I know I'm early with this but it's 2020. Rules don't matter anymore, amirite? Delete if you must. What a season that was. Such a shame that people get to possibly use COVID-19 as an excuse for what transpired on the pitch in 2020. I'm actually glad this season is over finally. It was like watching two people who you know really well try and stay married even though everyone except the actual couple knows they are terrible together. At least with RSL you can trade away some of the kids for better ones. Freddy doesn't need to stay for the kids either. Perhaps a horrible analogy but been there, done that. Not coach RSL but I think I could do as well as Freddy AND use all five subs a game. So for next year to be successful RSL needs the following: 1. New non racist, misogynistic owner and capable FO preferably an owner with actual soccer acumen or willing to hire people with said acumen. Some good examples might be a Bill Manning, Garth Lagerway, or other successful FO executive types that RSL could hire and then drive away. Wait, I mean keep and return RSL to a half decent side. HIRE. SOCCER. PEOPLE. DUH. An owner that will keep RSL here. An owner that will use the entire RSL pyramid in a cohesive and useful manner. This list could be infinite. 2. New Head Coach and Technical Staff This has to be a non starter. When you have a HC that can't count to 5, and gets out coached in the second half of almost every game and both halves in most games you have a problem. There just are not enough stray feral cats for Freddy to adopt to change my mind about this matter. He needs to go as the HC. Not getting Kyle to 500 is just unbelievable. Even for 2020. WHAT. A. JOKE. Not using 5 subs and getting young players more playing time criminal. Freddy, or whomever made the decision not to be youth centric, should be immediately charged in FIFA court. Is that in the Hague too? 3. Roster overhaul This might be the understatement of the season. This roster is a mess. Throw in COVID and the limited ability to move players from RSL down to the Monarchs and leave them there was very telling this season. Loved Dunny bitching about players like Dougie not so fresh, Corey dribble into three players everywhere and anywhere on the pitch Baird, and Rossi always on the rocks, not living up to expectations. I was thinking what expectations could any sane person have for those players in 2020? Were you expecting them to lead you to MLS Cup Glory? Ridiculous. Take out the No in front of Rhyme and Reason when putting a new roster together. That should be a good place to start. 4. Fan engagement Take care of numbers 1-3 or at least start moving in that direction and it would not be hard reinvigorate this fan base. I would take a plucky bunch of guys playing their guts out in a system over what we were put through the last 10 games or so. Give us a team with vision, culture, and a visible plan and damn people will be packing the RioT. Safely of course. For a season that was incredibly tough all round and made even more so by having to watch utter incompetence run the team in the ground I am so looking forward to an exciting off season. Please be an exciting off season. Please.
Burn it to the ground 1. New non racist, misogynistic owner and capable FO - I really hope this actually exists in a world where the club stays in Utah... 2. New Head Coach and Technical Staff - Fire every single member of the RSL technical staff save maybe Elliot Fall - Rebuild the Youth Development Structure. Instead of having a guy who plugs into one local youth club (Avalanche) have a board with members from each of the youth clubs - their DOC's/TD's would jump at the chance. - Don't be afraid of tearing down so much that 2021 has a startup feel to it - in a lot of ways, that would be therapeutic and necessary. - Dismantle the current club pyramid and establish self-made policies for how each of the teams will participate (e.g. the Monarchs will always have x amount of academy players, the first team y, etc) - Get folks involved with connections to Liga MX at every level of the club 3. Roster Overhaul - Arriaga (keep) - Baird (put on loan) - Beckerman (retired) - Besler (keep) - Chang (keep) - Garcia (keep/loan) - Glad (leaving) - Herrera (SELL) - Holt (keep/loan) - Iloski (keep/loan) - Johnson (bye) - Jones (bye) - Kreilach (keep) - Luiz (keep) - MacMath (bye) - Martinez (keep/loan) - Meram (bye) - Morgan (bye) - Mulholland (jesus ******** how is this still here) - Ochoa (keep) - Onuoha (bye) - Portillo (probably on contract another year, otherwise bye) - Putna (somehow convince to stay as depth...) - Ramirez (keep/loan) - Rossi (he was hurt more than not? man, nobody saw that coming) - Ruiz (keep) - Rusnak (SELL!) - Schmitt (keep/loan) - Silva (hope we can part ways) - Toia (keep) - Vazquez (keep/loan) 4. Fan engagement - see above point about embracing this turning into a startup feel with how much overhaul there is. I don't care how things were done before - it's time for something very very new
lets not get greedy now... Honestly, though, a rebrand of sorts wouldn't be a terrible idea. Don't have to go full name change, but the cRapids have gone through so damn many colors that us changing wouldn't be far fetched.
