Okay, before the vultures descend on the bones of the team's season, I'd like to ask this - What do you think of Kevin Crow's performance as a general manager, and as a coach? Although the team seems to have lots of talent, did general manager Crow get the right player(s) to fit the weak spots that the team had? If he didn't, was there something that he could have done better? (remember, there were at least two foreign players that the team tried to obtain before Zhang or Fleets were signed.) Should he have fired Coach Juarez? Has coach Crow made the right moves in starting certain players, forming substitution patterns, etc. For those that have watched some of them, what did you think of the practices that he ran? Should he have tried to get another assistant coach (or two) to help out? What would you have done differently?
He sucks...the team has the talent, he just put them in the wrong positions. The practices were, im my opinion dull, but I went to the first one after carlos was fired so he might have changed them. No carlos shouldnt have been fired, atleast when CJ was losing they were losing 1-0, 2-1, not 3-0, 4-0 What I would of done, never had Sauer and Flo on the team to begin with. Never would have cut TK. My line up would of been this: (This is the end of season lineup, if we still had TK and no fleeting, then TK would be there) Pags (If she was ready mentally) Rhi-Joy-Fan-Pickup Mascaro-Jules-Boxx Mac-O-Fleeting This 3rd season needs to be a hit, fans can only take so much losing But no matter what, ill be there supporting them in whatever they do.
Releasing Bente Nordby I think it was a huge mistake to release Bente Nordby last November and get absolutely nothing in return for her. During the Spirit's playoff run last year, Bente started three of the most important matches of the season. The first of those three was actually one year ago yesterday vs. Atlanta. After Bente came up big with some huge saves early in that match, the Spirit went on to soundly defeat the Beat at home 3-1. In Bente's next start the Spirit recorded an impressive 1-0 victory on the road in Boston. After the victory over Boston, Bente next allowed only one goal to Kelly Smith in a 1-1 draw in Philadelphia. Bente currently plays for the top club team in Norway, Kolbotn, and has a minuscule .375 Goals Against Average. Nordby who won the World Cup with Norway in '95 and a Gold Medal in the Olympics in 2000, is still the number one goalkeeper for the Norwegian National Team and is only 28 years old.
Crow should fire himself. He sucks because I don't think he knows how to coach women, it's totally different than coaching men.
Crow panicked when he fired Juarez. Under the guise of "wanting to know more about his players" (ha!), he secretly thought he could whip up the troops and make a playoff run. If they'd made it into the playoffs he could thereby proclaim himself "coach for life" (well, you know what I mean). The exact opposite happened, exposing Emperor Crow to all us suffering Spirit fans. Crow needs to go, not only as coach, but as GM. He got landed three Founders in his lap and has done little to build upon them. Zhang was a good find but it would have been nice to have her in Year 1. Fan had a decent first year (complete with some horrible blunders), and has been terrible the second. Mercy has a great smile but is a lousy forward. Our foreign players have been of little or no help; they are the saviors of other teams. We think we have a "strong" team. In fact we have a "weak" team, not just in skills, but physically. We get beat by too many 50-50 balls, shouldered off too many 1v1s. I thought Boxx (along with Mac and Pags) was our best player last year as a tough defensive mid; this year even she has had a sub-par season IMHO. I've watched some of the Spirit show or the Julie Foudy show or whatever it's called on tv. It's very endearing to see how well the women get along - I love "teams" with great chemistry who genuinely seem to have great team spirit and team unity. But when a team crosses the lines, the PR machine of selling the game by personalities has to be left behind, and the fire of competition has to burn in each player as if their lives depended on it. Sometimes it seems like the Spirit aren't tough enough, aren't hungry enough, are too worried about pleasing fans rather than making a hard tackle or sacrificing oneself for the good of the team. I think Crow knew this when he took over the reins and when Fan messed up in that Cyberrays game in San Jose he yanked her at the 30 minute mark to "set an example". Pathetic. Talk about breaking the spirit of a fragile player and the pysche of a fragile team. He was in over his head, that being the clearest sign. There are other ways of showing when a player isn't getting it done but not at the 30 minute mark of a soccer game. I don't trust Crow to hire a coach or remold this team as a GM in his own image. I'm not sure what his credentials are or how he got the job, but he's had two years and they're proof enough. A bad year only saved by a (basically) meaningless stretch run to save face, followed by a worse one, even after having an offseason to make changes. If Cox wants to trust him with the Spirit's third year, that's their business, but IMO it would be an unwise one. ps. Sorry if I sound bitter, but I've been a San Diego sports fan for 30 years, and hence have generally been a disappointed San Diego sports fan my whole life. I had high hopes for the Spirit. Instead they've turned into just another version of the Padres and/or Chargers. That doesn't mean it can't be turned around, I'm just not sure Crow is the man to do it. Plus, I haven't had dinner yet tonight!!
