At the start of the season, he was mostly one of the two main Center Backs. But there were a few games where Ben experimented with him at Right Back.
I'll admit I don't spend all game zeroed in on NDL but a lot of the good defensive work I see from him is at all stages of the game. Even if you take a step back and look at the right flank on a macro level we're pretty strong defensively overall. Whenever we're getting beat up it's usually on the left … specifically when Kemp, Pontius and sometimes even Rolfe are playing.
Is Halsti still on the team? Wasn't he supposed to be a lock starter who was going to help make DCU much better?
He was never supposed to be that as far as I heard. Any chance at lock staterdom was lost when he went down with an injury in the preseason. Still, I'd have liked to see him more thusfar since he's been back from injury. He hasn't really had chances with the A team.
True the team never put those expectations on him, but some of us, me too, assumed because of his pedigree that he was starter material. I think it's clear he is however and the main reason he's not is the injury.
Not sure about lock starter … I think Arnaud and Halsti make about the same. I think the plan all along was to have him as rotation for an aging Arnaud. And part of Halsti's appeal was the versatility so I'm guessing Ben was also penciling him in as CB depth. Problem is that when Birnbaum got hurt Halsti was unavailable which opened up the door for Opare to lock down that 3rd CB spot.
At this point Halsti >>>> Arnaud IMHO. Arnaud should be riding the pine. I think now that there is no more of this ridiculous 3 matches in a week for weeks on end, Ben will have a chance to settle on a more consistent line up.
I feel like I'm reliving the same old Boskovic/Salihi frustrations … I just don't understand the thought process. You only get like one or two opportunities at an impact foreign signing per year. You would think as a coach that you can't wait to give your own signing some minutes. Right about now you have to wonder what Halsti is thinking. He volunteered to give up playing time at a prestigious club like Malmo to come to MLS. The way Ben treats these players is like they were rookies who haven't earned the benefit of the doubt as professionals. At a certain point a coach has to show that believes in his own signings otherwise it just makes everyone look bad... Ben always starts with the assumption that the untalented dud that's already here owns that starting position and he expects the new guy to earn it in a slow never-ending process that never really takes off. It really makes the organization look clueless like they're throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. It's a very poor way to manage the foreign market in a salary cap league
Especially after last nights game - I fully agree. I turned the T.V. off and went to bed after Dallas scored its first goal because I was having problems understanding how we could maintain ball control long enough to put the ball in a scoring position. Perhaps, that was premature and a bit harsh, but if you give the other team enough scoring chances sooner or later they'll put one or two away no matter how good your defensive line and your keeper are.
The upside of Ben's approach to coaching seems to be a very democratic, blue-collar, we're-all-in-this-together mentality that he creates. He's certainly a motivator. That kind of thinking works very well with MLS lifers--guys who know that the big leagues and the glamour clubs aren't calling. I've said this before--Olsen understands that his job is to win in MLS as it actually is, not as we wish it were. So I get that. At it's worst, his approach has a whiff of provincial smallness of mind. That very chip-on-our-shoulders underdog mentality can also be a huge blind spot when it comes to appreciating players who don't have experience in the trenches of the MLS regular season.
I posted this in the FC Dallas thread -- Only saw the game from the point just before Dallas scored its first goal. Did see the entire Halsti sub -- I've reached the conclusion that he's not worth over 300K and I'm beginning to think Jeffery is no worse. He's slow, was beaten continuously for pace by the Dallas midfielders and really plays in a languid way. That style doesn't fit well with DCU at all. He was subbed in to shut down the Dallas midfield, yet he played at a pace that appeared he had been on the field since the opening whistle. Does he have a top gear? I haven't seen it yet. He seems more like Boskovic without the skill or field awareness. I thought he was around a $200K player, but the salary list indicates much more and he's just not worth it. IMHO, Halsti isn't playing because he's not good enough. And I'm tired of this "he has Champion's League experience" BS. He played on a good team in a mediocre league that gets an automatic sacrificial lamb entrance to the opening rounds of the Champion's League -- it's not like he played and started for Juventus or Barca for chrissakes. Hell you could find some schlub from Joe Public and say he had "CONCACAF Champion's League" experience as well.
