He got a God given restart against not so good RSL and still after a 30 minute preview couldn't modify his tactics. The lineup was set so no changes there. If anything they came out worse than the night before, a true testament to his leadership
Wow. That was the game, wasn't it? If a defensive player on a normal team had made that kind of game-altering mistake, he'd be picking up splinters for at least the next several games before he got another chance to play or it would be down to a USL team for a while on loan.
For me, this past weekend was Olsen's worst performance to date. After the match, Benny said: "60 minutes. Great? Good. 60 minutes of what we need to do, to win games. 60 minutes? What’s that worth?," said head coach Ben Olsen in his post game press conference. "Nothing. Another loss is what 60 minutes of high-level stuff gets you." Uh, which 60 minutes of high-level stuff was that? Does anyone (else) think they saw 60 minutes of high-level stuff from that team last night? Hell, over the full 90? This is fantasy land. Let’s go further. The plug for Olsen has always been emotion, "grit", commitment. That whatever his teams might not bring to the pitch in terms of strategy, tactics, tactical flexibility, situational preparation, organization, etc. etc. ad nauseum, the one thing they would have would be fight, attitude, etc. Mental will. And yet as soon as RSL scored, everyone’s heads went down and the team energy fell to near nothing. Why did the team’s spirit drop so much after RSL scored? Why, despite the 90 being spread over two days, did the team look completely gassed for the last 10 minutes of regulation and 5 minutes of stoppage? Why did the players who have been playing with each other all season look like they had not, like they’d never played together? Why do our defenders and defensive midfielders mentally check out of the match so often? When we knew we were restarting the match with a corner, why did we have nothing whatsoever prepared for the corner? Why are we unable to create chances offensively, as if our entire offense consists of getting the ball close to the opposing 18 and then hoping for luck or a major mistake by the opposition? Does any of this fall to Benny? And why does Benny come out and say that we played well for 60 minutes, when we didn’t?
High level stuff, huh? He can't really believe that. If he does, he has to go now more than ever. Continually frustrated with the fitness level of this team, almost always fading when opponents get stronger. That's something that can be fixed but hasn't been for years.
@Bootsy Collins, I thought United were the better team on Saturday. They looked dangerous the rest of the 1st half, after that abysmal corner, especially when Acosta was on the ball in the penalty area. After that, though? Nothing. Petke made the needed adjustments at halftime, Olsen didn't (this is typical). And while the Miranda sub was fine, that Büscher sub was the icing on the cake of terrible decisions for me. Büscher was terrible from his first touch, and Canouse was RIGHT THERE to be subbed on instead, but noooooo.
See for me it is the continued playing of Sarvas that pushes me, Olsen's most ardent supporter, to the brink.
I do too. I said over on B&RU that I thought we had 20 of 28 minutes on Saturday, maybe 15 of 62 on Sunday. To be fair, the fanbase has been clamoring for Büscher for a while now, wondering why Benny never plays him. But yeah, I wanted Canouse too, because by that point it would be a short run out, and he's used to playing at a much higher level than Büscher at this point. I liked what I saw of him on Thursday (but to be honest, I liked what I saw of Büscher too). Benny would probably say that the early injury to Brown derailed plans to bring in Canouse. But I don't agree because he simply could have gone in instead of Büscher. But honestly, we were done by that point.
Too many well made points to enumerate, but he's in denial, delusional or thinks everyone's a fool. I'd love to continue to separate his playing career from his coaching but the latter is so poor it completely overshadows the former
I can still separate them. One doesn't speak to the other, for me. And I'm not mad at him: I know he loves the club, I know he loves the fans, I know he's giving it everything he has, and I know nobody, nobody wants the team to succeed more than he does. I desperately wish that were enough to ensure his success as a manager, not just for me as a fan, but because I genuinely want him to be rewarded richly for what he's given to the team. But I don't think it's going to happen, because there are other qualities that are required. From my perspective, that's sad, but it's reality.
Maybe, I dunno. TBH is play during matches has been so scarce that he hasn't made much of an impression on me. On Thursday he didn't look half bad.
We have to frame the game as it was as well. This was a home game against one of the worst teams in the league. We were debuting several new players, one costing millions, and our opponents had to fly across country and stay an extra night unexpectedly to complete the match. Players are also playing for their D.C. United careers now as they've seen several firings. In short, everyone should look better than normal.
The Buscher substitution wasn't outlandish. Ben pulled a defender, Odoi-Atsem, for Buscher, an attacking midfielder. At that point we had four attacking players (Mullins; Miranda; Arriola; Acosta) on the pitch plus Nicky and Buscher. Yes, I've seen Buscher play better, but his nine minutes didn't cost us the match. What cost us a point is Marcelo's inexplicable clearance (read: "pass") to Silva for the winning goal.
If Sarvas lumps it up filed, fine. If Sarvas plays an outside of the boot ball towards Lucho fine Silva will not pick that ball off, fine. You CANNOT play a straight inside of the foot ball, IT WILL BE PICKED OFF!!
I have to disagree here. His selection given the injuries and suspensions we've had reflects the best of bad choices. I've called for trying to work Durkin in, but they've got a development plan for him, and they're sticking to it, so, OK. I'm not sure he's ready to make a difference at this level anyway. Sarvas' mistake last night wasn't the problem - someone always makes a mistake. Credit where credit's due - that was a sweet pop-up volley by Luis. We lost 1-0. It was our inability to threaten RSL's goal that was the real problem. With recent injuries, recoveries and acquisitions, we went in with a team that had very little chemistry and were held scoreless at home. Anytime Jeffrey and 2017 Marcelo are your best options to line up in midfield with anyone, you're in a hole. Nicky, our backup to the backup left wing, can't score, doesn't have a final ball, and he's playing in front of OA who hasn't played on the left for us before. Mullins has only had a handful of minutes on the field since his latest recovery and Arriola's completely new. It's a disappointing result, but not a surprising one. Expect some modicum of the same for the next month. Stieber's recovering from an injury, Harkes and Nyarko are sidelined, Canouse is in preseason form and Buescher, were he playing well, is likely to go on loan anyway. Next game, let's try a 4141 again, shall we? Mullins(Miranda@75) Arriola - Acosta - DeLeon(8) - Sam(Stieber@80, swap with Arriola) Marcelo(Canouse@65) Korb - Opare - Birnbaum - Franklin/OA Hamwise "Bilal" Gamgee
I believe he may be more than a bit overdrawn on his richly rewarded for past achievements account. Paint his picture on the wall in the Black and Red and shred his coaching reviews, it's time to move on
Yeah but grading on a curve based on MLS average DCU normal is slightly above pathetic and far below mediocre. And sadly it ranks above DCU coaching
Just says "Muscle Injury" And gives a "healthy" date of July 31. Who knows what that means, but it implies he wasn't able to fully participate in preseason.
Huh? When did that happen? He was going full speed at Thursday morning's practice, or at least during the first half of it when I was there. If he got injured later that day, well, that'd fit right in with DC United, I guess.