State of the Spirit Address First off I'll say that I don't live in San Diego, nor do I live anywhere near there, so I don't get Cox 4, or Dish Channel# two-bloody-hundred and whatever. I haven't seen many games, and any opinions I have about the State of the Spirit are tempered by that. However, here is my take on the building of the SD team, player by player, given the founders and the other originals. I'm leaving out those who haven't been traded or acquired. TK - a steal who shouldn't have been let go. The Disclaimer: I've only seen her play once in person at the end of last year, twenty-oh-one so I don't know how she played this year. I know I know, who else could they have realistically given up to get Fleeting. I'm not sure I have the answer for that so I'm giving mgmt a pass on that one. Flo - what was the reasoning behind THAT acquisition? Bad mgmt. Sauer - an unknown who could prove to be a stable force. Mediocre mgmt. Kraus - again, what was the reasoning behind that acquisition? We traded a decent draft pick for what? Bad mgmt. Fleets - untried, and whose general league evaluation was that she may not have been WUSA material right out of the box. Yet she DID have a decent few first games and I'm holding out for her next year. From this point in time, maybe not a bad choice by mgmt. Akide - I was among the hopeful for this one. The whole process of her acquisition was quiet and I wonder about the deal she made, and if she is now just riding out her contract and doesn't care much. In which case, mgmt's gamble hasn't paid off, and they blew it. Bengtson & the Swede g/k - both the result of a late draft not ever really expected to do much, but I felt they were ultimately wasted on the mid-season trade last year. Bad mgmt. Nordby - maybe should not have been released, but that was a complicated scenario that I'm not so sure Crow handled very well. Bobsled - I'm a Rohbock fan but she doesn't play much, so the question then becomes - why did mgmt hire her and why do they keep her around? Though, when she was recently waived I hated that and thought the office was wrong to hang her out to dry like that. So here I am treating the front office in much the same way that women often are - certain of them are disparaged by males for being weak and femmy, while others are hated and ridiculed for being strong. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Those are my opinions, others are welcomed.
i am really mad right now to give an accurate, sane heded analyisis... but all i can say is, the team is screwing up all most all of the games. Each player is touted to be so good, but put together, their skills just look like they diminish. look, everybody raves abour rhi, fan, joy.... but put together, bam, goal goals goals. i dont get what is screwed up now.... they better get it together straight and right. you can tell im mad. on the bright side, fleeting was a great find. she has a really good fight and took the ball away from atlanta a couple of times.
Really watch I am going to become very unpopular for this observation, but here goes. All things on the team have been shuffled. The coach, the forwards, the defenders, and oops, what about the midfield? Ms. Foudy is past her prime. She is at about a 20/80 success ratio for won and distributed balls. I don't know if the problem is age, or if she is spread so thin that she just can't do it all anymore. I am, or was a Foudy faithful all during her college and early NT years. But look, really look at her play today. Time to re-evaluate her worth.
Bobsled Talked to a couple of players in the wpsl, who played with Bobsled. They couldn't believe when she was drafted, because she had always had a really bad attitude. She resented authority of any kind and would never work hard at practice. She was then and seems to be now a coaches worst nightmare.
Re: Really watch julie might not have quite he skips as she had in her younger days, but i find her still very effective, and her strengths that help the spirit, her mouth and her ability to calm the mid and connect the passes still intact. take foudy away, the spirit will fall apart.
let her coach I thought they had already fallen apart. Did I miss something. The attributes you describe suggest she would make an excellent coach.
