A question that hasnt been addressed yet is what style of soccer would we play or what syle is saint louis soccer. Would it be the english long ball, conservative italian, or free-flowing brazilain? I personally hope that we play like holland. Strong tactics, decent speed of play, and good skill on the ball. I think that saint louis, regardless of the coach, will establish its own style in MLS. Or atleast, the style that Copper likes best.
It all depends on who they would get as GM and coach. However, you always have to fit your style of play to your players skills/abilities. St. Louis won't have some specific style just because it's St. Louis. The two have nothing to do with one another.
I do think a style of soccer, even at a club level (not just international), can transend the coachs and players. I guess my question would be do you get players to match a coaching system or do you get players and then develop a system around them? I think with time, especially with are strong youth system, that a specific style would emerge. I am not trying to say that it would be regonized as "St. louis soccer" but I think a style would emerge that is best fits saint louisians.
That argument would hold a lot more water if we had a team that was totally developed from within (i.e. most or all of the players are local, and come from the same youth academy, being coached in a certain style). But, as an expansion team (if we get one), we will likely start with a coach who has MLS experience, but that doesn't mean he has a tie to St Louis. Then, our first crop of players will come from across the league in the expansion draft. Very doubtful that we'll have anything that can transend coaches, players, etc. But, the simple answer is..... concrete.
As a fan of Arsenal I can tell you that beautiful passing doesn't always create goals. (Although it has this year!) I want a type of player more than a style of play. I want players who play hard and play the game right. I don't need beautiful passing if the team fights for every ball and puts away the tough chances. With that said, I would prefer anything over the "10 men in the box" style I see to often. It doesn't have to be pretty, I just want a team that takes chances.
I agree with this. I feel american soccer is to conservative at times and players are taught to keep possesion in the attacking 3rd instead of taking players on. This trend has been changing drastically over the past couple of years however.