Today's News,Saturday,Jul.28
Hassli...!!! HASSLI...!!!
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
YES! YES! YES!Originally Posted by McCartney
GlenM
"You play to win the game"
Herm Edwards - Former NFL Coach
Jason Keller's piece in the Star is funny to me.
He's including the Liverpool result under Mariner 4-2-5 and talking about all the glowing things players are saying about him. Which is true and its also true that this probably exactly the kind of article you'd want to have written if you were in MLSE's PR department.
If we are including all matches TFC was 3-2-2 in May under Winter or 1.14 Points per game. With the 4-2-5 result they are slightly better at 1.54 points per game. However, they are well off the pace established at the end of last season (August onwards) of 8-3-5 (all matches since that is Keller's barometer) of 1.81 points per game.
Sure wish folks would ask how come you were able to win in May under this oppressive former coach? And if the future looks so bright, what the heck happened at the end of last season? How can fans trust that this isn't just another Carver start, Preki start or Winter 2011 finish? What are you going to do as players to sustain this? What are the coaches going to do to sustain this?
Winning one league match (barely) under Winter this year is really all I would focus on but it really goes beyond the wins and losses and comes down to how we're playing. Under Winter, we were gunning for the record of worst defense in MLS (possibly world football) history. That cannot be ignored and since the personnel are all the same, it points out pretty clearly why we were so fucked up under Winter. Simply because he knew his wee system and how it was supposed to work and when other teams figured it out he was clueless on how to approach a match in any other way. Plus subbing in defenders during matches we were trailing in (usually 2 of our 3 subs) was just incompetent managing. And then we still gave up goals.
And how to avoid the let down; keep the players challenged and engaged. Carver did that and he was the manager most similar to Mariner in my opinion. When Carver stepped down we were still performing well. Preki failed because he was hard to work under and Winter, by all accounts, wasn't 'there' for the players either. He was above them I guess is the best way to put it and had his assistants do all the training. If your manager isn't there for the players, and treats them like children, which is what a few players said about the old regime, then you don't get every player giving 110% for the club. Which we obviously weren't getting because the players approach to defending and challenging (even overall effort) is night and day from what it was under Winter and everyone should sit down and think about why that is instead of harping on the lost dream of a beautiful footballing future that we were promised by Winter, De Klerk, Teflon Tom, and Earl the Pearl, that honestly would never have happened.
And that late season run under Winter might as well be considered a start to a season too since he turned over 90% of the roster last summer.
Last edited by Ultra & Proud; 07-28-2012 at 12:58 PM.
^ when you watch that CCL run and end of 2011 season, I don't see how anyone could say that the players weren't giving it their all. Morgan wasn't? Henry wasn't? Koevermans? Frings? Kocic? JDG played some of his best soccer here down that stretch. Johnson wasn't? Plata wasn't? Eckersley wasn't?
C'mon.
Maybe Dunfield wasn't but oh well.
Maybe the insight into the above players is off and I am completely wrong. Maybe they did go around depressed and/or fearful, sulking and maybe the odd cry... if the players in a developmental league aren't motivated to aspire to better things... particularly those on non-guaranteed contracts... well then there are problems with this club well beyond the guy who coaches them. Not being motivated falls to them. You can't motivate others to do anything. It's up to the individual to seize the opportunity.
In May you have Canadian Championship matches, which in reality are no more valid then a friendly. If only because MLS sides are going to play softer and push less then they will in MLS because that is the important part. That allowed Winter's system to work better and let the boys think more. (And Montreal sucks.. even if they were number one they suck) The Alternate is that Winter may have cared more about CCL then MLS and pushed the boys harder.
And the end of the season had more to do with Frings, and Koev last season then it did with Winter.
Winter is a Youth Coach, he showed no ability to adapt his game to the opposition and was punished. it's that simple. Any team that pushed hard walked over TFC. The Galaxy had a more technical less pushy style and we did well against them all season. Every time we played a team that played more building play and less push and counter play we looked good.
We started winning with Frings playing as a 5th defender, and Koev scoring like a champ. That isn't' Winter, that is two players.
If in a year Winter couldn't learn to beat MLS teams in MLS play then he failed.
Posting Permissions
Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !
Reply With Quote