Rate Nelsen: 2013 season

[__wowza]

PLEASE READ BEFORE RATING!
(it'll make everything a hell of a lot easier)

Each category gets a specific rating, from 10 (being the highest) to 1 (being the lowest). To calculate the average rating, just add your total up and divide by 10, if it's got a decimal point at the end of it, you can round either up or down based on the simple question "did Ryan Nelsen perform up to your expectations for the year"? Afterward, you post your total rating for each of the criteria of the poll, from 10 - 1. Here's the what to look for:

TACTICS
how did you feel about the tactical choices made?
what about his starters? subs? formation?

RESULTS
at the end of the day, how did we do in terms of results? did we tie games we should've lost? lost games we should've won? etc.

EFFICIENCY
how effective was the coach in utilizing the players he has?
did he play some players out of position? did he have a reason to?

COMMUNICATION
how effective was the coach in explaining his outlook and choices in the paper / on torontofc.ca / on TFCtv / in post match interviews?

TRADES & MISC
were the trades made productive or counter-productive?
did he fly off the handle at get a 4 game ban?
was he making eyes at your wife/girlfriend/same-sex partner?


Here's a rundown of each months point total, followed by the overall stats for the season. Links to the match report are available by clicking on the team name, and areas denoted with GOLD are for voyagers cup matches.

MARCH

Vancouver v Toronto	1-0	LOSS
Toronto v Sporting KC	2-1	WIN
Montreal v Toronto	2-1	LOSS
Toronto v Los Angeles	2-2	TIE

4 points out of a possible 12

GD: -1

APRIL

Toronto v FC Dallas	2-2	TIE
Philadelphia v Toronto	1-1	TIE
Toronto v Houston	1-1	TIE
Toronto v Montreal	2-0	WIN
Toronto v New York	1-2	LOSS

3 points out of a possible 12

GD: -1

MAY

Montreal v Toronto	6-0	LOSS
Colorado v Toronto	1-0	LOSS
San Jose v Toronto	2-1	LOSS
Toronto v Columbus	0-1	LOSS
New England v Toronto	2-0	LOSS

0 points out of a possible 12

GD: -5

JUNE

Toronto v Philadelphia	1-1	TIE
DC United v Toronto	1-2	WIN
Houston v Toronto	0-0	TIE
Toronto v Salt Lake	0-1	LOSS

5 points out of a possible 12

GD: 0

JULY

Toronto v Montreal	3-3	TIE
Sporting KC v Toronto	3-0	LOSS
Chivas v Toronto	1-0	LOSS
Toronto v New York	0-0	TIE
Toronto v Columbus	2-1	WIN

5 points out of a possible 15

GD: -3

AUGUST

New England v Toronto	0-1	WIN
Toronto v Seattle	1-2	LOSS
Columbus v Toronto	2-0	LOSS
DC United v Toronto	1-1	TIE
Toronto v New England	1-1	TIE

5 points out of a possible 15

GD: -2

SEPTEMBER

Portland v Toronto	4-0	LOSS
Toronto v Chicago	1-1	TIE
New York v Toronto	2-0	LOSS
Toronto v Sporting KC	1-2	LOSS
Toronto v DC United	4-1	WIN

4 points out of a possible 15

GD: -4

OCTOBER

Philadelphia v Toronto	1-0	LOSS
Chicago v Toronto	1-0	LOSS
Toronto v Montreal	1-0	WIN

3 points out of a possible 9

GD: -1

*like always, if there's a category you think i missed please share!

[__wowza]

For the sake of context, the following is how Nelsen has fared against other managers at the club. Please note: up until 2011, the MLS season was only 30 games long, and the coaches who played these shortened seasons have been highlighted in RED. Also, each season has been highlighted by the coach that had managed the team for the majority of the season, so Nick Dasovic is exempt. The overall number at the side denotes where each coach stands in terms of overall points for their respective seasons, with the tiebreaker being goals scored, as Preki and Carver both had the same goal differential.

