Why can't the Breakers get players like this?

http://www.usasa.com/imgs/home/Tony DiCicco.jpg

 

The Breakers ALREADY have a player not just like this but BETTER.. MUCH BETTER. This better player is considerd by many this year's draft's true diamond in the rough. She is, soccer-wise, a true footballer, the best I've seen in the country (including the players in the USA WNT) but unfortunately she has been kept under the radar all these years. In addition to being a complete player, she plays like a female version of the great Zizou + Fabiano combined. Different from the player you are referring to, whom I think was let go by the Breakers (be careful what you ask for), she is mature and plays with humility and total loyalty for the game, her team, her coaches and her teammates. Unfortunately she tore her ACL during the first week of pre-season last March and had to miss this entire season. But... my undrstanding is that the Breakers kept their rights to her and that she is being brought back for next season.

 

I am thinking it is the Coach, not the player.... the talent is there...I have yet to watch them this year but he is not getting the most out of his players... such as Kelly Smith (who I think is the best player on the planet).

BTW - We are loving Amy in Philly, after last year, we thought we were getting a player with limited killer instincts....

 

Who would you be refering to out of curiosity?

 

haha!


I think JNO had a couple of drinks and started a BS account!

 

But she's not out for the season. Should be ready to go end of july.

 

I'll believe it when I see her....

She's our Twellman!

 

Dude she is so much better looking than he is. haha

 

I'm sure you know the Boston roster better than I do and are just taunting the newbie to try and pull out more humorous posts ("female version of the great Zizou + Fabiano combined" is funny stuff no matter the player being described). My guess would be Cynthia Morote-Ariza since she did tear her ACL early on and is still listed on the weekly roster reports.

 

I gotta get a tone meter. I wasnt trying to taunt the poster, more trying to learn. I didn't know if they meant Nobis or not.

 

It isn't your tone meter. It is mine. To highly adjusted for my own snark potential. Sorry.

 

Yup, that's the girl (to answer Mattymags811's question).. similar reactions were posted online following draft day (not by me)... and, as funny as I sound--and I agree it is funny stuff--she is the real deal beyond what we have seen in women's soccer so far... perhaps a "new generation" player.

"Pasoccerdad", what I've seen so far last season and this season, I do not believe the problem is the coach. Dicicco's coaching combines the necessary team structure and organization with a rare respect for the players' freedom to express their soccer personality... this requires soccer intelligence, mental speed to anticipate plays and sequences and to solve them... personal leadership and individuality has to surface at the service of the collective effort.
As good as Kelly Smith is (and she is one of the best in the world, I agree) as the player wearing the number "10" on her jersey, she is not favoring her role as the organizing playmaking offensive player. She needs to put the team's offense on her soulders... feed Lauren, link the meidfield with Lauren who is the top target/striker. Kelly wants to play more as a finisher than as the orgainzer the team needs her to be... then the offensive drought will cease.

 

It’s about time somebody recognized that while the coach is ultimately responsible for the team, chemistry issues are not necessarily directly caused by him. With this team, the main issue is that there are several talented strikers yet no one star…..so finding leadership in the final third has been difficult, leading a midfielder to want to take over. I couldn’t agree more with chamoG.

Another problem has been maintaining a constant energy and passion throughout the ninety minutes. It’s hard to deny that this team has had moments of brilliance and moments of horror.

I’m also wondering….. If the coach really is so poor, then how come almost all of the Breakers’ goals this season have been scored either inside the first 20 minutes or right after halftime? Seems more like he’s making positive changes from game to game and in the locker room that aren’t being sustained by an aging and frustrated team.

Yet another thing to note is how much more fluent and organized the Breakers have looked away from home. Notice they won the first game, when there was no pressure whatsoever. If you don’t believe the expectations of Boston and negative chants get to them, think again. We need to bring back the pride and fun atmosphere at the Coliseum, and that can always start with the fans no matter the record.

 

Really? At this point of the season? Surely the players, like those on other teams around the league, have gotten fitter and able to sustain that energy for 90 minutes. If not, there's yet another problem plaguing the team.

Philly has found success by getting the fittest, fastest, hungriest, hardest working 11 on the field and getting them in the game. Chicago has done the same thing. The new coach's comments about Ella Masar's game against Boston were pretty interesting.

I agree that it is hard to sustain passion game after game after game after game after game when what you're doing isn't working and you keep losing.

 

Really! This is why professional soccer players (or any athlete) are called PROFESSIONAL players (athletes)... in the non-soccer world, we all have to produce EVERYDAY at our work place, passion or not, fitness or not, hunger or not... every Monday morning we have to produce PASSION from nothing, and SUSTAIN it through the boredom and the monotony, otherwise ask those professional workers who have to work 12 - 16 hrs shifts 7 days a week at a factory or warehouse or loading and unloading trucks... you get the idea. Where do these people's supervisor or foreman or employer get them to be the hungriest, the hardest working workers in their labor pitch so that they can earn their paycheck? Eleanor, the employee or worker or player HAS TO PRODUCE IT... has to earn his/her paycheck... that is being a professional, and that is why she (or he) is being paid for... or else ask the WC's players from France, Italy, England, and pretty Barbie-boy Cristiano Ronaldo. Like Gene Hackman's character in "The Replacements" well said it.. a pro player needs HEART, LOTS OF IT.

