De Vos: Making a case for - and against - Mo Johnston

[johnmolinaro]

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2009/09/making_a_case_for_and_against.html

John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

[RPB_RED_NATION_RPB]

The team's lack of goals do not come from MO JOHNSTON....MO has built a decent team in his 3 years at TFC..its the systems the team plays...its the choices of strikers up front....Its the decision making of one man...CHRIS CUMMINS!

If mo has'nt done one thing right at TFC...it's been his abilty to find a coach to lead the team he has built.. other then that i support MO JOHNSTON %100!

Cummins may be a great assistant....but he's not ready to lead this team!

[felipe]

Mo needs someone to save him from his own ego.

Mo is great at finding talent.

Mo needs someone to tell him what holes need filling.

Mo needs to fill holes and then step back and let the manager manage.

Mo needs direction.

Mo needs to read up on loyalty.

Oh, great blog, BTW

[CoachGT]

Jason's comments are fair and accurate, although they miss a couple of more "Fors" and "Againsts".



For:

Mo's drafting in prior years has been solid and will continue to provide Toronto with quality young players.
The development of young players at the club, including the development of the academy. While an academy is mandated by MLS, the foundations are there for the future.
Againsts

In the first year, some people may have seen this as a strength, but the continual player movement has been a problem. TFC seems to be a revolving door. Perhaps that is the way it is in MLS, but it doesn't seem that every team, especially the leaders, change players as much as we do.
Continually bringing in players with European experience. The Gambians were a good start, and Vitti gave us hope, and maybe the Euro players brought in fit with the style of play, but there is less "southern" (South American) influence here than with other clubs. Is this just a weakness in our scouting, or an issue with being able to find value?
Overall, I think Mo has done a good job with this club. I still have some questions about style of play, and recognize that players do not necessarily want to come to Toronto. But the fuse is a little shorter if this team doesn't show significant improvement soon.

[rocker]

good article by De Vos. fair comment.

[Lucky Strike]

Like I've said in many other threads, the blame lies with the head coach. No, Barrett and Cronin aren't natural wingers, but they do put in good crosses from time to time (I do recognize that good crosses all the time would obviously be better though).

We also have a natural winger in Brennan, where he's much more effective than at LB but he's often forced to play there because we had no cover. We have that in Fellinga now, give him a whirl.

Our central defense needs more work because I'd always play Attakora at RB, because I think Wynne is much more effective at RM, when he's freed of defensive responsibilities. Gomez is good but still developing and while Serioux can be very good as well, he does get beat more frequently than is normal. Garcia can be very effective only if the opposition plays in front of the defence rather than trying to slip behind. It only takes a moment for the opposing coach to realize this and switch it up, making Garcia inadequate. And we finally got rid of Marco "El Clanger" Velez, which is a positive step no matter what you think of Mo Johnston.

The center of midfield is very good but our strikers have been sputtering. Part of the problem is that they have little service despite our midfield and I actually think JDG can help a lot there if he plays in a box-to-box role as he does with the CMNT. He can link the play with effective and precise passes, can actually hold onto the ball for significant periods (even with guys on him) and should help place TFC in a position to have more attacks on goal. Given that, DeRosario and Gerba should be OK upfront; they're both quality players.

So why does the team seem miserable despite apparently only missing an ingredient or two? It's the coach; we need a different one and someone who can organize the players, have them stick to a system of some kind and extract the best from those players.

[Damien]

How about since our season is just about fucked, give White and Gerba the shot at starting striker!

[Ageroo]

How about since our season is just about fucked, give White and Gerba the shot at starting striker!

I am more inclined to give Gerba the starting role up front, but maybe the pairing of the 2 can work as well...what else do we have to lose.

[SilverSamurai]

Give Edwards a shot in goal as well.
Poor kid deserves a shot.

[jloome]

Like I've said in many other threads, the blame lies with the head coach. No, Barrett and Cronin aren't natural wingers, but they do put in good crosses from time to time (I do recognize that good crosses all the time would obviously be better though).

We also have a natural winger in Brennan, where he's much more effective than at LB but he's often forced to play there because we had no cover. We have that in Fellinga now, give him a whirl.

Our central defense needs more work because I'd always play Attakora at RB, because I think Wynne is much more effective at RM, when he's freed of defensive responsibilities. Gomez is good but still developing and while Serioux can be very good as well, he does get beat more frequently than is normal. Garcia can be very effective only if the opposition plays in front of the defence rather than trying to slip behind. It only takes a moment for the opposing coach to realize this and switch it up, making Garcia inadequate. And we finally got rid of Marco "El Clanger" Velez, which is a positive step no matter what you think of Mo Johnston.

