After watching the last five games, I don't know the answer but am leaning towards a change. They've looked good in the last three road games. At Chicago, they were unlucky that Herron hit the keeper from 3 yards out. At Dallas, they stopped playing after 75 minutes and ruined a solid effort. At Houston they held a one-goal lead and could have been up a couple before allowing the late tying goal. But the last two home games have been games where they just haven't shown up. Tactics - we're back to the predictable route 1 ball to Moreno. At times he gets the call, mostly he doesn't. Our possession is horrible and today's game saw Colorado dominating us for large stretches at a time. We had three solid chances and Gaven was unlucky to hit the top of the net besides scoring once while Thomas should be shot after that miss. But the tactics that are creating three chances in a huge home game, some even say a must win game, leave lots to be desired. Substitutions (tactics, part II) - huge home game, you keep a sub on the bench in 90 degree weather. You bring in THOMAS ahead of Rogers and Herron. Colorado is pushing forward and you have pure speed in Rogers and he doesn't get into the match. Why the obsession by Schmid for certain players (Szetela, Thomas) that have no interest in playing here or are mostly injured and really suck bad when they can perform on the field? Jacob's first two touches were a dribble into Prideaux losing an obvious counter opportunity and then missing the open net on Moreno's shot off the post. The Rapids goal came after Thomas blasted it out of bounds over GBS' head on a field switch when Gaven was wide open with an easier completion to be made. Roster/personnel moves - the good news: GBS, Moreno. The bad news: not enough movement. All but one other team has at least a 5-goal scorer, and a few have 2-4 of them, while we are tied with RSL with no one at 5 goals scored this season. EJ has 6 GAME-WINNING goals all by himself at KC. How can all teams, even RSL, continue to find players and we have found ONE all season long? We have two Brazilians and an Argentine on our roster. Don't they have friends at home that can guide us to players like Espindola or Mantilla at RSL? We have a DP slot in our pocket and have no intention of using it. Dallas doesn't seem to have any problems finding players either so it can't be a HSG issue. Heart - with the exception of a couple of players, the rest seem to be mailing it in. These are professionals but they seem not to care. Lets just kick it upfield instead of trying to get an attack going. Who cares if the other team scores. Oughton, Moreno, GBS and a few others seem to care; others don't. Skills/player development - is this even something that we should expect from the players in Crew colors? Do we know how to make a few passes in a row - and passing along the back doesn't count? Can we trap the ball without it bouncing five yards away (Miglioranzi being one of the exceptions here)? Can we hit the target consistently? Can we anticipate on the offensive end? Do we know that when someone is going wide and is about to cross, the odds increase when you go better than 1v4 in front of the opposing keeper - that being when we actually cross IN FRONT of goal? Maybe I'm just too damn frustrated. Instead of an enjoyable afternoon I ended with sunburn and nausea - from watching that old brand of football on our field once again. Maybe I just need to go drinking!
how about using the third sub to get Rogers or Garey on the field. That's something Sigi could do for a change. That being said, he gets until the end of this year. If we miss the playoffs or flunk out badly in the first round, Robert takes over. When I talked to Mark at the zoo he said it wasn't coincidence that Sigi and Robert have the exact same length on their contracts
I'm still on the fence, leaning towards his exit. If he stays, he better have a damn blockbuster offseason when it comes to personnel moves and draft picks!
No. Because before the All-Star break most people were ready to build a bronze statue of him and Guille for bringing this team out of the deepest depths. Now after a little cooling off, yet still in the playoff hunt, it is time to sack him already? I'm not saying he is doing the best possible job, i just can't understand how a 5 game slide after a 5 game streak changes everyone so fast. We are better now than before he came. We are better this year than last year at this point in the season. If we are going forward i don't want to change.
