Memo to Hankinson

it is interesting that this lineup is close to the tie with d.c and with wins in preseason...

 

That line up was close to making sense, and oddly enough they won! Two strikers up top, outside halfs playing on the outside, Kotschau instead of Crawford. Hmmm. Who'd a thunk it.

 

NHL

With all the time to experiment in the preeseason, you'd think the starting 11 would be set, with a clear 'off the bench' striker, middie, and defender hierarchy.

Maybe 'Yoda' thinks that since 8 of 10 make the playoffs, we're OK to screw around until July 4. Maybe he forgot the problems of winning multiple playoff series on the road

If preseason prognostication is true, then LA & Dallas are expected to climb over SJ and KC. Can we do it too? Given the parity/weakness in the west so far, we may be able to be in the hunt by August. Maybe this team is SO GOOD it decided to get all the losses and ties out of the way first, then finish 26-5-1. I can dream.

After a win I will not stoop to such poor taste posting like the over/under on Hanki ('Yoda') getting fired, how dense he is, stupid allocation picks, meaningless black& blue rhetoric, how he holds grudges, and I won't point out that maybe his players got him this win (not the other way around), etc. I'll be good. Honest. I don't even know that the new over/under is July 4th.

RLH

 

At this point, I don't know if I'm comfortable wanting Hanki out. If there's another silly lineup change, I'm back on the bandwagon. BUT, what if we start winning? Maybe, just maybe he saw the error of his ways and realized some (most) of his decisions were boneheaded. From a couple of the recent articles and the actual sensible lineup it seems like it may be the case. But like I said, change the lineup after this win and I'll change my mind but this time for good.

 

One win at home against a struggling team hasn't changed my opinion of Hankinson.

It's not just what Hankinson has done this year, it's the cumulative review of what he's done -- that is, hasn't done -- over his tenure with the Rapids that makes me feel like I've had enough.

His most recent comments demanding that the fans get off the team's back makes me feel like he's distant from the entire reason he was brought into this team. In the words of Crazy Counce, it was "to bring the fans a championship."

That said, this is clearly not the week to can the guy. Nor would next week be the time to do it, even if the Rapids are crushed in the opener at the Toolbox.

Performance over 10 games should be the baseline at this point, and not just from a win-loss perspective. The attitude of the players should be very carefully observed; they were the ones who won the game on Saturday night. More importantly, they were the ones that didn't surrender a late goal after taking the lead.

This season, the team could have operated without any coach whatsoever up to this point and wouldn't have been any worse off.

I'm happy for the team getting a victory, and it was great to see them pumped up throughout the game. But let's be honest -- they really weren't tested in the defensive third by the Galaxy, who is completely lost withour Ruiz.

The win was definitely a great step forward, but we're still more than a few strides behind even the middle of the pack.

 

I'm with Greenie on this one. I'm still not sold on Hankinson, because of one game. I don't know the proper time to rid the team of the coach if there is such a time.

In defense of Hankinson, (if it can be believed) I liked what happened in the game, aside from winning. I also liked what I read in F365 last week.

This game was a kind of back to basics for the Rapids. Hankinson started the midfield most would argue he should of from the beginning. No big surprises about the back line. There wasn't a single rookie (even MLS newbie) on the field. Then when the second half rolled around he stuck with the guys. Throughout the season his subs have generally left me scratching my head.

The F365 had one glaringly bad and immaturely unprofessional comment regarding the fans. I call it immature since Hankinson needs to know that "fans" come with strings attached. There is a huge difference between people who just show up, and those who follow the team. I've said it before, if the Rapids don't want us to promote the team, buy season tickets, bring friends to the game, and just generally be disinterested pedestrian occasional ticket buyers, then they're attitude is perfect. On the other hand if they want our support, then they'll need to deal with the criticism.

He also dropped the comment regarding the fans not knowing about minor injuries, and who's performing in practice. If he doesn't want the flak then they can report the minor injuries. With regards to who starts I contend that it is wiser to bring a rookie in for the last 20 minutes as a reward for effort in practice. If he performs than up it to starting somewhere down the line. Veterans who aren't performing in practice should be getting subbed, and if they stop performing on the field then they lose their starting job. Outright desent of course should get you benched. This to me seems like a more natural progression leading to the heat of real game situations.

The comment was a shame, because there were other things to like, if true, about the article. It is time to let the guys have fun. It is time to loosen up. If Hankinson is accepting this, and letting the players play then maybe he's capable of learning as well.

The proof will come on Saturday. Will we see the same guys? Will we see questionable subs? Is this a turnaround or an anomoly? It's yet to be seen, but Hankinson still shouldn't be safe until he's proven it.

 

I'm also in agreement with Greenie and Spot. With the exception of Spencer (hamstring) and Beckerman (who we later found out had a slight ankle injury) every one of the players on the field Saturday night were available to Hanki for the very first game to start. Now, a simple substitution of Zizi for Spencer and putting Stewart on the right and Herdsman in the middle would have been a much better lineup for Hanki in the opener.

Now, since he has changed his lineup every week so far, Hanki either lucked into his LA lineup or finally realized that his doghouse should be closed up and got Ritchie out of it.

Speaking of Ritchie, I thought he had an extremely solid game. Nothing fancy but he defended well and has shown he is the best attacking option for left back that the Rapids have. Granted, I haven't seen much of Rizo cause he is still getting into shape but I always felt that Ritchie was good enough to play here. On Saturday night, his overlaps allowed Chung to come inside and create while still having an option out wide left; no holes out there with no one filling in.

Now the question is will Hanki keep this team on the field or will he try and get Rizo on the field or muck it up by trying to start Sleeth. I say, unless Pablo can't play cause of the Nats schedule, then there should be no changes. But Hanki has shown before that he has no problem changing stuff up if someone isn't 'showing it' in training. God help us if Crawford gets on the field cause he has 'good feet.'