O'Sullivan's Job Security

It's a matter of preference. I would much rather have an engaged, active and loud manager on the side lines to direct the team. Many people see it as unseemly, I see it as a 12th set of eyes with fixed perspective.

There are other people want the stoic puppet master that only pulls the strings during practice.

 

This all brings us back to my first comment, and that is, maybe Beats coach is happy with their way of playing. Result is contentment, and silence.

 

There has to be some balance.
You teach during practice and you give tactical instructions during the game, sparingly and as needed.
Yelling all game long does not work for U-9. It certainly has no place in the pro game.

 

Pardon my lack of knowledge but what age is U-9?

 

"U" stands for "under". So "under 9" would be 8.

 

Cachundo writes on another thread:
"ATL's buffoonery continues at the top. To date, Whitworth has cost them THREE 1st-round picks."

 

Let's not get carried away here by over-exaggerating this.
Technically, Whitworth only cost them "one" first round draft pick.

The Gold Pride got Ali Riley and Becky Edwards for her (which was still a great trade for the Gold Pride). Aly Riley was the only first round pick. Becky Edwards was a 2nd round pick (not a 1st rounder), but still a quality 2nd round pick that is a solid player for the Gold Pride now.

And now most recently, Whitworth and a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick, were traded for, a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick. So a 1st rounder for a 1st rounder there, which is a "wash" among first rounders (one for one).

You add it all up, they gave up 2 first round picks in both trades combined ("to get and give up" Whitworth), and they gained one first round pick back in return (for 2012). Overall, that equals a "net-loss" of just one first round pick. Not 3 or 4 like I've read on other forums.

I see the point. They could have gotten more in both trades. Nobody can doubt that. But the Beat have gotten lucky to cherry pick most of the Athletica's top all-star talent (which more than makes up for this, but it was sheer luck that the Athletica dibanded). That alone covers up the two mistakes with Whitworth, which both trades were still mistakes in what the Beat got in return (but not as HUGE in total damage or perceptual damage as some posters are claiming).

Hopefully the franchise will use this to "learn" that they need to get more in return. They certainly could have gotten a 1st and a 3rd rounder in 2012 for a 1st and a 4th rounder, by also throwing in Whitworth to help the Red Stars with depth... at the very least. Not sure why they didn't push for that and make it happen, or else tell the Red Stars "sorry, looks like you're gonna have goalkeeper depth issues if you aren't willing to change that 4th rounder to at least a 3rd rounder for 2012". They probably could have even gotten a 1st round, 3rd round, and 4th or 5th round (3 draft picks) in 2012 for what they gave up (Whitworth and two draft picks in 2011).

The Independence were also in a fairly similar position at first. They traded a lot to get Val Henderson, who isn't even their starting keeper anymore. These two franchises (Beat and Independence) knew they had to give up quite a bit to get what they thought were going to be their starting goalkeepers initially (Whitworth and Henderson respectively). Now it's Solo and LeBlanc (due to the Sol and Athletica disbanding) as the starting goalkeepers for the two expansion franchises, but they couldn't predict or foresee those two franchises disbanding 6 or 8 months ago when they made the moves to get Whitworth and Henderson back then.

 

You make a valid point, WPS_Movement. When the Beat acquired Whitworth they needed a starting keeper. Whitworth was a solid backup keeper in 2009. When she was called on to play she performed well. She was definitely the best choice among those available at the time.

 

To get back to our original topic...I noticed on Saturdays that both the head coach and the assistant coach were very verbal throughout the entire match. This is the first time I've ever seen the two of them so engaged in a match, and it obviously resulted in more organized play by the Beat and a WIN.

Since this change in behavior happend during the game immediately following our discussion, it makes me wonder if the owner/GM had a discussion with the coaches and told them that the fans wanted to see more interraction between the coaches & players on the field? Coincidence? I think not...

 

Do you think that they read this forum?

 

I KNOW that AtlantaBeat GM reads this forum because he's commented here a few times. I don't know for sure if he's read this particular thread, though.

Several folks sitting around us commented, too, on the fact that the coaches were more engaged with the on-field players.

 

Hey All,

Atlanta Beat GM here. Yes, I read the forums. Not sure if Coach does. I can tell you that the coaches were more vocal this weekend, as we had tons of players on the pitch that have not been on there much this year. So, I think that the coaches were just trying to ensure that they ladies kept their shape..which is what they worked on all week.

As for Gareth's job security, I think that everyone is jumping the gun (which as fans, you have the right to do). We have always had confidence in our players and our coaches. It is not where you start, but where you finish. Look at SBFC...they were in last place with 3 games to go. It is a long season and things can change very quickly.

We belived in our players...yet when world class players bascially fall in your lap, you have to go for them...which means that your roster changes.

I would suggest that people give us some time to gel. Let's see how we are doing in about 4-5 weeks. Then, you can all have a go at Gareth and me...

Regardless, keep support the ladies!

 

Thanks Atlanta Beat GM. Most of us on this forum (and I do say "most" because obviously some folks are just reactionary & trying to stir up trouble) are die-hard women's soccer fans. I, for one, am a die-hard Atlanta Beat fan, and want nothing more than to have a successful team & coach. Thank you for all that you & Coach Sullivan have done to improve our chances for winning more games this season. I am glad that we were in a position to act on the world class players "falling in our lap" as you said.