HEAD COACH / YEAR	PTS	PPG	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	HG	HGD	RG	RGD	OVERALL	#
Ryan Nelsen (2013)	29	.085	6	17	11	30	47	-17	23	1	7	-18	17th out of 19	5
Paul Mariner (2012)	23	.068	5	21	8	36	62	-26	15	-10	21	-16	19th out of 19	7
Aron Winter (2011)	33	.097	6	13	15	36	59	-23	-	-	-	-	15th out of 18	4
Preki (2010)	35	1.16	9	13	8	33	41	-8	-	-	-	-	11th out of 16	3
Chris Cummins (2009)	39	1.30	10	11	9	37	46	-9	-	-	-	-	7th out of 15	1
John Carver (2008)	35	1.16	11	15	4	43	51	-8	-	-	-	-	12th out of 14	2
Mo Johnson	25	.083	6	17	7	25	49	-24	-	-	-	-	13th out of 13	6

[OgtheDim]

Well this thread should be fun to watch.

.

[Wull]

Gave him a two. His player selections weren't great, tactically he was inept, his subs were baffling, his post-game comments were pathetic most of the time and I really don't like the way they've treated good soldiers like Ecks and Frei. He has helped make the back 4 stronger though

[Huyton]

In the table above, the PPG for Nelsen, Mariner and Winter are wrong...they're off by a factor of 10. They should be 0.85, 0.68, and 0.97 respectively.

I'm not sure if it's fair in the table to dump Winters W1 L9 D0 start to the season on Mariner. If you don't, Mariner gets 20 points from 24 games and Winter gets 36 from 44.

[tfcleeds]

He's still got a long ways to go, but I'll cut him some slack because this was his inaugural season as a manager - there's bound to be growing pains. He did some good things - shored up the defense considerably under his watch.

[Oldtimer]

Gave him a 6.

Players are playing pretty decent formations and scenarios, although these break down from time-to-time.

The zonal defense is reasonably effective at an MLS level.

The offense is poor, but that is as much an effect of lack of player talent.

Nelsen falls down in man-management and in tactical adjustments. He really needs to start taking some formal coach's training to get those aspects better.

I'll barely pass him for now. If I don't see improvements next year by mid-season, I'll be calling for him to be gone.

[Dreadlocks]

I only have two knocks on Nelson.

1) He was married to the 4-4-2. Thought he could have tried something different based on the players available. Until Dike arrived we barely had 1 striker that was good enough in Earnshaw and we were still trying to play with 2. He could have been a bit creative and got some of the younger guys like Bekker in more matches rather than having guys like Braun and Weeds play every game and not score.

2) Sort of ties into the first point but he could have used more of the roster imo. If not for injury I think Nelson would have played maybe 11 - 13 different players only. What ever happened to Emery Welshman? Is he that bad where he can't get a game on THIS team? I doubt that.

That said, I gave him a 5. The ONLY thing that really matters is results and 6 wins in a league with a lot of parity is not good enough

[PopePouri]

Gave him a 7.

1) If Nelsen had a fully fit Koev, things would have been different.
2) Some of the results were beyond his control.
3) Set pieces have been dealt with which was a problem. Something Mariner and Winter couldn't fix.

[Detroit_TFC]

Gave him a four. All in all, the results dictate this. That might be a bit harsh because I actually don't lay much of the team's problems at his feet.

I prefer his demeanor over Mariner's raving, even though I often would have preferred that he just not say anything rather than trying to constantly put a bow on things. As best I can tell, no revolt from the dressing room so that is a refreshing change. I would think TL wouldn't hesitate to dump him if he felt that would improve matters, and the fact that TL doesn't seem inclined to do that is interesting.

[Initial B]

I voted a 4. He was slightly below-average in just about every metric that counts except they had a better than average defence. But that was further lowered by still being 3 worst in the league (and not even a draft pick to show for it - thanks PM! :P :P :P ).

[Super]

I gave him a 2. It's been a pretty awful season. Thankfully it looks like we'll be bringing most of the squad into the new season, so that's a good thing. I want to stick with Nelsen and see what he can do with an off-season, and also the new players we'll be bringing into the team. Fingers crossed he'll be able to make us a good team!

