I'm done with him. He put this shitty team together and he put these shitty players on the field. Love him as a player, hate him as a coach. He needs to GO.
He chooses the tactics, the lineups, etc. He has also shown that completely subpar performances will actually keep a player in the lineup.
The only thing that keeps me from jumping on this bandwagon is that Chad Ashton would probably take over from him.
The problem is that his strength is supposed to be player motivation and having the team "ready to fight". They have consistently been coming out flat and not ready to go. We are supposed to tolerate his strange mancrush on Pajoy and his crappy tactics and substitution patterns because he is learning, but he has regressed in the area where he is supposed to be strong. This team doesn't even look like they practice together.
That was bizzare..someone else was teed up to come in i swear i saw...and then they changed it. The team doesn't seem to care...the coach is responsible for the team.
He was going to send Townsend in for DeRo, then Korb and Raphael Agusto both were looking gimpy. So Olsen, knowing we were down a goal and there wasn't much time, brilliantly decided to hold back the forward and send in a fourth defender for the injured Raphael Agusto. Because...I don't know.
Nobody is going to lead this team to victories, this year or anytime in the immediate future while our wondrous new owners combine the previous regime's stadium ineptitude with all-new cheapness. Fire Olson, don't fire him. Doesn't matter. This roster is dogshit and it's going to be dogshit until enough fans stop buying tickets and the owners realize they have to spend some money to make money. (Yes, I know the league pays the salaries. But 1) the owners are the league, and the more a team spends the more it costs each individual owner, and 2) DPs. That's directly out of pocket.) This is the new normal for DC United. I'll be watching, but only while while doing something more entertaining, like vacuuming the house.
You took the words right out of my mouth. I really do love Ben, and all he did for the team as a player, but his substitutions have left me scratching my head! I don't believe the owners are going to fire the team and keep Ben. It will be a sad day for me when he is let go.
from day one i was ready to support Benny through challenges even tho we made the playoffs last season, i had reservations about some of his choices (but thought he still deserved to be manager) the offseason, preseason, and first few games of 2013 have proven that Olsen is too rigid to adjust and adapt when United is heading in the wrong direction the team desperately needs to change...sadly, it looks like the only way that will happen is if Olsen is gone he dug his own grave (Ashton should be sent packing too)
the main reason i'm not buying this is his lineups yes we have some crap players but he's been sticking by Pajoy and Saragosa and making random subs like Russel today out of the pool of "talent" we have none of those guys should be seeing the field as much as they do the owners dont make those calls so thats squarely on the coach
Crazy how big of a difference less than a year can make. I keep hoping for a breakthrough and that we will get back on track, but it seems less and less likely.
The team is still too spread out. Philly was happy to sag and let McD and Jako orchestrate. So instead of grouping Kitchen, Saragosa, Pontius and Porter tightly so they could move through the numbers in the middle, they were all akimbo with Kitchen and Saragosa off on their own, looking for gaps. Forget gaps, swarm ball that shit to where you need it. Korb and Woolard were more than willing to get forward to where the space was, and no one was hemming them in. Anyone notice the general lack of movement? On any given throw in, for instance, one or two guys might run to or away from the thrower, but if that didn't free them up, it's 'okay, we're done, we tried, we'll stand here and wait now'. At least DeRo will make himself available more often than not. He'll come back to the ball, go out wide, play off the last defender, that's good stuff. Pontius doesn't have the movement of a player who feels the results of the match matter. Saragosa is beyond invisible. Kitchen is often marked and shadowed, and, I love him, but isn't trying hard enough to shed it. Pajoy is just offside constantly. He tried to present for Jakovic, but couldn't hold it. I like Porter's aggressiveness, but his crosses were the worst ones yet. I still like the back line, although Woolard looks very slow this year, so that's something. I wish I could say it's all on the players up front, and maybe it is, but I don't see a team with a plan, and now they don't play with maximum effort, either. The head coach has to take his share of the blame for that.
From the DCU website post-match quotes: "I thought [Lionard] Pajoy had a good game in a week where [the media] was not, maybe, on his side." losing coach Ben Olsen 4/21/13
Oh no, Benny! Yeah he's jumped the shark with that one. Sad to say but he needs to be relieved of his coaching duties.