 

I agree with KBritt...I appreciate the Beat GM coming onto the thread and interacting with the fans.

 

Thanks everyone. I think the one thing everyone misses is that picks and trades are not one dimensional. The fact is that there are numerous factors, including salary cap, future picks, expected growth of a player (or another player that might just end up being better than a player in question), what another team needs, what we need, what we think the future holds as far as player coming our of college this year/next year/the following year, etc..., and even what the player might want. So, while it seems like a simple trade, it is often way more complicated than that.

Either way, we are now sitting with several top players in our club and some good picks in 2012.

 

Any expansion team has hurdles that make it difficult to have a successful couple of seasons. Short of pure malfeasance or boneheadedness, the coach ought to be given a couple of years just to get out of the gate...

That said, I'm not real pleased with a lot of what I've seen out of our squad and think those problems will make things more difficult on the coach. The new talent from StLouis will help but what team chemistry/cohesion had been built has been drastically reduced due to the number of players brought in mid season. I'd rather have them than not though, it's a problem I'd rather face now anyway weeks in to our inaugural season.

What troubles me, is that our professional players seem to be lost out on the field. The biggest shortcoming stemming from this is that our midfield is constantly lost in transition. Way too many times our forward often is the only one on the attack - or it's just our back line defending against the opposing onslaught. I sure hope it's a fitness issue because mentally and psychologically that's inexcusable. And, when on the attack the forward should pick her head up and see what support is available and when it's nowhere to be found possess the ball until they catch up or find a good drop to make.

Team defense breaks down too often for my liking, though I think Kia is generally solid. For instance, how can you not at all times keep a defender in A.Wambach's face, goal side?

Offensively, I'm not that impressed with Romona. She's slightly built so she's not a target forward. When she does get the ball in space she seems to be trying to take the entire offensive burden on herself, often losing the ball. I'm also not seeing good diagonal runs in coordination with the midfield. Our 2nd forward position seems to be up in the air and the player in the best form starts with Ramona. Given that situation, it's no wonder Ramona has taken the brunt of enemy attention.

I missed the last home game so I've not personally witnessed the new players on our squad. I expect in the long run, the new additions will help us make great strides in catching up and surpassing the rest of the league. Kia's got familiar defensive help from St. Louis augmenting the best part of our squad. The new ladies in midfield are a boon of course. And thankfully, we've got a top notch forward to help take some of the pressure and opposing focus off of Ramona. I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do with a bit more breathing room.

And of course I'm biased, but damn if the referees dont' seem to give us much of a break either...

Given time, I think our squad can gel into something rather imposing to opposing teams. In the meantime, we need to give them and the coach a chance. Some of the problems I've mentioned can be alleviated by coaching, but it's ultimately up to the players to play the way they know how. Unfortunately it just seems that at times the team has forgotten just that.

 

Great to see the Beat GM weighing in here -- thanks for that! It's very encouraging.

I won't criticize our coach, who certainly needs time to build his team and work things out, but I do think that it's becoming obvious that a chance in tactics is necessary. Despite the plethora of talent at our disposal, we're bottom of the league, we've scored the least number of goals by far (half of the # of our nearest competitor) and we've conceded the most. Worse is that we've conceded so many at home, where we should be stronger. FC Gold Pride tried out a new formation and thrashed us 4-0, so I wonder if we shouldn't be trying out some new ideas to see what works, since the current system isn't doing the trick.

I do have a general question about what appears to be (but I could be wrong) a lack of balance in our squad. On our roster (handed out at the last game) we have 3 players listed as defenders. How can it be that we only have 3 players classified as defenders in our whole squad, when we play with a back four? So, I'm wondering a bit about whether our players really know what their position is and whether they're placed in the best positions for them. If we indeed only have 3 players in our whole squad whom we classify as defenders, then that would explain our poor defensive record -- but I feel this can't possibly be the case and I must be missing something.

I don't know much about the tactics of women's soccer, being relatively new to the women's game, but I wonder if we don't need (1) a holding midfielder to shore up the center of our defense, which seems like the weakest part of our team, and (2) employ Mami as either a second striker or an attacking midfielder in the center of the park. I thought she looked the best player on the pitch for us on Saturday.

This World Cup has shown the popularity and power of the 4-2-3-1 formation, so I wonder if that's worth a go? Our starting back four, then Rebecca Nolin maybe as the DMF with Miyama alongside her to orchestrate a little. The next three would be a winger on each side (maybe Bachmann on one wing as a wide forward when she gets fit again -- can she play out there?) with Mami in the center of those three, in an attacking midfielder role, and then Eniola or whomever up top.

The benefits of this formation, it seems to me, is that it gives you considerable defensive cover, while you can send a lot of players forward when attacking (perhaps just leaving the more defensive-oriented DMF behind), and you get some more width. (Width was a clear benefit that FC Gold Pride had when they were employing their 3-5-2 formation. I wouldn't suggest we try that formation, though, when we're already conceding so many goals!)