...how difficult would it have been for de Boer to put aside whatever ego he might have, study what Tata did stylewise and keep that going, with the obvious glaring diffy being that Almiron isn't here anymore? Pity came here expecting us to be one thing (He knew Tata was leaving, but he probably didn't know Frank was on Eales' radar), and now we're something else entirely. Record and position aside, we're not scaring folks the way we used to.
Meh, any pro player or coach worth their salt knows these things can happen. Would Pity loved to have plugged in and gone straight to another MLS Cup? Sure. But he also knew about Tata and Miggy leaving, so it wasn't going to be exactly the same, plus you have to assume other teams will work to improve, as well. River Plate hadn't won the Argentine Clausura or Apertura since at least 2014. As for FdB I can't fathom he was asked to change into Tata. Teams get coaches knowing he'll be 90% of what he always has been. That's usually why you make the hire. In Frank's case a lot of it was with an eye to shaping the relationship between the academy and the varsity squad, with a guy who would likely be around for 3+ years if he does well enough. Being a multi-lingual who has European champion player pedigree will endear him to many South American prospects, too, so it's not like the Latin cupboard will go bare. It's just gonna take time. Big thing will be making sure he and Bocanegra are on the same page in eyeing talent. There's a chance last year was lightning in a bottle, but let's hope there was more intent than luck. If that's the case then the same intent is still there. In which case we have to remind ourselves we're Atlanta United and not Manchester United, and this is the parity-aimed MLS rather than the top heavy Premiership.
That may yet end up happening, can't say. All the talk was of Barros Schelotto (where was LA at this point last season?) and Sampaoli. Unless Pity had inside info... No, certainly not. But he could have taken a hard look at what we did over the last two seasons (read on) Academydevelopmentacademydevelopmentaaaackwoohoo... that's not at you, but at the whole idea that development is going to accomplish anything. We don't have Ajax's talent coming in, and a soccer academy is a lot like any other kind of school- it's only as good as the raw students it gets. We can't get MLS-dominant players out of MLS academies. No MLS academy is going to supply the senior team with dominate-the-league talent if the academies are full of domestic players. No MLS academy can bring us a Martinez, an Almiron, not even a Pity or Barco. LAFC can't develop a Vela, Portland a Valeri. Those guys have to come from better leagues that can't afford to keep them. That's just my opinion. Not at all sure time is the issue here. If Pity continues to have either playing issues or locker issues with Frank (and those are the issues we know about- there may be more), it may affect how we're seen by South America in general. Tata had Messi's stamp of approval, which means something to Argentine players specifically- those guys didn't come here to play MLS ball, but Tataball. I don't think so. It wasn't just last season- it was 2017 as well. We lost a first-round playoff match on PKs to a team because Steffen had the game of his life. And even there, we were one poor foul on Giovinco from not having to even play that game. IOW, we were better than our postseason finish. Toronto caught lightning in a bottle in 2017, and LAFC's doing it now. But we were legit one of the three or four best teams in the league during the Tata era. We were able to operate beautifully within MLS' financial ball & chain for two seasons. That's not all on Almiron... it's also the result of Tata getting Kenwyne Jones out of the starting XI (how close were we to becoming a hoof/hope team before that change?) and Martinez in. Silly comparison alert, lol... How many of this season's matches have you replayed on YT? I'm still leaning waaay toward our matches from '17 and '18- haven't replayed anything from this year so far. The only match AUFC played in the first two seasons where I was disgusted was our draw v. Seattle, and that was because of Lodeiro's cowardly antics (I wanted to throw my beer at him, but it just would have hit somebody in the 200 section, and that's not really who I am anyways). This "style", if it can be called so, is acceptable if we win a championship with it. Otherwise, it's unattractive ball for no purpose.
Hey Auria, don't tell NY Red Bulls you can't develop MLS talent via a youth academy. A third of their on the pitch team last year was comprised of home grown products and they sold a 20 year old kid to Bundesliga for league record amount (prior to our sale of Miggy). On top of that every competitive MLS club that has a history has a strong youth academy and produced quality MLS players. Obviously you don't understand the model we are trying to build.
