Seriously, I don't think another top flight pro coaching job would be in the cards for Ben. Replacing Gelnovatch at UVA after he retires would be ideal (from my alumnus perspective), but more realistic would be trying to being back the George Mason program.
That should be an appealing job to a lot of coaches out there. Being a Div. I team in an area with a lot of youth soccer talent to recruit from, GMU should be a lot better than they are.
One of my favorite Olsen replacement candidates, Carlos Corberan, is a leading name for the Huddersfield job. I'll have to find a new Bielsa protege to covet. Just think about it. Bielsa just got Leeds promoted with a roster of only 18 players who have played professional games and 6 U23s who made their professional debut this year. His system will work in MLS.
Unlike most of you, this will be my one and final statement on the subject: #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut #OlsenOut @dcunited— Jay! (@JayRockerz) July 22, 2020 Thx, Jay!
No he is the caretaker of a garbage heap. Blaming the groundskeeper for the cemetery being in a dangerous neighborhood is folly.
Ben Olsen the coach is a joke and the poster boy for DC United's commitment to being a losing franchise.
These two things aren’t mutually exclusive. We have a shit coach and a shit team. Neither is capable of exceeding these limitations.
Why doesn't he insist that DC locate and sign better players, those that would fit with his style, not the bargain-bin castoffs that he's got now? He's been coach for going on 11 years. If he's such a damn good coach, you'd think he would be tired of fielding such similar dreck, year after year, and he would leave.
I apologize if anyone mentioned Ryan Martin as a candidate to replace Olsen. Personally, I think he's the right guy for the job. -His dad was the winningest coach in college history. -He played in the league, briefly, and had a career as a professional player. -He recruited for Wake Forest, top ten recruiting classes for about a 10 year run. -He was promoted to assistant after starting as a volunteer. -He built the USL Cincy roster into a top 3 team in a 29 team league. -Assistant to Harkes in Cincinnati during their USL dominance. -As head of DC academy, he has intimate knowledge of local talent and has established a consistent playing style. -At Loudoun, he's trusted youth to play heavy minutes and be leaders. -His teams at Loudoun have shown they can play direct, press or possess, the systems are in place. The main reason I want to see Ryan Martin as head coach is I believe he is the guy to take United in the direction it needs to go, and that is as a team that develops talent, sells that talent, and does it again and again. And in that way, the owners are happy because they are turning a profit and building a profile in world football, and the team can succeed because the money from sales can be used to purchase the odd world class player or two to win cups. My dream for a Ben Olsen DC United was to become like Manchester United, with Ferguson there forever with a clear identity of grit, good football, and playing their kids. It hasn't happened b/c the good football part has been missing. I can't really argue the results to talent ratio, I think Olsen holds up there, but how they've got there has been unattractive, overly pragmatic football. I believe to raise the ceiling of the team, they have to move away from the 'just holding on' mentality and create a more positive identity. I absolutely believe Martin has the technical chops Olsen lacks, he's proven to have an eye for talent, and he is inclined play younger players. Only conjecture, but I believe he is akin to the fan who wants to see what the kids can do, plus he has the opportunity to mold them. I want to watch a more entertaining product. I think the money problem needs to be fixed internally, with a focus on turning the potential assets of youth into real assets. I don't see Olsen getting the team there. As for winning and losing, I'm not sure there would be a ton winning right away, but I would love to see consistently well played games with a lot promising youth on the field, growing together.
We could literally go through a bunch of teams who are better than us with crappy players, now or in the past. Having crappy players doesn’t preclude you from over performing when every team is fielding third rate players somewhere on the field. DeRo wasn’t an amazing talent per se he just violated a bunch of deck chair defenders and tried his best. This idea that our roster prevents us from playing even against the likes of Philly, Montreal, Colorado, Minnesota and other clown shows is not a good argument.
Because Atlanta from the top down has an expectation of excellence. No excellence then changes are made. One can argue that missing Martinez hurts but they didn't make that excuse. They still have Pity, etc. They underperformed during the matches that actually count for the regular season. We've lowered out standards to the point where if 5 passes get strung together we cheer. Our standards are making the playoffs. We have no team identity other than grit and now that appears gone. We will make excuses about not having Arriola and that excuse will count. So that's why.
Ryan Martin probably would take Ben's job, if offered, because it would be a step up from Loudoun United and from assistant coaching jobs elsewhere in MLS. But what top-level coach would come here without new, deep-pocketed ownership? I certainly don't think Frank de Boer would.
FDB got more trophies in 1.5 years than Ben has gotten in his entire coaching career and was fired. Our management is fine losing and backing into the playoffs. Good for ATL for having standards
Forget about trophies. I did the math a few years ago showing Olsen would need 20+ years of good seasons to get out of the basement of just DC United coaches. He's also among the worst coaches statistically of any coach who has coached more than 3 years in MLS. He obviously hasn't risen to that challenge so it is a literal impossibility for him to rise to even "not worst DC United coach we've ever had."
Last season. Rooney and Acosta could do 5 passes between each other. I was watching the match earlier in the week and noted to my son that DC (and other less technically talented teams) will occasionally get into headball ping pong where the ball is headed randomly in whichever direction the player is facing and usually ends up like a beachball at an outdoor concert. When talented, technically strong teams have the same situation the header usually goes to someone and there is intent behind it. Just more examples of the shit pile that is our team.