Ben played D-MID in a 3-5-2 formation last year. And did pretty well that way for our team. Or was he a winger last year? My opinion is that formation is not the key to his late success. Ben Olsen has matured and his heart is still there. That combo makes him a good club player. Period.

[Sundevil9]

Hmmm... you could also argue Emilio benefits from Moreno and Gomez. So, basically, you have Moreno, Gomez, Emilio, Fred and Benny benefiting off each other. That is why we have a good team: multiple weapons! Slightly off Gomez and aging Moreno still need to be followed closely or they will punish you.


This really is a key element.

Last season United tapered off because ALL goalscoring and offense came through Moreno and Gomez. Teams shut them down, and the goalscoring dried up.

This season, the addition of Emilio and Fred have really opened up defenses for Gomez, Moreno, and Olsen. Defensively, it's impossible to key on and shut down 5 scoring threats.

While the premise of ursula's post is interesting, it's hard to draw a comparison between United in 2004/5/6 and 2007. The 2007 team has 2 more offensive weapons than the Nowak teams.

[owendylan]

For a ""natural" winger Olsen can't cross a ball to save his life. He's a good winger but not a natural winger. It obvious that speed is not really needed to play on the wing in MLS (see Ralston, Steve) and be successful. Ben's a smart player and knows when to go forward and when to hang back. He still pinches in toward the middle which also allows Namoff to come forward, so he's a pseudo-winger in my book. He has also shown a lot of versatility to be able to play in the middle and also the wing, but again I think that comes more from his brain then any injury.

[Daniel le Rouge]

You've GOT to be $hitting me.

Ben is a wing this year? Who knew? In case you hadn't noticed, he's been getting inside a WHOLE lot more than any wing normally should--which not coincidentally is where most of those goals are coming from.

Ursula, normally I listen carefully to what you've got to say, but this time you are totally and completely blowing this out of your rectal orifice.

Yes, the 4-4-2 fits our personnel considerably better. That rise coincided with the discovery of Burch as a more-than-competent left back, and not before. Couple that development with Namoff turning in yet another complete blinder of a year on the right, and all of a sudden, we have the luxury of allowing Olsen to roam a bit, pop up in unexpected places, and amazingly enough, pot a few goals when we need them most.

I know it's been a while since I've posted--two new jobs and 65+ hour weeks will do that to you. So I'm expecting plenty of stick on the whole formation thing. But once again I am compelled to point out that it is the players who make a difference, not the coach or the formation.

Olsen is getting time and space because the guys behind him are playing extraordinarily well. People who twitted me regarding Vanney may feel free to say "I told you so". Sort of. He was still damaged goods when we got him. We win the Supporters' Shield, and I'll cheerfully have my crow served well done. Preferably with a mushroom tarragon sauce and a nice bottle of Syrah. Armangac and a nice cigar for afters, please.

The point is, Olsen didn't, and doesn't, have the wheels for flank midfielder in a 3-5-2. He didn't, and doesn't, have the wheels to play a traditional winger in the English style. What he DOES have, in abundance, is the vision, knowledge of the game, and positioning sense to play a "midfield" role that is pretty loosely defined, WHEN we have guys behind him who can cover and allow for that role.

Ben gets a free hand, mainly because he bloody well knows how to use it. That doesn't mean he can play as a traditional style wing--because quite frankly, he doesn't.

You eeejits is focusing way too much on formation again. Formations are labels, nothing more. PLAYERS make the difference. Benny's making a bigger difference (on the scoring charts--I don't think his game has altered a smidgeon) because the PLAYERS behind him permit him to do so.

It would be interesting to see how Nowak would react to having players like McIntosh and Burch at their current form. Maybe the Polish Rifle isn't quite so rigid as one might think.

