Today MLS has an article up praising Berhalter. I would provide a direct link to it, but unfortunately the article was written by that dipshit who called us idiots.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-le...up-failure-promotion-relegation-salaries-more Berhalter is # 2 to Viera in the players survey under "what current coach would you most like to play for?"
I still find it hysterical for Asshat Knownothing to try to pass off his lurking here as if he's watching week one of American Idol for the LOLs, instead of his real MO-- which is to get to the real updates; cogent analysis; Applebee's Waitress rumors; etc. that fills the gaps between the Pulusic signings, KHTs, and various music/food/bygone Era soccer memorials because in actuality he has no real connections or understanding of soccer as evidenced by his vacuous trite writings. He's a hack and a shill and I get more from BS than I've ever seen from his 7th percentile of MLS "journalists". Yeah sure, he's here for the comedy.
Since we are mired in another one of those very Berhalter-eque periods of the season in which we dominate possession, but drop points at home and then on the road to far inferior competition (Philly) or direct rivals (Chicago), let's fire up this baby again. What should we talk about today? How about player identification and how long it takes the player to come into Berhalter's system. Let's take a look at everyone's favorite DP Pedro Santos. Remember the halcyon days when the signing of Santos represented to some fans the commitment of Precourt to this club. Lol. That was great. But let's not dwell on that. Let's dwell on Pedro's (lack of) production. Counting the playoffs Pedro Santos has now played in 20 games for the Crew, starting 19 of them. He has logged just under 1600 minutes for the Columbus Crew. In that time Santos has contributed 1 goal and 3 assists. Granted he has played better this year than last, when not throwing himself on the ground at the slightest bit of contact. But, he has not been a world beater. For an attacking DP we probably should expect more after 20 games than 1 goal and 3 assists. Now, let's take a minute and look at league leaders NYCFC. This offseason they brought in 24 year old Ismael Tajouri. He scored the first of NYC's 4 goals last night in a 4-0 trouncing of RSL. In 336 minutes of MLS action, over only 4 games Ismael Tajouri has 4 goals and 1 assist. Tajouri is 5 years younger than Santos, not a DP and plays a similar role on the wing or coming underneath the striker. He's made an immediate impact on his team and on the scoresheet. NYCFC is unbeaten through 6 games and sits 6 points ahead of the Crew in the standings. What is it about Viera that he is able to bring in these players and have them adapt so quickly to NYC's system and contribute? What is it about Berhalter and his vast scouting network that brings us DP's like Mensah and Santos who are nice enough, but struggle to adapt to MLS and fail to make the impact that other teams are getting from non-DP signings? How many more years must we put up with this?
Viera has an international name. That helps. And, if you want to point out failures--or less than adequate players--you have to look at the other side of the equation. He also found Ola--for one. Not every player a manager brings in will be a hit--but with more money, you can forget about the bad ones quickly like Real or Man City do.
This brings me back to a time when I liked to debate different perspectives on our Columbus team. I 'member when . . . I thought our owner had the best interests of Columbus at heart. Such a simpler time.
Ola Kamara scored in one playoff game over 2 years. He then looked at what some of the other jabronis on this team were making and asked for a raise. When that wasn't coming he asked to be traded. It's great that every once in a while Berhalter finds an under valued gem and they contribute for a handful of games before moving on. That seems to be exactly what NYCFC has done with Tajouri. It's problematic that the one's who he has deemed worthy of DP tag, and the biggest salaries, and the cache that goes with that in the locker room have produced well below their pay-grade.
@hangthadj my favorite part about your rants is how you always tout other teams' players regular season performance, but consistently limit Ola's contributions to only his playoff goals. Fantastic stuff.
Thank you! I strive for excellence! But let's also point out I was initially speaking of the poor regular (and post season) performance of Berhalter DP's Pedro Santos and Jonathan Mensah. I can tout Jozy's playoff goals if you want. I've touted Kei's playoff contributions when speaking of Columbus before. I can talk about Jordan Morris's playoff contributions. We can talk about any of those. To be honest I don't pay much attention to other 15 goal scorers on bad teams that don't make the playoffs like Ola in 2016 to compare his regular season against. He did a little better in 2017 until it really mattered. Fantastic stuff.
Imagine building a squad and having Adam Jahn as your back up forward. For 3 seasons. 1 goal last season. 3 defeats in a row. Tick tock
Jahn is going to live off that ATL pk for a long time. He’s Schoenfeld bad who got fortunate to get the game winning pk.
To be paid handsomely in a poor league does not make you a great talent. If that was the case we would be lauding Berhalter for his signing of Mensah.