Not to discount anything you've said (I agree with almost all of it) but I don't believe for 1 second that Rossi is still injured.
I have wondered with some or maybe all of the players that there is a personality issue between coach and players on this team. Could explain all or most of the BS Dunny was throwing out each game about players “earning” their playing time. I don’t think it would be a stretch to think that players like Rossi that come from a higher level of soccer would be a bit dismayed at having Freddy as their coach. Maybe it was when Freddy handed out the treat assignments for the season that Rossi said, “orange slices? We don’t need no stinking orange slices!” Something like that. It could also explain Kyle getting screwed over for 500 appearances and maybe even the ridiculous subbing pattern. Who knows. All I know is if Freddy is here next season it will be straight up amateur hour all season long.
Haven't been here for a while because, frankly, I decided early in March to write this season off. With the reduced number of games, there was no way that I was going to be able to get to know new players or know if/when games were being played. Honestly, I was already dubious about team personnel and it felt like RSL was trying to get by with minimal budget and management effort. Then throw in the politics and the ownership (my phone autocorrected to "clownership", coincidence? ) issues and it just felt like the rest of 2020: bunker down, disengage, and wait for better times to come.
Here's my thoughts on the roster. Arriaga (F) - hold, he's a young homegrown player, worth keeping to see how he develops. Send him down to the Monarchs for games Baird (F) - hold. But I'm ok if he's not back. Not consisent and disappeared post-COVID return. 1 goal 2 assists in the final 15 games. 2 goals and 2 assists in the first 6 games at the start of the year. Beckerman (M) - retire. Should have retired last year. Bring him on as a coach. Besler (M) - move. He's not good enough for MLS. Chang (M) - hold. He's fine, but I would be ok with him not back. Garcia (F) - hold. Another young forward who needs a lot of development with the Monarchs. Glad (D) - move or hold. Either commit to him anchoring the central defense or move him. Herrera (D) - easily our best defender and top 3 player on the team. Holt (D) - move or hold. He's barely serviceable, but can add some depth when needed. Iloski (F) - hold. Another young forward who didn't belong on the senior team until he's proven much more on the Monarchs. Jones (D) - move. We ned to STOP wasting valuable interational and DP slots with playes who do not contribute ANYTHING. Kreilach (M) - hold. Our best player. Easily worth the 3-year extension we gave him. Luiz (M) - hold or move. Decent holding mid, but struggles going forward. Move if can get younger value for him. MacMath (G) - move. A poor keeper who can easily be replaced. Martinez (F) - hold or move. Showed better than he did two years ago. Injuries (concussions) seemed to hinder him this year. Might continue to develop. Meram (F) - hold or move. A pleasant surprise who did much better than I thought he might. Morgan (D) - move. Another international player who did not contribute. Those slots (6) are too few to waste on non-contributors. Mulholland (M) - move. He hasn't contributed in 2+ years. He's just stealing money from the club at this point. Drop him. Ochoa (G) - hold. The future keeper needs to be given the keys starting Day 1 next year. Onuoha (D) - retire. The lovefest for a 2 1/2 year player was a bit much for me. Portillo (M) - move. See Besler above. Ramirez (F) - play or move. If you're going to use a DP slot on a player, then they MUST play. Like the international player slots, with only 2 DPs you can't waste the slots and money on a non-contributor. Rossi (F) - move. He could have contributed. But was too "injured" or hated Freddy too much to want to play for him. Ruiz (M) - hold. A top 3 player. Future mainstay at the holding mid. RSL finally found an heir to Beckerman. Could anchor the team for the next 12 years like KB5 did. Rusnak (M) - move. He played this year like he'd rather be playing in a 3rd or 4th division league in Europe than in MLS. He scored one non-PK goal this year. Schmitt (M) - move. See Besler and Portillo. Silva (D) - move. But he probably stays. He's solid with an unlucky penchant to score for the opponent. I think he has like 4 or 5 own goals the last 3 years. Toia (D) - move. He's a serviceable defender, but can be abused at times by really speedy attackers. Vazquez (F) - move. We have WAY too many players on the senior team who just aren't ready for the senior team and are just wasting slots for who could be contributors.
