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Five Years Experience Required
by Viking
The Burn is ending the final leg of the preseason, and that
is always the hardest to endure. Players are vying for rosters spots, draft choices decide
to stay in school to study or hit the big time, and teams look to make trades that
recover some ground lost on draft day. And the fans see almost none of it, because we
cannot afford to take a two
week vacation to attend the pre-season in Florida, or hop a flight to France to cover them
in the crucial preparation for first kick. Props to ESPN for trying.
So, in the absence of discussing what we know little about,
who might make it, who will get the axe, and who deserves to be sent down to the
Silverbacks for more seasoning, I will prime the juices for year V.. Year V is different.
In each of the previous years, the Burn bowed out of the League championship under
disappointing circumstances. Losing to KC in a shootout, losing to a Colorado team they
beat repeatedly during the year, limping into the playoffs on one leg, and having it swept
out from under them in defensive blunders fit for an U-14 team. The past is littered with
disappointing finishes. Only the US Open Cup keeps Burn fans from really going scorched
earth.
This year the Burn is coming off their best year. Most wins,
most points, league's Most Valuable Player, most exciting team to watch, all added up to a
great season. They played and won some of the best games MLS has ever seen. They also
played in some surrealistic games that were cruel jokes on Burn fans and players alike.
True, they didn't win it all. But in a season when they didn't win the MLS Cup or the Open
Cup, and didn't get to play
in either, the Burn provided an intoxicating, phenomenal and interesting season of soccer.
Pity the media missed most of it.
And to the coach's credit, the Burn seems to be making moves
to keep the team fresh, exciting, and highly competitive. Depending on several player
decisions that will come about in the next 18 days, the Burn could become one of the
younger teams in MLS. The Burn drafted Korol, who is going to be kept on the team, and
will likely see game time even from early on. Rhine went to France on his own and is
reported to have played well, meaning that Jason Kreis has got to produce or face the 80th
minute substitution. Dante is gone, and Lazo has to be given real playing time this year.
In what I consider the most intriguing move this year, Coach
Dave has gone after a left-sided midfielder . The Burn have generally not relied on wings
to produce their scoring chances. The team has never relied on cross and finish as it's
main scoring tactic. Rather, they've built from the back, or midfield, and then worked
forward for a shot from close in, usually through Pareja, Deering, or Kreis. Daniv and
Santel provided some service, but were more likely to cut inside to the 18 yard box and
try to produce a give and go than push it to the corner and serve it up to back post. A
left sided crossing threat would add precious yards to the Burn attack. If the defense has
to stretch to the touchline, it gives Graziani and Kreis a few extra yards space. We could
see a Burn squad capable of attacking with more variety than ever.
But please, let year V be the year the Burn decide that set
plays are an important component of winning games. Burn corner kicks are very nearly the
least effective in the league. Damian wasn't worth much, but at least corner kicks
were a scoring opportunity with him on the field. I sincerely hope that the Burn will
dedicate more practice time to exploit this opportunity more,
Finally, the other element of Year V of note is that Dave Dir
is the last man standing. Maybe Rasputin is a good nick-name for him, perhaps it's unfair.
Having been a vocal critic of him in the past, I am going to hold much comment on him
until I see how much risk he assumes. Up to this point, Dir has relied heavily on players
he brought with him from other places. In year V, that may no longer be true.
The more young players he keeps and puts on the field, the
more risk he assumes. Other Burn fans are going to torch me for this, but I advocate more
risk than less. We know the Burn is a top four team. I think they are top four, and no
more, with some of the longer standing players. You can win an MLS Cup as a top four team,
but you will do it by getting more than you can reasonably expect from the players that
made you a top four team. You can also do it once in four years, maybe.
But if Dave bites the bullet and takes the risk, he might
produce a Championship team. And therein lies the measure of an MLS coach: Can you add or
find new players that take you from being a top four to number one. And if you try it and
fail, are you a better or worse coach because you tried? On a personal level, I would be
slow
to take a Burn team to task because it became a top 6 team, when they made moves intended
to make them number 1, that didn't work out. It's a players game, after all. But I am
critical of teams that stick to what they know because it put them in the top 4 in the
league, because a coach that does that knows he's more likely to not finish
on top. Just my personal application of the Scorched Earth Policy.
Coach Dir proved that he can coach among his peers. He has
survived longer than anyone (Arena would still be around, but he's the exception that
proves the rule). If his draft turns out well, and the players make the roster, he will
have deserved his tenancy. He will deserve coach of the year if he integrates new players
into a solid team, and puts them on the top. He would also deserve coach of the year if he
took a mostly unchanged team and won the League Cup with it. Here's hoping that either
way, the Burn give us fans the excitement without the heart stopping end-of-the- game and
then some heroics that characterized the campaign of 1999.
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