Soehn's playoff record

[autogolazzo]

One of the big efforts of United brass this past year was to create a team that would be successful in tournament matches, not just league matches, like the past two years.

Well, we tanked in the Champions Cup.
We're tanking in Superliga.
We're doing ok in the US Open Cup against the likes of the Rochester Rhinos (and yes, the Chicago Fire as well).

Sorry, but this record is awful. Just watching the Superliga, our tactics look awful. Chivas ran through us (at home) in the 1st half like swiss cheese. IT took Soehn 45 minutes to remove his head from his ass and react to the pressure.

Then against Atlante. Even more pathetic. We were clearly more dynamic and talented than this team but we left our back line incredibly open to counterattack. Also, we showed absolutely no variation in attack. We dominated but never seemed to vary the way we attacked which made it very easy for Chivas to sit back and defend.

This is a coaches job: to provide the players the necessary guidance with regard to tactics. Soehn does not know tactics (or motivation, etc.). He won't get fired until the end of the season, I suspect. But, it should happen much sooner, and definitely before the CCL.

[uniteo]

Now on the other side of the coin;

I'd say you can't hold the CCC against Soehn...there is no way you can expect a team to play well together with the kind of turnover DC had in the offseason.

Superliga? Injuries. Plain and simple. He changed formations Saturday after about 25 minutes - not at the half. It was a formation that worked well in the 2nd half. And as a coach, all you can really hope to do is put out the team and formation to get a result then it's up to the players. Simms and Namoff make a hash of their challenges on the first Chivas goal, Emilio hits a post, McTavish hits a post, Moreno misses his first pk in over 20 attempts...that's pretty tough to coach around.

[nick]

I am now convinced this team is not as good as last year's edition despite the retooling and all the money spent. While Soehn shares the blame you have to look at the FO and Kasper. The lack of depth on this team is startling and we still have problems with:
Goalkeeper; Centerback; Wing Midfield; and the lack of a complement to Emilio up front.

Its not a surprise that NO ONE (with the possible excepton of Emilio after he got hot) was selected to the All Star team from this squad.....

[John L]

PLayoff Games = Games (or series) that you must win in order to advance - Does NOT include Group Play or regular season league games


2007 Playoff Games

CONCACAF: 3-1-0 ?
USOpenCup: 0-1-0
SuperLiga: 0-1-0
Copa Suda: 0-1-1
MLS Playoffs: 1-0-1 ?
TOTAL: 4-4-2 ??


2008 Playoff Games
CONCACAF: 3-1-0
USOpenCup: 2-0-0
TOTAL: 5-1-0

Total to Date: 9-5-2

(sorry if my memory's a bit off - even with corrections, the overall record remains pretty good)

pretty good PLAYOFF record

as others have said - Too many injuries during this season, and too many critical losses from last year: Ben Olsen; Troy Perkins (although Wells has improved substantially); Josh Gros (although Thompson may be a minor re-incarnation)

[La Barra Blonde]

as others have said - Too many injuries during this season, and too many critical losses from last year: Ben Olsen; Troy Perkins (although Wells has improved substantially); Josh Gros (although Thompson may be a minor re-incarnation)

It's not only injuries but the fact that we have a great starting line-up and no second-string except for Burch. We have no subs at this point except a bunch of brand new reserves. They look good and seem very promising but they aren't anywhere near MLS speed right now, esp. for an entire game. Take out a chunk of our starting line-up and we're sunk.

I think where the FO fell short this year is getting rid of too many of our second-string guys for promising reserves and a couple of new starters. Having promising reserves is critical to growing a team but it takes a while before they are good enough to hack playing an entire game instead of subbing in. We're expecting them to play an entire game before they are really ready. That being said, I think they are doing a phenominal job with it and probably are progressing faster than if they were mainly playing in the reserve matches but the cost to the team is that we don't do that well for a while.

[Footer Phooter]

Well, we tanked in the Champions Cup.
We're tanking in Superliga.
We're doing ok in the US Open Cup against the likes of the Rochester Rhinos (and yes, the Chicago Fire as well).


We "tanked" in the Champions Cup because we had to play a game with a brand new team, at altitude on the road, in the preseason, against the defending Mexican champions.

Superliga doesn't count in my book. We weren't trying 100% last night, no physical play until the end.

We've done OK in the USOC.

[SocaWarrior23]

I think that if Soehn doesnt win a trophy this season he needs to be fired.