I'm not sure any managerial changes will be made at season's end unless we get worse than we are right now and stay there. Basically, de Boer's going to be here two more years at least, IMO. But there's a point beyond which both Pity and Barco need to look even better than they did at River and Independiente. If they're still struggling by (I'll say... generously) the middle of next season, we will be in serious trouble. Those two guys pretty much have to succeed --shine-- or we'll lose some ROI. We can't waste money, and we can't have our two biggest signings ultimately concluding that they made a mistake coming here. That'll hurt us no matter who anyone thinks deserves what percentage of the blame. I mean, it ain't like they ain't trying. We're beat up, we're unhappy, and we're losing games. We've spent double-digit millions on two guys with the intent of turning a profit, and then pulled them out of their comfort zone with our choice of a manager. Now, it's quite possible that we can win A LOT without either of them becoming superstar players (relative to MLS) in de Boer's system. But if they don't show what we saw in them when we spent the money, can we sell them to Europe for what we thought we'd get originally? Probably not.
Huh? Again a head scratcher. Barco has been playing brilliantly both for club and country this year, and has already garnered international interest. It was only injury that slowed him down and looks like he'll be back on Wednesday. While Pity may have been underperforming under de Boer (and it is way too early to assess), the gaffer has gotten the most of Ezequiel Barco, a player that was by all means a non-factor with Tata at the helm.
I'm inclined to agree with fish, here. If Barco recovers his form from before the U20WC then he'll be fine as an investment and a contributor to the team. Perhaps better still if he is in that form he might prove the additional asset up front that Pity needs. Either way, Barco is also young enough that I'm not panicking. Pity is another matter and while it might hurt the side if a worst case scenario comes about and he leaves after year 1 again I won't panic. Sport has shown many times examples of where teams experience addition via subtraction and if this experiment doesn't work then there's no shame in ending it early. I'm not yet convinced that's where it's headed but that's not the biggest issues, IMO. What ARE the biggest issues are sorting out the defense and having a strategy for who they buy/use going forward. Losing Pity isn't half as concerning as making sure whoever the team does bring in actually improves the side. ie: Is Pity the rarity or the norm in terms of how we're assessing player fits for the side? Lose Pity but bring in the next Lodiero and I'm fine. Lose Pity but "replace him" with Hyndman and Carelton and we need to talk. As for the defense FdB can't cure stupid, but he can adjust the team to minimize the amount of stupid on the pitch. Next season if we're still reliant on LGP then we'd better get a more lock-down DM than Remedi, have full-time coverage at left back between Shea and Bello, and have speedy midfielders who contribute on D and, most imoortantly, provide LGP with better release targets than just Nagbe. Or we need to seriously consider life without LGP.
Well, there's Barco doing well enough to help us win and there's Barco doing well enough to attract the attention (again) of the teams that can afford to pay what we'd like to get. But you're right that he's young. No, never shame- just business and football. But we need to get a good ROI. If we don't, Arthur may tighten his wallet. That's my concern about losing Pity. Pity didn't have to come here. He could have stayed at River another couple years and then gone to Europe. The players we need from SA (the ones we can't develop, or develop enough of to dominate the league. NYRB hasn't dominated the league) are going to Europe whether they make a brief stop here or not. If they get even a whiff of "fit" issues before they sign, they have other options. I'm not even sure Lodeiro is a league-dominating player. He's very good, but he can't or won't stay on his feet. Giovinco, Valeri, Villa, sure. Lodeiro, maybe not... and given what he did at the Benz, I'm not sure I'd want him in my squad anyway. I was disgusted to have to sit and watch that. It seems LGP has regressed to where he was in the first third of 2017, when both he and Larentowicz were bulls in a china shop. We know we're shallow in back, and old when we play Parky and Red. It really started with Carmona going back home and Garza being let go (not a great call in retrospect. It now looks like we're taking turns getting hurt like he did). We need a healthy Bello badly.
Just a reminder, NYRB won the Supporters Shield in 2018, arguably a bigger feat than the MLS Cup. They have also won 3 of the last 6 Shields. Don't confuse lack of a Cup title with not being a dominate force in the league.
