Common Complaints

It's no secret that I have certain disagreements with other Fire fans about certain elements of Dave Sarachan's coaching skills. To that end, I'd like to point out a couple of things arising from today's DC-New England matchup. These are all going to be somewhat obvious given the scoreline, but that's not the point.

• Which MLS coach, down a goal in a playoff match, made no changes at halftime, and preached patience in an in-game interview?
• Which MLS coach, down a goal, took a young, emerging talent out of the match with his first substitute?
• Which MLS coach left a guy making his first start after hernia surgery on the field for 90 minutes, despite obvious fatigue and gradual ineffectiveness as his team tried to protect a one goal lead?
• Which MLS coach said of a team up a goal on the road, that "you've got to try to win this one 1-0"?
• Which MLS coach, up a goal on the road, couldn't have had more players behind the ball had he moved his player bench behind the 18-yard box?
• Which MLS coach, down a goal and forced to replace his creative midfielder with his final substitute, brought in a defensive midfielder with a forward still on the bench?
• Which MLS team won the match on the road despite being outshot by a wide margin?

None of this is to say that Dave Sarachan was, for instance, more deserving of MLS Coach of the Year than former Fire boss Bob Bradley. It's only that some of Sarachan's perceived sins are simply the difference between how coaches see the game and how fans see the game, and that fans might just miss Dave more than they realize if his contract ends up not being renewed.