DCU's next coach? After seeing Ray continually lose control, and see what a *#*#*#*#ing pathetic line-up he used...who should be United's next coach? I do not have a clue, really. Only thing I know is I do NOT want Hristo coaching. Ideas? Suggestions?
If Hudson does end up leaving, and Adu comes here, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ellinger take the job. Although, if New England can't re-sign Nicol, then every resource this club has should be utilized to try and get him. He's just what this team needs.
Brian Bliss Ralph Perez Dom Kinnear Dennis Hamlet I'm not convinced Ellinger is or wants to be an MLS coach. Not disparaging the guy, but I'd rather not have to go through an adjustment periond with someone unfamiliar with the league. Get a top MLS assistant and give him a chance. NOT Steve Nicol. His strategy can be as droll and defensive as Hudson's at times. Plus, he met the standard for automatic renewal - .500 season.
Why not Mooch Myernick? Yes, he'd be an MLS retread, but he'd be a retread who has learned from his time under The Bruce at the highest stage of international competition. And let's not forget that he led the '97 Rapids, with much less talent than a couple of the teams in the West that seson, to the MLS Cup match. Not Ellinger - his tactics with the U-17s were awful, and at the MLS level tactics are just as important as motivating and developing talent.
Yeah I thought about Onaflo too, but wouldn't you think his rep will go way up if he stays as Arena's assistant thru 2006? Though definitely I would see DCU making a run at him.
Isn't Myernick coaching the Olympic team? Not likely he'd quit that job with the Olympics coming up next year.
I used to think otherwise but after some of his comments in Finland I think you're right. I get the impression that he's quite content coaching the U-17's too. Whoever the next coach is my primary hope is that we don't hire another MLS retread. Retreads have not done the job for us. (Actually, have retreads ever done the job anywhere? It seems like even the best retread can't get the MetroStars playing well.) I also think Curt Onalfo is an interesting candidate and, perhaps, my top choice.
My top three choices: 1. Gazza 2. John Harkes 3. Bora Bora Hey, after last night's dismal performance, I thought we could all use a laugh
No worries - Nicol's back in New England next year. Droll and defensive??? The same Steve Nicol that's coached the highest scoring team in the league the last two seasons?
Notice the word "at times." I think his offensive output has more to do with players (i.e. Twellman and Ralston) than the coach. The results are there, no doubt, but I'm not the biggest fan of Nicol, that's all. And remember, Ray coached the league's highest-scoring team before too.
1. Ellinger was an assistant with Columbus in MLS at one point. His teams have played MLS teams and the USMNT team a lot in scrimmages. I think he knows MLS reasonably well. He's also said that he dislikes the MLS single entity system, withdrew from consideration when previously being considered by DCU. 2. I like Myernick--alot. He brings a lot to the table (former player, former USMNT, knows MLS, currently coaches 4 of our players in the Olympic side, trusted significantly by Arena, coached the P-40 side that toured Europe--which is where Mapp won such accolades leading to the trade to Chicago). I can't say where he stands in terms of taking this job vs. the Olympics. Myernick would be my first choice. He stepped into a terrible Colorado situation (the A-league team was drawing more than the Rapids) and made that organization semi-respectable. He got canned (my understanding) b/c the players got tired of how he worked them and his standards. Gee--do we thing that would be such a bad thing for some of these guys (like Quaranta)? 3. Onalfo has to look good. His pro experience is mediocre (but then, look at Arena or Bradley's "playing" experience). He has ties to DCU, is local, knows many of the players well. And his ties to Arena...what a plus. And I think Myernick is really the #1 assistant there (especially once the Olympic qualifying is over). 4. I think Mo Johnston would get a look. Bradley brought him to Metros as an assistant, he knows the league, people say very good things about him. 5. I don't know Ralph Perez well but his credentials are good, very good. Before he got a lot of assisting gigs in MLS, he assisted Gansler with the USMNT (and they picked guys like Harkes, Ramos, Wynalda, etc. for the WC in Roma). 6. If Gansler is let go in KC, Payne has always thought well of him. I think he's been a candidate twice (and we first chose Arena, then chose Rongen) if my memory is correct. Say what you will about Gansler (and I don't like some of his trades and roster management), their side is the total opposite of DCU. They are organized, everyone knows their role, he demands work and defense from everyone. And his use of Preki shows he's willing to adapt to the talent he has. Olsen and Stewart would flourish in his system. Call him a retread--but like Myernick he's a guy I think would fit our needs very well--a good tactician, very organized systems, good game preparation. 7. Dominic Kinnear gets lots of praise and also glitter by association b/c of San Jose's success. How much is Yallop and how much is Kinnear? As a former WC-er, USMNT player he brings a lot to the table. The rest of the options (Dennis Hamlett, etc.) I would have to put much further down the list.
