An interesting thing I've seen on twitter since the end of the game is this notion that RSL is setup to be really good next year. We got minutes to young players, we have some vets, we're gonna be the shit! The problem with that is that when I look at this team at the end of 2018 and I look at this team at the end of 2017, I really don't see a massive difference. That might sound weird given that we brought in Kreilach this year, but I would remind people that Kreilach is supposed to be an 8. Our brilliant GM, who has spent roughly $4MM on two strikers who now play elsewhere, went shopping for an 8 and brought in a 9 better than the two he had brought in before. But more alarming to that is that Kreilach isn't an out and out 9. Nobody in their right mind is saying "the 9 situation at RSL is figured out". In fact, it's the top problem across the board. But in saying that, what does that mean of Kreilach? I don't think this team is positioned better than they were at the end of 2017. The lone playoff successful game (away to LAFC) has overshadowed a lot of people's thoughts on just how poorly this team finished the season. We needed Houston to pull off a miracle. Then we got our asses kicked in SKC after grinding out an honestly pretty boring and slow draw. We went 1-1-1 in the playoffs. That's... not great. Over our last 10 games, playoffs included, we went 3-3-4 (W-D-L). That's not good. Even more alarming - in that stretch we didn't keep a single clean sheet. I really don't know what to think of this team in 2019. There are a whole host of unknowns. Assuming we play a 4-2-3-1 still, this is how the depth chart currently looks at it's not all that great: GK: Rimando, Putna, Sparrow, Horwath RB: Lennon, Beltran, Henley CB(2): Onuhoa, Glad, MSilva, Horst, Barry, Peay LB: Herrera, Acosta, Phillips CM(2): Kreilach, KB, Sunny, Luke, Besler, Ruiz AM: Rusnak, Hernandez LW: Plata, Bofo RW: Savarino, Allen FW: Baird, LSilva, Lopez-Espin
15 is sooooooooo right. "I really don't know what to think of this team in 2019. There are a whole host of unknowns. Assuming we play a 4-2-3-1 still, this is how the depth chart currently looks at it's not all that great: GK: Rimando, Putna, Sparrow, Horwath RB: Lennon, Beltran, Henley CB(2): Onuhoa, Glad, MSilva, Horst, Barry, Peay LB: Herrera, Acosta, Phillips CM(2): Kreilach, KB, Sunny, Luke, Besler, Ruiz AM: Rusnak, Hernandez LW: Plata, Bofo RW: Savarino, Allen FW: Baird, LSilva, Lopez-Espin" This team is a bit of a mess if you ask me. The players in RED, I believe, could be ugraded to say the least and not even missed if they aren't on the roster next season. I will admit I am jaded when it comes to Plata and Bofo but come on, not a lot of world beaters there beating down the door to a starting position. I think every position is now questionable. The CB's looked to be solidifying and what does Petke do? He puts Besler, whom I like as midfield depth, at CB again. I could really talk myself out of giving Petke one more year if this keeps up.
This is interesting, thanks for pointing towards the site. One thing I've heard over the years is that the worst player on the pitch is really important for a coach to figure out during a match and make the move early to replace with a better player off the bench. Extrapolating that concept takes us to examining what is the score of the 11th rated player (500 minutes and a need for it to make a functional team, which pretty much means to have a keeper)? By that method, only CLB has a worse #11 player, their keeper Zach Steffan at a 6.51 rating, compared to our #11 player, Herrera with a rating of 6.66. No other team had a player with a worse score for their 11th rated player. Some were tied and/or close, but only Columbus had a worse one.
Agree with all but two of your red players, and probably not two you guessed. I always feel some strange sense of injustice when a player loses his starting spot due to injury. For that reason, I'm on the fence with Mulholland and Beltran. Despite his shortcomings, some of the most entertaining soccer near the end of the season was when Luke was on the pitch. Maybe it's effort, leadership, a different approach, etc. but it was something that seemed to make the team better. Some "greater than the sum of it's parts" chemistry thing. Beltran, well, just want to show the guy some respect and not re-live the Morales debacle. As long as it's a reasonable salary and an understanding that he doesn't have a guaranteed starting spot (see Beckerman, Kyle, 2018 season) I wouldn't mind seeing him in rotation next year.
