Franco bringing the pitchfork after 4 games! I love it.De Boer is a big name, but I've heard from plenty of MLS folks who never liked the fit. Obviously too early to judge, but a lot of warning lights flashing before his 1st game at Mercedes Benz Stadium. https://t.co/UwKUYHnzH4— Jonathan Yardley (@jtyardley) March 7, 2019
Frank de Boer more like De BORE...He takes over the reigning MLS champs (70 goals last season) and they're unable to score a goal against wooden spoon favorites FC Cincy in the final 88 minutes or so, despite playing at home in front of 70k... and despite 67% possession they only managed 10 shots against a defense that allowed 24 last week. The last two times Atlanta needed a goal, instead of Andrew Carleton or Romario Williams, both times he brought on an almost 36 year old defensive midfielder who has averaged 1G 1A over the last three MLS seasons. This time they needed a late goal and instead of Tito Villalba he brought on... Kevin Kratz. No one could have seen this coming...
Union coach: "I think our fans should be proud" Asked Jim straight-up what he’d say to frustrated fans who don’t share his assessment of the team. Here’s his answer. pic.twitter.com/6KWTrTAEj1— Philly Soccer Page (@phillysoccerpg) March 10, 2019 okay... Tannenwald: There's a difference between a sporting director wanting time to implement a system, and a team not scoring a goal from open play in its first two games of a season.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 10, 2019
I am here at @NYCFC’s home opener at @yankeestadium and I am oh so excited! I cannot wait to see some GOALS! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/VHcJg8C0DT— Grover (@Grover) March 10, 2019 he's still waiting Looking for an additional coach @NYCFC? 😂 pic.twitter.com/uAMJeAAO5i— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) March 10, 2019 possible Dome replacement?
Bold move from FDB blaming the fans for being “spoiled” and setting the bar at “have a terrible season and miss the playoffs”... And of course Toronto had a ton of injuries by the end of their run (they had no healthy CBs, Bradley was starting at CB) and came within a penalty shootout of winning CCL, which is a bit different from crashing out against the first Mexican team you face! Frank de Boer on criticisms and how it may be weighing on him: They were a little bit spoiled with the results last season. Everybody expected and that also normal. But everybody also saw what happened with Toronto when they played champions league last season. 1/2 #ATLUTD— Eric Quintana (@EricQuintanaTF) March 11, 2019 this quote, imo, may not be looked well upon.— Doug Roberson (@DougRobersonAJC) March 11, 2019 Frank de Boer said he does not think the booing was fair to the players.— Eric Quintana (@EricQuintanaTF) March 10, 2019 Pretty sure they weren’t booing the *players* lol
They play Philly next weekend. That's a sure fire home win for Atlanta. Even IF, and that's a colossal IF, they manage to not win against Philly he'll still get until the end of March at the least.
“Your expectations of me are too high” is an incredible line to take four games into your tenure somewhere. https://t.co/a5Demhfhe0— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) March 11, 2019 Bob Bradley absolutely rips in MLS. The guy just gets the league’s intricacies. More to the point, he’s had success in several vastly different eras in the league’s history and shown remarkable adaptability. The dude got Chivas USA to the playoffs. This is cake.— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) March 11, 2019
There should always be concern when a coach comes in with a formation/system in mind instead of looking at the strengths of the squad he inherits and working accordingly. De Boer deserves time to figure it out, but it just feels like he isn't amplifying #ATLUTD's strengths.— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) March 10, 2019 At least everyone seems to agree they are boring 1104875249986883585 is not a valid tweet id They've been mostly terrible and very boring through 5 games, and as @TaylorTwellman said I think it's worth asking whether De Boer knows what he's doing.That said, the start of Vieira's tenure w/ NYCFC was worse, and he turned out great.https://t.co/VZlPSgETqr— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 10, 2019
Doyle's take here is BS in my opinion, Vieira didn't have half the talent to work with that De Boer does. ATL won the ********ing league for pete's sake while Vieira had Villa and a bunch of warm bodies (yes I'm including Lampard and Pirlo) to build a team with.
