I wanted to see Olsen do a good job and outcoach Berhalter. I did not see what I wanted to see in that game. Not at all.
Well said. I should have said, we often see what we're looking for. Whether or not Olsen was "outcoached", it wasn't a "clock cleaning" asitis
That's correct. He was clearly outcoached, but a clock cleaning is not at all how i'd describe it either.
What do you call it when your only two offensive guns can't connect or get the ball in a dangerous spot? On the other hand, the Crew SC were about to deliver the ball to Higuain at least two times in dangerous spots and he did deliver. Our goals, by contrast, involved a misplay by their goalkeeper and a bungled clearance that landed right at DeLeon's foot for a spectacular goal through congested traffic. What I saw in the Knockout Game was sort of like watching a fighter jet without functioning machine guns or air-to-air missiles mix it up with an enemy fighter jet that was fully functional. They gave Rooney & Acosta nothing to work with and none of our other players were capable of stepping up and creating anything that was interesting. Maybe, we would have had a better chance if Arriola had been played at midfield but he wasn't and that was that.
If I remember correctly one of their goals was after our guys either ran into each other and/or bungled a clearance. Their other goal was nice. I'm not sure that those. Starting Arriola at right back and not taking Asad off and waiting to put on subs until we went down were all mistakes. Berhalter did a good job. Olsen did a poor job. And actually, he was kinda hamstrung by his (arguably) mistakes with player rotation over the last few weeks of the season. Getting your clock cleaned is more like what happened to RedBulls in Atlanta. Despite the coaching and playing issues, DC was never out of the game. The RedBulls spent most of the game on their heels and looking confused.
To end this discussion: Olsen wasn't "out-coached". Because he doesn't "coach". He just sees who he thinks are his best players per position and throws them out there, and lets them figure it out. Unfortunately, Ben's biggest influence as a coach was not Bruce Arena but Piotr Nowak. Nowak's strategy was to put his best players out there every single game and just run them into the ground no matter what. That's what Ben does. Nowak never had consistent success in any other coaching gig in the US after DC United. Maybe in Poland he'll be a better manager than he was a coach.