I agree that the roster is the biggest issue. That falls on a combination of Weibel, DLH’s checkbook, and an organizational “path to stardom” that includes the Academy and the Monarchs in a symbiotic relationship with the Senior club.
LOL. It’s actually funny. Those people you refer to said the exact same thing at the end of 2017. And, let’s be honest, we on this board were saying it too. Maybe we’ve learned to be a bit more skeptical? Our issues are 3-fold going into the offseason: 1) upgrading the roster. This is especially important because 2) the rest of the league will be upgrading their rosters. Imo we are already behind on roster talent and making the normal upgrades simply keeps us behind. 3) upgrading the FO and/or coaching staff. The paradox to all of this is that MLS is a weird league. At the end of 2017, as stated above, we thought RSL had a chance to make a deep run in the 2018 playoffs. Well, guess what? As another poster noted, RSL came within a Rimando clunker of making the Western Conference Finals. Which would have qualified as a deep run. All to say, regardless of what we do in the off season we can conceivably compete for the Cup or not even make the playoffs.
That includes Hererra’s early season growing pains. I saw him greatly improve during the season and imo he played well in the playoffs under a lot of pressure. Certainly there is room for improvement. Besides, who were we going to replace him with? Acosta? It’s obvious the staff felt Herrera was the better player of the two. People can say Acosta didn’t play because he was “in Petke’s doghouse” all they want, but the most probable answer is that Herrera is the better player in practice and in games.
Re Saucedo: he has yet to turn 22, and he has upside still. Plata does not; he's as good as he's going to be.
As much as I'd hate to see Plata go, it may be now is the best time to get maximum value in trade. It is extremely improbable that he will be worth more valuable at the end of 2019. It is unlikely that his 2019 will be a better season than his 2018. I hate to see him go, though because I just like him. Infectious positivity and tenacity. I recall the concept of the 'pocket battleship' of the Pre-WWII German Navy. Because of treaty limitations, they were limited in size, but managed to hold massive guns. In the same way, Plata may be small, but opponents dare not take him lightly, because he can and will score powerful shots. So, in our household, we call him our "Pocket Forward." My wife loves the term because she has a phrase she uses when she thinks something that's small is also adorable: "So cute you want to just put it in your pocket."
The question for me isn't IF we move Plata, it's where. Do you look within the league to get a trade with some of the funny money? Or do you look external and just go straight cash (after league fees)? Both rely on a GM being able to negotiate a deal with another team that is at the very least fair. How many trades has Waibel done? I can't think of many off the top of my head but it is still early in the morning
We certainly fell victim to it because we didn't have reason to think otherwise. I'm still so confused how Petke took a team that was flying at the end of 2017 and then turned them into the shit show that we were for the first half of 2018. I mean, the guy was brought in under some of the worst circumstances for a coach you can imagine - no preseason, roster almost completely decided, differing styles of play, etc - and made them into a team most everyone feared. We had every right to think that would continue in 2018. But then it didn't and we started to get a sense as to why as the season wore on. In fact, the playoff success only strengthen the notion that Petke is not a good head coach but rather a good motivator. Certainly that is part of being a good coach, but it's not the entirety of it. His tactics have been rough, his personnel decisions weird, the inability to start games well, coming out of half struggles, etc. This season showed me that Petke is still VERY raw in his coaching abilities. Could he grow more? Certainly, but he has some weaknesses that I just haven't seen improve. If anything, they've gotten worse. That is just at the head coaching spot, though. At the end of 2017 we said we needed a FW to fix the Yura problem. Waibel goes out and spends a pretty significant amount of money (though not on a transfer fee because... well I don't know) to get us this guy with a good history. But the fact that the guy didn't require a transfer fee, didn't really have a home club for as long as he did, and had bounced around as much as he did should have been a lot more worrisome than we made it out to be. He came here and just cashed a check. And Waibel wrote his contract in a way (just like with Yura) that the club was ********ed. The club also finished 2017 saying we like