What coaching decisions baffle the hell out of you? for me, out of the games i've seen: -Sasha Victorine continuing to play. -Kamler on the bench, joe-max playing seem to diminish their teams chances of winning Nicol can be forgiven, nothing wrong with trying to get what you can out of a former world cuper and euro league vet Sigimeund on the other hand has arguably the most talented roster in the league, and why he sticks with his UCLA connection Sasha "O, is the goal over there" Victorine is, to me, a direct sign of his failings as a coach -- like milk, what once was good can go to crap and should no longer be used unless in dire straits. Oh yeah, and what about Vagenas, is redundancy a requirement for an LA midfield? On the friendleir side of things, kudos to Bob Bradley for sitting Ricardo Clark and winning. Suprising move and the results back it. Although Bob, I must admit I have a superficial dislike of you out of suspicions of nepotism. That's one storyline I'll be following as I follow the career of our next national team coach. Back on topic, any other bones to pick people? Hart v. Waibel? Ching v. DeRosario? (me likes Chingy to start, oh jesus I sound like that nutcase who used to looove Mark Chung, anyone remember his name?) and please, no discussion of adu unless an equal amount of verbs allocated to discussion of alecko. grazie ragazzi
Nate Jaqua, Logan Pause and Leonard Grifffin have all looked very suspect for the Fire so far this season. In particular, Jaqua starting over Mapp on the right wing, while a justifiable choice, has not worked particularly well and the Fire aren't scoring. Jaqua is big and strong, and surprisingly competent with the ball at his feet for a big guy. But "competent" with the ball is not a good replacement for "good with the ball" and he's created very little in opportunities out wide. Griffin has been played some in midfield and looks outclassed. Surprised Andrulis kept his job in the offseason and he's not exactly cementing his hold on it thus far this season.
re mapp and chicago isn't Mapp a lefty, while that doesn't necessarily preclude him from playing the right, hardly, but still... personally, i think chicago could use the increased midfield creativeness, Andy Williams has never been too much to my liking. It's hard to see Chicago winning championships with his feet at the strings.
Re: re mapp and chicago What, like they didn't have a chance last year, when he was running the middle, or San Jose, with the immortal Ronnie Ekelund, was so superior? Mapp may be a lefty, but he spent pretty much all of his time last season as a right midfielder, and did a pretty impressive job.
Mapp should definitely be starting over Jaqua, who should, if anywhere, be playing up front. I don't get that one at all. Bradley didn't really "bench" Clark. Clark had a sports hernia in preseason, IIRC, and wasn't ready for opening day except as a sub. He's probably closer to 100% now but it's one of those things: if you're getting results, don't make any changes.
I agree, it's not really accurate to say that Bradley benched Clark. Nevertheless, there's several ways that he could be playing him - using a 3-5-2, putting him at right back or center back - that he, for whatever reason, he has not opted for. I wasn't able to see yesterday's game, so I can't criticize Bradley for not playing Clark, but I'm certainly not going to congratulate a coach for sitting one of the US's best prospects, regardless of whether he won or not.
Re: re mapp and chicago Monsieur, I said winning championships, not losing them. Did not Ekelund not score an important goal in the game, no? to me andy williams is better suited to indoor ball, where fancy tricks suffice and running is not a requirement -- fine i'm prejudiced, i'm not an expert on indoor ball nor andy williams-- but the mortal AWill don't win championships in my book anytiddle, the question is where is mapp most effective? consensus seems not the bench. Can Beas play middle? can Mapp? could mappy hit the weights, play central, and turn into conveyito?
Maybe it's just me, but other than the poor decision to shoot from distance late (which Wynalda commented on), I thought Clark was very impressive in his limited minutes. It's an interesting problem Bradley has in that he's got a group of midfielders playing excpetionally well. Lisi has been inspired thusfar, Guevara of course isn't getting benched, and any 17 year old that displays the kind of touch, vision and skill Eddie Gaven displayed on Taylor's second goal (an outside footed lawn dart that sat on a tee for Taylor) is going to play in this league. Clark contributed his own highlights with some dazzling moves on the ball when he came in, so where does Bradley go from here? However, before the Metrostars hype train gets too far from the station, I do remember them playing this way at the beginning of last year. That beautiful flowing midfield play they've had is fantastic to watch but at some point last year it went south and they struggled the rest of the way. Does anyone else think the Earthquakes are playing awfully physical early in the season? There seemed to be an awful lot of cynical knocking players to the turf and regrouping for the free kick. Effective, I suppose, but horrible to watch.