You are certainly correct that by virtue of his existence and playing in Europe, Halsti is not de facto worth the money or the answer in the line-up. But at the same time, I think this argument doesn't answer a lot of people's comments and issues with Halsti on the bench and this whether or not he is better (and better in DC's line-up) than Arnaud. The issue is "debatable," I think, but I my issue and, what I think some of the other people on these boards are arguing, is that we aren't really given the opportunity to see. Halsti only starts when there is schedule congestion or Arnaud is tired. When he starts, he usually does so with other B-team players, which potentially limits his effectiveness. When he came in last night, DC was in that bullshit "emergency defense" mode where there is zero emphasis on possession and players just hoof the ball anywhere, which I would argue is not Halsti's game. Regardless, it is only "testing" him in specific circumstances when he's brought on late in the match. If Arnaud has a bad game, he's given the opportunity next game to play better or adapt. If Halsti makes mistakes, he's relegated to the bench and not really given the opportunity to learn to play better with his teammates. I don't want to go way the hell off topic, but I think changing leagues, any league, requires some adjustment. It's not just the reffing or the environment or the weather. The types of players that succeed as journeyman, I think, varies league-to-league. Some leagues like reliability, some leagues like physically dominant players, some like smart players, some like players with flair, usw. When someone is brought in from a foreign league, and the team is not built around getting that personal the ball (which DC is not), those players have to adapt to how the players around them play and what to expect from them. I think DC in general, but Olsen in particular, has not been giving foreign signings the opportunity to succeed.
When I watch Halsti play in person at RFK, where I can watch what he is doing all the time, not ball watch like the TV does, it seems like he knows how to play the game. He gets into the right positions, doesn't waste a lot of energy making unnecessary runs, makes quick decisions and usually picks out a good pass. His problem seems to be that he just can't figure out WTF some other players are doing, because they don't play smart soccer. It's kind of pathetic to pin our hopes on a holding midfielder, but the midfield was so pathetic last night I just can't believe that Halsti would not have been an upgrade.
So, I've been thinking about what I think about Halsti and here are some reasons I think he might be the wrong guy for this team. First of all, he's not a CAM. That doesn't make him the wrong guy, per se, but my point is actually that he's not the guy to pick out a killer pass or through-ball. Imo, he's been a mixed bag there. There HAVE been some slick passes that made me ooo and ahh, but there have also been a some that were mind-bogglingly cheap giveaways. What I do think he is good at is finding the person with time and space to make good passes. I was noticing again last night that a couple of times, he would receive the ball and pass it not forward, but to a player facing forward who was relatively unmarked. In that stupid "emergency defense mode" that they were playing last night, a number of his passes let me breath a little bit because he had actually found a player with time to possess the ball and pick a pass. The problem was, the player seemed shocked that he received the ball and was completely unprepared to find an open player, instead preferring to just boot the ball (or stand on it). My point in saying that is that I think he lends himself to a smarter, possession-based attack. Most often, I think his passes put DC in a incrementally better position. But that's not how DC plays. DC counters and . . . tries to counter. And that's about it. The players seem to expect him to try to turn or otherwise pass the ball forward. I know we've seen DC do the slow backpass thing, but this is different, to me: most of the time DC backpasses, it is because they don't see any opportunities ahead of them. Halsti's lateral and backpasses seem more strategic to me - they're intended to move the defense or to give someone with a better opportunity than he has to start the attack. But that's not the way anyone else is playing - the guys behind him aren't expecting to receive the ball unless he has tried to go forward and is fighting off a challenge - they're not looking down field to see whom they can hit that he cannot. They react too slowly or . . . uninspiredly(?). . . to make it effective. All it does is slow down the attack and make into a not-counter, which DC has no idea how to play. While I can say that I like what he brings and I think it could be a smart and effective addition to DC's play, nothing has made me think that DC wants to add possession to its repertoire. If DC is going to try to force a counter every time that they gain possession, then I don't think Halsti is the man that they want. Just my thoughts and opinion.
My problem with the Halsti situation is that Arnaud has played some horrible games. His passing is always sketchy and his first touch is not good, yet he is still able to be the presumed starter. Perhaps Halsti is worse, but he hasn't had a chance to prove himself on the field.