what Luke does, but that it could be better - had to be better - if we were going to compete. So Waibel makes a trip to Germany (side note on this later) and finds us Kreilach. This guy has an impressive as hell resume. He can be the guy. And then we play him at the 8, next to KB, and it's a fiasco. The two together don't work. And we're not benching KB because god forbid we actually play Sunny. So then we're in a world of wondering if we should play this guy at all. But then, hey, he's good in the air and has a nose for goal. We need a number 9. Vioala our problem is fixed! Sorta. Kinda. Not really. Turns out Kreilach is best utilized as kind of a false 9 more of a 10. But we also just spent a ton of money on Rusnak (or did we?). I'm confused. Did we actually fix the 8 problem? Or the 9 problem? We got a good player, don't get me wrong, but where is he supposed to play in relation to the other players we have? Interestingly enough, we finished 2017 pretty damn confident in our CB situation. We got the young stud Glad, the talented MSilva, and then Horst for depth. Sprinkle in some players like Peay and such and this spot is great. And then it's not. I'm not blaming Waibel for those players performances/injuries. I am blaming him for taking for god damn ever to sign Onuhoa. That rumor started in like July, no? And we didn't actually sign the guy until September. And then he didn't play until just 3 games were left in the season... Hell, the more I think of this the more I feel like this season was poorly managed in so many ways. I know the inevitable reaction to this will be that it's DLH fault. It is the response of choice in these type of scenarios. I don't give a ********. I've said it before - if Waibel can't figure out that relationship to be better than this after 3 years then it's another reason to not keep him. There are plenty of owners out there like DLH that make things hard for their GM's. Good GM's find a way to make that relationship work To my point on Germany - why has the club become so Euro-centric in scouting/player acquisition lately? This is a staple under Waibel that has confused the hell out of me. I'm not saying we shouldn't look there, but it feels like the scouting in central and south america has been pointless.
We call him "the velociraptor" because he's small, dangerous and, um, to be honest, looks like one when he runs...
Dane Murphy has left to DC United, apparently. He was promoted to Technical Director this year (no idea what exactly that means - what does the GM do and what does the TD do?) He first joined the club in 2017 as a scout.
The RSL Show mentioned that Craig a while back was on the verge of signing a forward who currently has 9 goals in 12 games and is now a transfer target for two giant clubs in Europe, but that Petke didn't want him. Any thoughts on who this could be? They kind of suggest that Barca is one of the European teams, but from my limited research every potential Barca prospect is already playing for a club much bigger than RSL.
I'm pretty dense about this stuff but would we really be willing to spend that kind of dough? And at 23 years old, would he have any interest in leaving a Serie A club for RSL?
Prior to this year he was in Poland with KS Cracovia. The way I understand this (and believe, I don't) is that we tried to get this done before he really got in with Genoa. From how I understand it (again, I don't) is the scouts identified him, Waibel had started contract negotiations, but then Petke stepped in and said he didn't approve. Supposedly not liking his speed. This is from side conversations with people that had conversations with others a few times over. Essentially the telephone game. I'm sure parts, if not all, are wrong but that's what I got.
Awe yeah this is definitely who they're talking about on the podcast. I was searching smaller leagues.
Acosta is slightly more functional in the attack than Herrera, and he shows a little more physicality when defending higher upfield. He's also a bit stronger on the ball when challenged. However, Acosta's positioning defensively is atrocious. He consistently has balls slotted in behind him, and frequently takes poor angles when trying to recover. Both have pace, but Herrera recovers much better than Acosta. Both players frequently show some naive play, but Herrera has outplayed Acosta when receiving his chances IMO. Herrera was a huge piece of RSL advancing past LAFC. He did a phenomenal job against a team that has shown potency this season playing through the right channel. He struggled against Johnny Russell, but he's one of the craftiest players in the league along the right side, but if anything it's the center backs that struggled the most in this series. I actually rate him better defensively than Lennon as well, but neither he nor Acosta bring close to what Lennon adds in the attack.
