That escalated quickly. I confess to not really giving a crap about the Galaxy. So what's the analysis? Why were the Gals, with suuuuuuch a high wage bill, so hapless under GBS?
He'll do better with DCU as 1) He's committed to the attack and 2) his mid block counter press style tactics really require high fitness levels (something the Galaxy lacks and DCU kind of has). A big part of why DCU is playing well right now is that Ashton is using a mid block with heavy counter press the moment we lose the ball in central midfield. GBS won't high press because it takes his best attackers out of position. He wants to win the bal in midfield with plenty of space to feed his attackers. Ashton has been cycling the ball through the center of the park mostly latley and that fits with GBS's style too. You'll see wingers make aggressive attacking runs that force the defense to cover a lot of ground. DCU has plenty of central midfield options so the strain of playing this style will handle the inevitable injuries. Additionally, the disappearance of the low block means our fullbacks won't see nearly as much wear and tear as they have under Olsen. Olsen's low block/bunker and direct long ball approach is a destroyer of fullbacks.
Late candidate (per Goff) Clarence Seedorf is an interesting addition to the list. FWIW, he speaks perfect English along with Spanish, Dutch,,and several others.
In regard to GBS ... he'd won 2 out of the last Argentine Primeras with Boca. I have to think LAG offered him a wheelbarrow full of cash and promised a decent budget for the playing team. Those are 2 things DCU has demonstrated that they don't have and would probably be under pressure to get given the current state of the world. The thing I wonder in LAG is who was responsible for assembing the playing squad? At least we'd have a decent group of young players (Paredes/Yow/Neyman) available that would mirror how a first team would have been assembled at Boca with a healthy dose of homegrown players. He could work here, but I don't see him even picking up the phone when a call comes from the 202.
I'd like to see that kind of coach here, but TBH, failing that hard with a budget that big is kind of inexplicable. He had four windows and the resources to shape the team to his philosophy and vice versa, and he just couldn't do it. He even knew the league. That surprised me. Still, nobody's coached the Galaxy particularly well since Arena left, aside from perhaps Kinnear. Maybe his name should be on our list. There's something fundamentally broken in that organization, but a good coach should have been able to manage better than virtually last in the league. Has to be a bitter pill that he left Boca for this.
If GBS was getting a low 7 figure salary, that "bitter pill" was pretty easy to swallow. As for GBS, along with Armas and Kreis as potential hires, just say "NO".
Do you think Ben's salary approached $1M? The last Wapo article about his most recent extension said he got a modest increase on 400k and of course he demanded no player budget. At 400k he was the lowest paid MLS coach when the extension was granted. He couldn't have gotten far from the bottom of that list.
I can't disagree with your comments and I don't know why he failed in LA, but I like his tactical approach. He may not do well as a leader (he did as a player though). It's also possible that the mental make up of his squad wasn't good. I would hope this could get uncovered in the interview and reference checking processes.
No one is capable of uncovering anything. There is a stunning lack of football IQ in the FO and ownership.
I can't control Levien, etc., but in my business I'm always interviewing people for every job on my team. I always know who I want to hire next in each position. It's not unique to me. Well run organizations keep short lists for everything. When you take that sort of approach it allows you to recruit the best talent over a long period of time. When you do that, you really get a chance to know people and uncover fit/lack of fit. I can only hope this what he's been doing (even if I doubt it).
Yes but if you've been running restaurants your whole career I'd doubt you'd be great if you all the sudden had to hire people for a research lab.
Looks like Ezra Hendrickson is getting rave reviews at DCU HQ... Columbus Crew assistant @EzraHendrickson has impressed D.C. United officials in preliminary interviews for head coaching job and will be among 5-6 finalists, I'm told. If hired, DCU would have to compensate Crew.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) October 31, 2020 Chris Armas, Jill Ellis, Chad Ashton are expected to be on the final list.
Looking at the league and at our all-time roster it's evident that we have had some excellent potential coaching talent in our playing ranks over the years. To me, the most glaring example is Greg Vanney. He wasn't here long, but I clearly remember a post-match interview with him in which he analyzed the game as only a top-flight soccer manager could. Just then I knew he would find his way into the coaching ranks. Josh Wolfe is set to lead Austin FC next season; Ali Curtis is GM in Toronto; John Thorrington (MBA) is GM for LAFC - the list goes on. We had these talents but we soldiered on and let them go elsewhere. To be more fair, we didn't try to lure them back when it was clear we needed more talent in the FO and in the coaching staff.
Listened to the latest Allocation Disorder that discussed the 3 current openings. The consensus was that DCU would go cheap. They speculated that if Ashton got DCU into the playoffs and won a play-in game, he would get a 1 year deal. If not him, the likely pick would be Chris Armas. Tenorio sounded sad because he remembers what DCU was like when he was a kid here and this was his first professional reporting gig. He also threw shade on Kaplan as someone who talks big, but acts cheap. Nothing that we haven't read elsewhere -- they also got a dig in about the security guard issue. The rot here is like those mine fires where a seam of coal burns underground for decades, occasionally venting to the surface a plethora of deadly gas.
Per Goff's latest piece, it sounds like Kasper and Ben are both involved in the search for the next coach. So that's good news.
Hard to understand how there isn't a complete sweep of those who have been there for the last 10 plus years. Things won't change without a totally fresh crew from GM down to assistant coaches.