Fire Olsen

We'll have to go to the VAR to see which move was dumber, I contend that Ventura will replace testa di merda in the Italian language from this date forward, Olsen will be forgotten by all but a very few soon enough

 

OK Ben "sat out" the Orlando debacle but his fingerprints were all over the damning evidence. Time to warm this thread up again

 

Might as well shut it down, there's no chance he's fired this year. It's his reward for working for peanuts with peanuts up to this point. I do believe next season sees a new coach unless something miraculous happens.

 

Yeah, unless/until the ownership is ready to rebuild the team, Olsen isn't going anywhere. Why would a new coach come in if he isn't given resources to make the team competitive?

 

Isn't that what they just tried to do do during the off season? Do you think Olsen could do better with the best 11 in the world?

 

I'm sorry but resources are becoming less and less of an excuse. A quick glance at Transfermarkt.com shows that we are squarely in the middle of the pack as far as squad value. Two years ago we were closer to the bottom. But the FO has spent a considerable amount of money the last 2-3 transfer windows. Locking Birnbaum down until 2020. Paying a significant transfer fee to secure Luciano Acosta. Signing Ian Harkes despite interest from abroad. Breaking club transfer record for Paul Arriola. Bringing Stieber in. Signing Ousted near the league max. Dropping a significant amount of allocation money for Asad. We're about to pay a small transfer fee for Joseph Mora. And players like Brillant, Mattocks, Segura, Moreno, De Leon, Mullins and Kemp are all well into 6 figure salaries.

While rosters around the league are not final, as of right now we probably have more value on our roster than Vancouver, Dallas, Columbus, San Jose, New England, Salt Lake, Houston and Minnesota. We're very much in the same pack with Colorado, SKC, Montreal, Orlando City, Philadelphia and Red Bull. There's only about 8 teams in the league where you could say that they're clearly one or more notches above us in spending ... Chicago, Seattle, NYCFC, Portland, LAFC, Galaxy, TFC and Atlanta.

The bottom line is that with the roster Ben has now, at some point the team needs to start looking competent. It's been 8 years and we still have no clear tactical identity. When you look at Berhalter, Marsch, Pareja or Vermes you can clearly see a coherent system in place. Might not work every time, but the teams look competent. Vermes has a signature 4-3-3 with a physical high press and solid defense. Marsch focuses on high energy youthful soccer. Pareja has the 4-2-3-1 possession style. Berhalter pushes the fullbacks up and has a diamond attacking formation that emphasizes one touch finishing for the striker. What identity does Olsen have? In 8 years we've fumbled our way from one formation to the next ... a diamond 4-4-2, flat 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, with only very brief periods of coherency. The soccer has mostly been labored, uncomfortable, confused and hard to watch. The time for excuses for me expired like 5 years ago, but nonetheless, here we are again with a new season. All I hope is that some day the excuses stop and we transition to a period of accountability.

 

One game into the season and a valuable away point, coach suspended...

Come on, folks. You're better than this.

 

And don't forget Kreis. His 10 dominated our 11 during the second half. When our guys had possession we didn't seem to know what to do, and what we did was promptly give up the ball. I think we have some moderately competent players who could do pretty well with better coaching.

 

And without Acosta, our designated play-maker

 

And Canouse.
Horrible 2nd half. Horrible tactics.
But let's see this team get to know each other a bit before giving up.

 

I agree with all of your post! And yet, interestingly, here we are, tied for 9th in the league. Infuriating, isn't it?

 

I was unaware that the family dog had eaten Ben's 2018 team strategy notes, and he has been unable to reconstruct what, at the time, was pure soccer genius. Maybe an excuses thread is a better idea

 

I wish you would. You know LA has another team now, right?

 

This thread is a waste of time. The Fire Olsen crowd are entrenched. The don't fire Olsen crowd are entrenched. Neither side is going to give in. Neither will change the others mind so why bother.


Oh and in case I have not said this in the past 90 days Ashton, the idiot, is in charge of tactics around here so those second half tactics all of you hated were his doing. He was the "man" last match after all.

 

In the Orlando match, you are spot on. I remember Ashton's interview at the beginning of the half where he said they would ping the ball around and run Orlando's legs off chasing the ball. I guess he gave that tactical advice in the wrong dressing room because that certainly is what Orlando did in the second half.

 

Do you have actual evidence Ben was bound and gagged while locked in the trunk of Ashton's car during the match? It really isn't unusual for a suspended coach to relay instructions to their deputy via an intermediary.

Does "Neither will change the others mind so why bother." only apply to this subject or can that attitude be applied to other issues?

One last thing, it was written by Emerson and often quoted that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds". Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
He implies that great minds change so you're in good company

 

I have shown time and time again Ashton drives the tactics on this club. When a player gets subbed in Ashton comes over to them and talks tactcis. Ben then pats them on the ass and says go get 'em. Watch it, every single time. I have been to practice. Ashton is running it. Ben is giving a little one on one advice and working in the drills. Do you think I am making this up? It is some delusion I am having? Now Ben is in charge and signing off on this but these are Chad Ashton's tactics, not Ben's.

 

Isn't that what assistant coaches do?

 

They should not be the driving force. They should supplement.

 

Olsen has been here a long time, but Ashton has been here longer. It's hard not to conclude that management was impressed by Chad and kept him on to tutor the inexperienced Benny. Benny is no longer inexperienced, and I think we are seeing the sum total of these two men. I'm not impressed with their accomplishments or their apparent acumen, but at least I like Benny. Can't say as much for Chad, whom I've found brusque.

 

I'm sorry, but being a head coach that outsources tactics to his assistant is not very flattering. How are players supposed to respect such a thing?

I'm sorry, but the main thrust of the tactical presentation to the players needs to come from the top. Assistants are there for the little cutaway details that reinforce the head coach's program.

You guys should watch a documentary on Netflix called "Trainer". It follows 5 head coaches in the lower leagues of Germany for an entire season. When the team is watching video, the head coach is the one narrating. On the practice field the head coach is controlling the instruction.

I'm sorry, but if Ben is not alpha enough to take ownership of this part of the team, it's as good of a reason to fire him as any. This beta behavior from a head coach does not inspire confidence, and could be one of the reasons our team has so little vision. I mean if Ashton is responsible for tactics and Kasper is responsible for roster construction, then WTF is Benny's job? Glorified cheerleader?