I think you all are over-reacting a little and under-rating talent. All this "get rid of that guy". What are the odds we sign better given our track record? For every Savarino or Rusnak there's a mistake. We have guys still ramping up in their development curve and we're ready to call it? That's nuts. The American system isn't to the point where the stars are all identified or developed at 18. Be patient. If you do the right thing with cap space there's more than enough room to bring in a couple of fliers and 1-2 shots at difference makers. Burning the roster down for guys who don't make that much is crazy. Petke ball is what it is, but offensively, RSL scored a lot of goals. And because we pushed our outside backs up so much, teams with strong wingers, like KC were able to attack them...so RSL leaked goals. Yes, we have no striker to speak of, but we have a promising young attacking front. Plata's mercurial but did you watch the second half vs. KC? He was, the man. Our midfield was out matched much of the season. How many goals late in the season happened because Valeri or Feilhaber or (anyone on KC) had the ability to just stroke passes from 30-40 out? Kyle is smart, feisty, and he plays great second halves. In the first half he's a traffic cone. I love him but his feet/legs are beat. He's trying to take angles away on passes from 10 yards back. That doesn't work. If we're not going to play Acosta and Glad (and IMO we should) we should give them a shot at D-Mid. It's time to phase Rimando and Beckerman out and honor them. It's time find two more box-to-box mids to work with (and maybe those are in our youth in the form of Glad/Acosta). It's time to find the CB pairing to stick with. It's time to look for a striker as good as Saborio (if we're lucky enough to find and sign such a talent). It's time to find the heir to Nick.
Hmmm. The d-mid position requires a good deal of that attitude which I call “bite”. I don’t see that in Glad. He also lacks the physicality. Acosta, I have no idea. It was observed recently on this board that he positions himself terribly defensively. The d-mid MUST be exceptionally good at this aspect. It is the factor that made KB as good as he has been and which, allegedly, keeps him on the field now.
I don't really think that anyone is really suggesting that RSL burn the place down. My fear is that without some concrete and well made changes the burning down will take care of its self. Also, I've highlighted multiple times the players that I think are expendable, trade-able or just dump-able for RSL next season. It doesn't mean that I expect them all to go but if history is any judge at all RSL errors on the side of keeping players too long. And for Plata, and Bofo for that matter, for every good second half they have there are 2 or 3 bad games in a row, petulant and selfish plays and opportunities gone missing because these two think that they can win games on their own. If you have a GM that can't find players with equal or greater talent than these two somewhere in the world then he must be Craig Waibel.
First off, it's no secret that Acosta doesnt have the best work ethic in practice. His confidence is shot. Rumor has it that it started after he read the tabloids and let it get to his head. Then he stopped working in practice. One thing lead to another. I think he has the talent but humility perhaps not. Next, Waibel clearly has failed in my opinion. Measure him based on the talent he has brought to the team? While the whole league got money and seriously better (Rudiaz, Rooney, Vela, Rossi, Ramirez, etc etc) RSL picked up a second tier Spanish division who didnt make the starting 18 and we gave him the biggest salary in the team. We failed to get a number 9. We failed to get a threat up top. We failed to get a CB until 5 weeks before the end of the season. I hope we can end this era already because we havent had much success since waibel took over. Sure, we made the playoffs, but it was silly that we did in the first place. We gave up lots of points we shouldn't have and the lack of mental toughness has to go back to Waibel for not bringing on a veteran leader or two that could provide it. Petke: well, he plays the youth and it appears we are focused on developing them into talent. That's great. That makes sense to me. We need a coach who converts our youth program into mls caliber players and beyond. Petke is also a passionate, likeable guy. Much more so than caspar. He goes to war for the team. That's the good. But Petke really needs to improve on the tactical strategy and substitution decisions. They are glaring holes in what he brings. We played a lot of kickball. We allowed a lot of soft goals. We often didnt look like the better team. In spite of that, I think he needs better talent on the pitch. We dont have an creative attacking mid who holds the ball up, builds the attack, connects the defense to the offense. Truly I think that's because we play 2 defensive mids because beckerman cant cover enough ground. Finally, beckerman and Rimando, I love them. But it's time to limit their minutes. It would be smart to not protect one or the other ahead of the Cincinnati pick because they aren't cheap and they are clearly in the twilight of their careers. My 7 year old looks like he could challenge rimando in a race. There were rumors out of Mexico that we would pick up a new defensive center mid. Now would be appropriate.