offseason needs
This entry was posted on 10/27/2007 8:29 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Ben H. made a comment that he there are a couple of things that need to happen for RSL to succeed in the offseason. For the most part I agree.
First, Kreis must mature as a coach. I can buy this, I do want to see what he does with a whole year complete with an offseason. One thing I think goes in line with maturity is professionalism. It is not professional as a coach to only play those he is comfortable with and likes, like Chris Brown at the expense of doing what is truly best for the team. I think it's sad how many guys don't seem to get much of a chance, for example Jamie Watson (and it's completely unprofessional to call him out in the press for not finishing shots, especially in a game where Watson was the only one with shots).
On field leader. I think this is Kyle Beckerman. I think this was part of why he was brought in. Carey Talley also seems like a choice, but I would prefer Beckerman because it looked a lot of the time like Talley didn't care last season, unlike in 2006. If we could get the 2006 Carey Talley back, he's the choice, but I don't think we will get that.
Now, back line help. Positioning and marking. It seems to all come down to that. I noticed a huge difference in their play when Robin Frasier came in as a coach. At left back, Willis Forko and Jean Martial Kipre both are young talents who have speed, but miss the positioning part of their game. Chris Lancos can't mark to save his life. Mantilla I think just needs to get used to how the league plays and he will be fine. He got a lot of yellows that probably would not have been cards in Argentina, so give him time. I like Wingert on the right, especially when he gets up into the offense where he can cross the ball. He's one of the best crossers on the team. Kotschau is ok coming off the bench and can start in a pinch, but he's not outstanding and is on the wrong side of 30 to be a solution past this coming year, but does provide good depth. I think this is where you draft and pick up someone who can start immediately.
God I hate silly season. Playoffs, well I only care about MLS when RSL is involved. Live football is better than TV, but if i'm watching football on TV, about every other league that is on is better than MLS.
