Lineups, Formations, Tactics, Stats, etc.

When we won, we barely won. When we lost, we lost with gusto.

 

I think the Red Bulls game last year is the first time I stopped watching a Quakes match before the final whistle. I just couldn't...

 

I say we stop playing Gusto, he brings the team down when he is in the game.

 

Si, no me gusto Gusto.

 

I have a slightly different take on this. First of all, you'd have to be incredibly dense to think that everything is good, no real changes needed because the Quakes made the playoffs! They had major issues on the back line and a non-contributing DP, and other dead weight players, just for starters.

But while you can give too much weight to positive results you can also give too much weight to negative results. The -21 GD is not a process, it's a result. It's just a different kind of result than the wins / loss kind of result. The process that they were undergoing under Leitch was to try to play much more positive soccer, even on the road, and even knowing that they might get hammered on the road for it (Leitch pretty much said as much before they even played a single road game).

So the question is, was it the right process? What if, along with retooling the back line and getting rid of some dead weight, they optimized for Leitch's system, and took all preseason to work on it? I think we could expect some improvement in road results, maybe significant improvement, and home results were already good. Not to mention, Leitch made great strides in playing the younger players, also a positive process development.

So IMO the process was good - they were trying to play a more entertaining, positive style of soccer and working in the young players in a much better way. But I think Jesse overreacted a bit to the bad road results. Can't say I blame him too much - another year like that and his job could be on the line. But I think he blinked and went with something that made him more comfortable - an experienced Euro coach with a solid defensive record.

We'll never know how it would have turned it if Leitch got another year or two, but I think it's unfair to just assume he's a bad coach based on his half-year last year, where he was thrown into the fire, made a lot of gutsy changes, and had some positives to go with the negatives. It was a mixed bag. My guess is that either pathway - Leitch or Stahre would have resulted in an upswing in the franchise's on-field performance because there are other parts of the process, outside of coaching and style of play, that Jesse is getting right. So those are just two alternate paths towards the same general positive upswing.

 

Finding out how bad the locker room was last season post Kinnear, Leitch didn't have a chance. I don't think he had any real cred with the Kinnear guys. I think they tried to make the best of it, pulled it together for the home fans and completely capitulated after the second goal on the road. Jesse has repeatedly mentioned the poor road performances. It might sound harsh, but I think Leitch's inability to reach the players and remedy the poor road losses is the main reason he wasn't given the opportunity to continue as coach. He lacked control of the team. Unfortunately, he was put in an extremely difficult situation by the coaching change. Jesse wanted a stronger presence at coach. Even with the mini run at the end of the season, I don't think the decision was even close.

 

I don't think we really know what the locker room was like last season. I know you have your theory, but I think you are taking little things that guys have said and extrapolating them to fit your theory, but the fact is we really don't know.

Here's the thing. Leitch came in and he took risks. He started playing different guys. The guys who lost playing time were not going to be happy. That is unavoidable. The "didn't have cred with the Kinnear guys" was just "I lost my playing time and I don't like it". I don't think that he had an "inability to reach the players". Otherwise, we can't explain the generally good home form (something like 7-1-1). I mean, he can't be unable to reach his players only on the road. That doesn't make sense. The poor road form was due to trying to play positive, aggressive soccer on the road with a generally poor defense, and not being able to keep it going in the 2nd half due to fatigue. They just weren't good enough at it yet to be able to sustain it for a full game on the road.

So you give him a full year, for the most part the guys that lost playing time and are malcontent are gone. You have a rebuilt back line. You can work on how to pace yourself with a more positive approach on the road, you've got all preseason to work on it. All of these things would enable him to improve significantly on last year, which in the end wasn't all that bad (poor GD, but equal PPG to Dom and better win percentage). As I've been saying, he changed out the engine of a moving automobile, with a bunch of spare parts, and still somehow managed to get to the finish line at the same time or even a little earlier.

 

The bottom line is he is no longer coaching the Quakes and only Jesse can tell us why he made that decision.

 

That doesn't mean we can't debate what the right decision was, unless we prescribe to the "infallibility of management" theory, where whatever the team does is the right thing. Then we can pretty much shut down this forum .

The bottom line for me is that Leitch did not do a bad job given difficult circumstances. I'd say he did a good job under difficult circumstances. We will unfortunately never know how it would have turned out if he got another year or two. But we can't just assume that because not everything turned out great in his what, 3 months with the team, that things would have never gotten better. That is a pretty harsh and unfair judgment to place on someone.

And even if things go relatively well this season, we can't just assume it was the right decision because we wouldn't have a Leitch full year with the same team to compare it to.