Re: let her coach that would be another of her qualities, but if you take julie out,the midfield suffers... the sd style of play goes through her.
soccersuzie, I almost always agree with your posts, but when you say joy, rhi & fan,,,, goals, goals, goals. when was the last time you saw the 3 of them together in the back? there were far less goals against us when it was joy, fan, rhi (and tiejen, when we played 4 back) & pags!! I don't think we have played a game this year when the 3 back were joy, fan & rhi,,,,,,, it would have been a good move! most goals against us were the brilliant defensive work of our trade & draft picks,,,, amy & anna. the defense was working, until crow decided the defense needed work (why,, when our problem has been finding the back of the net!) as he did last wednesday, he put anna in back again,,, when joy, rhi & pickup had worked great the prior 2 games! al
Outsider! Yep you are just that! Foudy past her prime, are you high? She controls the game, when she plays bad so does the team. Granted I am in Atlanta but have caught some games on satellite. ALL of the commentators including Anson (who is straight forward) talks about how great Jules is in the middle. The teams problem started last year with Carlos playing totally undeserving players and keeping the good ones benched. Crow is doing the same thing. When was the last time the team had the same line-up multiple times. Where is Boxxie, sitting! Ouying, Jie, etc... are they still hurt? Crow does not know how to coach females!!! You could tell by what he said in his early days as coach. They need to reorganize, get a great coach for their style and help the players regain confidence in themselves and each other.
Soccersuzie normally your posts are great but I totally disagree with you on this one. When was the last time you saw Joy, Rhi and Fan play the back row together. If I can remember correctly it has been awhile and I know because I have been to every home game the spirit has and the ones have haven't been to I have watched on TV. oh by the way as long as we are on the subject when Rhi, Fan and Joy were playing the back row the scores of the game were not 4-0, 3-0, 5-0. The key word here being 0. I really don't think you have room to talk about the defense because the last time I checked the spirit weren't exactly racking in the goals, goals, goals either.
ok, i may not have made myself clear. what i meant was those three are the most touted of our backline, and raved a lot in the media. even though the defense is not all them, they are mostly them, and why are the goals still coming? they may be great individual defenders, but put together, there are always lapses, and somehow, somebody makes a blunder... there aren't excuses to all those goals. i am talking about the defense because we have a problem there. goals dont just happen in a faultless backline. the spirit are very inconsistent in the goals, goals, goals section. so i can't really say they've racked it up consistently.
Just as you are saying that the defense needs to be consistent so does the offense. I understand the point you are trying to make but if you noticed the game against the Beat, I think the spirit did an excellent job both defensivly and offensively. Also the other needed ingredient was the coach. It seemed the assistant coach added what was missing.
which game against the beat... the one they just won but the report was that both team sucked and it was the fact that the beat sucked more in the second that we won? i dont know, unless you were at the game, you cant really say that. but if you were, full props to you.
Re: Really watch I agree. It's much easier when watching a live game, but when you do, look at what Foudy does with the ball when she has it - she is great at keeping possession, and then she invariably misfires it. Against Carolina, Foudy was playing right mid rather than center mid (Boxx was center) and the Spirit played much better. Boxx was awesome in the center, and Foudy's missed passes didn't hurt as much up the side or as a cross. I think Foudy is still very valuable as a team leader, just not as a full time, critical position player. Have her play 45 minutes as right mid... And Crow sucks. As he said early in the season, the record speaks for itself - taking Carlos out turned out to be a very bad decision.
Just my own observations...... Is Rochboch off the team entirely? I didn't hear about that.... What the heck happened with her? She could do the Pick-Flip, was very strong, fearless, and scored several goals for you guys at the beginning of the season..... She was supposed to be your Big Offseason Find..... Julie Foudy has NEVER been a spectacular distributor..... she's good at holding the ball, and good at defense, but has always been more of a defensive midfielder. The big clue was last season's results. Her long-time Norse nemesis Hege Riise had a lot more goals and assists, and took a LOT of PKs and corners, despite the fact that her team was even worse than Foudy's..... Last but not least, what the heck is wrong with the Nigerians? After the Oly's, where they played so well despite being in the `Group of Death', they were supposed to be womens' (and mens'!) soccers' Next Big Thing.... Supposedly they had terrific all-around athleticism, and often put us on our heels..... (but don't commentators ALWAYS say that about African athletes?) Yet Akide and Omagbemi are both huge busts, and Patience Avre is nowhere to be seen......
Re: Just my own observations...... Rohbock is on the reserves because her touch as her words put it "was awful", and she didn't really contribute too much. fearless... uhh... jules's contributions are really hard to see, but she contributes. take her off, and you lose the engine in the midfield. as many people have said, what would the national team do without julie foudy. i think the nigerians are better together then apart because they can foul the heck outa people and make bad choices together instead of being the only ones doing it on another team.
Uh...just to clear this up, theres only one person that does THE pick-flip, that would be Kim Pickup, rohbock does a roh-flip, whatever you want to call it...