What u fail to understand is that corporate speak and corporate motivation is nothing like the same environment as professional sports. Apples and oranges couldn't be more different. This coming from a corporate professional as well.
Nycfc V Columbus Crew - Postgame
- Thread starter Falastur
- Start date
Observation: Villa averages 2.2 off side calls per game at home, 1.1 away
Thanks for pointing that out. I actually do get that. And I do think there is a place for "tough" leadership in sports that has no place in an office environment. Adrenaline does different things to an athlete than an office knowledge worker.
However I've rarely seen anyone so critical of others and so completely lacking in any willingness to take any responsibility on himself. That isn't different in office vs sports. That's an asshole in either place.
Those of you attacking Poku for the way we played after he was subbed on should be directing your ire towards Kreis and get a tactical clue.
Kreis changed the lineup when Poku came on. To start the game, he went:
Villa----Mullins----Diskerud
-----Lampard-Jacobsen----
-------------Pirlo-------------
Angelino-Mena-Hern-Iraola
---------Saunders-----------
When he made his subs today, he went back to the 4-2-3-1 with Villa alone up top. Nothing happened after that. So blame Kreis. You can run the 4-3-3 and still play Poku:
Villa----Poku----Mullins
----Lampard-Diskerud----
----------Pirlo-----------
Ang-Facey-Hern-Iraola
---------Saunders--------
Poku plays a false 9
Kreis changed the lineup when Poku came on. To start the game, he went:
Villa----Mullins----Diskerud
-----Lampard-Jacobsen----
-------------Pirlo-------------
Angelino-Mena-Hern-Iraola
---------Saunders-----------
When he made his subs today, he went back to the 4-2-3-1 with Villa alone up top. Nothing happened after that. So blame Kreis. You can run the 4-3-3 and still play Poku:
Villa----Poku----Mullins
----Lampard-Diskerud----
----------Pirlo-----------
Ang-Facey-Hern-Iraola
---------Saunders--------
Poku plays a false 9
You count on guys like Mullins to be competitive in this league. You need folks like him, like Mike Grella, like Dax, like Chris fucking Rolfe, like Justin Meram. Those are at least 50% of the margin where teams separate themselves.
What the hell is everyone smoking? Mena was our best defender out there yesterday. He's currently sitting at a 4.2 rating. Did you guys even watch the game?
He made some great plays, but as a whole, he was weak. Even Ian and Joe were beating him up on the broadcast. He wasn't terrible, but wasn't great either. It's nothing to write home about, being the best of the worst.
We did dominate possession and could have easily given up 2 goals in the 1st. We got some lucky bounces in the half. If we had the possession win and they had good chances, that just means that midfield counter was killing us. Which also means that by letting AJ play an attacking role and Lampard up to...we basically put al our eggs in the "we'll try and out score you" basket. We left the midfield wide open. And a slow player there to defend. I'll say it 1,000 times. If we brought Pirlo in to defend, the organization is a bunch of dumbasses. Why are we wasting him and his stamina? Mix can or at least willingly cover more ground then AJ. He needs to pair up with him.
We have no speed. I'm willing to play Angelino at left mid and see what happens.
I agree. Mena was really, really good against one of the best CFs on the league.
Check out my initial reaction. Shay wasn't particularly bad, but it was a man to a boy.
Also...with Pirlo. I'm a Serie A guy. For a long time. I've watched Pirlo play a lot. Either JK doesn't know what he's doing or he is purposely leaving Pirlo exposed out of spite. Whether he wanted him or not, you need to look at your core and fit the pieces around them...not around how you want them to play. It doesn't work like that.
I honestly think JK's thinking is this...you wanna stuff Pirlo down my throat and not care what I think, ok, fine...I'll show them that I'm smarter and make them respect me...when they see him fail.
He strikes me as a -willing to cut his nose off, to spite of his face- kinda guy.
I honestly think JK's thinking is this...you wanna stuff Pirlo down my throat and not care what I think, ok, fine...I'll show them that I'm smarter and make them respect me...when they see him fail.
He strikes me as a -willing to cut his nose off, to spite of his face- kinda guy.
"Che cazzo" he will sink this club to prove his stupid little point.
Couldn't agree more. He clearly seems to bully Mix and it's affecting him. At the beginning of the season Mix played with joy and excitement. Right now he just looks beaten down and miserable. He still plays hard the whole game but the confidence just isn't there. I was standing at the top of the 100 level during halftime right near the tunnel. As the players came out Mix had his head down and at least 3 players patted him on the back and said something to him as they passed him in a cheer up don't worry about it kind of way. Which makes me think Kries spent some portion of halftime targeting Mix for a berating. This crap worked with Beckerman so this is how he plans to treat Mix and Poku. Different people react better to different approaches, unfortunately Kries continues to prove that he is incapable of adapting his approach to give the players the greatest chance of success.
