And so we all might wonder why Ass-ton is still around? Prolly for the same reason Olsen is. This team is nothing if not sentimental. DCU Players are like stray dogs. You bring them home, they lick your face and chase a tennis ball for a few weeks, and then they start pissing on the rug and chewing up the sofa cushions -- but they're so damn cute. So you take them to the no-kill shelter, and dang it if you don't decide to adopt them one more time a few years later. In this case, one of the strays decided to adopt his own stray. Olsen and Ass-ton are too close. Ben's never going to can him, even if he needs to.
How many years has it been since we’ve consistently played with recognizable tactics over the course of a season. James
I've been critical of Olsen but I'm glad that unlike some people here, I've never considered Porter the answer.
I've half-seriously proposed a 3/1/0 where it was 3 pts for a win, 1 pt for the equalizer, and 0 for everything else. Basically, for all ties, only the last team to score gets a point. It would bring back the one virtue of the old shootout, which was that one team would always be disappointed with the result and would therefore be compelled to attack to do something about it. In addition, there would be no points for goalless games, so you'd see some frantic attacking at the end.
Not much activity here. Benny Ashton's tactical shortcomings are more tolerable when you have better players. My main problem with getting rid of Olsen is still the same, the lack of any ability of the ownership to pick a suitable replacement.
Marcelo Bielsa or his right hand man Diego Reyes. Attacking football, small rosters, tactics that make average squads way better than they were before. These guys could dominate MLS the way Belichek does the NFL. Their style would translate well to MLS. Most players would die to play for Bielsa. I don’t know how the USMNT didn’t go for Bielsa.
You're talking about one majorly dysfunctional organization in USSF. The fact that they went with the 1 guy they interviewed after dragging their feet for a year or more tells me all I need to know WRT the decision making at the USSF. Kyle Martino couldn't win the election. I'd have really liked to see the direction he was going to take things develop. I am not a Berhalter fan and I am really dreading the next World Cup, because I think his style is not necessarily suited for the international game and I am really concerned about some of the decisions he's making regarding formation, personal, style of play. Tyler Adams might be the 2nd best player in the pool, he needs to be played in a system and position that works for him along 2-3 other key guys like Pulisic. Look at all the talent that Argentina has, but they've failed to put Messi in a system that suits him and surrounded him with players in roles that fit his system, yet he's still dragged that team to the final in 3 of the last 4 major tournaments he's captained the team. I don't think you make your best player, a generational talent, play your system, which is what Argentina has done for a decade. Instead you design or choose a system to maximize them and fill in with good players in the roles you need.
I come from the Don Shula school of coaching where, as you say, you fit your system the the players you have. Shula had a smart undersized QB and a huge RB and he won two Super Bowls (17-0) with a running style team. Then later in his career he had a strong armed QB, so he built a passing team and took them to the Super Bowl. When I coach I have a preferred style but I always adjust my system to the skill set of my players. That is a sometimes fault of Ben Olsen/Chad Ashton as well.