For me the biggest mistake was not taking off Watts in the second half and putting in LaBrocca. Watt's poor distribution was hurting us offensively, but more importantly, we needed better defense. But for Irwin and Gordan, SJ could have had 2 goals in the second half.
I think we'll continue to see a ? or two in Pablo's lineups given his philosophy and statements. He has stated that he has "30 starters on the team." Playing young players is important to him as he believes that too many MLS couches are afraid to play young Americans. Also, he thinks it's important to give guys rest to avoid injury. And thinking of Sunday, it's likely we'll see more surprises as he seems to be thinking of the long run, not short term. So anyone that needs rest in his opinion or is at risk for injury will not be in the XI. In my book the jury is out on PM as the manager, but he sure has some different philosophies when it comes to his selections. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the long run.
Looking at comments on MLSsoccer.com and in other places (not here) it seems like the unhappy rumbles about Pablo as coach are starting. You knew it was just a matter of time...
Yea, one guy in particular is railing against him on almost every Rapids article can't remember his name just the sombrero avatar. I wasn't really happy when Pablo was chosen and have definitely started to point out my dissatisfaction with his coaching choices. On the other hand, I know I have to give him more time and it's pretty ridiculous to want improvement (mainly attacking) so quickly, but, there is something about what he is doing that I really don't like. The feelings I have towards the teams performances as opposed to our good results and point total remind me of Gary's tenure. Ugly football and with decent results with one great Championship. I was kind of hoping that we could somehow transition to better looking soccer while getting good results.
For those "in the know" is really fully a "group coach" situation or Pablo is making decisions but has resources availoable to get opinions from?
Fans. Sorry, but that's a BS response. The head coach is the head coach. He's responsible for the failures and the players and assistants get credit for the wins. That's how it works.
I believe the results and points were worse lol. I get your point and I'm not sure how different they were although we did seem to possess the ball better. The main issue was putting the chances in the back of the net which seems to be our running theme. I did have a good feeling at the end of last year, though, (after getting over the Seattle loss of course) I felt like our youth movement was getting better under Oscar and with Gabby playing well near the end of the season that we would be well improved on the attacking side this year.
Same coin other side - almost without exception, professional teams are run by multiple coaches. But Jason is right. The head coach is the head coach.
It's taken a lot longer than I anticipated for the questing of PM to start on this board. Did he get a bit of a pass due to his long service to the club? No doubt the offense is struggling right now, but I am not even close to righting him off for this team. He does have some interesting ideas about how to go about selecting his XI.
I like this quote right here: http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2014/05/agbossoumonde-im-coming-colorado-win-trophies “That is so important for me,” he began. “For a club to be eyeing me, and have so much belief in my abilities. It makes you want to play for a club like that. And I speak with Chris and Dillon. They talk about Pablo Mastroeni being a coach who you really want to play for."
Here's a bit more on Pablo's philosophy: http://www.denverpost.com/rapids/ci_25726274/rapids-coach-pablo-mastroeni-keeping-players-fresh-by
For me it begins and ends with results. And my standard is always around the playoff cutoff. So yeah, I'm taking it easy on him, it helps a ton that I've seen him play with great heart as a leader for years and years. Start posting bad results and I'll whine though. Results results results...
I don't think that PMs philosophy is all that revolutionary, without looking into any statistical evidence, it seems like all the best teams in the league are deeper. The team gets the reputation of having a deep roster by playing nonregular players more often and winning in those situations. And his lineups aren't totally out of bounds, there still a core present. And that core looks strategic to who they're playing and what the injury situation is. I'm very curious to see the lineup on Sunday and I expect the result.
I'm a little surprised. I've got few complaints about the job Pablo's done. I'm cutting him some slack, but I don't think he's really needed it. First, I think that his role in the off season didn't provide him much strength for requesting players. He's also a completely new coach, which is why I'm glad to hear repeated the committee approach. He's the leader, but his experience demands that he rely on others. Second, he's inherited some of the issues OP had. Buddle's always been streaky, and now he's old and streaky. When will the we see his last scoring streak? Brown was always about 50/50 to repeat last year's performance. He's inherited those issues while immediately proving he can handle the defensive challenge that I think OP struggled with. Bringing us to third, the defense has been solid. The Rapids have the 3rd best defense behind LA and KC. With the players the Rapids have in offense they aren't going to win many games by throwing players into the offense willy-nilly. They play as a team and they're hard to beat. It's not a Barcelona mentality, but we don't have Barcelona-lite players. (I also believe that trying to be "anything-lite" is foolish). Fourth, I think predictions for this season based upon finishing 5th last year and not going anywhere in the playoffs were always overblown. What the knock on the 2011 team? Something about getting hot at the right time? There are disappointments of course - there always are - I figured Torres would take some time getting going, but even then I figured he'd show more. Brown's gone off a cliff, and I have to think his confidence is down. The Rapids don't really have anyone else to toss out there, except Mwanga. I reckon Mwanga's worth the shot, until a better solution can be found. A lot of the offense falls on Sanchez's shoulders, and as much as I like him, I always figured injury and age would mean that he'd start strong but would be slowed by one of the two. I think a lot of bounces had gone the Rapids way (PK's and red cards), and unfortunately that lead people to overrate the early performances. Those breaks aren't gonna be a regular thing, but the Rapids are still tough to beat which is a good thing. The goals will follow, but I expect that a breakthrough won't really come until Pablo and Bravo put their heads together and upgrade the strike force. With the players they have the Rapids are doing pretty well in the grand scheme of things. 1.67 points-per-game (4th overall) is punching above this squads collective weight. That team effort has to be a credit to Pablo.
Here is what the last five seasons point totals look like after nine games played: 2014: 4-3-2 - 15 points 2013: 2-3-4 - 9 points 2012: 4-0-5 - 12 points 2011: 4-2-3 - 14 points 2010: 5-1-3 - 16 points Our offense has been quite lifeless, but our defense has been pretty solid. Only LA and KC have let in fewer goals...but they have also played fewer games. It's still too early to judge the coach's performance overall...luckily though, the people that are most critical of Pablo now probably loved Pareja, and are the kind of people I'd leave inside a burning house to save a pig.
Although it felt like a good start to the season, based on points we seem to be right in the range of the past 5 years. Losses are a bit higher than usual, but overall we are on pace for a "normal" rapids year. I was hoping for something a bit more spectacular based on a little maturing of last season's roster and Torres getting a pre-season. I guess that is unfair given the OP screwing, plus it is still a bit early for Pablo to make his mark on the team. Being the eternal optimist, I am hopeful to see a win-streak coming rather than a mid-summer swoon. The players should be fairly well rested given the heavy rotation.... My one concern is the focus on defense. Although I get it, feels a bit like a move back to Gary Smith's teams where we scrapped out the game by trying to keep the ball out of our own net. Let's hope Torres gets his head on straight, Brown makes a few of those shots that barely miss, and Sanchez gets better soon. Add in some sort of addition to the team (maybe Sanchez knows someone that can be brought in?) and we may have something. I am not opposed to making the playoffs and hitting a good run like 2010, just was a bit surprised by how the season feels versus the actual record. rod.
Blame MLS. I have always hated their methodology of displaying the loses column before the draws column. It's completely illogical, and also totally backwards from the global standard.
I think there were few complaints at first because the Rapids won a lot more points than expected given the pre-season look of early schedule.