You honestly believe after watching a coach act as a puppet master to 11 year olds that he is more tactically advanced than a guy that played for Arsenal for 10 years? Here's the real test, tell the coach to sit quietly on the bench and see how his players perform without his constant instructions.
While I'm not sure what Theo's point is by brining up Diego...I can tell you he isn't one of those types of youth coaches. He doesn't communicate with his players with any more frequency than what you see from the average professional coach.
I'd say the quality and quantity of communication coming from the touchline was far better than what I've witnessed from other coaches of the same age group. But each to their own.
I'm not saying anything other than what I am saying. And if what I have said is that confusing, I've obviously done a poor job. So, let me explain. No, let me sum it up. Strictly speaking about the team tactics when in possession of the ball, nothing else, the baby FCD team showed better ideas in how to build an attack, (for my aesthetic tastes, and my subjective opinion as to what type of team tactics would best work for the Texas climate), than the senior pro side. And, please don't say or think that I am saying that a youth team is tactically more advanced than a senior pro team. I am just saying that the overall idea of how to advance the ball from one end of the field to the other was more sophisticated and superior to the way that FCD senior uses to do the same. Not that the individual or group tactics are superior. Of course they are not. The kids used a modern possession style of attacking soccer. The point of "hearing" the coach, is just evidence that the ideas come from him. Sometimes you see a team play great soccer in spite of a coach. Sometimes, you just can't tell, because the coach's work was done during the week. The point of bringing this up, is that we need the big picture type of attack that the baby FCD team uses. That's all. That, and one day, we will go back to a style that fits our climate. To do that, we need someone who can implement such a style of play. Castro knows the style. He certainly would be worth tapping for ideas on how the senior side might implement such a system.
Having played for Dallas in that climate one would think Morrow would consider it. Does the shift to a 3-5-2 / 3-4-3 indicate he has overcome a natural bias?
it goes against my nature, but yeah I agree. I'm inclined to believe that this type of formation is an attempt to address the lack of width issue. Maybe last year they hoped the outside backs in the flat four would give them that type of width in penetration, but the plan failed. With the 3-5-2 and removing so much of the defensive responsibilities for the "carrileros", it seems as though they plan to have guys flying down the flanks when the ball is switched. But, for this to work, they need a guy that can show for ball in the middle and switch the point of attack. This guy is not Nunez, this guy is not Denilson, and this guy is not Toja. Dax is the most qualified to do this. But, I'd much rather get a veteran for a year or so until he becomes Dax becomes the man.
I think that's where many of us are at with this thing. Who is going to control the point of attack? Toja is just going to dribble around with the ball like a crazy person....he doesn't make the quick pass. Dax might not be ready....I'd really, really like to see him get a lot of time in the preseason to see if he's better than we are giving him credit for. It was only a glimpse or two, but I distinctly recall him making some very nifty passes from the midfield...the kind of passes one would expect from a #10. I dont' know if he can do it consistently, but it would be great for us to find that talent at that age...we'd be set for years. Alvarez is a clear "no" in my mind. Mina was originally an attacking midfielder in his youth days. I can say I've ever seen an ability to "see" the pitch from him, but he was so intent on bull rushing his way towards goal, I don't think it was his first priority. I can't see them going out and acquiring a #10.....anyone who could do it reliably would be too expensive.
"By all reports" Dax has had a great U-23 camp (plus he's been wearing #10 there ) so I bet that he shows enough in preseason to get the starting nod to begin the season. If Dax struggles mightily and no one else on the roster proves capable, then maybe they should look to bring someone in mid-season. But I'm inclined to let me prove himself for a couple months rather than trying to find a expensive washed-up vet right now.
Thank you Inigo Montoya I undestand your point now and actually agree. Now for another Princess Bride quote that is fitting for FCD fans, I leave you with "To the pain."
My thinking on the FO's role in the Ruiz trade is something like this: a. The guy was only as popular here as the number of goals he was scoring. If he's scoring a lot of goals, people loved him or at least put up with him. If he's not, it didn't take long for people to start bitching and moaning about his behavior. b. The front office is aware of (a) and is aware of his high price tag and so when the decision is made as to whether or not to keep him around, (a) plays a factor in the decision. In other words, I really do think that "fan feedback" (to use the term charitably) made a difference in the decision. And if your primary role is to sell tickets and if your area of expertise is selling tickets, of course it's going to make a difference. Hey, you want to keep your customers happy, and if those customer bitch and moan about a particular player, it's probably easier to ship that player off for a sack of beans. And in my opinion, that's a huge mistake. By and large, fans are idiots and fans are fickle. It's the reason why I think that the San Jose Earthquakes will be a huge failed bit in 2008, even more so than an expansion team usually is. They've been making too much of an effort to sign popular former players and coaches, irrespective of whether they're good players and coaches for the money. But with every passing day after the trade with no marked upgrade in the roster, it appears that the trade was no a means to an end, it was an end unto itself. I disagree on San Jose. They'll be truly horrible this year. But hey, any comparisons will likely be a question of who's top turd on the dungheap.
Maybe I'm just naive, but I don't see the FO being able to operate in that manner for very long. No head coach is going to allow them to make those kinds of personnel decisions and stick around to deal with the mess. Sure, I can see them actually acquiring someone....like a Denilson....for reasons other than pure competitive needs. But I can't see them trading away a current asset, without the coaching staff's approval, for reasons outside of the pitch. Bottom line, I don't buy that Morrow wasn't mostly in agreement with this move. I don't believe that the FO has that kind of control over every player decision. Hell, I don't like the Ruiz trade either....but I'm willing to give to believe that Morrow has reasons for what he's doing. I don't always agree with his tactics, but I don't think he's a bumbling idiot either.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think that they ran roughshod over Morrow. But when they're getting together with Morrow in the offseason and discussing the direction of the team going forward, I think it's in the back of their minds when presenting their views and it's helping to drive their side of the discussion. And let's face it -- Ruiz didn't score 20 goals last year and he was eating up $400,000 under the cap, so Morrow was going to be at least a little predisposed to being brought on board with this trade, especially if they emphasized the added cap flexibility and the ability to bring in "his" guys. And if your bosses are giving you that sort of encouragement, it makes going along with them even easier. After all, hey, you might like having one of the league's all-time best scorers on your roster at the age of 28, but you can do a lot with $400k plus whatever allocation money LA is sending, and it's not like Ruiz is completely irreplaceable. Whatever. I'm not going to pretend that I know that this is the way it's all gone down, but given that Steve Morrow doesn't strike me as a dumb guy, and given that this upper management has been prone to helping make dumb personnel decisions, I can envision it.
I am more interested in Buzz's recently hinted future article on Ruiz. There have been hints also from others that Morrow was not happy with the lack of movement and the post up play of Ruiz in place of Morrow's preferred style of forward movement from all. If the guy with the largest salary is not really productive and not playing the way you want you either change they team's style or get rid of the player. Morrow is the one staking his future to the decision and he decided to keep his style and get players to buy into it. I agree with him on sticking to his guns BUT in the end it needs to work. If the offense is bad with or without new players it will be his job. Ruiz may score a bunch for the Gals but he was not going to here.