As for the defense... Garza was great, but rarely on the field last year. I haven't been following him at Cincy, but he began the beginning of this year also injured. LPG is still a bull in the China shop, that is part of the problem. He pretty much played 2018 the way he is playing today. Hot tempered and on the edge of control. To be Frank (I love that line ), it was in the playoffs that he played his best football. Had he played like he did Sunday we'd have been dumped in the first round last year. I think Gunner is right, our big problem right now is the defense is in total disarray. We started the year playing 3 in the back because Escobar was hurt. It wasn't until he returned and we had a consistent back 4 that the defense became stout. Now, thanks to injury and stupid cards we don't seem to be able to field the same back 4 game after game. They fact we have Parkhurst playing LB points this out. Add to this that everyone in the back, including Guzan, seems to make really bonehead plays at really inopportune times and your are going to drop points.
One last point, granted it was early, but it wasn't until Brek Shea went down that things in the back got spotty. Obviously Parky can't play LB or RB but with Ambrose and Pogba injured Parkhurst is our last option.
Parky is better at right back then left back when he has a defensively capable player in front of him. (ie: Gressel or Tito instead of Pity) Better right foot, more his natural side when in a back three, etc. Still not swift, though, or the guy you want leading the offensive break. Yeah, Shea's injury Sunday changed one key aspect of the match because once he goes down Atlanta's left side became susceptible, and a weaker contributor to the attack.
Part of the equation is that MLS in some instances pays more than many SA clubs, part of it is escaping to a safer/better country, and part of it is proving to Europe that the player can make it outside their home nation. But no matter what not all of these purchases are going to work out. No club has scored a 100% on their acquisitions. The trick now is how does Atlanta handle this? Does Pity become our version of Man U/ Alexis Sanchez? I'm not saying Lodeiro is an MVP candidate but compared to Pity I think he'd be a much better fit for Atlanta. He's faster and tends to work harder on defense, he doesn't drift outside or past his striker as often, and he wants to push the pace of the game. ie: He's at least a more natural attempt at replicating Miggy's role than Pity.
One more point about Pity. He is 26 already. The big European clubs didn't come calling when he was 20 and at 26 thesmaller leagues aren't go to pay him what we do. His best shot at Europe is to be a stud in the MLS. He'll get there.
Though I agree, as I am one of the people, it really depends on how soon Bello comes back. One thing Shea has is legs which Parky doesn't and that was exploited Sunday. I hope we just buy a LB who is a capable starter, preferably one who can play RB as well. We need someone who can replace (I don't mean permanently) Escobar since he is a yellow card waiting to happen this year which means more games missed to suspension.
It feels like the team is on the verge of getting Toronto'd from last year. The compressed schedule, along with the CCL and Open Cup games, is killing this team. By the start of August they'll have gone about six weeks without a full week's rest in between games. The team and the depth isn't built for that. At this point I think you focus on what you can handle and what is obtainable. LAFC is going to get the Shield. You're arguably the favorite to win the Open Cup. The majority of teams make the playoffs. You go all in on the Open Cup (which they've done), and you do what is necessary to make sure the players are in as good of shape as possible for the playoffs. If that means you lose some games because you play some backups, I think you do it. The games that matter start in October. Just be ready then.
The Open Cup is in our grasp. Let's grab that silverware . Given the new playoff format anyone can win the Cup
Some of the MLS teams are a step up, no doubt. Can't say. Man U dwarfs us monetarily and in reputation, so they can take the hit better. I don't disagree, just don't care for the way he demeans the game. But even there, we can't buy him from Seattle the way Madrid bought Bale from Spurs. MLS won't allow a natural food chain like most leagues have.
RMFC and Spurs aren't in the same league, obviously, but RM got Bale because Spurs can't afford/doesn't deserve him. MLS is artificially enforcing parity, but we all knew that.
For the record I didn't mean to go get Lodeiro from Seattle, merely that if Atlanta replaced Pity with a player more like Nico I think the Stripes would perform better. Erego the prospect of Pity leaving isn't the fear, but rather who would the team land to replace the player? Also, count me in among those saying go get the USOC! Trophies matter.* *=Except media-concocted BS stuff like the Campeones Cup, the ICC...