[Kaz]

The biggest issue with this team was a significant offence threat this year. If you had a DeRo, a Koev, or another kinda of goal threat, then this would have been a fairly decent season. Robert Earnshaw isn't a primary scoring threat. (at least not this year). That to me was the failure of the staff this year, and that may have been the result of tunnel vision, wishful thinking or long term planning. Or everyone assumed Koev would be ready to play, and that Earnshaw, and a few other of the pasta noodles that were thrown at the wall this year would stick and help out a bit. Sadly that wasn't enough of a case to pull in the goals we needed.

This is a off season where we off load Ecks (which is sad) Frei (which is Sad) get rid of, either of or both of the second string strikers we have. Pick up one or two DP Forwards, and strengthen the midfield a bit. This is a few pieces of growth not a blow up and start over off season.

[ensco]

He was a 5 for me.

The big hole that hasn't yet been mentioned much: his poor dealings with the media, and often bizarre public statements/messaging. For a guy with years of EPL experience, I was truly surprised by that.

[trane]

I was divided between 5 and 4. Another horrible season, at the end results count. But I think in some aspect we have improved, so I did not want to put it at 1-3. While I gave him a four, really the fair range is between 4-6. He was not completely horrible, but he failed, but there may be some promise. Anything more then 6 is out and out silly. Anything less then 4 may more fair but still too harsh in my opinion.


I have too add, I am not sure that he has done enough for me to be confident in him going forward. However, I would not be too upset if he was the manager at the beginning of next season.

[ag futbol]

Tactics
Mixed bag. Defensively very organized. Formation very inflexible. In game adjustments also lacking. For a bad team that tries to compete on physicality, we should have been scoring more off set pieces.

Results
Poor. No way around it.

Efficiency
Full marks here. Didn’t make too many bad choices. Maybe he played Braun and Lambe a few too many times, didn’t put Bostock in the preferred spot, but I was very happy with squad selection overall.

Communication
Messages in post game pressers were comically bad. Didn’t take enough responsibility, blamed the officials too often, sounded too soft. Not a great communicator.

Trades Misc
Loan deals were a good stop gap. We picked up a few good pieces outside of that.

Overall: 4. He’s clearly learning on the job and still trying to adjust. I'm not certain he will figure it out before the end of his time with TFC.

Side note: Don't really care about former TFC managers. The benchmark should be success, not a long line of failures.

[Yohan]

I'm quoting you because you have your thoughts organized in a manner that I can streamline mine too

Tactics
Mixed bag. Defensively very organized. Formation very inflexible. In game adjustments also lacking.

Agreed. Though I suspect Nelsen thinks the team doesn't have the players to play anything other than flat 4-4-2 in his mind. It's the easiest to teach, and players are already familiar with it.

For a bad team that tries to compete on physicality, we should have been scoring more off set pieces.

TFC has historically never been a good set piece team, though this year, we've been better. At least more threatening, though mostly it's Caldwell. You also need a decent corner taker, and while Convey and Osorio are ok, you want someone better. Rey seems to be able to whip in a good corner though.

Results
Poor. No way around it.

Agreed. Though TFC was in most of the matches, only losing by 2 goals or more in 6 games incl 6-0 whipping from Mtl in V Cup.

Efficiency
Full marks here. Didn’t make too many bad choices. Maybe he played Braun and Lambe a few too many times, didn’t put Bostock in the preferred spot, but I was very happy with squad selection overall.

I think I agree for most part. I'll also put decent player development here. He identified Jeremy Hall as a DM, which is correct. He gave Osorio a chance. As much as Bekker is not happy about his playing time, Nelsen correctly identified Bekker as not MLS ready, and slowly brought him along. Hell, he even made Wiedeman not totally useless.

Communication
Messages in post game pressers were comically bad. Didn’t take enough responsibility, blamed the officials too often, sounded too soft. Not a great communicator.

Agreed. Though he must be talking the right language to his players for most part, even if he's a bit of dick in his treatment towards players he doesn't see as part of his plan.