Just to add some perspective to the FdB discussion: - FdB did not choose any of the personnel in the side. Bocanegra and Eales facilitated the switch of Pity for Almiron even though Atlanta could easily afford to match what Newcastle is paying the latter. They also let Greg Garza and Chris McCann go in exchange for signing Brek Shea. - Pity is clearly struggling to adapt to the team, and at least some of that is normal transition considering he's been with the team for all of 45 days. More importantly he is NOT a like-for-like swap for Almiron. He's slower, less inclined to attack in the final third, and his reads are different. An immense talent but this switch alone meant Atlanta would be a different team even if Martino was still at the helm. - FdB can't control the dumba** individual mistakes that have cost Atlanta defensively. LGP alone has essentially cost the team 3 goals allowed this season, with Parky and Robinson adding 1 apiece, as well. These weren't coaching errors, just moments when a player's mind switched off. - FdB was brought in with the exclusive directive to play the youth more than Martino. Barco, Robinson, Bello, Carleton... They're to be fostered as the season progresses. Robinson has thus far come good but while the others have talent at the least Barco remains an underperforming asset. He's been better than last year but be honest - Is he looking like a goal scoring threat to any of you? Until he turns the corner and fosters more production of his own in the final third, or until Pity morphs into a scoring striker, Atlanta will struggle while defenses crowd out Josef. - We're still not really sure about Nagbe's personal issue that caused him to miss most of the pre-season but with Almiron's absence Nagbe is now that much more critical to Atlanta's transition game and his absence for most of yesterday and in the 1st match at Herediano was noticed. - Atlanta's schedule thus far has not exactly been cake. At Costa Rica's previous champion, at a DCU side expected to push for the east, and at Monterrey, arguably the best side on the continent right now. This included a stretch of 3 games in 6 days. This doesn't excuse yesterday's performance but it should put into perspective the full record people are fretting over. And if the notion is "Yeah but this is Atlanta and they should've won..." then that speaks exactly to FdB's point about fan expectations perhaps lacking some grounding. - Managers should work with what they have, but likewise Atlanta hired FdB knowing both who he is and what players they had. If the goal is something long-term then this rough start is manageable, if not expected. - - - I'm not saying the guy is perfect by any stretch. His substitutions seem suspect, he clearly hasn't gotten Barco sorted out, and he'll have to show dynamic formations soon or else Josef will blow up as a lone striker. But Atlanta was in the game at Monterrey until the end and if they can turn the offense around then that will relieve the need for the defense to be perfect. (Cincy only got off 4 shots yesterday and only 1 on goal. Normally that yields a win.) Bottom line - Panicking at this stage is unwarranted and will only make matters worse. If Atlanta is as talented as the pundits believe then it will eventually come through. Says I, anyway.
Kinda crazy to reflect on how, within 374 days, the #NERevs traded away Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Krisztián Németh & Kelyn Rowe.Didn't all fit BF's system, but that's an incredible amount of attacking talent out the door. A combined 209 goals and 148 assists in #MLS. pic.twitter.com/FWHw4cIlMr— Jonathan Sigal (@JonathanSigal) March 11, 2019 Some natural questions from this:1. Why didn't/couldn't these talented players fit in BF's system?2. Is the answer to No. 1 reflective of the player, coach or neither?3. Several of the above wanted out. Why?4. Has enough been done to replace their talent? #NERevs— Jonathan Sigal (@JonathanSigal) March 11, 2019
Here are two translated responses from two Dutch Ajax fans who are responding to Atlanta United's start, and are offering their opinion on Frank de Boer. #UniteAndConquer #ATLUTD pic.twitter.com/3mbz6m9TXJ— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) March 11, 2019 De Boer (7-14-3 in last 24 games across all comps w/ 3 teams) for Dome (4-8-6 in last 18 for NYCFC) straight up, who says no?https://t.co/qYF4Ej3o9I— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 11, 2019
I've heard that new U.S. U-17 head coach Raphael Wicky interviewed for a head coaching gig with at least one MLS club in recent months prior to taking the job with US Soccer.— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 11, 2019
College soccer coaches making the news... no wonder most of these guys are happy where they are even as college soccer slides into irrelevance... 1105493675612749826 is not a valid tweet id UCLA men’s soccer coach placed on leave after indictment in college admissions scam https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla...on-scam-ucla-soccer-coach-20190312-story.html
So called "theft of honest services" prosecutions don't fare well when contested. The colleges would have a cause of action against their faithless employees but trying to make it a crime is a big step. Usually they make these cases as wire fraud or something like that.
Would defrauding a public university be any different legally? So would the Cal people be charged differently than the Yale folks?