 

One would hope that Fioranelli properly prepared Leitch for what was likely to happen. I mean, it shouldn't have been a surprise to him anyway that there would be dissatisfaction. Kinnear may be a bad coach, but he does have a way of making certain types of players feel wanted, even if it's at the expense of other (and in my opinion, much better) players.

If Leitch was aware of what he was walking into as coach, I would imagine he doesn't have too many hard feelings of returning to technical director. Fioranelli gets to reset the clock by hiring a coach that can't be blamed for Kinnear's departure (not that it was Leitch's fault, either), the players who were the most problematic were then dealt away or aren't returning, and Leitch, in all likelihood, will get another chance to coach if he really wants it. That crash course in MLS head coaching, if taken the right way, is invaluable.

 

I'm always fascinated by what is said in public by the FO and what is said behind closed doors. I don't take anything the FO says as gospel. Publicly Jesse was emphatic that Leitch did not have an interim tag. I wouldn't be surprised if he stepped up and took one for the team, knowing how volatile the environment would be...and also knowing he'd still have his old job waiting.

I don't enjoy the debate. I usually just offer an opinion and move on.

 

I don't believe that Jesse was lying about Leitch not being interim. I do think he wigged out a bit over the bad road losses. And after the Chicago game (?) when Flo said "we don't have a plan", I don't think that helped.

I still believe that Leitch can be a successful coach in the league. I really liked where he was coming from philosophically. But he needs more of a chance than 3 months in the middle of a season, under difficult circumstances.

I don't necessarily enjoy it either. But I'm unable to let half-truth, logical fallacies, misreading of the tea leaves and the like alone, not that you are necessarily guilty of any of those. I consider the pursuit of the truth to be a kind of civic duty, especially these days.

 

Hogwash!

Ill give you both rusty spoons and you can fight to the death with them instead!

 

So we have a difference of opinion...pure speculation on Leitch's coaching fate. An answer only Fioranelli would be able to provide, yet your interpretation will be defended until the cows come home as closer to the truth...and my opinion is, not that I'm necessarily guilty of, but by implication of statement, guilty of, misreading the tea leaves, half-truths and logical fallacies. I find that insufferable.

And I'm sure there will be a snappy "last word" retort to this post...I'm fine with that..all part of the JJ charm. I won't be going down the rabbit hole.

 

I was being mostly facetious in my whole "pursuit of the truth" schtick (I don't take myself that seriously) which is why the smilie was there. Maybe I should have added another in there somewhere. But you are absolutely right. Neither of us knows for sure if Jesse was lying or not when he said Leitch was not intended to be interim. And that's how most of these conversations go. Theories / opinions about things that none of us know the answer to. I may have a lot of reasons for believing my particular theory. It is all part of my pursuit of the truth! If stating them is "insufferable", so be it. You are welcome to skip my posts so that you don't have to "suffer" them (and BTW thanks for inspiring my new sig and avatar ).

I do think though when people start talking about Leitch in effect "losing the locker room" or it otherwise being in shambles, or he has no cred with the players, etc., that is something we don't know as well. So if folks are going to state that as a truth I'm going to call that out. To me that is like a half-truth. We know a few people like Bings were not happy, we know some people like Wondo were shocked Dom was let go, we know these snippets of information, but I don't think we know much more than that.

 

BigSoccer is not social media?

 

Vladimir, get those bots to San Jose, stat!

 

It's really impossible to know if either of you are right, or if you're both wrong.

Either way, we're looking at moldy old tea leaves.

Mikael is coach now, Leitch is back at technical director, and Jesse has a firm grip on the steering wheel. That's what we're dealing with.

THIS season, we've got a bunch of new players, a completely rebuilt backline, dead weight gone, or at least severely pruned, and a new coach.

Could Chris have done a better job with this new crew than he did last season? Yes, of course. But that's beside the point really. Mikael is the coach now and he's going to do a better job that any of FrankWat(TF)Dom coaching tree, and probably better than Chris (just based on him having more experience as a head coach).

No use getting our undies in a twist before we start playing. Maybe after a few games we can get back to our old angry and disappointed ways. But for now ... It's Springtime, it's time to be optimistic! It's time to look forward to the new season, before all of our expectations catch fire and burn in a mighty conflagration of crapola!

GO QUAKES!!

- Mark

 

Spring always starts at First Kick. Five days away!

 

Not to be a dick or anything, but, those stats don't include BigSoccer or other fora. So I wouldn't say that they are completely accurate, though it does give an idea of who's doing well and who's not.

There is also a correlation between city size and social media presence, though that's not completely the case either. We see that Portland, Orlando, and Kansas City are punching well above their weight, and of course, that out beloved San José are lagging like an underfed mule.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark