Jason Hernandez Evaluation Thread

Time to give our GM his own evaluation thread.

I'll start. Dropping $1M in salary on Mailula & Owusu, both unproven and from lower leagues, at the end of a cooked season, with an interim manager and chaos in the locker room is just dreadful.

Since then his return on Blessing was underwhelming. The striker situation continues to fester and we have a lot of dead weight on the squad.

Much like in our Bez/Vanney era I figure Herdman had a role in acquiring Longstaff, Gomis, and maybe even Flores but not sure on that one. If a Hernandez move then that's a good one.

We're in an extensive rebuild as our parts aren't good enough to retool around and I don't believe a learning on the job GM is a smart option for such a big job. In my eyes he is the summer window away from this thread becoming another deathwatch thread.

They brought back Sean Rubio and a bunch of other former and experienced guys to help him. He's not acting in isolation, which he largely was last year.

Having said that, all of the signings this year are guys Herdman targeted through his contacts. They got help on Debyi Flores from their communications director, who is the daughter of the Honduras head coach, but Herdman already wanted him from his play against Canada.

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Originally Posted by jloome

They brought back Sean Rubio and a bunch of other former and experienced guys to help him. He's not acting in isolation, which he largely was last year.

Having said that, all of the signings this year are guys Herdman targeted through his contacts. They got help on Debyi Flores from their communications director, who is the daughter of the Honduras head coach, but Herdman already wanted him from his play against Canada.

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So what we're saying is that he himself hasn't accomplished anything positive on his own.

Not enough data to go on.

The only thing I keep hearing, from day one of Hernandez, is all work is now being done based on analytics including radial graphs & zonal charts. He has instituted that.

How much work since then is him and how much is him directing others? :noidea:


The rebuild was never going to happen with an experienced GM - and given the prevalence of nepotism and blinkered thinking in MLS land, I'm OK with that.

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Originally Posted by OgtheDim

NHow much work since then is him and how much is him directing others? :noidea:

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It seems like he is the directing others type and not really making any decisions himself. Him instituting analytics says similar.

Like it's better than having some boob like Ali or Bob making stupid decisions for nonsensical reasons and crippling the team but I wonder what analytic software made him think Owusu was worth $707K? That must've been some radical graph.

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Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud

It seems like he is the directing others type and not really making any decisions himself. Him instituting analytics says similar.

Like it's better than having some boob like Ali or Bob making stupid decisions for nonsensical reasons and crippling the team but I wonder what analytic software made him think Owusu was worth $707K? That must've been some radical graph.

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Goals per minute. He had a stretch of seven goals in nine games at the end of last season, and it was only the second time in his career he'd been a regular starter (due to others being out injured). So they took a gamble that he was a Bundesliga.2 level striker -- which is generally a pretty similar level to MLS.

But really, it looks like a hot run at this point and his norm is poor movement in the box and not shooting much.

All of his goals are online from last year and they basically show a poacher, as he required service for all of them. So unless he gets good service and is on the same page as the guys delivering balls to the box, he's not going to score a ton.

I worry less about Hernandez since Rubio returned and Herdman signed on.

I have to say, it's refreshing to hear Herdman pull the strikers' performances apart. They DO lack movement, they don't test defenders. But someone actually saying it out loud suggests they're working on specific positional improvements; this is the first time in a long time we've had position-specific coaching at every session.

I also hold out hope he'll move Fede up top, closer to goal, or move him to wingback. He's useless at right wing. Jimmy Brennan said the same on Footy Prime this week. He's the most talented guy on the ball and we have no real number 9. He's played as a second striker plenty early in his career, so he should be able to adapt.

Part of me is thinking they are waiting for Richie to be behind Fede to see if that will still work.

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Originally Posted by jloome

Goals per minute. He had a stretch of seven goals in nine games at the end of last season, and it was only the second time in his career he'd been a regular starter (due to others being out injured). So they took a gamble that he was a Bundesliga.2 level striker -- which is generally a pretty similar level to MLS.

But really, it looks like a hot run at this point and his norm is poor movement in the box and not shooting much.

All of his goals are online from last year and they basically show a poacher, as he required service for all of them. So unless he gets good service and is on the same page as the guys delivering balls to the box, he's not going to score a ton.

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Is this like when Rob Friend bungled enough goals across the line to be the top scorer in B2? Sort of feels like it watching him play.

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Originally Posted by ag futbol

Is this like when Rob Friend bungled enough goals across the line to be the top scorer in B2? Sort of feels like it watching him play.

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Yeah, that seems a fairly apt comparison. A few years ago he'd have been labelled a target man or hold up man, and his job is to be false nine, press the li ne, clear up junk, provide short passes and win headers. But we don't have much junk to clear up and no one ever crosses the ball.

Still, I think Hernandez has to get at least the standard first two transfer windows to prove himself.

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Originally Posted by jloome

Still, I think Hernandez has to get at least the standard first two transfer windows to prove himself.

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He already had two windows but I would give him this summer for sure. This winter though we will finally have some roster flexibility and if he underwhelms this summer then I'm not sure I would trust him with the heavy stuff.

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Originally Posted by OgtheDim

Part of me is thinking they are waiting for Richie to be behind Fede to see if that will still work.

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It never really did work though.

Hernandez is probably going to make all his mistakes here then go on to become a serious success somewhere else. We are paying his tuition. It's the way to bet it anyway.

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Originally Posted by ensco

Hernandez is probably going to make all his mistakes here then go on to become a serious success somewhere else. We are paying his tuition. It's the way to bet it anyway.

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TFC is a nice little team for him to learn by.

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Originally Posted by ensco

Hernandez is probably going to make all his mistakes here then go on to become a serious success somewhere else. We are paying his tuition. It's the way to bet it anyway.

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It’s highly annoying, I agree. That said, the board probably wasn’t going to let Manning hire anybody unless they would be cheap and easy to get rid of in the event they clean house. My sneaking suspicion is he would have been fired if not for the lending leadership change. Now it’s the new guy’s thing to clean up and he can put his stamp on it.

I’m surprised we managed to get the board to hire Herdman to begin with. But they were probably liked that idea and hed have a fair chance to escape a future cull.