I an attempt to consolidate discussion about the unreal ineptitude we saw Saturday night, what did we learn? 1. Colin Clarke is not superman - but I am happy to see what he can do for 4 more games. 2. Shavar Thomas and Behnke are NOT MLS starters. Thomas may one day be, Behnke never should be. They were shredded all night because they couldn't handle basic defense skills - holding the line and man-marking. Awful. 3. Landon is fast as sh**. I was honestly surprised he did not get a hat trick. I was actually kind of pulling for him to do it - 2 hat tricks in 2 games would have been kind of cool. 4. Our 3 forward line is interesting and somewhat dangerous. On those left to right runs at the top of the box that EJ makes like 5 times a game - once I would like to see him try a left-footed shot instead of passing back to the center circle. 5. We still suck. 6. That first goal SJ got was total BS and lack of focus. I swear I thought Jefferies was still the coach. Absolutely no excuse. 7. Oscar Pareja has nothing left in the tank. I thought he had very little positive impact on the game - and this is our central mid. 8. We need Steve Morrow back. He may not ever anchor a 4 x 100 relay team - but he organizes the defense well and makes few mental lapses. That's all our defense does now. 9. Greg Elliot can talk a good game and does not lack for confidence. But our man Paul Bremer in Baghdad may have an easier job than selling season tickets for the Dragon next season.
10. You don't get into a slugfest with a big puncher. 11. Suarez was a better defender than Ezra. 12. Deering was missed, Stone was invisible. 13. Add Dunseth to the list of Thomas and Behncke of not MLS ready defenders. Broome was better than all three of these guys, and that is not saying much. 14. Pareja needs to adjust the aim of his riffle. His two best chances went high. 15. Jeff Cassar: feast or famine. He either gets a shutout or gives up the five spot (although in both 5 goal games the defense gave him no chance) 16. All this talk about "Speed kills" is an incomplete statement. Tactics combined with skilled speed kills. 17. San Jose is damn good.
All great points. We lost to the best, and our offense did great. San Ho should win it all and I'll be pulling for them.
18. Curtis needs to work on his finishes. 19. EJ needs more work on his developement. 20. Both players on 18. & 19. showed hard work & determination. 21. Send Dunseth, Thomas and Behnke to the firing squad. They're not fit to be defenders. 22. Paraja's & Morrow's playing time has come to the end. 23. Suarez was Better Than Ezra (sorry but someone had to say it). 24. Still miss the Cotton Bowl 25. Dragon Stadium sucks 26. Agree with Northside Rover's 1. 27. Focus more on defenders and midfielders (defensive and playmaking mids) for the 2004 draft.
After a season of Jeffries, I got used to that sick feeling in my stomach when the other team scored: I knew we were good for only one goal a game. Focusing on the positive, I didn't have that same feeling watching this game. Watching the players and how active they were up top, I felt we always had a chance. On reflection, the game was a lot of fun to watch with chances on both sides. Unlike a lot of games this season, both teams tried to win; neither team tried not to lose. We still suck, but it's in the back. We have a lot of guys who know how to score, like to score and our getting better at doing it. Maybe we should use the "we suck" allocation on a defensive midfielder who is willing to place the team on his shoulders, a la Alvarez. With the potential we have up top and in the midfield, and a captain who demands only the best from the midfield and back, we could start to turn things around next season.
Well, if you played in the middle of a defensive line that saw Ezra caught upfield on a regular basis, and Dunseth giving it away, then you'd probably want to be traded. If Clarke doesn't know how to tell Ezra to limit his pushes, then someone else should coach the team. And if Clarke takes out the leading scorer at 75 minutes when the Burn are behind, then maybe he shouldn't be coaching at all. Benhcke has NO place pushing. If he stayed committed to a 3 man backline, Ezra wouldn't have been exposed so much. The offense played well enough to win. Any team going into San Jose should be concentrating on keeping 4 back to guard against counters. Let your midfield combine with your forwards to produce offense. Stop sending defenders forward, especially on small fields with fast forwards on counters!!! Oscar is done. Taking long range, low percentage shots when you have a wide open EJ - is downright unforgiveable. Same with Vaca. Forwards open in dangerous positions and he shoots long range. Second rate, waste of time/energy/planning. No wonder EJ gets frustrated. It is nice, however, to see him happy with Curtis/Nhleko. My little brother could've coached this one better. I'm immensely disappointed in Clarke for his gameplan. If I don't see a stronger committment to defensive positioning, I'm gonna call Dave Dir and beg him to come back.
Judging from the "defense" that we often saw from the Burn back when Big Dave was the coach, I don't think that he would be a huge improvement.
I question that we've learned anything all season except that Sucklack was a terrible, terrible mistake. Every player trade, Kreis's injury, every over the top giveaway goal, every lost possession, it all came down to playing a crap surface that was so bad that the team cannot practice on it to obtain a home field advantage. Even the coaching change. It gags me to think we have to go through this all over again. The only good thing that can come out of this year is that the Burn finally get an allocation that is the best player in the league.
Dir wasn't the answer, and neither was Jeffries. Time to go find ourselves another coach, and hopefully this one works.
I wouldn't be so sure. While the field will still suck and injuries may come, I think they team will be more ready and use it's speed next season. I don't see this happening 2 seasons in a row, we should do well next season. lets forget this all and move on.... 2003 = year of hell