Originally Posted by
jloome
At some point we may have to accept that the youth setup has been a minor disaster; we've promoted exactly one player, Hamilton, who sees time and one other, Liam Fraser, who ever plays. Everyone else has either been a college draft player who had a cup of tea in the USL, or a first-team signing.
Our farm setup is fucked. And we've let go real talent. How on Earth is it that coaches like Martino and Bradley can get league-leading performances from Gressel and Kaye, and yet on the latter we didn't even keep him at the USL level.
Clearly, Rongen, Dichio, Bent and the early guard had fuck-all judgement about quality, and the French guy who fled wasn't here long enough to affect anything.
As for the defense, we have a couple of major problems. First, having a starting and healthy Drew Moor with Mavinga coming in part-time last season covered up the major deficiencies in the respective games of Zavaleta and Bono, neither of whom is ready for prime time. THen we that cascaded into the ongoing problem of our best wingback Morrow, when healthy, not being able to range forward as much.
On the other wing, Van Der Wiel is obviously hugely talented but looks amotivated at best. He doesn't have the intensity to close quickly and fight all game, although he looked okay on the inside. Auro, while an excellent winger for the MLS level, really cannot defend for shit. Almost every game he played he left someone unmarked in the box, simply by not being tight enough.
Without Moor to hold up and direct the backline play, our best communicator was out. That added to the backline pressure, and forced Bradley, when playing Mid, to spend more time covering holes than shutting down lanes. Bradley simply wasn't very good for much of this season, either. He looked amotivated as well, and I believe they said at one point he was our fifth- or sixth-best rated midfielder in terms of Audi points, which is sort of shocking for what he's paid. He had his moments but he looked like he was no longer the same quality of player as when he arrived, or even close.
In fact, I'd say motivation seemed a problem all over. THey thought they were invulnerable and when they weren't, they collapsed. I got the sense pretty much from day one that they only cared about the champions league, having broken league records -- everyone except Osorio, really, who busted his ass all year. Keep in mind he wasn't our only contract that was due. We had six or seven guys re-upping and yet they still lacked energy and motivation.
I suspect the Van Der Wiel signing changed the locker room dynamic, as he's sort of a quiet, dour guy, not a type 'a'. Then there was Auro and Agkexte as foreign language signings. So communication was probably affected somewhat.
Then there's the fragility upfront. With Altidore and Vasquez spending more time injured than playing, we had a really hard time holding onto the ball for those long periods required under a possession system to break down a defense.
We didn't seem to adjust tactically. Vanney has been great for us, but he seems absolutely wedded to one style of play, the short triangle with the wide switch, and he never deviates regardless of formation. It makes us predictable and easy to hit on the counter.
So, in all, it was a bunch of things. A lack of defensive depth, overestimating a few players, too much spent on a handful of players and not enough on depth.