The center of midfield is very good but our strikers have been sputtering. Part of the problem is that they have little service despite our midfield and I actually think JDG can help a lot there if he plays in a box-to-box role as he does with the CMNT. He can link the play with effective and precise passes, can actually hold onto the ball for significant periods (even with guys on him) and should help place TFC in a position to have more attacks on goal. Given that, DeRosario and Gerba should be OK upfront; they're both quality players.

So why does the team seem miserable despite apparently only missing an ingredient or two? It's the coach; we need a different one and someone who can organize the players, have them stick to a system of some kind and extract the best from those players.

Mo's entire job is to hire competent people. He hasn't done that, under any analysis of "blame", so guess what? He's just as much to blame as they are.

[jloome]

This blog accurately sums it up.

I'd also argue that DeVos gets it a little easier in pointing out how strong our midfield in, as he hasn't factored team politics into the decision making process, i.e. playing Carl Robinson, whose game appears in decline, over Cronin as the holder.

At the start of the season, we felt a bit weak on the wings, very weak in the middle of the defense and very weak at striker. Since then, we've taken patchover attempts at all three, without much success.

[Lucky Strike]

Mo's entire job is to hire competent people. He hasn't done that, under any analysis of "blame", so guess what? He's just as much to blame as they are.

?

Never said Mo wasn't blameless.

P.S. Say the word "blame" many times in a row. When it loses its meaning and sounds like just a random sound, it's pretty funny.

[Shakes McQueen]

Jason's comments are fair and accurate, although they miss a couple of more "Fors" and "Againsts".



For:

Mo's drafting in prior years has been solid and will continue to provide Toronto with quality young players.
The development of young players at the club, including the development of the academy. While an academy is mandated by MLS, the foundations are there for the future.

Againsts

In the first year, some people may have seen this as a strength, but the continual player movement has been a problem. TFC seems to be a revolving door. Perhaps that is the way it is in MLS, but it doesn't seem that every team, especially the leaders, change players as much as we do.
Continually bringing in players with European experience. The Gambians were a good start, and Vitti gave us hope, and maybe the Euro players brought in fit with the style of play, but there is less "southern" (South American) influence here than with other clubs. Is this just a weakness in our scouting, or an issue with being able to find value?

Overall, I think Mo has done a good job with this club. I still have some questions about style of play, and recognize that players do not necessarily want to come to Toronto. But the fuse is a little shorter if this team doesn't show significant improvement soon.

I think this is a fair analysis. I'm inclined to see who the new coach is that Mo hires, and if the team gets off on the wrong foot again next season, it's time for him to go. I don't buy into the five year plan nonsense.

I'm also not sure if it's fair to put all of the blame on Mo for Cummins - Cummins had done a good job initially, and when Carver leaving put Mo in a bad spot, I think most of us agreed Cummins deserved a shot at the job.

Now that we've seen he hasn't worked out, it's up to Mo to find a veteran, experienced head coach who will do this job properly. If Mo drops the ball on that, it's time for him to pack his bags - possibly even after the first handful of games next season.

I'm generally a pretty patient, optimistic supporter - but my patience with Mo is not limitless. I give him this offseason to patch the holes, and get a coach with the experience, or he's gone. Enough fucking around - this team's problems are well known, and it's a combination of a lack of scoring prowess, and tactical ineptness.

EDIT: I should add though, that I absolutely see a strong argument for canning Mo after this season. I just know it won't happen.

- Scott

[CoachGT]

If the comments about Nichol leaving New England at the end of this season, by his own or by the club's decision, then Nichol would be the front runner for the job - maybe he always has been but hasn't been able to come here because of contract obligations. Who knows?

I also see the case for changing GMs, but I don't think it is the right course of action. I don't believe the issue to be solely the coach either. Throughout the year the players seem to indicate trust issues abound between each other. Missed communication. Players making plays well outside of their positions (Barrett and Gerba covering defensive positions near our own 18). Passes into open space, with nobody making the run. Players standing in open space with arms outstretched when a poor percentage pass was made instead of one that springs someone free. If there are one or two of these, then it is just the pace of the game. But when five or more of these events happen every game, then there is something not right.

It looks and smells like an issue in the dressing room to me. Maybe that comes back to Mo and/or Cummins, but I'm not convinced.

[Roogsy]

This is a fantastic article by De Vos.

[Roogsy]

John...you guys at CBC need to add a "email to friends" function on your blogs. I sent the link out to some TFC fans I know that would completely agree with De Vos's analysis.

[Oldtimer]

It's nice to read a balanced article. Sure beats 90% of the posts on this board!:)

[CretanBull]

Like I've said in many other threads, the blame lies with the head coach. No, Barrett and Cronin aren't natural wingers, but they do put in good crosses from time to time (I do recognize that good crosses all the time would obviously be better though).

I don't think its fair to blame the coach for not wanting to play players out of position...it's management's job to provide the coach with players. Despite having 5 very good midfielders on the team, not one of them is a winger.



We also have a natural winger in Brennan, where he's much more effective than at LB but he's often forced to play there because we had no cover. We have that in Fellinga now, give him a whirl.


I'm not sure if Fellinga is the answer at LB - another position that the GM have failed to provide depth at - but I agree with your views on Brennan, he's much better on the wing and going forward than he is at the back.



Our central defense needs more work because I'd always play Attakora at RB, because I think Wynne is much more effective at RM, when he's freed of defensive responsibilities. Gomez is good but still developing and while Serioux can be very good as well, he does get beat more frequently than is normal. Garcia can be very effective only if the opposition plays in front of the defence rather than trying to slip behind. It only takes a moment for the opposing coach to realize this and switch it up, making Garcia inadequate. And we finally got rid of Marco "El Clanger" Velez, which is a positive step no matter what you think of Mo Johnston.


I think Attakora is best at CB, he's played well there and recovers from broken plays better than anyone else on our team. Wynne can not play RM...he can't pass, shoot or cross the ball with any kind of consistancy and he's not a natural dribbler of the ball either. I'm not convinced of him at RB either, but he's clearly better there. Gomez and Serioux are both decent but they both need to not try to do too much and play a simple game. You're right about Garcia, but Mo should have known about his obvious weakness before bringing him in. You're right about Velez, but before crediting Mo with dropping him you have to acknowledge who brought him in in the first place.



The center of midfield is very good but our strikers have been sputtering. Part of the problem is that they have little service despite our midfield and I actually think JDG can help a lot there if he plays in a box-to-box role as he does with the CMNT. He can link the play with effective and precise passes, can actually hold onto the ball for significant periods (even with guys on him) and should help place TFC in a position to have more attacks on goal. Given that, DeRosario and Gerba should be OK upfront; they're both quality players.


Our midfield has a lot of talent. Unfortunately we have 5 CMs and only have use for 2 or 3 of them depending on formation. With a 5 man midfield we should use DeRo & Guevara with one of Cronin, Sanyang or Robinson - those 3 should be playing with 2 wingers that we currently don't have. In a 4 man midfield we should either use DeRo & one of Cronin, Sanyang or Robinson with two wingers that we don't have, or use Guevara with Cronin, Sanyang or Robinson with Dero on one wing and a winger that we don't have on the other side.



So why does the team seem miserable despite apparently only missing an ingredient or two? It's the coach; we need a different one and someone who can organize the players, have them stick to a system of some kind and extract the best from those players.

It's hard to fault Cummins when management has failed to bring in depth on the backline which has forced him to use players out of position. He can't put together a midfield that doesn't have wingers, that has midfielders playing out of position and has two guys who were brought in as strikers (Vitti and Barett) playing in the mix. The responsibility for this lies with Mo.

As strikers he's got Vitti - who can't score, Barrett - who can't score, White - a rookie recovering from a bad injury, Dichio - who plays best when he's got a good strike partner, and Gerba - who won the TFC pie eating championship, stripping Samuel of his title.

Cummins has frustrated me at times, but its hard to hold him accountable for how the team has played when you realize the many, many flaws in how the team was put together.

[Beach_Red]

Cummins has frustrated me at times, but its hard to hold him accountable for how the team has played when you realize the many, many flaws in how the team was put together.

MLS really seems like the kind of league that requires a coach who can improvise a great deal. Maybe it's something a coach like Cummins can become better at, maybe not. How long do you give him to find out? Because MLS rosters are always going to have holes in them as long as the salary cap is where it is.

[CretanBull]

^I agree with you to an extent, but having too many CMs and no wingers, and spending huge amounts of cash on strikers who can't score isn't a structural weakness of the MLS.

[jloome]

?

Never said Mo wasn't blameless.

P.S. Say the word "blame" many times in a row. When it loses its meaning and sounds like just a random sound, it's pretty funny.

Uh, yeah, ditto, given that your second sentence was "the blame lies with the head coach". You didn't qualify it, so that pretty much absolves everyone else.

[jloome]

John...you guys at CBC need to add a "email to friends" function on your blogs. I sent the link out to some TFC fans I know that would completely agree with De Vos's analysis.

Agreed. DeVos was spot on on this one, spot on.

[craigtfc]

good read thanks

[scooter]

good read and insightfull as usual
mo---you will never convince me he isnt the man for the job ( its only year 3)
cummins---thrust in the thick of it when carver left - give him a chance folks