Just like it is everyone's responsibility to bring HEART to his/her days everyday all day long, and it is every worker/professional's responsibility to bring HEART and PASSION to his/her work place everyday (not his/her supervisor's or foreman's).. so it is with PROFESSIONAL players... passion and heart comes from within, not from without... in recognition that they have been Blessed to be able to go through life making a living as a soccer player or coach... or whatever the sport is.

Lastly, soccer.. true football, is not about being the fastest, nor the fittest,.. it is about being a TRUE FOOTBALLER, WITH PASSION AND WITH HEART... and these are originated by the player within. All a coach (or a supervisor or a foreman or an employer) can do is try to elicit it from the individual player... but the player has to WANT TO produce it, to retrieve it, to bring it out, to externalize it, to give it and to enjoy it. It is after all a PLAYER'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

 

I don't understand, I have been working for a dozen year or more and heart is not really required. Just intelligence. Same with football players what they need is intelligence, fitness and good mental preparation

 

Definitely add heart (which=passion) and intelligence to the list. But otherwise, ChamoG, I think you completely missed my point.

I would expect that the players who are put on the field every game have all of the ingredients we're talking about. If they don't, they shouldn't be there. If they do, and they are still underperforming then looking at the players isn't the solution.

 

Hmmm, no real responses (except from Eleanor) to posts #14 or 15....... I'm curious to hear the opinions of the Tony haters in response to those posts

I guess it's no fun anymore when you can't walk all over the "kool aid drinking newbies".......

Sure, Tony is ultimately responsible but in a more detailed discussion forum we should be looking beyond that. We're both shouting "Fire Tony!" and "Don't fire Tony!" without any true detailed evidence from either side so far.....so let's discuss further.

 

I think they HAD all those ingredients at the start of the season, and have lost them since due to a variety of factors, including the fact that the league overall has gotten better, bad luck (before the last game), the weight of expectations, and the fact that the chemistry of the team simply hasn't been there because there haven't been any real stars/leaders out there.

When the coach has made numerous adjustments and done everything he can to try to reverse these trends, then looking at the players and their chemistry as well as what we as fans can do to improve that IS the solution.

 

You are off your rocker if you think our chants have been negative. Just last game, as we limped to another 2-1 defeat, we sang our "We are Boston" chant. It wasn't being sarcastic or negative or mocking the action on the field. It was genuine, but you wouldn't know that because you are intent on blackballing Riptide simply because we don't want Tony Dicicco in the Breakers pillars of excellence. Better performances on the road? That can't be assumed to be a reaction to the "negative chants". It's far more likely that not playing on Field Turf is a more likely reason for their play. I still have fun and still have pride in the stands. Supporting the team does not mean kissing up to the coach in times where he doesn't deserve it.
Kelly Smith, for my money, has not been motivated this year. Whether or not that's Tony's fault, I really have no idea. Could simply be age. Who knows. The problem is, Tony should recognize this and give her a wake-up call benching. Yeah I know, it failed with A-Rod, but she was much younger and less experienced. Kelly would get the message I am sure of that.

Honestly, if you truly have an issue with Riptide, bring it up to us immediately after what you perceive to be a negative chant. My money is that you don't come down to the Dock. Yet, I would love if YOU personally joined us in the Dock. More people can help us return the pride to the stadium. (This is not snark, I'd really like you to join us. We'll teach you the chants and you can teach us ones you come up with. Its happened before.)

 

As an altenative I suggest sending Kelly and Alex home to England as us Arsenal supporters would be happy to see them back

 

Well there is that, but I'm no where near ready to suggest that. Vic Akers would enjoy that way too much.

 

A coach has the biggest influence on how a team as a whole has played. You all know that a coach tells the players what to do in set pieces. It should be the same with continuous play. Creating opportunities for team mates to score, how to make full use of space and speed in counter-attacks, etc. are the previews of a coach. Blaming a player like Kelly Smith is way out of line. I also think she is wasted playing midfield. With her scoring and dribbling skill, she should be in front receiving good passes from team-mates to get goals. Asking her to score and to feed the forwards, running up and back all the time is not a sensible coach would do.
If it is so easy putting talented players together and expect them to turn themselves without outside help and direction into a great team, there is no need for any coaches. And for that matter, there should be no famous coaches around the world. Just famous players.
Sometimes a coach is blessed by inheriting a group of good players who have already been trained on how to combine with each other to become an effective team in attack and defence. Such a coach does not even have to be a good coach. All is needed from him is to be a reasonable caretaker which is the case of one of our WNT coaches in years past. From the way he made use of ARod last year, it is apparent he does not know how to direct play.
Obviously some talented players know how to direct play in a match. Venturini, Marta come readily in mind. But sometimes a coach will want to have his own way of playing and frustrate. I think that's what's happening in Boston.