After watching all three home games I am sure I am not the only one who is thinking that O'Sullivan has to be worried about his job security. I know that this is an expansion team so results are going to be hard to come by but there are other factors to consider, not just results. 1. Style of play- during the first game the Beat looked attack minded throughout, sending players forward and looking to combine in the final third. During the second game they did not send as many players forward and basically watched Bachman and Rasmussen try and create the chances. Last night against a much weaker opponent the coaching staff did not change the style of play until late on when we were chasing the match. Played the 4-4-2 until about the 80th minute when they sent McNeil up front as a target player and played a 4-3-3. 2. Attacking in the final third- obviously a difficult aspect of the game but it appears that the chances that are created are via the long ball down the flank and having the wide midfielder chase it down and hope that she gets in behind, playing to Bachman’s feet deep in the midfield and then watching her try and dribble the back four or long hopeful attempts. I realize that I have listed three different variations of attack however none of them include team play in the final third. I probably can count how many times the Beat has combined in the final third on both my hands in the three home matches. The runs near the box are absolutely awful. They are not dangerous runs nor are they close enough to provide quality support to create combination play. Not good enough and this will hardly win many games. 3. Team chemistry- I mentioned above that once Bachman gets the ball everyone seems to watch her try and dribble the entire backline, almost as if they are saying why make runs when I know I am not going to get the ball. The body language from the players when a chance is missed says a whole lot. During the first game you could see the players try and keep Bachman up with supportive gestures but during the next two games that has all but disappeared. I realize that without Heath and Yamaguchi we are lacking a bit in the midfield for a creative spark but right now I don't see any positives for the team to score more goals right now. I think all the points I listed above come down to the coaching staff and not properly addressing them during training. Maybe a match away from home will relieve some of the pressure on the team but I would say that if the Beat don't get a win at home against another side that is struggling right now (Chicago Red Stars) that O'Sullivan should be fired before it gets to be impossible for the team to reach the playoffs.
After also watching lastnights game, I was really shocked to see how weak Beat really is! I agree with WWfan in most points and will try to write my report when I get my nerves back. The main point must be, with so many, on paper, good players - where are the results? Boy! thanks also wwf also for seeing the same things as me-but when hearing and watching the crowd we, and a few like us, are very much in the minority!!
WWF, I agree with EVERYTHING you have said. I would like to add one more factor to the Beat's horrible start to this season, and it absolutely relates to O'Sullivan's qualification to be coach. He did a very poor job recruiting players for this team, and then also did a poor job by getting rid of quality EXPERIENCED players when culling down the initial squad to the final roster. His experience coaching in Iceland did not prepare him for the quality of play in the WPS and he vastly "misunderestimated" the need for experienced players. Hopefully, our lack of experienced players can be helped by picking up some of the STL players, but one or two new players is not going to fix the lack of coaching skill WWF spoke of in the first post in this thread.
O'Sulllivan doesn't really have the pedigree of the other WPS coaches, either. Which is why it was so odd to see him announced as the Beat's coach.
Since it sounds like Naimo is going to CRS, one might extrapolate that Barcellos, Rogers, Hope, and Harris are headed for ATL. Just a hunch.
That would actually make a lot of sense. Of course, aside from not having any wins this season, there hasn't been any talk of O'Sullivan leaving. McDermott's a damn good coach and Chicago would be foolish to not use her the rest of the season. She knows the team, she knows how to coach and she's already there. So, maybe Barcellos will end up in ATL some how, some way.
I wanted to clarify my above posting before I get flamed... When I say that O'Sullivan did a poor job recruiting players, I didn't mean that we have poor players, I just meant that he could have done better in some areas. We certainly have some fine, outstanding players, but overall the lack of experience at the WPS or National Team level is taking it's toll. The Beat's investment in younger players should have been balanced with more experienced players who could have provided more leadership both on and off the pitch.
On the positive side, the fact that the Beat has a relative lack of National Team and other big-name players, suggests they just might have the most flexibility to bring in new players. One could imagine they have salary cap room and relatively few guaranteed contracts. In fact -- though I'm probably going a bit overboard here -- I'd say only Bachmann and Heath are truly untouchable. Yeah, there are other solid players, but the Beat seem uniquely placed to bring as many Athletica players as they want, if they're willing to make corresponding cuts to current players. For other teams, the idea of bringing in the entire St Louis core (e.g. Boxx, Chalupny, Solo, Aluko, Miyima) would be a complete pipe dream, but the Beat -- unless they've made stupid decisions with guaranteed contracts -- might actually be able to do it.