It's always his way. He wants to run his system. He wants his "leaders" (Jacobson, Grabavoy, and Wingert) to be the team leaders and the locker room voices. The toxic dynamics are clear when you watch interactions. Kries has created a divide in this team with the Kries guys who understand what "we are trying to do here" and the non-Kries guys (Pirlo, Villa, Mix, Iraola, Angelino, Poku, Facey). You can see it on the field, those guys avoid passing the ball the Jacobson like the plague. The non-Kries guys want to spread the field and move the ball the Kries guys with Grabavoy as the poster child come in and follow his instructions with go no where 5 ft passes back and forth.
The guy is in way over his head. I hope the next coach comes soon and I hope its someone that knows how to adapt their approach and system to get the best out of the players we have. I hope it's someone who has at least been around teams with guys of the stature of Villa/Pirlo/Lampard and has seen or knows how to manage them. Kries has no clue in this regard. He may be great at getting the best out of the grabavoys of the world but this isn't small town SLC and that isn't how this team is constructed.
I think we're lacking a bit on this team, maybe not talent-wise, but certainly size, strength and athleticism. Facey has the skills to be a great CB, but he's a bit diminutive in stature and can easily be pushed around by guys like Kamara, Drogba, other big forwards in the league. It's tough to give up some of that size in the middle.
Tommy Mac, while his work rate is wonderful, has great vision and some good skill, is one of the slowest, least athletic guys I've seen in MLS recently. Not saying there isn't a spot for him on the team (or Facey for that matter), but I would give him up to get more speed in the lineup.
These are just two examples, but I think there's a bit of a deficiency in pace for this team, especially on the wings. A guy like Angelino has the speed to be a threat outside, but needs to be mindful of his positioning. You'll see guys like Accam, Oduro, Oba... they all are unmatched while on a give-and-go or making a run. I'd love to have a few guys with speed enough to finish off a play. We've really missed that from Shelton. And the Mac, Pirlo, Lampard midfield really puts us at a disadvantage on the counter, especially considering how often the ball stays in our defensive end.
ETA: We need more physicality on the offensive end, too. Aside from Frank, we're really only throwing a bunch of 5'9" guys in the box. We're really lacking size up from that Nemec was supposed to remedy. And now he's been MIA other than at practice.
Tommy Mac, while his work rate is wonderful, has great vision and some good skill, is one of the slowest, least athletic guys I've seen in MLS recently. Not saying there isn't a spot for him on the team (or Facey for that matter), but I would give him up to get more speed in the lineup.
These are just two examples, but I think there's a bit of a deficiency in pace for this team, especially on the wings. A guy like Angelino has the speed to be a threat outside, but needs to be mindful of his positioning. You'll see guys like Accam, Oduro, Oba... they all are unmatched while on a give-and-go or making a run. I'd love to have a few guys with speed enough to finish off a play. We've really missed that from Shelton. And the Mac, Pirlo, Lampard midfield really puts us at a disadvantage on the counter, especially considering how often the ball stays in our defensive end.
ETA: We need more physicality on the offensive end, too. Aside from Frank, we're really only throwing a bunch of 5'9" guys in the box. We're really lacking size up from that Nemec was supposed to remedy. And now he's been MIA other than at practice.
Last edited:
After the final whistle, I looked over to Kreis because we had been talking about him. He got up from the bench without a word to anyone, walked to the centerline, then walked slowly across the field towards the locker room, alone.
Shouldn't he have something to say to someone about something?? Is it his players who have up on him, or he who has given up on his players??
Shouldn't he have something to say to someone about something?? Is it his players who have up on him, or he who has given up on his players??
I thought this was one of the most striking things about the LA game. They were so far ahead of us in terms of having size at center half in Omar and Leonardo and then speed and athleticism on the outside.
I have no idea who much of this is right though a fair bit of it seems plausible from just watching the interactions and listening to the press conferences. Beyond that, it is really hard to know. One thing that struck me, though, is that I can't think of too many (or any) cases where there were player-manager rifts anywhere along the lines suggested here that didn't end with the manager going. You can't replace the whole roster, so if it is really Kreiss pitted against the non-Kreiss guys, I'm rather certain we'll have a new manager this year.
Once again I have to question the balance of the squad. We have too many central midfielders and no wide players to give us balance. At this point I would seriously look at playing with three centre backs and using Iraola and Angelino as wing backs. This would give us width and allow us to play three in midfield and two up front without being too exposed.
For me Mix is working hard, but he is does not suit playing wide. Also I wouldn't play Pirlo and Lampard together, because they don't have the pace to defend against quicker opponents. So for me it is Lampard on the bench.
Poku and Mix should be the ones alongside Pirlo.
I also have to ask the question why Nemec is still at the club when he is completely out of the picture. Surely the club could have sorted a move to Europe and freed up a space to bring another striker in.
For me Mix is working hard, but he is does not suit playing wide. Also I wouldn't play Pirlo and Lampard together, because they don't have the pace to defend against quicker opponents. So for me it is Lampard on the bench.
Poku and Mix should be the ones alongside Pirlo.
I also have to ask the question why Nemec is still at the club when he is completely out of the picture. Surely the club could have sorted a move to Europe and freed up a space to bring another striker in.
Similar threads
