RSL 2017: You Be The Manager

Formation: 4-4-2 that plays like a 4-2/2-2
Philosophy: Defend and Counter
Coach: Glue Factory - no idea, maybe Williams or get someone from the Arena/Bradley lineage.
Cap: Javi, Olave, Wingert are waived. If Javi will sign for less to be a super sub, fine.
Trade Bait: Trade Burrito for value if possible, if he doesn't already want to bail out of rage. Tony, Olmes, and one of the GKs is potentially on the block too if the offer is right.
GK: See if Nick wants to GK coach, if he does, make him a player coach this year with an eye to start Jeff next. Work on Jeff's distribution constantly. Nick had some amazing saves but still slipped IMO this year.
Defense: Keep developing Glad, look to upgrade every other spot, and sign at least 2 higher paid defenders to make it work. This is the investment priority in the offseason. Beltran would work better in this system.
Midfielders: Kyle Sunny play D-mid. Try to develop a better backup than Stertzer, actually PLAY Acosta, meanwhile, work with John on distribution esp under pressure and speeding up his vision/thinking.
Outside Midfielders: Luke/Allen but really develop Holnes/Saucedo/Velasco - their job is to harrass and streak forward on the Attack. All of them can cross well. Some speed here.
Strikers: Yura point, Plata withdrawn.
Power Sub: Burrito at 60, swap the outside mids, an Olmes upgrade. I'm not as done with Olmes as many here. I still think he has potential.
Upgrade Priorities: Centerback, Coach, Leftback, 3rd/4th 2-way outside mid (speed a priority), 3rd striker (speed a priority).
Season Goals: Just get better. Develop the youth. Focus on adjusting to a more defensive position we can employ at altitude, and add speed for the counterattack. Playoffs optional in year 1.

 

My first thought on a new coach would be someone like Jurgen Klopp. I know getting him would be, is, impossible but I really like his approach and demeanor.

Maybe you could grab one someone in his coaching tree.

In reality I would bet it's 80-20 that Cassar returns thus making any changes meaningless for next year.

 

This is what I pay the big buck BS membership for.

 

Here's my take.....not completely thought through but it's a start.

I would advocate a switch to a 4-1-3-2. This is mainly done with the idea that Kyle can hang in the game a bit more if he doesn't have to go box to box as much. Have him parked in front of the back 4 and be a connector to the midfield. I honestly wouldn't want him venturing too far beyond the midfield line in most situations.

Keep for sure (main players): Yura, Sunny, Kyle, Burrito, Tony, Phillips, Glad, Schuler, Attinella, Allen

On the fence: Rimando, Luke (value for dollar), Olmes

Trade if possible, waive if not (higher minute players): Wingert, Olave, Plata, Javi

Top needs: High quality CB, Javi replacement to immediately start (this will require $$$$$), decent forward

RSL has to bite the bullet and make a move with Javi. His product on the field does not justify his salary as it did at one time. He totaled 4 goals (2PK) and 4 assists, his service on set pieces has been dropping dramatically, he doesn't have the speed or gas in the tank, etc. Are there intangibles? Sure, but I don't feel they bring his level up high enough. Hell, Arturo Alvarez had 5 goals and 9 assists for a crappy Chicago team. I am not advocating bringing in Lefturo, but for the amount of money tied up in Javi's salary, in a cap league, RSL can't afford his salary for this level of production.

 

I I would push to try as close as possible to stay with a 4-2-1-3. To get this done, doing mean things is a must.

Keep: Yura, Sunny, Burrito, Tony, Philips, Glad, Schuler, Maund, Allen, and Hollness.
Doubtful: Rimando, Luke(not sure if he has the skills we need for the formation), Plata(Needs to show consistent production) and Olmes
Traded/Cut: Wingert, Olave, Javi(If he will not accept an off the bench role, like Marco Papa has now)
Needs: Someone to replace Javi's role full time, and not a project for the future. CB if one can be added to push Glad, Schuler, and Maund to the next level or out. Someone that will play the D-mid role Kyle is with the idea that they rotate out games and in the next year or two take over full time when Kyle retires or what not.

Much of the current team is strong but it is showing its age and going the full youth route is a sure way to fail. We need to look to the future and work on the transition as our old greats move off the field.

 

A slight tangent: 8:00 day one - get DLH out of the FO. He should understand that you hire someone for his current position (President of the club) who knows the game. This micro-management is killing us and I wouldn't be surprised if it's responsible for a lot of the "You're either with us or you're against us" sentiment that's pervading the organization.

 

Ugh, just no. I'm personally not a fan of the system, and honestly feel like we'd need to find far too many players to make it work. Ultimately, I can live with whatever system the coach wants, (not Cassar) as long as we actually play that system. I don't want a Cassar 4-3-3 that is actually a 4-2-3-1.