Trades Misc
Loan deals were a good stop gap. We picked up a few good pieces outside of that.

Hard to rate Nelsen in the trades, because a lot of it was Payne's work.

Overall: 4. He’s clearly learning on the job and still trying to adjust. I'm not certain he will figure it out before the end of his time with TFC.

I gave him a 6. I agree that he's learning on the job. But the team I felt wasn't totally unwatchable, even though the lack of ability to finish was frustrating. Even though the team was out of playoff picture by July, the players kept giving 100% most games for Nelsen, which is saying something, unlike previous squads that just stopped giving a damn after mid season.

I'm curious to see what moves Nelsen and Bez makes in the off season, but the core of the team is young, and they will grow together to build better cohesion and chemistry, which can't be underestimated. I also think having a professional like Caldwell can't be underestimated, and having a club captain like him sets the tone in the locker room, which has to be helping Nelsen a lot.

[levyashin]

R/5 Minor growth in tactics
Better back line--------Goalkeeper distribution never corrected.----------Set piece defending still crap---------right substitutions lacking most of the time.
Communication skills lacking-------blames referees linesman weather(look at yourself first)---------very little seen of player motivation(move your arse).
In saying all this he was first year coach with a lot of deadwood.

[crozack]

5 rating.

I think he grew into the role more and probably was a good hire considering the team was going nowhere this year.
One thing I did notice is that everyone played hard for him......Although it didn't show much in results .....its a good base to move forward.

We (the fans) have gone through so much hardship with this team over the last 7 years.....I hope with a few good new signings and one true football philosophy we can finally be proud of the product on the field.

[Prof]

If you watched the games live, you would have seen the much improved quality of play. Great ball movement, excellent defending and goalkeeping. Our only weakness has been scoring goals and that will come next year. Rated a 7.5

[Sullivan]

Rating of 3.
Under his watch, Nelsen's version not too different from previous 6 managers, the club continues to underperform.

This was a team that was very predictable, and very much incapable of making adjustments as each match played on.
As with prior rosters, this version also lacked depth, had limited skill, had no imagination in creating support or utilizing the width.

As a manager: he was in over his head - player evaluation / selection, substitutions, tactics, he struggled with it all.

The Players: many were also in over their heads, for many, their 1st touch was the touch of a clydesdale and possession
would be lost. How so many found their way to TFC is shocking.
Can't make chicken salad out of chicken ....!

I have no doubt that if Nelsen continues to field players who can't earn points, Leiweke will replace him.
Leiweke churned through coaches at the Galaxy, i.e., firing Sampson, Yallop, & Gullit.

All of the pressure is on Nelsen.
Bezbatchenko is purely Leiweke's eyes & ears at TFC.

Club needs to do a better job of amateur & professional scouting.

[Laiping]

My rating "6"

[[NBF]]

Rated him a 2.

Because his selections and omissions were similar to Paul Mariner. Bekker was able to play as well as Elmer, Frei and Agboss. He basically gave preference to some players and he gave up on the 4-4-1-1 he started with at the beginning of the season.

Not a whole lot of professionalism at the club and really not very interested in watching this team or following it. If there's anything to look forward to is actually having 7 players on the bench.

[lanarkist]

I gave him a 6 - and I think he did maybe even a better job than that considering what he had to work with when he took over. Let's face it - he had one transfer window to shape the team thus far, and I'd even question how much control he had over that considering the timing with Payne-Leiweke spat.

Before anyone rips on Nelsen, I'd ask this, has there ever been a team in 7 years that had less talent? The only DP that played for us all season (minus Koev's 78 total minutes) was Laba, half way through the season. And even he played only 16 games.

I would argue that for the first time in a while, I think this team actually began to play a specific way. Defensively this team showed strengths - Caldwell and Henry were excellent, O'Dea was very good albeit out of position while he was here.

When your best offensive player was a rookie that nobody rated going into the season, your best defensive player came in on loan and played 23 games, and your goalie who wound up shining wasn't your highest paid keeper, I think the results need to be considered in a serious context.

