I imagine (hope?) this thread is going to wind down with today's news. I don't think I've put my two cents in yet, so for posterity's sake:
- Obviously if Kreis lost the locker room, he should be fired.
- Many of his matchday XI's were puzzling to knowledgeable outsiders like the illustrious posters of NYCFC Forums. We know soccer, but are not at training or seated in NYCFC/CFG offices.
- Ditto for many of his substitutions.
That said, because of expansion roster/Lampard/5 new players in July/injuries/whatever else I'm forgetting, I don't think it would be reasonable to evaluate any manager against goals set before the season. Things did not go according to plan, and the evaluation should reflect the context.
I would have liked to see him get another year, albeit on a short leash. Somewhere upthread there's a comparison of Kreis' record to Bruce Arena's over a period of several years, and I consider that a more representative sample than a single weird, disappointing year with NYCFC. If he was still rolling out weird XIs in July 2016, and not getting results, and not better communicating the plan/process, then he should absolutely be fired.
Since they have already fired him I'm glad that (1) they did it now, and not in January/February/March and (2) that they had a replacement lined up prior to doing so (or at least locked it down quickly enough to make that plausible).
On to next year. #COYBIB.
