https://theathletic.com/1334824/2019/10/29/luciano-acosta-dc-united-mls-leaving/ Terrific article. It confirms a lot of what I thought was going on. Acosta has some negative thoughts on Ben.
I enjoyed watching Acosta play and was a bit mad at Ben for sitting him on the bench for the stretch run (I don't think it's too far-fetched to think his absence contributed to our fall down the table). I thought even though he tracked back well on defense in most cases he still got the reputation here that it didn't happen, but that happens here. He definitely had his moments where he'd get upset about losing the ball (either by what he felt was a foul or by not having any options to pass from his teammates' lack of proper supporting runs) and show it but for the most pat he went back and disrupted a lot of opponent play/passing. He was great at occupying defenders, too bad our forward (we rarely have more than one, which I hate) or other attacking midfielders rarely were able to capitalize by being more available. Be interesting to see what they do to try to replace the engine in midfield & up top. I think TiTi is a good complimentary piece, not the main piece but I fear we shall see.
The article did indicate that Acosta seemed aware he got benched because Olsen was going for a defense first lineup and Acosta doesn't really fit into such a scheme. What a shame.
It wasn't his liability on defense. It was his liability on offense. OK - Maybe on defense too, in that whenever he would lose the ball (WHICH WAS NEARLY ALL THE TIME) he would spend the next 30 seconds pouting on the ground or scuffing the grass and looking down on the ground - and NOT recovering immediately and putting pressure back on the ball to get it back, and thus the other team was always able to bring immediate pressure back onto our (usually short-handed) defensive structure Whenever he lost the ball, he wasn't merely a liability on offense. He was also a liability on defense.
That article is amazing! The fact that his son is such a huge fan of DCU that he was scared to let him know they'd leave is kinda wild, and i love it. Luciano Acosta is a player i will never forget and am extremely grateful to have had with us for a few years of entertainment. I'm grateful that the club was willing to gamble on acquiring him and allowing him to transform the team with his play from time to time. His way of playing is a risk so I never had as much a problem with turnovers or his perceived on-field frustration as most fans. Literally the only bad thing i can say about Lucho is that he kind of "gave up" on the rest of the squad by not passing to anybody but Wayne last year. I might be wrong but it felt like Asad, Arriola and others would make runs and he'd hold onto the ball too long while trying to slip passes (almost exclusively) to Rooney. I feared that they were limiting how dangerous the attack could be. But he was still worth having on the team and I completely lost interest when Olsen decided to bench him this year. Acosta should've been traded last winter. They shouldve pulled the trigger on the PSG deal rather than hold out and gamble on Acosta's good will. Seems they deeply hurt the guy and their own chance at future success.
I don't think Acosta ever gave up. I think he tried too hard. The irony for such a creative player is that once he stopped passing to anybody besides Rooney, his play just withered on the vine.
Lucho's reluctance to pass to anyone but Rooney led to his biggest failing, IMO: his insistence on dribbling into trouble instead of drawing defenders to himself and then passing to an uncovered teammate. Sure, he was so skillful with the ball at his feet that he could often pull it off, but more and more he just drove into a pack of defenders and lost the ball. The revered Etcheverry was somewhat like that late in his career, but Lucho is still a young player. He never learned to truly trust any teammate not named Senor Wayne.
The idea that he’s viewing the Saudi Arabian league as a better place than DCU just leaves a bitter taste. I could have been ok with him going to a team in a big 5 league that wasn’t a relegation contender or going to a team in a 2nd tier European league that usually gets Champions League.
The road to alienation is a long winding one. Have there been many more beloved players in the last decade? DeDro, and ... And I know he poisoned his own well here. I’ve been as critical of his attitude most of last season as anyone. And he needs to own that, it was his indifferent play that got us here. All that shit last season to end up at best a lateral move which I don’t think this is if dude wanted to fulfill his ambitions. The money is real, but it’s BS if you want to say you were trying to get better.
Yeah, the PSG offer screwed us, but good. In the end we'd have been far better off accepting the offer. There are no winners here. I think his decision to let the clock run out on his contract preceded Ben's decision to (more ore less permanently) bench him. In addition, he was playing pretty poorly. Given those two circumstances, why play the guy? If anything, he relegated himself to the bench.