Official “Is Brad Friedel bad at his job?” Thread

If anything was one of the better qualities of a Heaps team it was pretty nice skill [at the MLS level] at playing possession. And players like Nguyen, Rowe, Fagundez were successful with it. That Brad's first action was to jettison that style, and move swiftly to a style that screamed of "Blackburn!", and try to keep only one of these players in his plans for the team, is telling that what he's built is the kind of structure he wants to see built.
Now I'm sure he'd like a higher quality of player to fit what he's "building", but the plans for this sucker are all BF.

 

I _enjoyed_ watching Brad's team _less_ than last year's team... and teams of the recent past.

A small but important feeling to me. I'm just one fan and my satisfaction with the product had diminished.

But I hope I am not the litmus. I'd rather just be an older fan, crankier and harder to please, than a barometer for a trend of more widespread disinterest. If that's the case, Brad shares a good portion of the blame.

 

The above is a great post. Just repping somehow doesn't seem sufficient.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/10/26/armchair-analyst-whats-stake-across-league-decision-day

It also needs reiterating that, over the past two seasons, the Revs have spent more on their backline and defensive midfield than anyone outside of the Galaxy, and of the six big-budget players they've brought in, only one (Michael Mancienne) is currently a starter. And he's not 100 percent looking the part.​

I have always felt the Revs have focused almost too much on re-staffing the "backline" over and over, and they were always trying to do it with a diamond n the rough (ie cheap and available). Bring in some studs - real studs at Forward and Attacking Center Mid - and that will help the overall team and alleviate pressure on the backs.

Or commit to bringing in a real stud in the back. Mancienne, as noted by many across the league, has been a big miss so far on Friedel's part.(his first panic buy) Although every report about Mancienne prior to his arrival has been pretty spot on - maybe the Revs should have read those same reports?

 

But I was told Friedel is much smarter than those fans who had actually seen Mancienne play...

 

Dusting off this thread mainly to compare Friedel's first season to a guy that interviewed but didn't get the job, Gio Savarese. One is in MLS Cup with Portland and the other is home watching, having never even made the playoffs.

While their tenure should be judged over time and one year doesn't confirm anything good or bad, Savarese won this round. It also shows the benefits experience, even at a lower level can have when you make the jump to coaching at the highest level.

 

If Friedel had to look at evidence, with his own two eyes, before being able to assess the quality of a player, well, then, he would be just another poor shlub stumbling through life like We, The Peasants, who have to prove we know what we are talking about before we know we know it. . It takes a man of genuine smarts to grasp that the deaf hear best and the blind see best and the dumb speak best. It takes genius smarts to go further and comprehend that not to know is to know, and that he best articulates the truth who best dissembles.
Friedel is Genius Smart.

 

Timbers credit Savarese for fostering "fun environment," "united group"
December 2, 2018, 3:21PM EST
Matt Hoffman

Somehow, I don't think "fun environment" describes Fortress Foxboro this past season...

 

If I recall the articles at the time, Gio was holding out for a better team and organization. Good for him.

No offense to Brad, but the Revs went for the coach that had no competitive alternative and could be had at their price.

 

In one of the recent articles about Savarese, someone commented that he was really good at noticing certain subtle things going on in the course of a game, and being able to make the right tactical adjustments mid-game, whether it was with a sub, or just having the guys already on the field play a little differently.

Sigh.

 

I didn't say he didn't. Just simply that he's been able to take a team right through the competitive west to MLS Cup. Win or lose, it's impressive for a first year MLS coach to step in and make that type of impact.

 

I so agree with all of this. The only thing is, that if it's as accurate as I think it is... we're ********ed for the foreseeable future.

 

I shouldn't be surprised that some people are ready to give up on a coach one year into a rebuild.

 

I don't think anyone is "giving up," but he is definitely on the clock. The next few months will go a long way to determine how serious Friedel and the Powers That Be are about this "rebuilding." If we sign a couple of players who are clearly head-and-shoulders above the rest, guys who are real difference makers (Penilla level), that sends a clear message.

On the other hand, if there are no significant players signed, or if the new players are nothing more than cheap journeymen with a sketchy record (who we hope might catch lightning in a bottle, but no reason to believe he will), that will also send a crystal-clear message.

Let's wait and see where we are when camp opens.

 

Excellent point. Why should the past be considered prologue to the present? This year, Charlie Brown, and it's a promise, that ball will be there for you to kick. No pulling away and watching you fall on your back; screaming in frustration.. Trust me, kick away, it's all good.... Promise!

 

What am I missing? Didn’t see any ex Revs quoted on that article.

 

Roew gets new teammates/lockeroom, awesome stadium, practice facilities, playing for a team with a plan and ambitions, and an experienced coach. Just like Lee did.

Rowe will have to prove himself to standout in KC(like Lee did), and if he does - it will only further blacken the cloud over Revs land.

But I wonder if Rowe is "too far gone", ie wasted and corrupted for too long by Heaps and then Friedel. It will be on Rowe to prove he is not - otherwise, he will simply be another journeymen MLS player like so many.

And Friedel will have to demonstrate that even if Rowe turns it around, his decisions on other players worked out even better based on results.

 

#NERevs

Brad Friedel is obsessed with mentality. He said the word four times while answering the FIRST question of this interview. #MLS

On 2018 with #Revs, BF added:

“We learned exactly which players we wanted to take forward with us and exactly which players we didn’t.” pic.twitter.com/pHWGZr5HkF

— Sebastian Salazar (@SebiSalazarFUT) January 14, 2019

Interesting observations and comments too. Notice that another MLS writer said Freidel said the exact same thing last year.

Mentality is a big part - but the coach "and his staff" (that Friedel loves to qualify) need to instill that as much as the player having it.

Oh, and the coach needs to coach soccer, identify talent, manage roster improvements, make tactical adjustments in games, manage substitutions, manage men, and win games.

If Friedel is always just going to turn to the mentality - then his coaching career will be pretty short.

 

Seems like they're "taking forward" a lot (lot!) of last years players.

I am still concerned that, despite his prior comments about major changes, that Brad's now decided to "take forward with him" slightly too many players from last year's roster, if he's expecting this upcoming year's on-field outcomes to improve significantly over last season.

It is almost as if he is acquiescing to the realization that there is a poor talent-acquisition-machine in place at Revs.

 

He nearly got the raiders to the super bowl then won it in Tampa. There's probably some validity to that approach or management style in the NFL, but I doubt it translates to MLS.