Before Bradley came in, MLS retread Octavio Zambrano was the only coach who had a winning percentage with the Metros that was over .500. I wouldn't call Hudson a "retread" - his club was folded under him after he had won coach of the year. I guarantee you that every MLS side with a vacancy would have called him had we not swooped in. Rongen, on the other hand, left NE in disgrace. He was a retread. Then again, he also led us to a title before the wheels came off. The league is relatively young to be talking about whether retread coaches have succeeded on any level - it's true that most don't. But if you look at other sports, there are a number of success stories for coaches who had mediocre or even horrible records at their first head coaching stops - Mike Shanahan, Chuck Daly, and Joe Torre are three. Good coaches learn from their previous mistakes and improve. Mooch Myernick was always a good coach - he's certainly the best one Colorado has ever had. We would be very lucky to have him in DC.
Didn't stop Sarachan from going to Chicago. I don't know about Curt, since he wasn't on Arena's staff before, but Mooch has had the experience of a World Cup already and might want to be the head coach of a professional side again.
..................................................................... Onalfo is an idiot, IMHO. He is responsible for the DCU poor physical training in the last Rontgen's year. The players were out of breath the last 10-15 min. of the games. That was a truely "idiot" training by Onalfo !!!
Ahhh, yes, but Sarachan left after the world cup was over. If Mooch and Curt did the same, than Mooch wouldn't be a canadate until after Athens 04, and Onaflo after Germany 06.
Out of those already involved in MLS, these would be my choices. Agreed. Though, he does know how to get his teams on a roll going into the playoffs, I'll give him that. Good call. We've seen what Arena's other proteges are capable of, and we certainly need someone that can get more out of less. Not only that, but you can't adapt the "Give it to Freddy and hope for the best" game plan when there's no player in MLS, much less in DC, that is that far ahead of his peers in terms of skill. I wouldn't mind that. Those with long memories might recall that he coached the team in the run up to the match against Aguila after Rongen was let go. We did pretty well that day...obviously it was a friendly, but we looked to attack throughout the whole team rather than through 2 players.
Ray is a tough call for me. There are times I want him gone, and there are times I think he's doing good all things considered. After yesterday, I'm leaning towards finding somebody new. Starting Hristo and Marco is just wrong. If Ray is being forced to by his bosses, that's one thing. If he went through a week of training (and 30 weeks of a season) and thought those two were the best starting options, he doesn't know the team. First, you have two defensive liabilities against Chicago, the best club in the league. Two old men who are not going to help you out on the defensive end is a killer. You guarantee using two subs around the hour mark right there, when you only have three to begin with. Not sure if it was Q1 & Q2 bringing the energy on with them, or the team just happy to get rid of the elder statesmen, but DC looked a lot better during the last thirty then the first sixty. They also looked like whiny bitches. The club completely lost their composure. That energy must be focused on getting back a goal, not at crying over every call. Even if the calls were all bad, you have to play the damn game. Ray going bananas on the side is not a good example, as Harkes pointed out, for a club who need composure to get back in the game. It was like seeing ten Clint Mathis's on the pitch at once. There is talent here, yet the club has not been able to form a consistent unit in the last four years. Changes do have to be made. Players must go (Hristo, don't waste five minutes bitching about the goal being disallowed when you are the assistant--be a leader dammit!) or else we'll be squeaking into the playoffs every year, if that. Mooch isn't a bad choice. Don't know much about Onalfo. I wouldn't mind seeing John Harkes come in if he had a strong assistant with him to help teach the coaching ropes. Things will be interesting this off-season.