The Price Of Loyalty

I'm not ready to bury Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio yet, but with the raw context of last night's collapse, I fail to see how he's proved himself as that much of an improvement over fired head coach Dave Sarachan. The similarities are too overwhelming. Conservative, overly defensive tactics? Check. Misplaced loyalty to certain players when he clearly has better options? Check. Poor second half game management and substitutions? Check, John Thorrington notwithstanding. Hit or miss record with player acquisitions? Check.

Would the Fire have made the playoffs had Sarachan not gotten fired? That's entirely unknowable, and any answer is just going to reflect whether or not you liked the guy in the first place. I did, so I lean towards yes, because he still would have had Blanco, a healthy Chris Rolfe to finish out the season, and the core of a strong defense, even without Wilman Conde. My gut tells me that Sarachan might very well have played Blanco as an out-and-out forward, though, so that might have altered the dynamic just a bit.

But, and this is important, would the team have responded to Sarachan the way they had to respond to Osorio in order to, in many cases, keep their jobs? That's where the coaching change was probably necessary one way or the other. Guys were getting complacent, and you saw that in some of the quotes this week leading up to last night's poor showing. On some level, much as the team needed a "good cop" after years of Bob Bradley, the team needed a "bad cop" after Sarachan. Dave simply didn't have the motivational tools that were necessary to break out of the slump, unless you buy into the notion that it was all about injuries.

As for the game last night, I am no longer recognizing Osorio's "genius" for brining in Wilman Conde, because he brought in Paolo Wanchope first. It's not just that Wanchope's touch has been consistently awful, or that his scoring chances about as dangerous as a tranquilized poodle. He simply has no idea where he should be on the field. At least twice he got in the way of what would have been a better scoring chance for Chad Barrett, and he would just stand around at the center of the six-yard box instead of making any kind of run to the near or far post. His movement off the ball was simply atrocious, to the point where he wasn't just fucking up his own play, he was fucking up his teammates by getting in the way.

And yet he played the entire match. That may be the worst display of misguided loyalty between a manager and a player since Bruce Arena took Jeff Agoos to Korea. It was just so obvious that Wanchope was Osorio's guy, and that he would be given all opportunities to contribute despite all evidence to the contrary. Even after the game, Osorio said the Costa Rican played well. Let that sink in for a moment. Osorio told the press that he thought Paolo Wanchope had a good game. And critics wanted to bury Dave for giving lame quotes?

Then there's the Diego Gutierrez substitution at halftime. Luis Arroyave reported that it was an injury to Dasan Robinson that forced the change, but on the one hand, I'm skeptical, as Robinson was struggling in the first half. Not that the Twellman goal was really his fault. On the other, you're down a goal already. Couldn't you put Calen Carr in the match at that point and drop Logan Pause back as the third defender? I don't think Diego has played well enough recently to get that call, and a couple of passes to nobody early on sort of rammed that home.

In hindsight, the Fire's big "undefeated" run at the end of the season was clearly overhyped. It's not that they were playing over their heads or anything, just that all the problems that led to the 1-0 loss last night were evident through that whole stretch. Namely that the team struggled to score and gave up untimely goals. An unbeaten streak with a disproportionate number of ties is always going to be misleading. Just ask the 2004 Columbus Crew, who won the Supporters Shield with more ties than wins, only to get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

So, now what? Can Osorio swallow his pride and cut Wanchope loose? If his contract for next year is guaranteed, will new owners Andell Holdings swallow his salary to make it happen? Can we find a first-rate striker to pair with Chris Rolfe up top? Can Barrett improve enough in one offseason to take another shot at being that guy? Whose contracts get picked up? Will Osorio make personnel moves that will realize his dream of playing a 9-0-1 formation?

And will Nate Jaqua win an MLS Cup in his first season away from the Fire?