Dash 2018

Discussion in 'Houston Dash' started by SiberianThunderT, Nov 27, 2017.

  1. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    #551 L'orange, Sep 21, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2018
    Mothalo is very athletic and can pressure opponents well and get to loose balls. She is raw, inconsistent, but has a lot of potential--she covers a lot of the field. I was not much impressed by either Prince or Simon this year.

    Pauw strikes me as a tough-minded coach who wants to run the team her way and doesn't like too much interference from others. All things considered, she did a good job this year, IMO. She certainly doesn't seem like a player's coach in the way that, say, Adnonovski, seems to be. More of a female Bob Knight--but that's just my vague impression, it could be wrong--and it is a moot point now.

    More generally, players always prefer playing for a "players' coach"--but players' coaches aren't always good coaches or effective; some are, some not. On the other hand, tough coaches can be effective--but they also wear on players and can alienate people. The best coaches, it seems to me, have a bit of both--they know when and how to be demanding yet are good at relating to and motivating individual players and the team. I feel for the players in the NWSL: They are passionate and want to play but the pay is poor for most, the overall conditions at several franchises are still iffy, and with so few teams there aren't many options for those who perhaps aren't getting the PT they want, or are unhappy, or for draftees who are still trying to get established. Crazy days.
     
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  2. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017

    I watched Huerta quite a bit this year because I hadn't seen her play much--and my impression is this: Talented attacking player but a somewhat lazy/indifferent defender; doesn't work too hard when the other team has the ball. She seems to mostly expect teammates to win the ball back--and when they do she swings into attacking action. If I were her coach, that would be an issue with me.
     
  3. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Yeah, Sofia didn't have to do too much defending with the Red Stars as she had Arin Gilliland on her side doing most of the defending. She has a great touch on the ball, excellent crosses, but you may be right, not too much interest in defending. That's why Rory called her out in that game against Portland early in the season where she was supposed to mark Horan but failed to do so.

    Why Ellis wants her as a defender is beyond me.
     
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  4. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    From hindsight, Huerta was not alone in that regard.
     
  5. luvdagame

    luvdagame Member+

    Jul 6, 2000
    a lot is forgiven/overlooked by the players if you keep winning championships. no?

    belichick.

    tho i don't know if women would stick with a hard, rough-edged winning coach.
     
  6. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    How true: I almost cited Belichick in my post. The guy is a bit weird and dickish (and has been known to cheat)--but he wins.
     
  7. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    And that's exactly one of the reasons' why I stopped following men's soccer and replaced it with women's soccer: I hate the "win at all costs" mentality that's typical of men's sports, where "at all costs" include whining, unsportsmanlike behaviours or even cheating. I am not saying these things are competely missing from women's soccer, but for sure they're much less represented.
     
  8. fire123

    fire123 Member+

    Jul 31, 2009
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  9. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Maybe slightly off-topic, but, while watching highlights from the CONCACAF Championship, where Nichelle Prince scored a brace vs Jamaica (match-winner goals) and another goal vs Costa Rica, I had to wonder why she was basically ignored in Houston Dash this season (or at least she didn't get the playing time that one could have expected).

    Asked this also on the Canada NT thread, but probably people in this thread are more qualified to give me an answer.
     
  10. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    I think it's been mentioned in this thread a couple times, but there appears to have been a little bit of favoritism going on in the coach's decisions for who plays.
     
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  11. DynamoManiac

    DynamoManiac Member+

    Jan 27, 2014
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Remember, this doesn't mean players will actually be back one way or the other. It is very rare that you don't exercise an option or offer a new contract to retain player rights and keep your options open for the next season. Just because you exercised an option doesn't mean you'll actually keep the player. Just because you offered a new contract also doesn't mean you'll keep a player or that the player will actually sign (for a prime example of this, see Caity Heap signing a new contract, having it be announced and then being waived less than 2 weeks later).

    To your specific question, I'd characterize the players as being much happier to stay than they were prior to the Pauw outcome. You still have the underlying organizational issues that have consistently gnawed at this team's ability to keep players, however. That said, the beauty of the discontent with Pauw, and removing her from the equation is you're so happy to not have to play for her anymore that you kind of forget all of those other things you hated.
     
  12. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Uh, so it's not just the coach leaving....

    The Dash were (are?) Canetti's baby. What does this mean for the Dash now, if anything?
     
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  13. DynamoManiac

    DynamoManiac Member+

    Jan 27, 2014
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    The coach was a jump before being pushed. This is basically the same.

    Don't know. Canetti was the champion for the team. He's the reason they exist. Even if he pretty much screwed up everything thereafter (including nixing a Sam Kerr deal last offseason in favor of the Press deal b/c he wanted a USWNT player both for marketing and because they are free), there is every chance that ownership now goes "forget NWSL". That having been said, I know he was pursuing new co-investors for the Dash all year round and I've heard rumors that co-investors were put in place specifically for the Dash, in which case this probably means nothing.
     
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  14. L'orange

    L'orange Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jul 20, 2017
    He's joining HOUSTON's World Cup bid effort? I'm confused--I thought /countries/ were awarded the World Cup? You can't have it in one city, obviously. What am I missing?

    On another note, any word on the next coach for the Dash?
     
  15. DynamoManiac

    DynamoManiac Member+

    Jan 27, 2014
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Having been awarded the World Cup already, now there is a comptetion between cities to host matches.
     
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  16. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    Do you mean so the Dynamo would only own part of the Dash or that he would be part of the new investors meaning they'd be his co-investors?
     
  17. DynamoManiac

    DynamoManiac Member+

    Jan 27, 2014
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Diluting Dynamo ownership of the Dash.
     
  18. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
  19. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Glad to see former Mexican NT Captain Monica Gonzalez named as Asst. Coach of the Dash.

    As a Notre Dame fan, I remember her very well back in the day playing for Randy Waldrum at ND. She was outstanding.

     
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