https://www.atlutd.com/post/2020/07...54poMe4uWFCgkSGIURBZgzWS_49ak9mXSIv7SwXlCkxiI Mutual agreement. Thanks for the USOC and the conference semi, Frank. Good luck in whatever you decide to do going forward. It just didn't work out here.
Beat me to it. Can't say I'm surprised but any time a coaching change is made I immediately ask "Who's out there that is available, interested, and better?" Right now no names come to mind. Obviously this is a fair time to make the change with regard to this season, but I wonder if that might also be the excuse to ride an interim until 2021.
I haven't done any looking for unemployed managers myself, because I didn't see this coming at all. Now I'm wondering if the MLSIB performance was a message to Frank and the front office. Could they have done better on the pitch if they'd wanted to? If so, it's an encouraging sign. Meaning we're maybe not as bad as we looked. I agree. This is the best time for it to happen. Color me skeptical that MLS is going to have anything this year that can be pointed to as a competition worth bragging about even if it's completed. I'm already on record as not wanting us to start up at all, and it's for the safety of the players more than for the absence of Josef
it might be unfair to FdB that he had to follow Tata, but it never seemed like the players enjoyed playing for him or his desired system. whether it was the players not wanting to make FdB's system work, or the system not being a good fit for the players we have, there weren't encouraging signs of growth and the players looked increasingly frustrated on the field. gallardo of river plate is being floated by fans to revitalize pity's form. i do think we need a charismatic latino manager that can help bridge cultural gaps for the south american pipeline we have.
He's a dour dude. That's not a knock against him, but being dour and curmudgeonly is the province of old guys. Tata isn't that much older than Frank, but he was more animated and likeable, from my admittedly distant perch. The "******** you, too!" thing was kinda cool. I just think Tata had a way of relating to the players that Frank did not. Sgt. Snorkel v. Lt Fuzz. You have to be pretty mature to get that analogy... Of course, it doesn't mean the next guy will have that, Latino or not. Agreed that SA is where we should start, even if that isn't where we finish.
I think when we think of Atlanta’s style it does fit more the traditional Latin-based, passionate, free-flowing soccer than the traditional Euro-based rigid, systematic approach. FdB has always seemed much more conservative in his game-day strategy, and I don’t think that’s a good fit for Atlanta. I think FdB could be successful in MLS, but who he is and what we are just two different things. Personally, I’d advocate again for a Latin coach. Atlanta had an identity under Tata, and I’m worried we might become a team without an identity if we keep changing things over and over. I don’t know who would be on my list of names, but I hope we find someone who knows how to get the best out of the players.
You said this so much better than I did a couple years ago. I think his tactical approach hamstrung both Pity and, to a lesser degree, Barco. And I can't believe the FO didn't see that when they hired Frank, considering the amount of money we have tied up in those two players. I just hope we can keep both guys for 2021 and make another great run like 2018, under a manager from their tactical culture. This, too. I've never been of the opinion that we (or anyone else) could pull fresh young talent from UEFA, because there's no reason for them to come here if they're doing as well as Barco and Pity were doing in SA. We need someone else who knows the pipeline and has contacts. Not saying de Boer didn't know them, but if they didn't want to play for him, knowing them doesn't help out much. We heard about Arzamendia and Villasanti and two or three others that never came. Would they have come for a more free-flowing system? Maybe, maybe not. But we know we're not going to get the raw talent Frank was accustomed to developing while he was at Ajax, so it was on him to deal with the talent we did have. On the pitch, it came close to working out in 2019 (again, that damn PK, Josef). Behind the scenes, I suspect it was always kind of rocky. Absolutely. And where to get like replacements. I just refuse to believe the next Almiron is beyond the scope of our search.
100% I think he and the players just did not jive well. One of the last times I’ve seen such underperformance was the 2018 cycle under Klinsmann and 2019 under Berhalter. You can just tell when the players don’t match well with the coach and his system. Let’s think about it... Nagbe wanted to leave. Gressel strangely left. Villalba fell of a cliff with him. Pity went from PoY to the worst man on the field. And Barco stagnated. Now, he did get the best out of Miles. Meram too. Josef was still Josef. LGP was pretty much the same - same with Guzan. I’ll even give him credit for Shea, who I’d been pissed if the FO pushed him on me. Nevertheless, it just seemed he wasn’t getting the best of these guys. That said, I wish him well. I think he’ll do well elsewhere. If I’m one of the expansion teams, I’d call him in a heart beat. I believe if he was part of the building of a club, where he can dictate who and what he wants, he could be very successful.
So what I don't get is why pull the plug now? Granted, the tournament was an unmitigated dumpster fire, but the players deserve as much credit for that as FdB. Now, assuming the MLS season goes on after the tournament we have no ********ing coaching staff as all de Boer's lieutenants walked off with him. I am assuming the front office knows there will be no season after July. And I guess all that talk of building a youth academy was just bullshit, I mean isn't that why Frank was brought in?
IMO, Frank had nothing to do with the departure of Nagbe, Gressel, and Villalba, that was all on the Carlos and Darren. Nagbe wanted out before Frank was brought in, and the club made a deal that he could leave after the 2019 season. Gressel was a a money decision... he wanted his big payday and the front office decided at his age they could find a cheaper replacement so they traded him and got a nice payback. And Villalba was getting DP money in a backup role. He was too expensive and wanted more playing time. A shame he left cause he would have gotten it when Josef went down.
This. Miles and Meram both thrived under him for sure. I heard several times that Tata didn't even try to play Miles (which is true), but he won the MLS Cup, so not playing Miles that season is neither here nor there. But the attack suffered. I've said before that Miggy spoiled us, and Frank didn't have him, so you can't really compare. I think most managers need this. It's a rare gaffer who can just step in and keep a ball rolling as fast as it was rolling under the guys who first pushed it. And when your system takes guys out of their comfort zone, it can take that much longer to see the results- not just wins and losses, but in the performance of the guys you want to sell higher than you bought. Probably because of the bolded below. If there's any question about the finish of this season, the clubs will know it before we do. Sometimes the words "Mutual agreement" are used to be nice to the one who's leaving, and sometimes it's the truth. de Boer never really seemed happy here, so I'm inclined to think it really was what the article says it is. I think MLS will try, but I expect them to fail. The FO knows this season is gonna have an asterisk regardless of whether they finish it or not, IMO. They're probably willing to roll with an interim until next year. It's already late July, and MLS' reg season would be done in 8-9 weeks normally. They keep pushing this, you're looking at some unplayable conditions for the Northeastern teams and Toronto and Chicago. It was probably bullshit. We started off too good to just forget who we are and develop at the expense of future on-the-pitch success. We definitely weren't going to become the Ajax of MLS in any case. Ajax wins stuff while developing talent because they get the best raw talent to develop to begin with. In this league, with the stupid cap, and stupid fetish for parity, you have to win or develop. Can't do both. Look at Red Bulls! Great academy, no league titles in 25 years. The Galaxatives have the trophy case they have because they went out and bought the talent they needed. It's worked out well for them, with 20% of the league's championships going their way. That's the role model plan.
Two reasons: #1 The break because MIB is still going on. Not that I think they will bring in a permanent coach, but if they do, they have weeks to get the team ready. #2 Europe is finishing up now, so now is when coaches will be available if they go that route. I would assume SA is finishing up their season now. If they wait until the end of the season, their options aren't as good because teams are in season.
MLSsoccer.com has an article suggesting names for new coach, and Roberson on AJC.com has an article citing the 6 priorities for the new manager. Will include links later.
I like that we're giving Glass a run as interim. He was promoted internally once already. I doubt seriously if he gets a reasonable chance at the top job, but if he does well as the interim who knows? I'm definitely much happier paying somebody already on the payroll to be the place holder. From the suggestions in the MLSsoccer article, I'll happily take the Gremio guy Renato if he speaks Spanish and/or English or Pochettino. Pochettino was released by Tottenham after failing to win the Champions League final. They had a pretty bad Premier League campaign last year, but that was one year out of six, and their star striker was injured for most of that time (sound familiar?). For most of those six years, they were in contention to win the Premier League with a club whose finances are dwarfed by City, Liverpool, and Chelsea. Renato has been very successful, but all in Brazil. I'm not sure he'll translate outside the Brazilian leagues, but I'd be willing to give him a shot if we weren't paying UEFA Champions' League prices for him.
Of those options my preference is Gabriel Heinze. Pochettino would be a good get but one I suspect is headed elsewhere. Maybe he does a 2-year stint like Martino that bears fruit but he has his eyes elsewhere. For Heinze, however, this could be an opportunity to take him to a higher tier of coaches. Win here and it expands his international appeal, I would imagine.
Saves us money, if nothing more. Or Gallardo. I'd be surprised if either of them were willing to manage for what we can afford to pay, tho. What were we paying de Boer?
Wow. Seems like just yesterday he was wearing a kit. Time flies! I wouldn't refuse to try to get him on board, if it came to that.
Heinze just doesn't impress me for the Atlanta job. He took a mid-table Velez Sarsfield to... slightly above the middle of the table. They qualified for the South American version of the NIT. I don't watch much Argentine football, so maybe they played an attractive style and punched above their weight. But he's got the same thing as Renato for me: he's an Argentine who has only ever coached in Argentina. At least Renato's got years of experience under his belt. Also, why did Heinze resign? It looks like he had some offers to upgrade from Velez, but those either fell through or were just rumors.
Well, FWIW, Frank is at the reins of the Ernj. I suspect that'll go well- they're all kind of into that same style of play, so there'll be no de-training/re-training involved. He gets a Euro and possibly the 2022 Cup.
Probably. But I don't see why this won't work for him. He's as in his own element as he'll ever be, with a system his players should be familiar with.
Lest I'm mistaken "Ernj" is a bastardization of "Orange," a reference to the Natherland's famous orange jerseys.