I think overall we are mostly OK if we have an actual coach on the team. Ditch Cassar and get a real coach. No more of this promoting within BS that we hope will work. JK was the exception, not the rule. Now it's time to go through each area of the field. GK wise I'm happy with what we have. Rimando and Attinella are a fine combo. Defensively is where I'd like to see some change. We absolutely need a high quality CB. I'd be more than happy to see top CB plus Glad with a Maund/Schuler rotation. Get rid of Wingert and Olave. Too much salary for people with very little to offer. I'd also be fine with trading Beltran for an outside back that actually has some offense. Phillips shows some promise here and there, but Beltran has rarely looked good on offense. Swap his high salary for someone like the Russell we used to have.

Midfielders I think we're mostly OK with. KB is a guy that has maybe 1-2 years left. If we were to trade him I could live with it if we actually invested the cap space wisely. If not, I think he can still do a job. Sunny is solid, and should be a starter no matter what. Javi is a guy I would either trade or keep as a backup depending on whether he would take a significant pay cut or not. I love the guy, but he's not someone that should be playing 90% of the games. I would take his freed up cap space and pickup an actual replacement. Allen isn't an AM, and Saucedo isn't ready. Saucedo is a guy I'd like to see given some real minutes though.

For the forward line, Sandoval and Olmes are gone. Sandoval will never be an MLS starter, and I'd rather invest his minimum salary into someone that might actually be able to contribute. Olmes was making a high wage based on potential, and that time has long gone. Cut him and get a real backup. Plata is another guy I'd be fine getting rid of. He's a decent guy when he's on his game, but he's often pushed out of matches because refs don't want to call fouls based on his size. He's also taking a young DP slot that could be freed up for someone else. We just signed Yura so I can't really say to get rid of him, but we really need to surround him with players that actually compliment him, instead of leaving him on an island. Burrito is a guy I like when he's on his game, but I'm very torn on him. Was he off because of Cassar and his lack of coaching, or because he's just not that good? I'd be willing to give him another year or two and see what happens.

Overall I wouldn't want to see a complete roster overhaul, but there's easily 1-2 spots in each third of the field that could be made to try and improve. The biggest change is the coach, followed by a CB, midfielder, then forward, IMO. Some of the areas are close, IMO, so I hope we see change in all of the areas.

 

Tactically, I have always believed in being flexible and having your system match the qualities of your players.

To that end, as coach, I'd worry about players first:

Players I rate:
Rimando (yes, he has lost 1/2 step...his experience and feet more than make up for it.)
Glad
Maude (as a 4th CB)
Shuler (if convinced he is past his injury problems)
Phillips (adequate D, decent O)
Beckerman
Sunny
Luke (NOT as a starter...great nose for goal out of the midfield)
Yura
Allen

Ambivalent:
Plata (lost some quickness, easily marked out of the game)
Burrito (unless convinced injury caused the problems)
Garcia (paying too much for a player who's only contribution is running around)
Beltran (adequate defensively, poor offensively, needs to be paid 1/2 of what he is paid)
Javi (Needs to be a part time player at part time wages)
Attinella (poor on crosses, crap on PKs, adequate shot-stopper...there are 50 of him running around that RSL can get for dirt cheap.)

No:
Stertzer - center mids with no skills at all cannot play at this level
Olave - Injury prone, error prone and expensive - bad combination
Wingert - maybe at 1/2 price.

My system will be based 100% on how the ambivalent group shakes out. I'd like to remind BS that back when RSL was winning and scoring goals, the wings tended to be completely untethered and float wherever they wanted. RSL found ways to get 3v2s in unexpected places. Unfortunately, at the same time, the center D was crap and the wide defenders were outnumbered 2v1 all game long. RSL scored a LOT and gave up a lot. I think Cassar chose to lock Burrito and Plata in to place defensively, which led to the poor offense the last 1/3 of the season.

With an actual uptick in talent at outside back and one more quality center back, RSL could play this system with the existing attacking players and be successful...but the coach would have to be willing to live through 4-3 games at home. Cassar went with the "it is easier to destroy than create" theory, and it cost him and the team. Let's get Javi's heir apparent in and then work around that.

 

Well I will be a snowflake too!

The conflagration
1. fire cassar. fire whoever is in control of player fitness to boot... these players are gassed way too fast.
3. I am keeping Glad, Allen, Burrito, and Sunny. Well, Attinella too. The rest can make like a tree for all I care.
4. This roster dumpster fire means that next season is gonna suck balls. But you know what, there is a small chance something good can happen. At least, we get to see what the coach can do from nothing.

