Fighting Talker

Payne is upset…

Well of course he is and rightly so. The problem to me is that right now Tom Soehn is unable to motivate these players to change or improve their play. Why? Because there is ZERO competition for spots right now. With Fred and McTavish down and Franco Niell proving quite the bust, players can lollygag around with absolutely zero repercussions.

Of course, Emilio can keep screwing around outside the penalty area rather than attacking the goal, who is going to replace him, Niell? Doe? In fact, Emilio is rewarded! “Here Luci, here’s some cash. Please try and score now.” The starters know they’re not going to get replaced. The talent behind them isn’t there. Who is going to replace Quaranta (who has been dreadful these last two matches) when he takes matches off? Dyachenko? In three seasons and two different acquisitions, Rod has hardly improved at all. With McTavish hurt, who is going to compete with Peralta for a place? Jeff Curtin? Hardly. This is why our draft strategy has been such a disaster. We’re left with a team with no depth and little motivation because in the end, the same 11 guys are going to get tossed out there again.

With the roster the way it is, and Ben Olsen not coming back anytime soon, it now falls to Soehn to get these guys motivated to not only give 90 minutes, but improve as well. I am no longer convinced he can do this. Yes, our lack of depth hurts us in the motivation department. BUT, a good coach wouldn’t be allowing this team to get worse, which is exactly what United is doing right now. It’s time to start thinking about the point at which Soehn may have to go. I almost always believe it’s better to do it sooner rather than later. It would be new for this team, who have never canned a coach midseason. But it’s a new era, with new ownership and I think higher expectations.

Sure there’s a case to be made that Soehn could turn this around. Or one that says United won’t fire him midseason. I disagree.

I think United must fire Soehn and will fire Soehn. If he makes it to Independence Day, I’ll be stunned. That won’t be only thing United will do to try and stop this rot. But it’s clear now that it is one thing they need to do.

I’ll have my candidates for the job later today.