I've seen us make progress in the last 1.5 years, I'll give that, but honestly I just feel like Sigi isn't quite the right fit here in Columbus. I'm certainly glad he came in and cleaned house, got rid of the stoners, the squatters, the bums, and the slackers. He's gotten a bum deal with Marshall getting his skull bounced and he's gotten a raw deal on Herron being fit or fitting in (not sure what the exact problems are). Other than that, this year is really on his shoulders. Look at how many ties we have. I mean, is this GA ball all over again but just slightly upgraded for 2007? I think Sigi has shown a lack of winning tactics and he seems to be having trouble with the team chemistry/morale/buying his system/etc. I do not at all agree with this crap of knocking it long and expecting Moreno to figure it out and hopefully the 1 or 2 guys supporting him will make something happen. I want sexy football. I want total football. I think maybe at the end of the season we see if Robert's ready to take over for real or see if he will sink with the rest of the recent Crew coachs. Unless Sigi pulls this around and fast, I say he should be done here after November. Let Robert do the offseason wheeling and dealing, drafting and scouting and training and tactics. One Polish coach has done well in MLS, and while Robert may not have the same resume, I'd think he could maybe help shown that the Polish contingent in MLS has something up their sleeves in bringing some success. I've never been a big Warzycha proponent, I'll admit that, but I'm so frustrated with the cart stalling with Sigi at the helm, that it just looks like we're not going to get to the next level under his supervision. I'd thought he'd be the master of the draft and offseason signings, bring in another Ruiz, draft up some starters who'd make an impact. He had 2 1st rounders last year, and what've got for it at this point in time? Zilch! Then he brings in jokers like Coiner and Thomas? WTF is this guy smoking? His bratwurst and hefeweizen?
I am wondering what Rogers has done to get in Sigi's dog house. Was playing good and improving each week, now he gets blisters on the bench.
It is definitely not the time to fire Sigi. If one thing is obvious it is that he is doing a great job while working within the constraints of the Crew organization. I would think that it is only Sigi's pride and commitment that have kept him here this long! No coach with Sigi's history should have to suffer through such frustrating circumstances. He is producing something with basically nothing. The Crew organization does not operate on the same level as the rest of the league. We don't spend money to bring in talent. If anything, that is why Jacob Thomas is still in this league! He doesn't cost much. Just a roster spot that we would fill with Eric Vazquez, Jose Retiz, or some other warm body. Remember Joseph Ngwenya? Good talent, but he needed good talent around him to produce. The Crew would not have provided that for him this year. Moreno has done well in the circumstances, but he by himself is nowhere near what this team really needs to win. There are two criticisms of Sigi that seem to be legitimate. One is that he went too far last year in blowing up the old team. (I say this only because there seems to be a two-year limit on patience, the improvement from last year to this year has been phenomenal.) Two, we bring in Andy Herron (seemed like a good move since we had no scoring threats and Herron has produced in the past.) but then we hardly use him when he is fit. Meanwhile, we could have spent the draft pick we traded on a defensive prospect. I say give Sigi at least one more year, if he wants it. Even if we miss the playoffs at least we are contending late in the season. Not even close to what was happening last year. If by next year this thing doesn't come together, then fire Sigi midseason. Warzycha could be given the second half of the season to show whether or not he has the ability to manage a team. If not, then we bring in new blood. Quite honestly, I don't think we would get anything better than what we have. Just new reasons for false optimism.
All I remember is the praise and respect given to the Crew front office when they took the coaching search seriously and brought in a "real" coach. We've had one and a half seasons with Sigi at the helm. To me the problems with the entity known as a the Columbus Crew are numerous and diverse. But this is Sigi's team. There are few leftovers from the Andrulis era and the only major injury blow this season is the loss of Chad Marshall (unlike the walking wounded of last season). It's not time to fire Sigi. If the Crew don't make the playoffs this season then a carpet call is in order. If we make the playoffs but exit then evaluate who we lost to and why then evaluate the coaching staff and roster. I also believe the Crew are in the last 1/3rd of rebuild mode. We still need consistency from Gaven, Grabs, well - the whole team; nobody has been consistent the entire season (except Thomas who has been consistently injured and bad on the pitch). The core eleven is still not set. Sigi needs to fix these things and probably won't get too many more season to do so.
Given the way he played in the reserve game immediately afterwards, it was evident why he wasnt in the first team...
I don't think it is yet time to send Sigi on his way. I think he should have at least three years to prove he is the right guy, based on how bad the the team was when he got here. Like a lot of people though I do question his decisions in regards to Herron. Sigi brought him in specifically to be the goal scorer the team lacked last season, and then buries him on the bench. Which leads to the other issue I have with Sigi. His substitutions. He rarely uses his full complement of subs, and when he does, they don't seem to make a lot of sense. In the Colorado game, the first sub off the bench is Jacob Thomas, and you go into bunker mode? Wouldn't it have made more sense to bring in Tim Ward if you are going to play bunker ball.
