Originally Posted by
jloome
This may be an unpopular position, but the single biggest reason for our changing fortunes right now isn't John Herdman, it's our new spine of Debyi Flores and Kevin Long.
I mean... that's a bit trite, as I believe Herdman IS driving the change and they wouldn't be here if he hadn't taken over.
But ultimately, players win games, not managers and we had no spine for the last three seasons.
Once Drew Moor left and Michael lost his second gear, we were fucked. Once Mark Delgado left, we were REALLY fucked.
We've had lots of seasons without much offensive punch. But we were never as bad as we were last year, because at the least, we had a defensive midfielder who occasionally gave us hope, or a defensive pairing that was working, or a hot keeper.
But the last three seasons we've had NO SPINE. Teams could just run through our midfield and set up in our end, then low block us going the other way.
Herdman recognized that immediately and his first three major player moves were for two DMs (Longstaff is more a wrecker than an eight, I think) and a veteran centre back.
Osorio and Coello just aren't mobile enough on the cover. Flores is a pure wrecker, a guy who spots where the pass is going before it gets there and cuts it out, or arrives to shut down the recipient before he can take a step. None of our other midfielders do that well.
Long's read is superior. We got pulled apart by a practised offensive set against Charlotte that would've left Copetti in alone behind our deep back line.
Long read it from 30 yards away, broke position and ran behind his own line to cut out the pass. None of our other players had even SEEN it.
The biggest knock on MLS right now is the disparity between attacking and defending. Everyone is spending their money on young attackers they can sell on. But that means a team with a defender who is great at reading and reacting often has an immediate advantage.
I think Herdman has sussed this league out and reacted with tactics and selections designed to work specifically in MLS, and that's the catalyst. But the addition of the right pieces is why we're doing better. All the "buy in" in the world, and we still only have two goals after three games.
It's just that this is a league in which you can win a lot of 1-0 games with a really good defence and bulwark midfield, and not many teams seem to have realized it.