[superdave]

It's not only injuries but the fact that we have a great starting line-up and no second-string except for Burch. We have no subs at this point except a bunch of brand new reserves.
If Olsen were healthy, Quaranta too.

But your basic point still stands. The drop off from #13 to #14 is really dramatic. That's down to Niell tanking and the expansion draft and...poor drafting? Poor tradees? Whatever, it's not a positive mark for the DC front office.

[JeremyEritrea]

Calling the Superliga a "playoff" is a bit of a stretch.

[tallguy]

I am now convinced this team is not as good as last year's edition despite the retooling and all the money spent. While Soehn shares the blame you have to look at the FO and Kasper. The lack of depth on this team is startling and we still have problems with:
Goalkeeper; Centerback; Wing Midfield; and the lack of a complement to Emilio up front.

Its not a surprise that NO ONE (with the possible excepton of Emilio after he got hot) was selected to the All Star team from this squad.....

I agree -- I really can't come down hard on Soehn exactly for this reason. Actually, if anything Soehn deserves some credit for getting this team playing as well as it has over the past month and a half. We lost several pieces from last year's team that haven't been adequately replaced and there's absolutely no help on the bench (except, maybe, for this new guy Thompson who certainly looks like a gamer if nothing else).

[autogolazzo]

PLayoff Games = Games (or series) that you must win in order to advance - Does NOT include Group Play or regular season league games


2007 Playoff Games

CONCACAF: 3-1-0 ?
USOpenCup: 0-1-0
SuperLiga: 0-1-0
Copa Suda: 0-1-1
MLS Playoffs: 1-0-1 ?
TOTAL: 4-4-2 ??


2008 Playoff Games
CONCACAF: 3-1-0
USOpenCup: 2-0-0
TOTAL: 5-1-0

Total to Date: 9-5-2

(sorry if my memory's a bit off - even with corrections, the overall record remains pretty good)

pretty good PLAYOFF record

as others have said - Too many injuries during this season, and too many critical losses from last year: Ben Olsen; Troy Perkins (although Wells has improved substantially); Josh Gros (although Thompson may be a minor re-incarnation)


I think your statistics are a little misleading:

Our 2008 CCC record was actually 2-1, but one of those wins was against lowly Harbor View and the other 'win' was actually a second leg aggregate loss to Pachuca. Sure, we scored more goals than they did in that match but that's kind of like saying we won the second half of a match even though we were outscored for the entire match.

Our 2008 Open Cup total includes a win against lower tier team: Steve Guppy's Rhinos. The win against the Fire was impressive, nonetheless.

In 2007, we actually did quite well in CCC. Then, we tanked in the four subsequent tournaments, going 1-3-1. All of these being first playoff round losses. That's a pretty awful record right there for a team with the leagues best record.

Also significant is the fact that we haven't made it to a final of any of the 6 tournaments that you mentioned, that have been completed.

[QuietSide]

[Soehn] changed formations Saturday after about 25 minutes - not at the half. It was a formation that worked well in the 2nd half. And as a coach, all you can really hope to do is put out the team and formation to get a result then it's up to the players.

Not really a Soehn Fan or hater, but I felt like he cost us the game last night.

Correct me if I'm wrong but last night we trotted out the same lineup/formation that failed miserably for the first 25 minutes against Chivas. Marc Burch, while servicable on the wing, cannot play center back. If we had any doubt about that, we learned it in the first 25 minutes against Chivas and Soehn finally had to give in and change his formation. Yet, last night, there was Marc Burch again being asked to play central defense. Two goals later Soehn finally decided to change thing again...

[autogolazzo]

Now on the other side of the coin;

I'd say you can't hold the CCC against Soehn...there is no way you can expect a team to play well together with the kind of turnover DC had in the offseason.

Superliga? Injuries. Plain and simple. He changed formations Saturday after about 25 minutes - not at the half. It was a formation that worked well in the 2nd half. And as a coach, all you can really hope to do is put out the team and formation to get a result then it's up to the players. Simms and Namoff make a hash of their challenges on the first Chivas goal, Emilio hits a post, McTavish hits a post, Moreno misses his first pk in over 20 attempts...that's pretty tough to coach around.

You're defintely correct about this year's CCC - not Soehn's fault one bit. That's DC management's fault and biased scheduling (+ altitude).

I disagree with you that all a coach can do is put out the correct formation and let the players do their work. Tell that to Gus Hiddink. He needs to devise a correct tactical approach that his players can implement. If things are not working, defensively or in the attack, he needs to make tactical adjustments, not just substitutions.

Soehn constantly seems to get out foxed by the other coach in the big matches.

[JoeSoccerFan]

Correct me if I'm wrong but last night we trotted out the same lineup/formation that failed miserably for the first 25 minutes against Chivas. Marc Burch, while servicable on the wing, cannot play center back. If we had any doubt about that, we learned it in the first 25 minutes against Chivas and Soehn finally had to give in and change his formation. Yet, last night, there was Marc Burch again being asked to play central defense. Two goals later Soehn finally decided to change thing again...

You're wrong. Dyachenko started against Chivas. Doe came off the bench and Moreno played AM starting in the second half.


Lose 2 games in a row, chicken littles start calling for TS head. Geessh!

[Th4119]

"Soehn should be fired because the team isn't winning in Superliga". "Soehn should be fired because he's taking the Superliga too seriously".

Geez people, it was a lot more fun when we knew what we wanted.

I think Soehn should be fired for wearing a green shirt on the sideline last night. Where the hell is the intensity in that?

[QuietSide]

You're wrong. Dyachenko started against Chivas. Doe came off the bench and Moreno played AM starting in the second half.


Lose 2 games in a row, chicken littles start calling for TS head. Geessh!

What, you took me literally? :)

The back four we started against Chivas was: Namoff-Burch-McTavish-Martinez, right?

About half way through the first half of that game Soehn gave up on that formation, put Martinez in the middle, pushed Burch out to the wing, and sent McTavish up into the midfield with Simms.

Last night we trotted out the same Namoff-Burch-McTavish-Martinez back line that failed so miserably against Chivas.

After going down two goals, we switched at half time only this time we moved Burch up into midfield and left McTavish in the middle.

The Namoff-Burch-McTavish-Martinez back line did not work against Chivas and forced us into a tactical change. Yet we went ahead and tried it again on Tuesday. It didn't' work again.

I'm not saying Soehn should be fired. But I don't' think he put his players in a very good position to succeed for this game...

[autogolazzo]

Let’s take a look a Soehn’s highly analytical comments after the match:
"There is no sugarcoating anything," Coach Tom Soehn (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Tom+Soehn?tid=informline) said. "The performance, especially in the first half, was atrocious. There was no commitment, no passion. We came out flat all over, and that's unacceptable. . . .
"Today we accomplished all the things we did when we were 2-7 [in the regular season]. That's the team we looked like today, and that's not good enough."
I’m very surprised that he didn’t add his usual, “we just didn’t finish our chances.”

Now I’m not a soccer tactics expert nor do I coach but what do you think about this for a few tactical adjustments:

1. Contrary to what Soehn said, I thought were dominating and attacking early, but we looked very susceptible to the counterattack. How about trying to relax on getting all of our defenders involved in the attack so often and focusing on counterattacks? This wasn’t addressed the entire match.
2. Atlante was bunkering. Tell the team to start taking shots from distance to pull the defenders out and create some space. Who knows, we might even score one of these long range shots.
3. More crosses in from the flanks AWAY from the keeper
3. How about telling the team to be much quicker in the transition game and to not worry so much about stringing along an infinite number of passes?


I just don’t Soehn knows any tactics besides a lineup, subbing individuals, or telling (I mean "asking" as he always says) the team to play with more passion.

[NattyBo]

"Soehn should be fired because the team isn't winning in Superliga". "Soehn should be fired because he's taking the Superliga too seriously".

Geez people, it was a lot more fun when we knew what we wanted.

I think Soehn should be fired for wearing a green shirt on the sideline last night. Where the hell is the intensity in that?
Clearly. His choice of a pale green easter type color proves that he doesn't have what it takes to be a coach in the big leagues. A real coach would wear a white shirt and sweat completely through it, ala Nowak.

[Footer Phooter]

Clearly. His choice of a pale green easter type color proves that he doesn't have what it takes to be a coach in the big leagues. A real coach would wear a white shirt and sweat completely through it, ala Nowak.

I prefer the Ray Hudson look, with the DC United polo and the one pair of khaki pants that he owned that probably hadn't fit for 10 years.

[RoundBallNewbie]

Tommy isn't (fully) responsible for personnel decisions, and most of our problems in this tournament and through the season have come down to personnel. Buying disappointing players, not plugging the right gaps, allowing depth to suffer. That's Kasper's department, blame him if we're going to blame someone off the field.