Well, that was a crap ending. This team is in danger of seriously regressing next year unless there are some major moves to improve even rebuild the team. I think it starts with a serious look at the coaching staff. And we should be looking at 2 new DPs. But it's even more than that.
Putting aside the off-field changes (I don't think there's another way they could have ********ed up this season, all considering, starting from that stupid "TV" deal)... Next year, we've got... Kamara Asad-----------???-----------??? Moreno---Felipe? Mora---------Birnbaum----???---Canouse? Hamid? I think we lose Acosta, and I hope we lose Rodriguez. Don't know contracts on some of the others. In defense, I'm not a Brilliant believer, especially at his age. He's out of contract, says Wikipedia. But beyond this, I'm not sure any major decisions can be made until we know whether the ownership still has faith in Olsen.
Next season Rooney, Acosta and Jara are gone for sure. Rodriguez is on the bubble. I would see if there is a market for Moreno, he's young and a national teamer, you can get by with Canouse and Felipe in the middle. Arriola may be gone to Mexico, but that will involve a transfer fee of some sort. Hamid's transfer fee is under $1M, so DCU should buy his contract from Midgetland. Needs: 1) Another forward who can complement Kamara and press for starting time -- bye bye Quincy 2) A right back if neither Fisher nor OA can return to form 3) Keep Brillant for the right price to back up Birnbaum and Pines 4) A #10 from somewhere 5) A new coach and personnel director If we're lucky, we get a new right back and Olsen will say, "I like this squad, we're always looking to improve, but I like this group." In other words, you can start all of these threads you want, but with Levien, et al. in charge, it will be rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, "I got you babe..........""
These posts are a bit alarming. If we lose all of those players (Rooney, Acosta, Arriola, Jara, Rodriguez, Hamid), we really lose a huge part of the team. If that happens, then next year could be a "rebuilding year". Not a good thing.
They aren't alarming, they are reality. Rooney, Acosta and Jara are definitely gone. Rodriguez is a loan, and I don't know what his purchase price will be. He's been up and down all year, so do you spend serious money on him? I don't know. Arriola has gotten some looks from Mexico, so he might leave as well. This team will be very different in 2020, the only thing that will remain the same is the coaching staff. Which will be there long after I'm dead.
Regarding replacing Benny . . .on one hand, I do think people advocating a change are on the right track (the ones that can't advocate that position while still showing respect can fuck right off, though). I love Ben Olsen more than I love my mom, but for a variety of reasons I think it’s time to move on to a new coach, and have thought so for a while now. But anyone who remenbers the end of the 2009 season should temper their enthusiasm about sacking a coach. I don’t care how bad you think anything is right now, it can still get much worse. That’s not meant as an argument against making a change — if we want to get better, we have to — but simply to be clear-headed about it, and understand that it’s not a sure improvement. Especially when I doubt we’d be a very attractive job to strong managers right now. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't make a change. I'm simply saying that expectations have to be tempered, for sanity's sake. One thing is for certain, though: any change should be made soon. There's going to be a whole huge honking hell of a lot to do this offseason.
And I am saying that I don't simply want change for change sake. I want a viable plan. Bring in manager X. Bring in players Y, Z, Q, K. I don't want "We lost badly!! We have to replace Ben!!!" That is an emotional response. Those only turn out badly.
You're absolutely correct. However, we now have a 10 year body of work from Olsen which indicates with him at the helm, DCU is a mid-table team at best. Sure you can get another Onalfo, but I'm up for the risk because mediocrity is boring and ultimately kills hope and interest. I'm sick to death of Bennyball because it leads to fiascoes like the season ender against Cincy and the loss last night. I would gladly watch a clueless Ray Hudson gesticulating wildly on the sidelines than go through another season like this.
Shawn is stuck on the need for a clearly defined path forward with a coach, technical director and player acquistion model before you get rid of Olsen. That will never happen with this FO, the best we will get is Olsen is fired, we're looking at alternatives. At this point, I'm fine with that, because we know what we will get with Olsen -- not enough. Look at Philly today against RBNY, down 3-1 they clawed their way back and won the game. Do you really think an Olsen coached team could overcome a 2 goal deficit in 45 minutes? I don't. Time to move on.
Is "trump's son" still on one of the academy teams? 'Cause that might be humorous. But as bad as Levien is, I am wondering if that choice would be any better. Definitely would have more money to launder, which results in more high-profile DPs. Drones delivering beers to fans in their seats might be a possibility as they test Amazon delivery methods
The problem is that I want the next coach to have input on all decision-making. It would be dumb to hold on to players that the next coach doesn't fancy. But we don't have the next coach yet. Ideally, we'd see a press release thanking Ben for his decade of service and an announcement of the next coach TODAY. But I don't see that happening. If I was the next coach, I'd keep Hamid, Mora, Birnbaum, Brillant, Pines, Canouse, and Arriola. That's it. I think 2020 is going to be hilariously bad. I suppose I'm OK with that if they are building for a brighter future. Alternatively, they could keep Olsen and the defense and go for some more low-to-mid-table mediocrity
Let's not get all uppity with our expectations. I'd be happy if they'd announce a local broadcast partner before March.
Of course in most of the European leagues, which I keep having to hear are soooo much better, most of their teams have been aiming for this exact thing for decades to hundreds of years.