[John L]

Well - While I agree with you "Formations - Shormations!!", a change in formations from Three Fullbacks (more comfortably packed in the center with deep flank support desperately needed from the 5th midfielder wing) to Four Fullbacks (able to be spread across the width of the back and not desparately needing deep flank support) is a huge factor for the whole team - It frees up both Olsen AND FRED from being principally responsible for deep flank defensive support

The 3-5-2 is ideally intended to widen the midfield to TWO streaking outside halfbacks - Unfortunately most MLS fields aren't wide enough to fully use this tactic (refer to LA Gals reducing their field) - And the only outside 5th wing we had who could do this was Earnie Stewart (Dema was a close second, Convey wanted the reins in the center or could never get service from switching fields, and Gros (God love him) can only play defense) - This meant our play funneled itself into the middle to only Gomez whom other teams eventually figured out how to clog up - Its the switch to a 4-4-2 that enabled not only wider play on our flanks for Olsen and Fred, but also allowed them to come into the middle as well for a more varied attack even through the center

[Vasco]

How about a change in position and finally healing of the ankle.

Have brought out the bes in Benny.

Or maybe marriage this summer has brought out the best in benny.


either way, I like it.

he seems to have matured a little bit about his playing style, not as many yellows.

Keep up the great work benny

[Daniel le Rouge]

Well - While I agree with you "Formations - Shormations!!", a change in formations from Three Fullbacks (more comfortably packed in the center with deep flank support desperately needed from the 5th midfielder wing) to Four Fullbacks (able to be spread across the width of the back and not desparately needing deep flank support) is a huge factor for the whole team - It frees up both Olsen AND FRED from being principally responsible for deep flank defensive support

The 3-5-2 is ideally intended to widen the midfield to TWO streaking outside halfbacks - Unfortunately most MLS fields aren't wide enough to fully use this tactic (refer to LA Gals reducing their field) - And the only outside 5th wing we had who could do this was Earnie Stewart (Dema was a close second, Convey wanted the reins in the center or could never get service from switching fields, and Gros (God love him) can only play defense) - This meant our play funneled itself into the middle to only Gomez whom other teams eventually figured out how to clog up - Its the switch to a 4-4-2 that enabled not only wider play on our flanks for Olsen and Fred, but also allowed them to come into the middle as well for a more varied attack even through the center

The switch to the 4-4-2 ONLY works if you have the outside backs to carry it off. Josh Gros, much as I love him, was simply not a MLS-capable left back. Until Burch took over and made that position his own, we struggled. Full stop.

Most people really don't get this, because they play too much FIFA '07 or whatever iteration. You simply can't park OTC at left back and expect results. And yet, that's precisely what most of the folks on this board wanted.

It's a myth. Life doesn't work that way. Systems are wonderful, as long as you have the players to make them work. Nowak's system worked beautifully until the players (for one reason or another) couldn't carry it out. The best thing you can say for Soehn's system is that it allows for fairly serious platooning with little loss of effectiveness. You simply can't over-emphasize this.

That's what has put us in the position to win a particular award for the second time in a row--which not coincidentally no one in this League has ever accomplished. Really trying not to hit us with the bad juju here.

But that's not formation. That's players. It's no coincidence that the players can swap formation mid-game and improve their results. We finally hit on the right core group of players to carry this off. We could very easily run a 3-5-2 with this group. We have done, several times, after the "switch".

If we're behind, what's the first thing Soehn does? Bump into a 3-5-2 to secure the midfield. That's because he finally has the luxury of a group of players who can swap back and forth.

What's the real reason Ben's having a fabulous season? Mark Burch. If he doesn't nail down that left back spot, our Ben is playing a WHOLE lot more defense. You think we get the same results with Gros back there? Think again. Gros is about 200x more effective in midfield. It's amazing the difference one player will make.

Oddly enough, that difference maker usually isn't the superstar.

[AlecW81]

How dare you slander OTC...

OTC tiene un posse.