I've seen the same things as well, but he's not a $330K gamechanger and that's what you should be getting at that salary. He probably doesn't fit into this team's style and he's a very expensive bench option. He's not a bust, he's a misfit. Now why either Olsen or Kasper couldn't or didn't notice that problem is the real question.
While I don't disagree with anything said about Halsti so far, I think it is too soon to say he's not a good fit for this team. He simply has not had many opportunities to fit himself in properly in my opinion. For sure, he'd be more effective on a team that possesses the ball more and we don't do that or even want to do that as Skippy points out. But I do think he can be a game changer when he does find his fit with the team. He has shown he can hit aggressive passes that could potentially launch counters quickly and hopefully effectively if the forward players get used to him making those plays. And his possession skills could potentially very easily get the team out of trouble when the midfield is getting swamped as we so often are by other teams. He's worth the money then in my opinion. A little high of a salary, but worth it as he is flexible and could cover for either Arnaud or Boswell in the future years. The fact he hasn't been a game changer yet, doesn't mean he won't become one. That said though, as Boloni mentions, there does seem to be the old Boskovic frustration that Olsen does not seem to see what we are seeing or simply refuses to change until Arnaud throws a rod as Skippy so eloquently put it. I can see why he hasn't fit in so much to date; injury, loyalty to Arnaud who in general is playing well and is certainly a team leader, some trouble fitting in to a different style, a crush of games early on when he was healthy, etc. But, if he isn't allowed a real run out this summer before the stretch run in September, then I would start to feel it was money wasted at that point. We'll see.
It's hard to see how Halsti fits when his best position, from the brief time I've seen him play, is also Kitchen's spot. I would try a 3-5-2, we know that will never happen, but, .........Espi...........Sabo............. --------------Rolfe---------------- Kemp-----Kitchen--------Franklin/Korb ----------------Halsti--------------- .......Birnbaum...Boswell......Opare IF they click in the midfield, big IF, this could be the balance between defending and attacking I'm hoping for. But it will never happen, so, ---------------Saborio----------- ------Espy---------------Rolfe--- -------Kitchen------Arnaud---- ---------------Halsti-------------- Kemp--Birnbaum-Boswell-Franklin The fullbacks are the width and Halsti is the fourth center back to slide in when the fullbacks are engaged upfield. Olsen gets his fix with the Kitchen/Arnaud partnership. The key here is if Halsti is the guy to connect all the pieces (good pieces, imo), because there's a big lack of creativity in the middle otherwise.
I think that specific lineup would absolutely work perfectly. Trouble is, it would only work for one season and only if this team gets and STAYS healthy. If not, you revert back to what we're seeing now. The problem is there is no clear sub for any of the central three except maybe Farfan AND there's a huge drop off in quality when Deleon, Doyle and/or Aguilar come in for Rolfe or Espindola. That's not even mentioning Arrieta is the only option to play for Saborio and he's no where near able to play a target type guy which is what that system would call for (That's why Columbus let him go, he doesn't fit in a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending on how you're looking at it). Then there's the question of who plays those roles next year and so on, or would we be changing formations again next year? Etc. Great idea. I doubt Olsen even has it on his radar though. He's locked into his written in stone 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 depending on how you look at it.
It's certainly the case that when some of us expressed concern that the team hadn't done enough in the offseason to improve, many here hyped Halsti as likely to be a major contributor and that therefore the team had done more than we were suggesting. Hasn't seemed accurate, though.
Agreed and my concerns seem to be coming to fruition. My major issue is any player needs minutes to integrate into the club and Halsti has not been given consecutive full games yet (correct me if I am wrong). How on Earth is one supposed to accurately judge a player with uneven minutes and scenarios? I get wanting guys to earn place, but thus far I don't think Halsti has been given a fair shot to prove himself and wondering if he ever will. At this stage we'd be better serve to let him go like Salihi and use freed up cap space best way we know how, a solid MLS veteran with good work rate.
I agree with the comparison, but not the solution. Salihi, like Halsti, was subbed into games in the waning minutes and apparently was expected to secure a victory. He needed to start and play significant minutes with his teammates in order to learn how to blend in and make a difference. Same with Halsti. Ben should give his several meaningful starts to get him and his teammates more familiar with each other's play.