Druid, you must be reading my mind! Also, I would add Kia McNeil to your list of "untouchable" Beat players. But, yeah, if we could get the entire STL core and release some of our less productive players, we would have a dream team.
i'd love to see ashlyn harris in atl (yeah i know i've said it a lot XD) but i don't see o'sullivan dropping maron or whitworth-- and let's face it, if ash OR hope go to the beat, maron won't be starting-- and o'sullivan loves her. other than that, i totally agree with what's been said
Nice informed analysis. I can only watch broadcasted matches so I don't have much to go on, but I posted much the same in the last match thread. There was some good movement by Yamaguchi centrally in the first game that opened up some options. In the second though, it was very much just Bachmann and Rasmussen. Bachmann wasn't just running at 1 or 2 people either. Everyone else did so little that she was frequently playing against 6. When she got the ball near the 18, the opposing defense would line up and the two central midfielders would drop back, sit in front of them and push her out wide. No one else from the Beat posed enough of a threat off the ball, either by taking up good positions, or making good runs. Something is wrong when the opposition doesn't pay attention to you while you are attacking.
According to this article, Atlanta will sign Solo, Aluko, and Ellertson! Wow!!! http://mdjonline.com/bookmark/7757182
Same article mentions that Hamm and Sesselmann were released to make room on the roster. Aluko makes six internationals on the team now, so either the international player limit was bumped up or the team isn't done making moves. For that matter, there's now four keepers on the squad with Solo coming on board. Big risk, big reward obviously. The team should be markedly better, but repairing the team's roster probably took a big check. Still hope the midfield is addressed somehow.
Well, with the new talent now on the team, we should be able to see how the coaching changes (or appears to change). If Atlanta does not look a lot better defensively in midfield, scores some goals, & start winning games then I'd think O'Sullivan doesn't make it for 2011.
Per WPS transaction page, Blank added as a developmental player. I can't believe she couldn't find a full roster spot somewhere. By my count, Atlanta now has one too many players on the roster - 5 Saint Louis players in, only 4 out (Heath, Sesselmann, Schumacher-Hodge, Hamm).
"I’m thrilled with the selections we made,” said Beat Head Coach Gareth O’Sullivan. “The draft worked out exactly how we had planned, and every player will fit perfectly into our style of play.” - 9/22/2009 “We are ecstatic,” said General Manager Shawn McGee. “We had a plan coming into this and were able to select every player we targeted. We believe that these players will be the backbone of our team.” - 9/22/2009 Can't blame anyone or anything for poor results.
Can't blame anyone or anything for poor results.[/QUOTE] From the games I have seen the trainer sits quite passively on the side during the games. To my logic if the team was not playing to to his plan then surely he would be reacting and shouting instructions and help to the players on the field. As a result I can only conclude that he is happy with the teams' tactics, and as most of us know they are somewhat lacking! Once again the end result being, that the players conclude that they are doing just fine.
My observation as well. It is kind of frustrating to watch a team in desperate need of leadership and direction being given neither by the coaching staff during games.
I can't think of a single moment in the WUSA during a Beat game when Tom Stone wasn't coaching the women on his team. He was constantly giving direction & was a very effective coach. I'll admit that I was secretly hoping that Stone would come back to the Beat as head coach when they announced that Atlanta was getting a WPS team.
Me Too. I loved Tom Stone.He was a great coach with the Beat. Nobody could match his passion for the Team and the Game. Guess he chose the security of the job in Texas but wish he was Our Coach again. Nothing personal against Gareth except I think he should show some sideline coaching during the game urging on the Team when they got down on themselves.
IMO Coaching should be continuous especially during games when adjustments need to be made. Maybe our ideas of coaching are different, strategies can change during actual game play.
Exactly. The coach should be constantly giving directions to a team that's struggling as much as the Beat. If the Beat were in first place and played very consistently, then you would justify a coach not needing to say much during games. But that isn't the case. I think that the Beat can only improve with the implement of these new players. But, the time to turn a season around is getting shorter and shorter.