I have to give credit to Vieira, he was not afraid to make changes. Made for a very exciting season to watch, and full credit to the entire team and coaching staff for this year, it was a huge success in our second season. 2 seed was great and we've positioned ourselves as the favorites for the last CCL spot. I personally loved watching Montreal's run last year, I really hope we can do something similar.
That said, forums and fans are made for second guessing, so I would love to hear what everyone thought were the best and worst decisions of the season.
BEST:
Unlocking Pirlo: Kreis couldn't do it, and none of the pundits could figure it out, but Vieira's decision to move RB Andoni Iraola over to CDM to take the pressure off Pirlo, and give him room to make magic, was, to me, the single biggest reason for our success this year.
Switching Keepers: Seeing Eirik Johansen play 3 games in the net, confident in possession, distributing accurately and confidently and with both feet was a breath of fresh air for the supporters. Everyone loved Josh for the hard work he put in and his dedication to the team, but with the focus on playing out of the back, a GK with more natural ball handling skills was necessary. Another bold PV move to make the switch for the last game of the season.
WORST:
Moving Iraola into Defense: Whether the team sheet showed a 3 man defense or not, the last few games of the season saw Iraola dropped between the CBs to start the attack, and away from Pirlo. Not surprisingly, this left Pirlo with less time on the ball, and less time to find Villa and the forwards with his patented long balls.
Waiting too long to switch Keepers: It was obvious early on that Saunders was never going to be the keeper to play out of the back with. Vieira was right to insist on this tactic, but many of the machinations he made to help the team do it (moving Iraola, tinkering with the fullbacks) caused their own problems, when more time with a better distributing keeper might have made those changes unnecessary.
Never figuring out the 3rd MF: After Iraola and Pirlo, the 3rd midfielder never seemed to work properly in the system. Diskerud was banished to his apartment, 38 yo Lampard scored when he played, but never seemed to provide the link to the forwards or the defense that his position requires. That, and injury, left experiments with Lopez, Harrison, Mendoza and McNamara at the CM position, with no one assuredly grabbing the position.
I'm sure I missed some, I'd love to hear your opinions on this.
That said, forums and fans are made for second guessing, so I would love to hear what everyone thought were the best and worst decisions of the season.
BEST:
Unlocking Pirlo: Kreis couldn't do it, and none of the pundits could figure it out, but Vieira's decision to move RB Andoni Iraola over to CDM to take the pressure off Pirlo, and give him room to make magic, was, to me, the single biggest reason for our success this year.
Switching Keepers: Seeing Eirik Johansen play 3 games in the net, confident in possession, distributing accurately and confidently and with both feet was a breath of fresh air for the supporters. Everyone loved Josh for the hard work he put in and his dedication to the team, but with the focus on playing out of the back, a GK with more natural ball handling skills was necessary. Another bold PV move to make the switch for the last game of the season.
WORST:
Moving Iraola into Defense: Whether the team sheet showed a 3 man defense or not, the last few games of the season saw Iraola dropped between the CBs to start the attack, and away from Pirlo. Not surprisingly, this left Pirlo with less time on the ball, and less time to find Villa and the forwards with his patented long balls.
Waiting too long to switch Keepers: It was obvious early on that Saunders was never going to be the keeper to play out of the back with. Vieira was right to insist on this tactic, but many of the machinations he made to help the team do it (moving Iraola, tinkering with the fullbacks) caused their own problems, when more time with a better distributing keeper might have made those changes unnecessary.
Never figuring out the 3rd MF: After Iraola and Pirlo, the 3rd midfielder never seemed to work properly in the system. Diskerud was banished to his apartment, 38 yo Lampard scored when he played, but never seemed to provide the link to the forwards or the defense that his position requires. That, and injury, left experiments with Lopez, Harrison, Mendoza and McNamara at the CM position, with no one assuredly grabbing the position.
I'm sure I missed some, I'd love to hear your opinions on this.