Improvements:
1.Get borchers (or morales) as assistant coach, and get Someone else as main. Richie Williams, whatever.
2. Let the coach decide on formation. As long as they know that running off the ball is the number one thing I care about. No useful off the ball movement, no ********ing playing time. I happen to like a 4-2-3-1, or a 4-4-2 diamond. Whatever works though. If the coach got fun wins as 4-6-0 id be on board.

3. As for players, head to south america and lets not bring back the Garcias of the world. jesus.
4. New rule: anyone over 34* only gets 30 minutes on the field, unless there is an injury, in which case they can get 70.
5. New rule 2: I will allow 1 legacy player per squad. Not 2. Not 5. You gotta earn it.

*Exception: If we find the second incarnation of Miroslav Klose, he can stay if he is productive. and goalies. I do have a man-crush on Klose and Kahn.

Oh, and our head scout, even if thats andy williams, he can get the hell out right about now. This Center Back Thing this year was utterly unacceptable.

 

I don't think that was a scout issue, plenty of players were identified. That's 100% on Waibel who failed to get one signed.

 

Okay then, scouts are not the problem! Thanks for clarifying.

 

We could play a 3/4/3 attack that morphs to a 5/3/2 on defense with about 75% of our current players. But we would need a coach who a) can teach the system and b) can get players to buy in.
Keep Attinella, Rimando and sell Lalo
Keep Maund Glad Shuler, Kavita and Okuwono , Maybe keep Phillips Sell Beltran cut Olave and Wingert
Keep Sunny, KB, Luke bring back Saucedo and give Allen and Hohness more playing time Cut Sterzer
Keep Burrito, Movsisyan, sell Plata, Cut Olmes and Sandoval

Need - Ciman level Center back to anchor
Need - A scoring forward who can play with both Burrito and Movsisyan
Need - Attacking CM who can also score (2012 Javi type )
Need to restructure Javi's contract and have him agree to not taking any free kicks / set pieces

 

I jump into this thread very hesitantly, because I know my soccer knowledge is very limited compared to some of you. However, if I had my wish list for the team, it would look like this:

(1) Do whatever it takes to rebuild team confidence and get the right energy in the locker room. The interview with Tony Beltran was really interesting -- it seems that the angst felt by the fans was shared by the players, and that in turn resulted in a poor on-field performance. Also I honestly think Plata and Martinez can prove to be two of our best players, but they seem to have little to no confidence left in the team, coaches, tactics, etc. This bullet point falls squarely on the coaching staff.

(2) Do whatever it takes to rebuild the fans' confidence. This means cut the marketing spin, make an honest acknowledgement of known faults, and give us a plan on how things will be changed. Convince Trey that RSL has some smart soccer fans who deserve honest answers from the team.

(3) Hire new scouts and consider looking in other parts of the world in addition to South America. (I know I'm biased, but I've seen some really good quality soccer from African teams and I'd consider building some relationships on that side of the world.) I honestly don't know whether or not Andy Williams is doing a good job or not, but he seems like a bit of a loose cannon and I'd assess his position.

(4) Have some honest conversations with DLH about his level of involvement with the team. Nothing accusatory or demanding, but ask some hard questions and put some idea seeds up in his brain.

(5) Immediately look into upgrades for the midfield. You just can't ignore age regardless of current form of play. I love Sunny and I'd make sure he knows how invaluable he is. As for the others, bring in some fresh competition. Spend big for it. I've often thought that the "make or break" for RSL is the midfield. When the ball is moving smoothly and seamlessly from back to front, the team is really enjoyable to watch. When they're just booting the ball forward and hoping Plata runs on to it repeatedly, the game gets really predictable and unenjoyable. And if all of us can predict exactly how the team is going to move the ball forward, is there any reason to suspect an experienced coach would be unprepared to counter it?

I think #1 and #2 are absolutely vital. The team can't improve until RSL realized they have to give us a REASON to #believe again.

 

Despite all the good in this post, I imagine Trey reading it and his only thought being, "Hey, #believeagain would be a great marketing campaign for next year!"

 

Y'all making me nauseous.

And now I'm imagining games starting with Don't Stop Believin' blaring over the loudspeakers. Thanks a lot.

 

Waibel was recently in Europe, and one of his comments was that he and his staff needed to make more trips like that not so much to scout players as to get to know more than the 4-5 agents they work with now - and that that number of agents meant they had an effective eye on only the players those guys brought. So we're much narrower in our scope than I thought, but we're working on it, so yay?

 

No no, it should be #pleaseStopTheBleeding

 

I'm torn. It seems like a smart investment. Yet, didn't their contacts last year give them 3 CBs they liked in Europe but were not able to land for whatever reasons?

 

Far better than the summer of Neil Diamond.

 

That was a GREAT concert....Neil brought it! Seriously!