Does anyone remember why LA fired Sigi? Because of boring, defensive Sigi ball! We knew what we were getting. A coach with a boring, unattractive style of play that gets results. While we can argue that we haven't been getting results, how many games have we been competitive and walked away believing we should have and could have won? Previously we didn't deserve the wins and ties that we earned. Did we really deserve the SS in 04? Hardly. This time we are deserving the results, and usually more. I know it might be cliche to say we are missing just one or two more pieces to the puzzle, but before this season we were honestly missing a whole lot more. Let's look at this past offseason and season for moves. Then evaluate GBS= upgrade Herron= i would take Herron over Gary, Kei. Upgrade Moreno/Grabs= upgrade. Easy considering we basically got these guys for Woly and Martino O'Rourke= I'd say even Migs= Even Now while there have been many moves that haven't worked out, we are building a much better roster over time. I still like the direction the are heading and i still like going into each game knowing we have a legitimate chance of winning and deserving 3 pts.
Rogers is now nursing an injury. That is why he is off of his game and why Sigi isn't starting him at this time.
Sigi is a good coach. Its was dumb for LA to dump him. It would be even dumber for Columbus to do the same. If he can get the team to gut it out and hold a lead.......
I've been leaning towards showing him the door. I'm not 100% on it, but pretty close. He was given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with this team. Trade, cut, deal, swap, anything and everything his overworked, cholesterol-clogged heart desired. He was even a little snarky about it, telling a reporter that McCullers had nothing to do with personnel because "I don't tell him who to hire to sell tickets and he doesn't tell me who to get as a player" And there's no question that "absolute authority" over the roster was part of the arrangement that brought him here. OK fine. He got what he wanted. How's it going so far? The problem with that is that if you fail, there's nobody else to blame. It's all on you. When you take full authority you also take full responsibility. Secondly, I am not certain but I can't believe he's got a contract over two years, probably because he wouldn't have wanted one. I think he planned all along for a USMNT job, maybe even the top spot if he played his cards right. Arena didn't figure to stick either way. If I'm right, then his deal would be up in a few months. Even if you don't think he should get the can, do you really think HSG ought to give him another two or three years at this job? I sure don't. Thirdly, this team has spent two years unable to score. Two years. He's basically thrown away tow very, very high draft choices for a couple guys he won't even play, and traded a guy who clearly CAN score for Moreno, who can sometimes. I think Ngwenye is very instructive. How many gols do you think he'd have if he were still with the Crew? Would he even be starting? How come he went to Houston and suddenly became a reliable scorer? What was wrong in Columbus? I find Jar-Jar's emergence to be very disturbing. Finally, look, even though every single player is someone he personally selected, I still can't blame everything that's happened on him alone. It's a group effort. But like they say, you can't fire the team. And when you need a big change, like the Crew seems to, then it's the coach who has to bite the big one.
Long version: We're still playing the best soccer we've played in several seasons. Now, I grant you, the bar was set kind of low in that department. But in the last three seasons or so, there was very little heartbreak because there were no expectations. Now, we expect enough of this squad that we're pissed when we blow points. So, in a strange way, that's a sign that we ARE getting somewhere. Should we be further along? Probably. But we are getting better, not worse. At least if you view progress as a year-to-year thing and not a match-to-match one. Plus, as disappointing as yesterday's finish was, we're still in the playoffs as we speak, with a chance to jump a major hurdle against the Fire next weekend. Things aren't so dire that a coaching change is in order yet. Short version: If Lloyd Carr gets until the end of the season, so does Sigi Schmid.
The standouts in the reserve game seemed to be Virtuoso and Garey. And of course Gonzalez was good while he was in there. Colorado only scored after he came out. As for firing Sigi, I fail to see why we'd want to fire someone who has clearly improved the team.
Well, compared to LAST year, when he also was the coach and where this was possibly the worst soccer team I've ever seen, yeah, but does he get a big pile of applause for not being as putrid as he was last season? Serious question: Didn't you expect MORE of an improvement? I'm not one to spend time actually looking things up, but I can't believe Sigi's record this year is much better than most of Zippy the Pinhead's records. And that leaves aside last year, which was worse than any prior season.
