On the other hand, while Lodeiro gets all the press for propelling Seattle to the Cup, it was the simultaneous return of Roman Torres to their central defense which shored up the backline and got them there. Midseason CB acquisition is the way forward!
Given that Cassar's leash is about as short his arm I don't expect him to be playing much of that youth this year. If we are playing a lot of the youth guys it's because our main team is sucking so much ass he has no choice (or we have a ridiculous list of injuries and absences), in that scenario he's not going to have a job anyways. From what was mentioned prior it seems like the Cassar metric to meet this year is 4th place or better and the playoffs, that means he's going to ride his ponies to the bitter end, which means outside Glad and Allen I expect the youngins to get very little time.
I tend to disagree, but that's certainly not definitive. I think with all of the "unity" talk that the FO has spewed this off-season, about bringing all the aspects of the organization as one (and bringing in Petke), I would think that part of the mandate for Cassar's list of "to-do's" this year would be to play the youth. Some of it is going to be inevitable. Glad should be the 1st choice central defender (when available). Allen was given the keys to the RW spot, and definitely looked like he was ready to drive the car this pre-season. He's not Burrito, but we saw what Burrito turned into the 2nd half the season, and I think we're better off without. Guys like Lennon, Acosta and Bofo are going to be slowly re-introduced to the team. I won't be surprised if none of them see many minutes for the first few weeks of the season after spending (almost) the entire pre-season with the U20's. The same can be said for Glad, but he already played 2400+ minutes in this system last year. He should slide right back in. Ultimately there's only one way to find out. If Cassar's mandate (or perceived mandate) is "playoffs or bust" I think we'll know in the first few months. If Luke, Barrett and Wingert are getting heavy minutes over Holness, Lennon, Acosta and even Bofo, we'll probably know. My long-term prediction would be that they play the youth. Lennon gets a couple of spot starts; Holness fills in next to Sunny if/when KB misses a few games; Bofo and Acosta see some run the team hangs in the playoff chase and Cassar is kept on for another year... but I could certainly have been reading between the lines too much, this offseason, and we see heavy heavy minutes for Silva, Luke, Horst and Wingert, and Cassar does everything he can to get the team into the top 4 in the West. Only time will tell.
so ********ing much this. Cassar is going to have his back in a corner this year. There is all this talk (on soapbox, especially) of depth on the team but I seriously doubt we see it. He's going to find "his guys" and ride them out. Not that I can blame him, it's a pretty logical thing to do in his scenario. I'd love to be wrong here, though. I'd love Cassar to change and roll out a lineup that has Glad/Allen/Lennon. Makes a sub at half more than he doesn't. Gives Bofo a chance. etc Something to watch: the minutes Luke Mulholland gets off the bench in contrast to a guy like Velazco. Velazco has done everything in preseason to earn his share of the minutes. He's been just as good/if not better than Mulholland. Does he get remotely equal minutes? Edit: Hernandez here as well. Especially given Cassar even went out of his ways to comment on his play.
Yep, that's the thing. I don't think FO notices the contradiction....we are sitting on a lot of talent that needs development..yet we are pulling out "Top 4" expectations. Not that they are mutually exclusive, but putting an emphasis on placement, rather than development, will likely get us no closer to long term success. Not that this is any different looking at the DLH years...but with the young talent we have, it is just heightened this year. A one year coaching contract kind of shows they don't know what they are doing. Maybe they think with other HCs (Petke/Vasquez) under the roof, they can "see how it goes"...but a contingency plan isn't a strategic plan. No reason for anyone to "buy in" to anything if they know it can change at any minute, instead everyone will look out for their own best interest. Not good, and another year of treading water.
When a coach is faced with "win or get out" he's going to find his comfort zone and favorite players and ride them to whatever end he can achieve. He can receive direction from the FO, but in the end he's the one calling the shots on game day rosters, starting XI's, and substitutions (/laugh). Last year Cassar apparently was told to improve his substitution patterns, he did basically nothing in that regard to improve, he'll do the same with orders of "play the kids". Historically Cassar has shown a penchant to play a certain group of guys, especially starting them, and riding them into the ground, what's the saying? "A leopard can't change his spots"? That's going to be the case again this year unless the wheels completely fall off.
Interesting interview with Waibel on club page This part stood out to me: Q: What is the expectation that this team has this year? Waibel: “My expectation is that we make the playoffs this year. And that we put forth a quality effort and an organized identity throughout the performance of the season and then throughout the playoffs, be it one game or six games. We need to be consistent with who we are and how we play. Injuries in MLS – you never know when you’re going to run into them and how it’s going to happen, so some things are out of your control. It’s not a 40-man roster with 20 internationals, but at the same time we can control who we are and who we think we are. We may have to adjust tactics based on injuries throughout the season. But the expectation is that we define who we are, we believe in who we are and we execute who we are.”