[Liverpool_SC]

Daniel le Rouge is correct that Ben Olsen is not a true winger in the classic English style. He is not like a counterattacking wide player who screams down the wing, bound to the touchline except when beating a man and feeding balls to an iron-headed center-forward ... critiqueing Benny as not a natural wide player and then critiquing Ursula from the formation/shmormation angle is a bit of having your cake and eating it to. Benny is a natural and effective wide player in the present DC system ...

because DC doesn't play like an English or American (in the US sense) team. Olsen is a very good 'natural' wide player for a more latin, possession-oriented system such as DC plays. DC is not a counterattacking side and as such doesn't demand great pace from its attacking players. Ben plays the wide role excellently when the ball is in his half of the field. He drifts to the middle more naturally during extended possession sequences once support from the back moves forward. He especially drifts to (or rather attacks) the far post when the ball is being held on the other side of the field. In fact, his far post diagonal runs have resulted in quite a few of his goals. Likewise, he pinches in a bit (again with pretty focused runs) when a forward (or fullback) carries the ball to his corner. There is nothing about this pattern of play that is 'unnatural' for a wing player in a system like DC plays ... in fact it is logical because DC prefers its attackers to expend their energy in maintaining clear passing angles and sustaining combination play as opposed to systems like Dallas or New England that focus on isolating attacking players against weaker defenders as they attempt to unbalance a defense.

In MLS, we are just used to seeing wingers who are more 'English' in terms of raw athleticism rather than more latin style players who rely on first-touch and ball-skill to create space and get involved in more sophisticated interplay with forwards.

And the stuff about Benny not being able to serve a cross to save his life is over-blown. It is not his strongest suit, but he is not incompetent at that skill. But it is not really a big part of DC's style. Most of the effective crossing in the DC system is from deeper positions ... played into packed boxes where player movement makes it tough for MLS defenders to sustain marking. Hence, it is more appropriate for guys like Burch. Benny prefers to serve the ball from the endline (which he owns) either as a cut-back or chipped service and he definitely does that well.

His strongest skillset as an attacking player are late runs/off-the ball movement in general, combination play (particularly in traffic - including when he is 'trapped along the sideline'), ball-holding skills, shot placement (when confident) and his timing.

Ben Olsen has been consistently the best 'Anglo' player DC has had at fluent interplay with the likes of Jaime, Gomito, etc. While guys like Freddy Adu, Bobby Convey, Jamil Walker, Josh Gros, Alecko Eskandarian (except for brief instances), Earnie Stewart (remember all the complaints about his lack of attacking impact, even amongst those of us who really appreciated his two-way impact), etc have never looked quite in synch with the patterns of (passing, movement, etc) guys like Moreno v2.0 and Gomito brought to DC ... Ben has always been excellent at 'keeping in time' with them. That stuff did not go away when he was 'mired' in the middle in Nowak's system. In fact since Nowak's system was all about the center of the park, Benny was a necessary link between the defense (where we had few players who could see and execute passing upfield) and the attack in that time and place. But now that DC has more weapons and uses more of the field ... Benny is better at doing these things from the outside.

The four fullback issue does make a difference because it gives Benny the ability to expend more energy in the attacking third. That is something he did not have the luxury of doing in the older system. The angle at which he can attack the ball from the wide side of the field also has increased his confidence as a goalscorer. I saw this same pattern with Steven Gerrard when he really solidified himself as a goalscoring midfielder while frequently playing on the right side.... Even if the goals are scored as the wide midfielder moves in towards the center of the field, they are able to take longer runs in more space and better time and place their shots, than when they receive the ball and get only a brief glimpse of the goal (while more tightly marked/closed-down) in the hurly-burly of the center of the field. The experience and confidence guys get as they score those goals helps them get dialed in and score more even when not as well-placed and receive the ball in the middle. For example, had Benny not scored a number of goals earlier in the season - he never takes that snapshot off of Dario Sala's 'clearance' against Dallas. Even on some of his more 'simple' goals charging in on rebounds or balls served to the back post ... the quality and precision of Olsen's finishing has been far greater as he has gotten more confident. Obviously it doesn't hurt that Fred has really given DC some balance on the other side and scored enough goals that guys have to respect him, leading to less defensive attention on the 'weakside' winger. But Benny has made teams pay on such breakdowns.

Ultimately, Benny is having a phenomenal season in a wider role, which began even before we left the 352 - he played very well out-wide even during our CONCACAF matches. It is a bit of a surprise that he has had such great stats, but I don't think he has really had to re-tool to do the job he is doing now. He had the tools ... it is more a fact that the other guys around him are better-adapted to play the system that showcases Benny's skills ....