Well after about a total of 60 hours of having this up, I need to change a whole lot of things. I am not going to complain, the change is more than welcome.
After my initial shock the news wore off, my thoughts on what I expect Kreis to do right now:
Motivation-It was pretty apparent that the team as a whole and certain players in particular need someone to light a fire under them. This is an immediate change.
Attitude-The team needs that winning attitude. I hate to use the way overused sports cliché, but they need that eye of the tiger, they have not had that. Mehdi Ballouchy, I love your play, but damn, take a shot, be the dagger man looking to stick it in the heart of the other team. Also I expect the veterans to take this like the professionals they are and step up and provide leadership.
Conditioning-There is no excuse why a lowland team can come up to altitude and be able to run with RSL for 90 minutes. There is no excuse for Louis Tejada to look like a traffic cone this far into the season. There was no excuse for him to show up to camp looking like a traffic cone in the first place.
These are things that can be done right now that will have huge impact on the team. More than anything else, the attitude needs to change. If the rest of the team had the same want to win attitude as a few like Kreis and Talley and were willing to put it out on the pitch for a full 90 minutes, Ellinger would still be the head coach and would have had a winning record this year. Ultimately the players are responsible for getting their coach fired. The biggest problem under Ellinger was that the inmates ran the asylum. That needs to change. Long term, I expect to see people who are not contributing and are being problems to sit, no matter what their names are. If the ship is going to be righted, this needs to happen above all else. Once the coach is no longer in charge, the whole team goes downhill and that is what happened with Ellinger. For three years sometimes it looked like the players were just out to collect their paycheck. For God's sake some of you players, you're getting paid to play soccer, get the passion of Talley and don't act like it's just your job there are millions who would sell their soul to get to do what you do every day and get paid for it!
So coach Kreis, good luck! I won't be calling for your head just yet, but if there is not a change in attitude in the team, don't be surprised if the chants start coming.
I think more than anything though, as long as fans can see the players leave everything out on the pitch, win or lose that can be accepted. If you do that and can get the players to do that, you'll win way more than you lose.