This is totally underappreciated, Torres and Marshall were as important to that championship run as Lodeiro. In fact, generally speaking all of the teams that have post-season success in this league have been solid defensively. Either with strong individual defensive players, or just an effective overall defensive scheme and approach. As much as it pains me to say, Aurelian Collin was a huge part of SKC's victory over RSL in MLS Cup 2013.
5 - Kyle Beckerman (he'll probably be in street clothes, but hey, come check him out) Note: Dunny casually said that maybe RSL should hold out KB until MAY to get healthy. So. Yeah, there is that.
So his injury will linger and then they will take corrective action like surgery so KB will be out longer than anticipated.
But, is it Jeff who is supposed to dump and get? He's getting a lot of criticism in this thread. But, I ask, what is he supposed to do? We didn't bring in better CB talent. He's stuck with what he had last year with one minor change. Last year's system sticking with the same guys didn't work. So, why do it again? At least he's taking a different approach this season by rotating and creating competition. With Glad's national team duties Cassar has got to find some way to shore it up. This might not work, but at least it's an attempt to do that. The simple reality is that there probably is no perfect approach given who is on the roster.
The lack of identity and clear goals are my main frustrations with the organization as it relates to the senior squad. Maybe they exist. I cannot identify them from actions or statements. I think the academy is part of it, but that's just a guess.
Do we really think Cassar is going to give the youth real minutes? This is a guy who often didn't use our 3rd sub, and a lot of the time the 2nd sub was barely given 5-10 minutes of game time. I'd be thrilled to see the youth get the occasional start, or at least 20-30 minutes to try and impact the game, but I'll have to see it to believe it. Cassar couldn't even bother to sub out players that were clearly gassed by the 70th minute last season. He couldn't be bothered to rotate some of the older players to keep them fresh. He often stuck with a similar 11 regardless of results. Am I supposed to believe all of this is finally changing after all these years? They keep talking about competition in all spots, but if prior years are any indication, his starting 11 is all but a lock for most games. Even if a player wasn't getting it done over a few games, and a sub was looking promising, they still never got a chance to prove themselves with a start. I'd love if this is changed, because having spots actually up for grabs should keep people pushing to keep their starting spot.
First: sarcasm. Second: The discussion was based on Cassar stating the CB's would rotate. While it is not Cassar's job to find talent and bring it to the team, it is absolutely Cassar's job to analyze the talent on the team and make the most of said talent. Cassar should be determining the two best CB's and creating some cohesion and chemistry between the two so they can properly commend the defensive line. There should be some rotation due to national team call ups, injuries, and minutes played, but I don't believe there should be rotation simply because Jeff can't figure out how to get the best out of his players and team, regardless of what Craig does or does not bring to the table. Man, now you made me post a serious post. I wasn't going to get emotionally involved this year. I've set my expectations way low so I can just enjoy the season regardless of the results.
This reminds me of a post I did back in like 2009 around Clint Mathis and the team. I was livid (oh to be that dumb again) about a midfield that included all of Mathis/Andy/Javi. I remember getting so upset at how narrow they played in an already narrow system because they all drifted centrally. I finally said, before the season started, that I would just take a step back and enjoy the game for what it was. Maybe I should do that again this year...
I've been a sports fan all my life. I've never gotten Timbers Cry Guy worked up over games, but I'd still get frustrated and yell at the TV and have the result impact my day. I've come to the realization that I'm getting worked up over guys being paid to play a children's/youth game in what are basically overpriced (and under designed) pajamas (and I've bought way too many of RSL's pajama sets). I'm not saying I've become apathetic towards the team or anything (I still love the game and miss the days of practicing and playing everyday), but I'm just going to relax and enjoy the games. If we suck and win the wooden spoon, cool. If we turn things around and win some hardware, that's cool too. I just want to enjoy the season for what it is and not melt down over results (granted, my version of a meltdown is nowhere near what those jokers on Facebook and Twitter go through). Namaste. Edit: Feel free to bookmark this post so you can call me out on it if I get worked up later on during the season.
I'm a drunken emotional beast who's too emotionally invested in the team to say "I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this one"....it just doesn't happen for me, I "care" too much.
I feel bad for drunks who get more serious/emotional when drunk. That sucks, man. Its all about getting chill and relaxed when drunk. And breaking tables. Always break tables. - joke only @SALTLAKEJAKE will understand
<scrambling to find bookmark feature, scratches head> I think Rob Stone can empathize with you... On @davisjsn’s @SiriusXMFC show today, @RobStoneONFOX fired off a rant that the Krafts "have disrespected” the Revs "for far too long”: pic.twitter.com/2AEVRvlqyk— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) February 28, 2017
I read that yesterday and thought it was interesting to see a national commentator voice his displeasure with his team. I'm not to that point by any means. I just want to enjoy the game and enjoy the sport, without the emotional baggage.