Oh, wow. Thanks for that MRAD that's very interesting. I've been a defender of Hayes' since I think people often blame coaches too quickly for things they can't control, and since really the teams always had an issue with keeping there core members healthy, but even I'm having my doubts now after the last two weeks. I think everyone is identifying the correct issues up front and especially with the lack of a CAM. I thought Formiga was going to solve that issue, but she may just be past her prime. But ultimately it's not that easy to just go out and get the players they need this year, so I don't think those issues can be fixed this season. But many of the other issues are a continuation of problems from last year, a large part of which I was attributing to lack of a consistently healthy core, and the fact that Lloyd was our CAM, and although she has talent the only thing she is consistently is inconsistent. But since these issues are continuing I'm thinking that maybe the real issue may be that Hayes' just hasn't figured out how to bring together all these young talented creative players that are notorious for their inconsistentcy. I think she likes to give them the big picture and tell them to run with it in the hopes of not stifiling their creativity. But in my opinion when you have young players and creative players they need a lot of discipline and young players especially need a lot of having things spelled out to them. That's why when watching the games it always appears that no one is making the runs that they should be and really creating for the team as a whole, because no one has spelled out to them that if person A does this you should do this. I know this seems like too much structure, but some people, espcially young or the inexperienced need a little more structure. Once there is a little more dicipline and a little more spelling out of what exactly they are supposed to do and create then I think it will just start comming naturally. It's a tough ask to take on all these young, creative, inconsistent types but ultimately she should have known all these players histories and been prepared to deal with it. And I think the way she's going to have to deal with it is becomming more of a disciplinarian then she likes to be. If she doesn't though, I think they will wait until the end of the season to fire her since doing so during the season would be such a mess with lack of options. The SBFC incident last year was just kind of a freak deal.
Nice find and thanks for the link. d@mn. That does not bode well for the coaching staff. If the owners are not happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy. The timing of a bye week w/ the FIFA date would give a team more time to start looking at candidates. If I were Emma Hayes I'd already have a presentation of exactly how I was changing tactics & practice to produce better on game day. And I'd be updating my resume....
Agreed. I think we're hard on her because we want her to succeed. She's one of my favorites to watch. I think she's amazingly talented. As for that link...I hope Emma is getting her act together and her team together, or it looks like there may be consequences.
can a leopard change its spots? noguiera's history is that she is obviously talented but annoyingly inconsistent and sometimes seems to be just going thru the motions. now at this level she just looks so slow sometimes. i'm hoping that the pro environment and pia do some magic. but that's a tough ask.
It is an excellent point, has anyone watched the CRS training sessions? From what I have been told she was quite a discplinarian at the Arsenal academy or when she was the sole coach in charge for a week with the first team ( one fringe player left straight after that spell). I just wonder what they do in training ?
I've never seen a practice, it's just my guess based on watching the games and personal experience. Teams that have a coach that runs a tight ship look organized even when they lose, teams that are young, talented, but not strictly coached tend to fall short often, for inexplicable reasons. They my love their coach, but they aren't being given the tools to succeed when the going gets tough, which it always does in a league with such parity. Again this is purely based on personal experience, this may not be the case, but then I really don't know what is. I realized she was successful at Arsenal, but I didn't realize she was considered a displinarian there. I wonder what isn't translating since those kids were younger than the women she is working with now, so she should know how to work with younger players, honestly I find it all kind of odd. Maybe MRAD or Fanaddict know more about their practices?
No. I have never been to a practice other then a couple of showcases. I have no idea how their practices are structured. I just see what I see on game day that they look disorganized, sometimes rattled and Cristiane looks out of shape. So deducting from that, practices must not be too hard. I watched Nikki Krzysik last weekend playing defense for Philly and she looks so much more in game shape and confident then when she was with the Red Stars. I hate to say it, but IMO, the best thing that probably happened to her was to get out of Chicago and play somewhere where her skills can get honed and her confidence nurtured. After being a starter in "Emma's system" early in the season, she was put on the bench and pretty much forgotten. I am worried that that may happen to another great kid and talented player in Brittany Klein. I don't want to see Klein forgotten at the end of the bench.
Look, the Chicago Red Stars organization is second to none, IMO. The owners are all fan friendly and fantastic. The FO staff is the best that I have ever dealt with as a season ticket holder of any sport. The players are talented and approacheable. And I love Marcia McDermott. She's the best. From what I've seen the CRS do so much to reach out to all of Chicago's communities and work relentlessly to make the fan's experience the best it can be at Toyota Park. I look forward to every game. But the owners, FO folks, season ticket holders, fans, Marcia, Peter Wilt all deserve more then they're getting on the field at this time, IMO. That's what's so frustrating. I'm not the only one who has said this at the games, that this looks like a continuation of last year. And that's unacceptable. This great organization and it's fans deserve a winning team. Period. There's no other way to say it.
Sorry I haven't been to any practices either. I don't think people should blame Emma for Cristiane being out of shape. A player must take responsibility for staying in shape over the long off season.Just the time in practice is not enough time to get someone in 100% shape.
I agree. A player should take responsibility for their own conditioning, but the coach has a hand in it as well. It is his/her job to make sure this is happening or play those who are in game shape or render punishment to those who are not. I can almost bet that if Cristiane was playing for Tony Dicicco he would not allow her to be that out of shape. I'm sure he would have given her an altimatum. In college, my coach was big into conditioning. In fact he was a marathon runner himself. Those who were not up to his expectations of conditioning or didn't make time in runs or drills got up at 5:00 a.m. and ran miles with him and you better keep up. Running miles and miles at an accellerated pace at 5:00 a.m was much harder then making sure you're in shape and staying that way before and during the season. It shouldn't take a player till the end of the season to get into shape and/or lose weight.
Think we are all speculating here (which is ok as what BS for), but have heard from a former player on the team last year that pre-season practices were quite rigorous and exhausting to the point that many players were rebelling a bit as thought it was overkill. So don't think that Emma undisciplined regarding her conditioning plan though don't know about this year....perhaps the issue is around coach player communications and expectations which can be difficult at the pro level to find the right touch to manage and motivate.