MLS Flavors of the week: 2019 Edition

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Sombrerito, Dec 20, 2018.

  1. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think ideally Bob Bradley wins MLS Cup and we call him back to the US before New Year. Probably not going to happen.
     
  2. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would take Bob Bradley at the drop of a hat right now.
     
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  3. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If we could undo every bit of "progress" we have made since the end of bob bradley's tenure Id take that in a heartbeat. We have gone backwards every year since 2010.
     
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  4. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bob has balls. He started Adu in a cup final, ran out a 19 year old Jozy in the World Cup.

    What risk taking have we seen from Gregg on that level?
     
  5. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Its not just 4th in the west though, its that San Jose was practically a USL level team for at least the last four years and he turned them not just good, but appealing to the eye in that amount of time. And got guys who were rotting on the bench like Jackson Yueill and Tommy Thompson and got them both in national team conversations (Yueill of course actually notching a few caps in).

    I was very high on the Pareja train for awhile, I will admit that. He was far and away my favorite candidate for awhile to replace Klinsmann
     
  6. An Unpaved Road

    An Unpaved Road Member+

    Mar 22, 2006
    Club:
    --other--
    I like the sound of that as well but it might not be as easy as "calling him back."
     
  7. DHC1

    DHC1 Member+

    Jun 3, 2002
    NYC
    I’ve always liked Bradley Sr. But going back to an old coach isn’t a good move. Let’s learn from experience please.
     
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  8. 50/50 Ball

    50/50 Ball Member+

    Sep 6, 2006
    USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Different situation. He'd be coming in at the beginning of this cycle with a fresh slate and with expanded experience.
     
  9. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And he did all that in one month.

    SJ tried to play the way Almeyda wanted for about 4 games-worth of tinkering. And now they're a well-oiled machine.

    Gregg's had many months, and held loooong camps. His much more talented squad looks like dogsh*t, gets dogsh*t results, and looks completely lost.
     
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  10. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    From the reports I've read from players, Almeyda spent a huge amount of time with them to get the whole thing right. A big part of his success has to do with physical training. You see what happens when MLS schedule wreaks havoc with rest between games, eg.
     
  11. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    You might be right but we have to grant that Badley's experience abroad has broadened his horizons considerably. That experience included the National team of Egypt, a small Norwegian club, Ligue 1 and a few hours in the epl.

    He can be a bit stubborn but he's smart and ambitious.
     
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  12. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Define "huge"? Almeyda was hired in October, 2018. Technically, most players came back for training camps/preseason in February 2019. It took him 4 games in March with the Earthquakes getting smacked around before everything clicked.

    So, if we're being charitable, in 2 months Almeyda turned around one of the worst teams in MLS playing a completely alien man-marking system and focusing on their fitness.

    In theory, there's nothing stopping our guys from getting fit enough to play that system. In fact, it's a boon for their clubs if the USMNT guys are fit enough to run for 90 minutes.
     
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  13. largegarlic

    largegarlic Member+

    Jul 2, 2007
    I'd take Bradley Sr. back as coach, but that also almost certainly means Bradley Jr. is written into the starting lineup in permanent marker for the rest of the cycle.
     
  14. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    I love Matias Almeyda ... but I don't know if anyone has thought this through. People complain about Berhalter requiring too much of players with so little time. Almeyda's success is all about the massive level of time and investment he demands.

    His man marking system can be incredibly disruptive in a tournament setting, so that makes sense. But it requires his team to better conditioned than almost any, and it requires a strong amount of coordination between players. San Jose got tore apart before they jelled -- and it took two months of daily practice. And they still get ripped apart by skilled, more talented teams. Because that defense is high risk, high reward.

    Offensively, the Quakes are really playing some pretty ball, and I love how he definitely plays to more skilled players -- moving Yueill and Thompson back increases the overall skill level. And it has taken a while for that to gel as well -- it's different than Berhalter's ideas in some ways, but it requires as much cohesion.

    Lastly, his big edge right now is how hard his team plays. That's a big part of Almeyda -- everyone works their asses off. Lose the ball, fight like hell to get it back. There's not Dest getting nutmegged and giving up. But that trust takes a while to generate, and it sometimes comes with a cost -- Vako was benched for months until he deomnstrated he would play at that level, and he's the most skilled player on the team.

    I know that's exciting to those that think Bradley might get benched under Almeyda, but there's also a good chance McKennie would be as well. And you wonder if Almeyda could build that level of effort with such little time with the players. Or whether it is as big of an edge in international ball versus the dog doys of a full seasons of club play.

    He's a great coach. I would not object to him if he were coach of the USMNT. But there's a lot of quirks to him and I think reasonable questions in an international context. Plus, I suspect he'd rather be a club coach.
     
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  15. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    2 months of working every single day, the first month in a 24/7 training camp essentially with no games to interrupt.

    That's more time than Berhalter will ever get with his European players. And there isn't any contradictory coaching for Almeyda.

    Almeyda is great, but if you think Berhalter is trying too much playing out of the back ... I don't know what that doesn't apply to what Almeyda does differently than anyone else.
     
  16. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    That's not true at all.
     
  17. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    Every single successful coach is stubborn to some level.

    Why? Like anything, there is variance in performance and results. Coaches that don't believe in what they are doing, that change strategy and choices at the drop of a hat, inevitably fail.

    If you stick with a plan, even if that plan isn't optimal, you can win through executing that plan with excellence.

    If you never stick with a plan, a team can never get good enough at a plan to execute it to success. Period.

    I always laugh when people call coaches or leaders stubborn -- which is often code for "I don't agree with them." But they have to be a decent amount of stubborn. Or the direction changes cause whiplash so frequently you can never actually accomplish anything.
     
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  18. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    oh, yes, it very much is. Take a peak at the tables of the past few years of where SJ finished. It wasnt great, and thats an understatement. Last year was apocolyptic, Stahre was an absolute disaster. That team was very......very.....bad, USL level bad.
     
  19. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    I'm a fan. San Jose went to the playoffs way back in 2017. It wasn't a great team but nowhere near USL level.
     
  20. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    That's true with coaches and organizations in every sport. A coach that changes approach too often will have greate deal of trouble finding success. Oragnizations that go through coaches like it's a revolving door seldom are successful. There needs to be a certain amount of stability. Of course the flip side to giving a coach more time is that some coaches will get more time than they should and sometimes an experiment system/game plan etc will go on for too long.
     
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  21. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    like i said in discussing yueill elsewhere- thats among the least impressive "achievement"s imaginable. (re any team- no interest in this argument)
     
  22. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Berhalter's MLS players aren't any better for having spent long camps with the team either.

    Well, our GK is awful with the ball at his feet. Which means Judson/Jungwirth start the attacks, not Vega. Seems to me, that's not something that solved itself, but that Almeyda recognized and allowed Vega to kick the ball upfield when necessary, usually down the wings to Eriksson/Espinoza.
     
  23. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    The comment was that SJ has been USL level for the last four years. It hasn’t.

    Your comment is irrelevant to that discussion.
     
  24. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    youre right, my apologies.

    teams that cant even crack the mls playoffs are WAY better than usl teams...
     
  25. Ghost

    Ghost Member+

    Sep 5, 2001
    We started five teen-agish players last night. Gregg could be playing Cristian Roldan for 90 every game.
     
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