The results were far from what we demand, but I for one am actually surprised they weren't worse considering the caliber of talent on this squad.

And finally, as for Nelson and his communication and media ability. I for one love it. I love the way he always winds up being the story and not the performance of his players. I think he wore so many losses that weren't remotely his fault, and I also like that he showed no hesitation to go after terrible refs all season long. If we have any hope of progressing as a squad, we have to show stability in management. A revolving door is never a solution, and I think his ability to attract former teammates as well as the amount of respect players have showed him thus far is a glimpse of hope for success.

[Oldtimer]

Before anyone rips on Nelsen, I'd ask this, has there ever been a team in 7 years that had less talent?

The 2007 would be the worst in terms of talent (remember Reda and Braz as defense? Canizalez being the one who ended the record-breaking scoreless streak? That was a horrible team).
Nelsen's 2013 team would be second.
Preki's Euro crap squad would be third.

TFC 2009 actually was a half-decent team and should have made the playoffs.

[Yohan]

The 2007 would be the worst in terms of talent (remember Reda and Braz as defense? Canizalez being the one who ended the record-breaking scoreless streak? That was a horrible team).
Nelsen's 2013 team would be second.
Preki's Euro crap squad would be third.

TFC 2009 actually was a half-decent team and should have made the playoffs.

with a bit of benefit of hindsight, there were a lot of talent available in that 2006 expansion draft for TFC, and pretty much whatever player TFC picked up, Mo traded away. (though 2007 roster rules for TFC was brutal)

[trane]

Can someone explain to me how can you possibly give him a 7??? Based on what. A 7 suggests at least half decent results. A six I kind of can understand, if you think the talent level on this team is shite, and yet game in game out, the team was relatively organized and in games, but anything more then that with the pathetic record seems very hard to justify.

[jloome]

Can someone explain to me how can you possibly give him a 7??? Based on what. A 7 suggests at least half decent results. A six I kind of can understand, if you think the talent level on this team is shite, and yet game in game out, the team was relatively organized and in games, but anything more then that with the pathetic record seems very hard to justify.

I don't know how he even gets a six. I gave him a five but only barely. That was probably generous, but I did see definite improvement in our shape, movement and link up after Payne left, and given that there was a suggestion Payne was taking a very active role in the team that's enough to give him a bare pass.

The problem, again, is that they've really hired a GM who's a showman, so I have no confidence that he's actually hard at work ensuring his troops are even positioned correctly. We need a scouting division (talent is a major revenue stream, not just about wins and losses) and we need three-to-six players who are of the caliber to challenge for a starting spot. That involves a lot of hard work.

People often wonder why someone succeeds with a first business or venture, and it's usually directly related to the amount of hours they themselves put into a business or project about which they are highly passionate. To pull something off from scratch requires working all the time, not just the eight hours at the office. I have no idea that TL is highly passionate about football. I think he's probably highly passionate about looking and being successful, and that can dovetail nicely with our requirements. But it sure as hell isn't a guarantee, and right now I remain pessimistic. We've seen this all before.

[ensco]

The 2007 would be the worst in terms of talent (remember Reda and Braz as defense? Canizalez being the one who ended the record-breaking scoreless streak? That was a horrible team).
Nelsen's 2013 team would be second.
Preki's Euro crap squad would be third.

TFC 2009 actually was a half-decent team and should have made the playoffs.

I think the case can be made that the midsummer 2007 team was the best team TFC ever fielded. That team won 5 of 8 or some such, before they were decimated by injuries

Dichio-Cunningham
Welsh-Robinson- Edu- O'Brien
Brennan-Dunivant- Marshall- Wynne

If not the best, they were a close second to the 2009 team.

[ag futbol]

No way. The 2009 team that just missed the playoffs was the best team we ever had. Way better players, way better results.

Too many weak links on that 2007 squad. One of the worst wingers I have ever seen (Welsh), a LB with an awful positional sense (Brennan), a striker who missed nine chances out of ten (Cunningham). The best player was almost always injured (O'Brien), everybody else was average to below average.