More Thoughts On Last Night, And The Aftermath

By: Dave Martinez | August 6th, 2009

When you take a look at the game last night, W Connection only had one player – Toussaint – who continuously made the Bulls lives miserable. And no tactical changes were made to counter his onslaught. But look on over to the Trinny bench, and they saw Ernst Oebster as a problem. He began getting the double team treatment. And the left side was once again shut down.

That is coaching. That is the ability to know the flow of the game, and recognize kinks not only in your opponents armor, but your own as well. And that is only one of many observations that left me dumbfounded last night:

- Where was the passion for victory? Trailing by one at home, with an entire half to play, the team sat back far too much in the face of adversity.

- What happened to the simple concept of triangular passing? If it wasn’t a long ball, it wasn’t an option. And we all know how accurate a game long ball is.

- Alfredo Pacheco is not playing for this coach. On both goals, he was slow to the play and disinterested in the results.

- Kevin Goldthwaite, a rock as of late in the CB position, committed possibly the worst brain fart I have seen since since the Mendes backpass many moons ago.

- What was up with this man on man marking strategy? Did Osorio actually give the team specific assignments on who to cover all game? Instead of playing zone defense, the backline was being tattered left and right, following one on one match ups instead of playing a cohesive strategy.

In the end, you had a “professional” soccer club being taken out of the regions most important club tournament by a pub team. I’m sorry, but if that is the best Trinidad and Tobago has to offer, I think that classification withstands justification. Then again, judging by the Bulls performance last night, they would probably be bottom dwellers in the tiny island league too.

Take all of this information in, and you tell me what area sports club worth a grain of salt would not begin the purging process immediately? This is New York! Even the lowly Mets have had to scramble and chop heads recently in the face of failure. And they still have playoff hopes in their sights! The Red Bulls are quickly turning into the MLS equivalent of the New York Islanders; all failure, no repercussions, no progress (Then again, the Isles did at least have the #1 pick in the draft for 2009. Unfortunately, the Bulls putrid season will only result in a #2. And how fitting the #2 is when describing this season. Ya, I went there.)

The Aftermath.

I am sure we all woke up to the same feeling; this is the day that heads will roll. It is now 10 a.m., and all is quiet along the eastern front. This was the season. Now, something needs to be done.

Here is the post game reaction from RBR: