Tom Soehn's big Gamble

[highlander]

I am not a big fan of the "fire the coach" mentality that rears its head every time that we have a couple of loses. I have to stop checking out bigsoccer when I see that happen. A lot of times some people's expectations are out of touch with reality or their vision is so short sighted that it is destructive. That is the nature of sports. It is somewhat disfunctional. Always has been. Always will be. I get it.

I have to admit though, that this year is a bit different. Tom Soehn is on the hotseat much more this year than his first two years and he needs to be. I had a hard time making decisions about him during his first year because it was his first year as a professional coach and his first year in charge of DC United. It is hard to judge the worth of a guy - good or bad until you start to see patterns about how he does things.

I had a hard time with making decisions about his value as the coach of DC United last year because they completely revamped the team during the offseason, they had tons of injuries and, due to the Champions Cup during the pre-season, he was not given the time to build the team properly.

Okay. During and after his first year, they unloaded guys who didn't play well for him that had played well for Nowak. Okay, but they also unloaded a guy who did play well for him but was limited physically (Vanney) because they wanted to upgrade. Okay. But then they unloaded both of those upgrades (the Gonzalo brothers) because they weren't "worth the money they were being paid". Okay. Don't even get me started on the Gomez/Gallardo situation (that deserves it's own thread and has it).

Now we look at this year. He doesn't have to worry about the champions league during the preseason. Check. He doesn't have any of those other players that were costing the defense and he has had a couple of years to settle on the guys he wants back there. Check. He has been in charge of DC for a couple of cycles so you can't chalk up his mistakes to not ever having experienced a situation before. Check.

It is time for DC United to be good. I think some of the out of touch with reality expectations and short sighted vision is always going to be there amongst some fans, but there is a time to get it done and this year is that time for Tom Soehn. I am a big fan of being patient, but not to the point of supporting someone's bad habits. This is the "Make or Break" season for Tom Soehn at DC United.

Good luck to him. I always wish nothing but the best for the coach of DC United and I am always willing to be patient within the framework of this season, but DC does need to get better this year. We don't need to completely dominate the league in every way - but we have to be good and we do need to show that we are getting better. Who knows? Maybe the low expectations that so many people have for the defense will work for him this year rather than against him if he can get the young guys to come through. It may end up being known as "Tom Soehn's Big Gamble that Saved His Job". We shall see.

[Pan-T Clause]

I agree in total. I try not to be one of the masses with torches and pitchforks, though sometimes I do get caught up in it. Soehn certainly has to have a good to great season this year if he wants to keep his job. I hope he does he seems to be a good guy, just doesn't seem to have that fire that Nowak had when he was here. Which makes it seem like he can't get the team to play with the intensity that they need to game in and game out. Also needs to find what works and let the guys play. You should only tinker so much otherwise you throw off the chemistry being created.

[DCU]

I agree that Soehn must coach the team to an excellent season, though I'm not sure what your thread title refers to.

If the team doesn't perform well over the course of the season and make a deep run into the playoffs, I imagine Soehn will get fired.

Personally, I think Soehn eliminated any chance he had of being a great coach when he hired Chad Ashton, an amateur with no pro-level coaching experience. I expect both of them to be gone at the end of the season. Of course, I hope they're not. Who knows? Maybe they've learned something in the past two years.

[DCU]

I agree that Soehn must coach the team to an excellent season, though I'm not sure what your thread title refers to.

If the team doesn't perform well over the course of the season and make a deep run into the playoffs, I imagine Soehn will get fired.

Personally, I think Soehn eliminated any chance he had of being a great coach when he hired Chad Ashton, an amateur with no pro-level coaching experience. I expect both of them to be gone at the end of the season. Of course, I hope they're not. Who knows? Maybe they've learned something in the past two years.

[Frog Boy]

I agree that Tom Soehn needs to be fired, NOW! :D

[fatbastard]

Personally, I think Soehn eliminated any chance he had of being a great coach when he hired Chad Ashton, an amateur with no pro-level coaching experience. I agree with this whole-heartedly
I was really, really hoping this "new age of accountability" would lead to us having a new Asst. Coach this season.
I just don't trust that guy........

[nick]

I believe that Tom Soehn must have an excellent start to the season. He had a pass at the end of last year due to injuries. However, I felt even taking those into account he did not perform well and the FO were very forgiving. This year will be different.
If DCU has a poor start, I think he will be gone before the All Star game.

[uniteo]

Personally, I think Soehn eliminated any chance he had of being a great coach when he hired Chad Ashton, an amateur with no pro-level coaching experience.

I agree with this whole-heartedly
I was really, really hoping this "new age of accountability" would lead to us having a new Asst. Coach this season.
I just don't trust that guy........

What do any of you know about Ashton? I mean I've never seen any critique (good or bad) of his work in the press, so I'm wondering how you even have enough info to make a judgement. And why would hiring a college coach with MLS experience as a player (and APSL before that) be so different than hiring a just-retired player for the job?

Trust? What's that got to do with anything?

[GrillMaster]

I inferred from the owners' remarks after the post-season meetings that Messrs. Soehn and Kasper have been given goals they must meet or else. I'm guessing all others in the front office have also been given goals, but their lee shore is a bit further away from the keel. If the foul wind of last season continues to blow for just a few games, the SS Soehn and Kasper will almost certainly wreck on the rocks and founder. I imagine that after last year's meetings our sports-wise owners started making mental lists of candidates. To mix metaphors, they are on a very short leash, I would say.

GM

[fatbastard]

What do any of you know about Ashton? I mean I've never seen any critique (good or bad) of his work in the press, so I'm wondering how you even have enough info to make a judgement.
observation and "gut".

my distrust of him should not sway you, but it is legit to me.

I've mentioned my dislike of him many times on this board, it should be no secret.
I just don't like the guy. Never have.
I can't even completely tell you why - but pour a few beers in me and I'll probably try :D

[Hedbal]

I know three things about Aston:

He still holds the assist record at UNC

He was a teammate of Tommy's for several years

He is the most profane individual I have ever been near

And that's all.

[John L]

Ashton's major qualification seems to be as a former teammate of Soehn - While I agree a head coach should be able to choose people he's comfortable and familiar with as assistants, you also gotta choose people who bring something else to the table beside what you bring - I just don't see that with Ashton - I see him there mainly to be a buddy with the head coach and to agree with every tactic and strategy Soehn tries - Not what you want from a good assistant

And, yes, DC United needs to get off to a good start - Not necessarily a great start, but they can't have a losing record by mid May

[Grasscutter]

To riff on your title, Highlander, I think it's the lack of a gamble that we're looking at here. If anything, Payne/Kasper and Sohn have hedged thier bets by not bringing in high-priced talent and by allowing the roster to be--at this stage--far below the league average in cost and quality.

The "gambles" all happened after '07, when Payne (and Sohn) blew up a Supporter's Shield-winning team.

If the owners were unhappy that they overspent for crap results last year, they may be putting more of an emphasis on the spending part of the equation this year. Do you really believe the owners told Tom he could pick anyone he wanted to replace Boswell/Peralta or Erpen/Vanney/Martinez, and he came up with Greg Janicky?

He doesn't have any of those other players that were costing the defense and he has had a couple of years to settle on the guys he wants back there.

Namoff, McTavish and Burch all played pretty badly last year. All we're adding to the mix is a League 3 pick-up who looked pretty good at the end of the season.

Given the current budget-friendly roster, I wouldn't judge Coach Tommy too harshly if the team starts slowly, and by "starts," I guess I mean until there are clearly better players who've been added to the roster and given time to gel. Let's say mid-August.

And unless there are major roster upgrades, I'm not sure I'd judge him too harshly if the team misses the playoffs again, although I see no way he would survive if that happened.

If Payne hadn't been such a Polyanna during our meltdown last year, I'd have more hope that the FO understands that Sohn needs better players. But KP was still insisting after the home Dallas disaster and home Saprissa loss that we would make the playoffs and be competitive in Champion's League. In his online chat this weak, he practically cried about the fact our roster is so "deep," making it so hard to find a spot for a career back-up like Vide.

I expect nothing more than a couple of journeymen defenders--Chris Leitch, Richie Kotchau, Carey Talley, maybe a Shavar Thomas if we're lucky . And if that's really what Sohn wants, then he deserves what he gets.

[Barracudas]

Who knows? Maybe the low expectations that so many people have for the defense will work for him this year rather than against him if he can get the young guys to come through. It may end up being known as "Tom Soehn's Big Gamble that Saved His Job". We shall see.

I always thought defense wins championships.

I thought Soehn was a conservative guy who doesn't like to risks (getting rid of Erpen, Martinez, etc.). If Soehn goes into the current season with the defense he has, then he is taking a HUGE gamble (not big, but HUGE!).

Now, I realize defense is a team concept, but our midfielders (aside from Simms) are not known for their defense.

Good luck to Tommy, he is going to need it (and I do hope it works out, because quite frankly I rather see DC United win than lose).

[BigKris]

Just to play Devil's Advocate, I've got several alternate ideas to throw out there about what might be going on. I have no reason to believe the below are true, just throwing them out as alternatives to consider:

1) Vic and Will, while generous owners, are no fools. Buying a lot of expensive players didn't work. They've learned their lesson after one try (unlike, say Danny Snyder, who does this year after year) and they've now said to United management, "do it without the high-price additions". The expectations bar may be lowered if this is the case, but it's not Soehn's doing.

2) A second riff on the "Vic and Will don't want to spend money" theme: buying out Soehn's contract and replacing him with someone else costs more money than just leaving Soehn in charge. Vic and Will don't want to spend more than they have to in these troubled economic times. Ergo, no replacing Soehn.

3) The guys who came in last season were head cases. Bad in the locker room. Wouldn't accept coaching. Whatever. United decided that without those guys around the rest of the team would be better -- addition by subtraction as it were. Maybe the team will bond better, play for one another better, or train and otherwise accept coaching better. In a way, this is the most optimistic answer to the case, because it suggests the team might not be so bad this year, even if there are several new faces...

[Vasco]

yes this is his third season, so yes his job is on the line, correct me if i am wrong but he signed a three year deal.

The defense was lousy, the goalkeeper was awful till crayton got here.

the offense was anemic for long periods of time.

how could he not be on the line

[Lowecifer]

What do any of you know about Ashton?

He looks like Mike Martin, which means he seems shifty.











:D

[roadkit]

And his name is Chad.

Sounds like the head punk in the evil dojo in "Karate Kid."

[DCU]

What do any of you know about Ashton? I mean I've never seen any critique (good or bad) of his work in the press, so I'm wondering how you even have enough info to make a judgement. And why would hiring a college coach with MLS experience as a player (and APSL before that) be so different than hiring a just-retired player for the job?

Trust? What's that got to do with anything?
You're right that I can't know with certainty that Ashton is a problem. My opinion is based on what I've heard from practice reports and what I've heard from reserve league game reports. The reserve team was, from all reports, a shambles and Ashton was in charge. But above all, my opinion is based on the team's performance on the field.

IMHO, compared to the Nowak era, the team has looked poorly organized since the day Soehn and Ashton took over. I give Ashton some of the blame because the chief assistant is usually in charge of organizing & running practices.

As for how Soehn "doomed himself from the start," it seemed obvious when Ashton was hired that there were more qualified candidates out there. Was he hired simply because he was Soehn's buddy? It's possible. He didn't have much MLS experience, after all. And he wasn't coaching college soccer at a high level.

Bottom line, there were other people available who would have brought more experience and acumen to the coaching staff. Hiring someone marginally qualified as his chief assistant cannot have helped Soehn run the best team possible.

[Funkfoot]

I took the littlest Foot with me to see Soehn speak at the VYSA workshop a couple weeks ago. In that setting, he struck me as a really intelligent (and nice) guy. I would really, really like to see him succeed this year.

Everything I know about Ashton I learned from reading this thread. Seems inexperienced, but being the all time assist leader at (even a crap school like :p) UNC makes me hopeful that he might be good tactically. Sort of like good point guards make good coaches in basketball. That's what I hope anyway.

The gamble, it seems to me, is going into the season without a pair of solid center backs. But at this point, anything we do becomes a gamble. I would rather gamble on a young stud like Futty than gamble on an expensive, older player who might fail to fit in and ultimately crap out like the Gonzalos. I suppose you could trade for a proven MLS center back, but that would proabably mean losing one of our other starters and that is a gamble, too. It sounds like they are still looking for help at that position, but if the decision is to go with who they have and try to let some chemistry develop there, then I'm OK with that.

It should be a really interesting season on a lot of fronts. Will we get decent wing play? Can Gomez still play? Who are we going to start working into the lineup as we phase out Moreno? Can Jacobson really play? If so, what position? And the new guys, Pontius and the other African/Swiss player who we just signed - will they be any good?

It's easy to be all sober and analytical now, but once the game starts, heh. The only question will be whether beer is raining down on me because we scored another goal or because everyone is bored!