It's Labor Day and I'm bored...I'll play... Year-Games Played-W-L-D-Total Points 2006-32-8-15-9-33 2005-32-11-16-5-38 2004-30-12-5-13-49 2003-30-10-12-8-38 2002-28-11-12-5-38 This year to date...with 7 games to go: 2007-23-6-7-10-28 If you average out the points per game 1.2- we'd theoretically end up the season with 37 points. So that means that over the last two season we'd still have the worst "point" totals in team history. And the worst part is that we'll have bested most of those "worst point totals" with at least 2 if not 4 more games than the teams in 2003 and 2002 - of course the 38 pointes in 2005 was after the terrible start and Robert seemed to "right" the ship a bit towards the end of the season to get some points...
Although my info maybe a few years out of date, it does not appear that MLS is the hardest league in which to turn around a team. The MLS champions in 2000 and 2001 (Wizards, Earthquakes) were both last place finishers in their respective conferences just the season previous. So is placing between 8-9th place (supposition) this year after finishing dead last the previous year ENOUGH improvement to keep Sigi on that fact alone. I feel not. My guttiest feeling that Sigi may not be the right GM/coach for the Crew is based on what I call the Mike Keenan factor, named after the destructor of my St. Louis Blues in the mid-Nineties. The moment that St. Louis realized that Keenan had just lost it was when he started trading players he had just traded for or releasing players he had just brought in. I count nine of these players that Sigi brought in and got rid of who saw (at least a little) first team playing time: Becerra, Bisaku, Burch, Coiner, Kitamirake, Leitch II, Ngwenya, Retiz, and Rozental. If any of these are wrong or I missed anyone, feel free to edit. Perhaps instead of releasing him, maybe it is time to let Sigi focus on coaching and motivating the Crew and allowing the GM to again make the personnel decisions.
His biggest achievement has been building a much better roster. Compared to what we have now, the group he inherited from GA looks like a USL team. There is a lot more quality in the team now. A lot. As we know though, the results still aren't there. Sigi absolutely should be the coach for the rest of the year. The club needs to make the playoffs this year, so that there is tangible evidence of improvement. If that doesn't happen, then I'm sure we will be having this discussion in October.
And most other teams in MLS have done the same. Hence the problem. Overall quality of the team as a whole is "keeping" up with other teams but not surpassing them.
I think one reason Ngwenya didn't succeed at Columbus is that he was shoved out to the wing in a 4-3-3. He has shown no penchant anywhere (Houston included) for being able to cross a ball. And he works very well off of a big striker like Ching for flick-ons, 1-2s, etc. He also works the offside line very well and likes to beat guys straight up with speed--and that's always going to be easier to do against slow centerbacks than against faster wing backs. In short, he's at his best with another striker up top, going straight at goal, in the middle of the field. He didn't fit the Columbus system, and I'm not sure he's good enough to change the system just to fit his abilities.
Improvement is a relative term. If I usually fail but a tutor helps me to now get a few D's combined with a few A's or B's, is the improvement justified to keep the tutor? Like I said, I don't know the answer but we seem to be going downwards fast. In the early games we generated chances and played beautiful at times but couldn't core and lost on some heart-breakers here and there. Then GBS came along with Moreno and we started to play beautiful soccer and were generating chances and actually converting these. The last 5 games we've had a mix. A few games where we've been good and unlucky not to get the 3 points (Chicago, Dallas), a so-so game at Houston where we had to play for the tie, then sprinkled in there two stinkers at home. Talking about tactics, Bill mentioned one point that makes you think. Why is Jar-Jar such a goal-scoring threat in Houston but couldn't get the job done here? Another one, why do you sit your best defender the week his partner gets a concussion and is gone for the rest of the year? I've coached and am dumbfounded by some of the tactical decisions Sigi seems to make. Why not bring in Rogers to counter the speed of Ihemelu? Why the insistence on playing Thomas? Why isn't Herron out there starting with GBS and Moreno? Too many "why's" for my taste. That's what's bothering me.
It is good to hear Virtuoso played well, I think he needs to play more. If only to help decide if he should be kept or not. I'm glad Garey played well, too.