So basically next year is like a year one expansion...rebuild from top to bottom. Maybe we can bring back Ellinger?
honest to god, tell me why next year SHOULDNT be like an expansion year? New ownership, new coaching staff (hopefully), new. front office. New Just do it. Trying to hold on to anything is not the way to go. The parable of AC Milan needs to be looked at. They tried for far too long to hold onto the past. Older players. Older coaches. etc. Not until recently have they gone full into a rebuild phase. They built a very young team and found a piece or two (Zlatan, most notably) to come in and be a veteran leader. They had to accept the down years this would bring. Look at Milan this year. They are extremely fun to watch. They have a vision beyond a single game. They want to return to the top, but they know they can't cut corners to do it.
I was thinking the same thing last night only just a bit little different. RSL is already an expansion team. RSL looked like an expansion team. They play like an expansion team. They're coached like an expansion team. Might as well blow this whole thing up and start over. This is a great opportunity for the right owner to really create something incredible here with out having to spend a ton of money like you would building a team from scratch. The infrastructure is already in place. All that is needed is an owner/ownership group with vision. Buy the team, build a competent FO with Soccer folks, refresh the brand with a new & improved badge/crest, and re-engage the fan base and this will take off like a rocket. Or continue with the definition of insanity like this season and watch this team become irrelevant for years and years and years and then just disappear.
Courtesy of @newtex in MLS: N&A: Most recent trophies for the various teams: Philadelphia - 2020 Shield Seattle - 2019 MLS Cup LAFC - 2019 Shield Atlanta - 2019 U.S. Open Cup Montreal - 2019 Voyageurs Cup NY Red Bulls - 2018 Shield Houston - 2018 U.S. Open Cup Toronto - 2018 Voyageurs Cup Kansas City - 2017 U.S. Open Cup Dallas - 2016 Shield Portland - 2015 MLS Cup Vancouver - 2015 Voyageurs Cup LA Galaxy - 2014 MLS Cup DC United - 2013 U.S. Open Cup San Jose - 2012 Shield Colorado - 2010 MLS Cup Salt Lake - 2009 MLS Cup Columbus - 2009 Shield New England - 2007 U.S. Open Cup Chicago - 2006 U.S. Open Cup None NYCFC - joined 2015 Orlando - joined 2015 Minnesota - joined 2017 Cincinnati - joined 2019 Miami - joined 2020 Nashville - joined 2020
The RSL Show guys are suggesting that Glad and Herrera will not be back for 2021 (in addition to Nedum definitely not being back). We will get decent money for Glad. Not sure how that works out in Herrera’s case.
Glad is out of contract, we won't get a penny on him Herrera, though, is under contract I think for at least another season. hopefully the club is selling. With those two gone, the academy products in the first team that actually get minutes will be slashed significantly.
I understand the logic behind selling Herrera while his stock is high but i have zero confidence in the organization putting the money to good use so I kinda want him to stay.
what organization? As is, sure. But there are zero reasons to believe this organization will be the same under a new leadership. If it is, the new owners should just send a couple million my way. I can pool boy with the best of them.
Cart before the horse I guess. Seems like we should be hearing news of new ownership before major roster moves.
Yes, it was the main thing on the official team website for about a week. We re-signed three players this year: Besler, Kreilach, and Ruiz.
Monarchs defender Zack Farnsworth has signed with Clemson, in the latest example of a promising academy product going through the NCAA instead of staying in the club's pyramid. #ClemsonUnited is ecstatic to announce the signing of Zack Farnsworth!Zack is one of the nation's top defenders and we are looking forward to having him join our backline! 👏 pic.twitter.com/POG7EeyKux— Clemson Men's Soccer (@ClemsonMSoccer) November 11, 2020