This may be true and I'm certainly no Gansler-hater, but why the hell is Gutierrez playing sweeper/central defense all of a sudden? He's horrible back there and Donovan made him his personal b*tch most of the game. He's too small back there regardless, and he's not that fast. What happened to Talley in the middle back there? Is he injured? He played a few minutes as a sub on Sat. so he's not THAT injured. Zotinca is horrible yet he plays. I'd go back to the lineup you used at the beginning of the year (Gomez in for Zotinca; Talley at central defense; whoever's available up top), and stick to it. The recent lineups have been horrible and while that doesn't make Gansler an idiot, it doesn't make him look too sharp either.
OK, lets get some of this venting out on the airwaves. Call in to 1340 KCKN 5:00-6:00, phone number is 816-576-7639.
Dallas Morning News is reporting that Mo Johnson is one of 6 finalists as the new gaffer in Dallas/Southlake. Also in the running are Schellas Hyndman, head coach of SMU, and Dominic Kinnear former USNT, Clash and Rapids player and currrently the SJ asst. coach. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/soccer/stories/103003dnspoburnlede.1b400.html
You guys are still saying Gansler should be fired? I figured it would be the Rapids fans beating that drum right now. (10/30/03.) Which way's the wind blowing?
My opinion hasnt changed. We knew when the topic came up that we would be in the playoffs no matter how bad we were down the stretch beacuse Dallas was so bad. In summary IMO: Ganlser should be fired due to the overall performance of the last three seasons, unless the Wizards make it to the MLS Cup. (I believe he probably should still go, but a coach taking his team to the final won't get fired)
I agree, I think he should still go no matter what, but I don't expect it. ALso, even if he wins the Cup, it will not make up for the three crap years I've sat through. It will be a miracle.
If I were GM, he would've been fired long ago. But then, I'm not the GM. Gansler will not be fired. I hope he quits.
stomping the buds of dc arrogance... Wow! You sound like a dc fan. "We are destined for glory. [We] are the best organization in all of sport. We must win every game or the sky is falling. I, I, I, I, I." -dc fan of years thankfully past Out of beer in your 'fridge'? Diaper need changing? Sliver in your paw? Or did someone just piddle in your coffee? Seriously, "3 crap years"?!? You did see KC finished second in the West, right? Like Ben, I don't think the playoff result should have much negative bearing on firing a coach. You can't call '03 a crap year by any stretch or argument. The 9-game winless streak was bad...and somehow KC still has home field. The year wasn't crap. You can call '02 poor, but not crap. 1 game under and KC was crap offensively, but average on D. Not a crap team. I don't think you can even call '01 crappy exactly. 2 games under. Not bad considering the heart of the team was shipped to Miami and the only consistent clutch scorer in Wizards history retired to exercise 8 hours a day. Especially so when you consider KC played 10 games in 7 cities and 3 countries in August that year...or something unprecidentedly (is that a word?) rediculous like that. Point of fact: Vermeil had a more than losing record in his first two years here. Nobody calling for his head. DV didn't win a title here either like BG did. Don't blame BG that the Wizards' marketers can't measure up as a department. If someone would have told you in March that KC would win 4 of their last 5 games going in to the playoffs, have the best offense in MLS for 4 months, improve 6 full points above last season, earn second in the West, finish ahead of LA, have a bad trade midseason, and do so lacking 1 starting defender, any production from rookies or forwards for the entire season; and consequently lacking anything resembling a constant lineup; I'm reasonably certain everyone on the board would have taken it. Taken it quickly in leiu of the train wreck the season would have been under a lesser coach.
Who is the jackass jumpstarted this topic again? I thought you all agreed that I was right… Even if he wins the cup some of you still want him gone? Wow. Two cups in what four years? That’s not enough? Wouldn’t an average manager win it every ten years since it’s a ten team league? To quote the great Al Gore maybe I’m using fuzzy mathematics.
If he makes it to the final I say he stays. A final appearence every 3 years would be quite acceptable for me. A chance at the trebble would be even better. I don't think it will happen under Gansler. Whether it be Gansler or the players on his teams he really doesn't have that great of a record in tournaments.
Yes, I believe you are. An average manager has almost zero chance of ever winning a title. Only the best takes it every year. An average manager either has to have the far and away best team and luck, OR the average guy has to capture luck and lightning in a bottle while performing several feet over his own head. Average never gets either done.
Fire Bill Self, he hasn't won anything yet! OK, he is 3-4 in the USOC. All 4 losses coming to MLS teams and/or teams from Chicago. In the Cup playoffs he has a 5-5-2 record with a series mini-game win. Again, not that great of a record. Then again .500 in the playoffs is a high standard, no? Also consider that the record reflects a KC team that either was the 1 seed or was playing the 1 seed. KC's only MLS Cup title and all USOC wins are under Gansler. If what you seek is perfection you're not going to find it. If you want improvement, BG's already given it to you.
Thats a matter of opinion. I'm not exactly sure if I'm black or white on the issue, but Wynalda recently wrote on MLSnet.com that at the professional level coaches aren't really needed. I tend to believe the same. The coach to me at this level is there to 1) motivate and 2) keep people from arguing over positions (which would happen if no authority figure existed) and 3) make substitutions. But once the guys are on the field and know their position, coaches don't matter. Gansler doesn't appear, at least from the outside looking in, to be a great motivator or make good substitutions.
Coaches are also important for developing young talent. Gansler also seems to be lacking in this area
Garcia has turned out pretty well, and Burciaga has been good when he's healthy. Otherwise, what young talent?
Brian Bliss is now in the running for the new Burn HC. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/soccer/stories/103103dnsposocshort.54763.html
Theres the more important point. Gansler doesn't seem to trust younger players. Or maybe he doesnt trust himself to develope younger players. Either way, he doesnt bring in a lot of young talent and only plays them when he's forced to by injury or suspension.
That opinion would have more validity if he had any experience as a pro level coach. I wonder if MoJo would admit the same after a few pints in a pub. I doubt it. In much the same vein that you mentioned players would fight over positions, players would also have varrying directions sans coaching. Much like 10 people paddling a liferaft in different directions, the boat goes nowhere. I'd be inclined to believe that coaching at the pro level is tremendously more complicated than the simple rowing analogy. [Devil's adv]Also if coaches are not integral then why fire Bob? Someone must be integral to bringing in players. Only one other guy in the equation - fire his tail.[/DA]
I think that is a fair knock on KC. The root might be BG's past experience, a sound decision in a 10 team league to go with proven experience, or lack or forsight from the braintrust at draft time. Either way KC has not had much success on draft day. Conrad and Garcia being the notable exceptions since 1999. An interesting question to ask CJ would be for him to explain (in detail, not condecending layman's terms) how decisions are made come draft time. Who's finally responsible for the decisions. In other words the exact process of how new players are evaluated and rated pre-draft and ongoing into the season. CJ isn't likely to answer with anything other than a vanilla "it's a joint effort" deflection answer.
I may be wrong but the way I read Wynalda's statement was that at the professional level you didn't need someone to "coach" the players, that work should have been already done as the player developed. At the pro level "coaching" wasn't necessary, the players needed only to be managed. That's why their called managers everywhere else.
Credit where credit is due. It's the 85th minute, we're leading 3-1 on aggregate, and we've got an obviously spent forward - Wolde Harris. Instead of packing back to protect the lead by sending on Chris Brunt, Bob sends in another younger faster forward, Davy Arnaud, to help keep the pressure upfield. Well done.