The market for strikers

I like Razov and he played very well last year until he blew something out just before the playoffs. But again (like w/Gomez at DCU) I don't see FCD "falling in love" with a veteran MLS guy like Razov (esp. someone with no "pull" at the gate). The Toja and Richetti signings have clearly got the FO all jazzed up about going abroad and throwing money around at guys. The foreign players may help get that stubborn North Texas Hispanic crowd out to Frisco - that might be part of the theory here.

 

There is a little chicken and the egg. MF service isn't good, but then again, movement starts at the top. If you have a guy positng up in the middle, it makes the other forwards/wingers extremely static as well. It has a trickle down effect on the entire team.

What this team really needs is a creative passer. Playing Toja at attacking mid isn't the answer.

 

I know they need help finishing, but I kinda hope Razov isn't in the plans. Isn't this team lacking enough pace? Oduro and Ricardihno withstanding, FCD is very, very, slow. Might as well pull a Yallop and shorten the field.

 

I don't think he is, I just wanted to discuss him a little.

 

.....Next time you talk to them ask them why the fcuk they played him ALL THE TIME then....and why he wasn't "rested".....

 

Cooper is not slow. Maybe he doesn't look "quick" because of his size but he's got enough pace to beat most of the full backs in MLS to the goal line.

 

Actually, the even bigger question is if they didn't like they way he played, why in the hell do you name him captain?

I am starting to believe that there is way too much mixing of "Church and State" in the FCD organization. Marketing and Sales have way too much influence in how this team is run. Hitch is a good sales guy, but should never have been made GM. Bring in someone with experience who won't be a tool to be our Director of Football Operations. Relegate Hitch back to head of sales and bring in someone who can help Morrow evaluate talent and put a team together. In fact, bring in someone with MORE experience than Morrow who can be an embassador for the team and can slap Morrow around when he does his secret formation schtick.

Just because you can sell a ticket and have been around the league from day one doesn't mean that you can evaluate talent and put a roster together. And that is what a GM/director of football ops is supposed to do. The other teams in the league are getting their act together on this, and it is time FCD does as well before we fall even further behind the curve.

 

Maybe we were playing him and made him captain to increase his value on the open market as part of a long-term strategy to release him in the offseason.....(insert rimshot here)

 

I think the whole "we didn't like his playing style" is revisionist history. To England66's point, why continue to play him if you didn't like his play. Hell, they had no problem benching "the most important acquisition in team history" Denilson when he didn't work out. I call BS on that line of reasoning. They liked Ruiz plenty, they just didn't employ the kind of tactics that take advantage of Ruiz's skills.....and now they want to blame it on Ruiz. This club has a history of slamming former players. They question their talent, their desire, their teamwork or their attitude. Then said players go on to play extremely well with their new club. Mulrooney, O'Brien, Vanney.....the list is long. Now Ruiz is the latest victim of FCD's penchant for "blaming the dead guy". It's what bad organizations do when they don't want to accept the blame.

 

My comments were based on talking to members of the coaching staff last season.

 

I have a hard time believing it was anyone that was in charge of making the lineup, then.

 

cause he was still better than the next option, unlike denilson.

 

But now we're less than 2 months from kickoff and it seems that what we have is the exact same as last year minus the guy who was the best option and the odds of signing someone that's the equal of Ruiz before some time in the summer is getting dimmer everyday.

 

well yes cause they are builing a new team.

You know any coach that builds a team around a player once they decide the player doesn't fit what they want?

 

because it's a cycle of suck to change the coach every year.

 

P.S. Welcome to HSG fandom.

It's not going to change until the owner changes. You're just beating your head against a wall.

Serisouly you might as well pick another team.

 

I know someone who had her son on one of Diego's teams and I can attest, he is ahead of most area youth coaches in what he teaches and expects of his players at that age. It really is impressive. But he can be difficult to play for. The kids who come out of his team are like mini-professionals.

 

I just got a funny chuckle when I thought about what your posts would be if HSG hired a U12 coach to run FCD if it wasn't a U12 coach you suggested.


Have you tried writing letters and emails to the Hunts and HSG? You really have a great deal of anger and venting it to this board won't change anything. If you are really upset take some action that might get some results. The only way to get what you want is to convince Clarke and Dan Hunt to do what you are suggesting. It will never happen otherwise cause Hitch is a ticket salesmen, not a soccer guy.

 

I will agree with Theo that there exists a "cycle of suck" in regards to coaching hires. And I think HSG is on the hook for that particular problem. They have shown zero vision when it comes to hiring coaches to run their teams. They are way too comfortable going with retreads and promoting assistants of coaches they had to fire due to failure to meet objectives. Their own real "break out" hire was Sigi Schmid for Columbus, because he was an AEG guy and cost more than peanuts. But he was still a retread. I look forward to the day that HSG takes a risk and brings a new face to the American coaching ranks.

As for the "cycle of suck" in regards to play, I'm not buying into it. I think last season was a dissapointment in terms of tactics, but the talent on the pitch is clearly at or above MLS levels. FCD had the best record in the West in 2006. We've made the playoffs 3 consecutive seasons. I think its obvious that FCD has been in the top half of teams in the league over the last 5 years. Sure, that isn't exactly a high standard, but it is the only fair standard to hold them to. They operate within MLS, play against MLS competition and have to adhere to MLS salary cap and roster restrictions. I'd say the talent on the roster is pretty darn good considering what else is available around the league. I complained about the disregarding of youth talent under Clarke, and Morrow has done a good job of reversing that trend. I believe the youth on this roster is as promising as any in the league. For all the doomsday disaster scenarios that you can come up with, Theo, I can comeback with promising developments for the future. It's just how you care to look at it. As for the coaching situation, I think it's pretty clear that if Morrow doesn't win something this year, if he doesn't at least get them to MLS Cup, then he's probably on his way out the door. And I don't think they'll go back to the "promoted assitant" well one more time if that does happen.

 

I think its pretty darn clear already we are not going to an MLS Cup. We will be lucky to make it to the playoffs.

If we go into this season with the roster as-is - we will average less than a goal a game. Guaranteed. Less than 30 goals this season.

I don't know if the problem is the coach or the FO that is tying hands and making dumb decisions. I had no real problems with the Morrow hire from the beginning. I think he is a competent coach. That said, I still would not have made that hire. It was uninspired and too close to the original apple tree we were supposedly getting away from.

My thinking is that the FO is making soccer personnel decisions - for what purposes I do not know. Saving money (Ruiz), trying to sell tickets (Denilson) - but IT AIN'T working.

Now maybe Ruiz tired of Dallas - maybe he wanted to go back to LA. But Morrow made Ruiz the captain one year, supported him all season - and then we ship him out and say he was a locker room problem. I don't buy it. I think Morrrow wanted / needed him but the FO is forcing personnel decisions on the team and they are screwing it up.

Maybe I am wrong - but I don't see any big name coming to score Ruiz's goals before July and by then it will be too late. Even in MLS. San Jose will end up with a better record than us.

 

All I have to say to the above is go back and look at the preseason rankings and tell me how many were very accurate. Sure, a lot of people had Houston going back to the final, but everyone had DCU has world beaters. No one had Chivas as 2nd best team in the West. This league is hard to peg down. Do you really think, if this team is mired in a low scoring hell come June that they won't go out and get someone to help? I don't see it.

 

This is the realization I have come to also. Call it parity, bad quality, whatever, but anybody - well not RSL - can win in any given year.

I think our future is brighter than most given our "farm system" and the chance that our young guys will be able to develop/mature together over the next couple of years. Sprinkle in some well-thought-out DP/veteran talent, and we should be contenders for years to come.

Are we favorites this year? Absolutely not. Can we make the playoffs? I think it'd be a disappointment if we don't given our talent level. If things go right, can we make a run at some silverware? It's not outside the realm of possibility.