FC Edmonton 2016 Season

[jedinathan]

My guess is alright, but not great. Think they only had 1800 last year for it, even though it was the last game of the series...

[yothat]

watched the first half yesterday game ... the second half was clearly better. it seems to that colin miller should hire another assistant coach to teach offense. He's excellent defensive coach, the first half looked similar to when he first started in 2013. strong defensively n no offensive attack.

[shermanator]

After getting some good results recently, FC Edmonton lost to bottom of the table Miami FC last night, eliminating them from the Spring Season title race. They're currently in third place, but second place Indy, as well as teams 4-7 (Minnesota, Carolina, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale) all have a game in hand and are within 2 points.

[masster]

Highlights of the of the 1-0 loss to Miami.

 

[masster]

Nice to see Edmonton near the top of the table, but with only 7 goals in 9 games, that can't be sustainable. Scoring seems to be a problem for Colin Miller teams. How much of this is due to personnel, and how much to his tactics?

[masster]

Last thing...disappointing to see only 5 substitutes on the bench for the Eddies last night. Is Jalali injured? If not, that has to be a slap in the face.

	FC Edmonton (@FCEdmontonNow)
2016-05-28, 4:24 PM #FCEd subs: Ingham (GK), Plumhoff, Smith, Aleksic, Zebie #MIAvFCE #beLOUD

[jedinathan]

That's what FCEd has been playing with. Few reasons I think... One, Miller seems to HATE to change things up. If the team is doing well, he won't even alter the subs from what I've seen. IMO Farago should be the sub, but has gone through some injury issues, which has pushed him back on the depth. Jalali is not injured to my knowledge, but did pick up a red in the first half of a friendly with Calgary Foothills U23, so I would guess that he's not in the best graces with Miller right now.

Scoring... Always been an issue for a Miller-led FCEd. That's just his style IMO. Edmonton is very solid defensively, so I'm not surprised to see them where they are in the table, even with the lack of goals. Off the top of my head, there's only been one game that didn't end in a one goal difference in the league this season so far.

Not sure why you would expect to see more than 5 subs for a trip to Miami... Cost saving measure!

[Lord Bob]

19 hours ago, masster said:

Last thing...disappointing to see only 5 substitutes on the bench for the Eddies last night. Is Jalali injured? If not, that has to be a slap in the face.

	FC Edmonton (@FCEdmontonNow)
2016-05-28, 4:24 PM #FCEd subs: Ingham (GK), Plumhoff, Smith, Aleksic, Zebie #MIAvFCE #beLOUD

They've been doing this pretty much all year and last year as well, not taking a full bench on road trips. Saving a few bucks.

[coach_86]

On 5/29/2016 at 1:17 PM, masster said:

Last thing...disappointing to see only 5 substitutes on the bench for the Eddies last night. Is Jalali injured? If not, that has to be a slap in the face.

	FC Edmonton (@FCEdmontonNow)
2016-05-28, 4:24 PM #FCEd subs: Ingham (GK), Plumhoff, Smith, Aleksic, Zebie #MIAvFCE #beLOUD

Jalali is not injured. To the extent of my knowledge he asked for a release from the club and this is being negotiated between his agent and Miller. I don't blame the kid because it seems no matter how well he plays Miller wont' give him the chance unless they've got tons of injuries. No sense in him rotting on the bench and I think he knows that his window is closing so he is looking elsewhere.  The other notable not on the bench is Mallan Roberts. With him it is as simple as Miller being stubborn and not playing a guy that wants to wait until after the season to negotiate terms of his contract. Seems the logical thing to do for an athlete to try and have a breakout year and earn some more money (i.e. Lance Laing), thus Mallan has been frozen out. Really goes a long way to show how Miller treats the local academy products, lots of hype and treated like gold when they first step in and then left to rot...................hopefully shome can change the trend.

[shermanator]

Well, if (and I need to emphasize IF) that's true, that's a bummer for both players.

[coach_86]

Huge bummer. As far as Jalali i can say with 100% confidence that his time at the club is over. Mallan is hard to tell, there is still time to mend things i'm sure, but a few rumours have him potentially getting loaned out/traded (thats a rumor right now though). 

[gwsmith63]

http://www.ottawafuryfc.com/news/2016/06/04/canadian-defender-mallan-roberts-joins-fury-fc-on-loan

 

 

[jedinathan]

An excellent deal for all parties involved. FCEd keeps Roberts rights, and ability to sell him at a later date, not to mention gaining some salary space. Ottawa gets a nationally capped player, who's solid (if you ignore the Minnesota game this year) on a defense that has been lacking. Roberts gets a chance to show his stuff outside of Edmonton (lets be honest, not many local players get a chance to) as well as experience another club at a comparable level. Hard pressed to see a downside here.

 

Can't blame Sadi. I have a hard time seeing where he would end up, which is a shame. Real workhorse, and I've been a big fan of his maturing over the years with the club. Hope he ends up somewhere.

[jedinathan]

Spring wrap up:

FCEd ends the spring in third. Best ever spring season for FCEd, earning 17 points in 10 games. This puts Edmonton only one point behind both Indy and NY. Jake Keegan is also only 2 goals back of the pace for the golden boot, Diakite is pretty much the best CB in the league (though he was clearly at fault for the PK yesterday), and even though stats haven't been updated on NASL page, I'd say MVO is looking at being a solid contender for the golden glove as well.

 

If you had told me that FCEd would be in this position a couple of months ago, I'd have said that you were crazy.

[shamrock]

Yeah and anyone ever accusing Miller of Hoofball again (I believe Miller-ball was the proper term) I suggest you watch that first half. Not a lot of hoofing, but solid play from the back, dominating large stretches of cet game. That first goal, playing the ball from the back using only three players and often one-touches, that is just Hard-On stuff for any coach at any level. And if only Dustin Correa had a decent shot, would they score  more goals, man he is on fire this kid. 

I don't know if it is going to be enough for the playoffs, but Miller has improved his team year after year. Also nice to see some people in the stands. 

[Ivan]

Where is Jake Keegan from?

[jedinathan]

Keegan most recently played in the Irish leagues (With Galway United). He's 24, and was originally drafted by the Union in the MLS, but never played or trained with them. He's American, from New York.

 

From Steven Sandor:

http://the11.ca/2015/11/26/former-philadelphia-union-draft-pick-jake-keegan-leaves-ireland-signs-with-fc-edmonton/

[Ivan]

^ Thanks!

[shermanator]

Not going to lie, I did not see Edmonton finishing third in the table during the spring season. That sets them up well if they continue to have strong fall seasons like they have the last two years. I still don't see them making the playoffs, but I was wrong about the spring season so I can be wrong about the fall season as well. The club is going to need to start scoring more frequently if they want to make the playoffs, but if the backline continues it's solid play, they have a good shot.

1 hour ago, shamrock said:

Yeah and anyone ever accusing Miller of Hoofball again (I believe Miller-ball was the proper term) I suggest you watch that first half. Not a lot of hoofing, but solid play from the back, dominating large stretches of cet game.

I can't comment on yesterday's game, or any game in the last few weeks for that matter, but earlier in the year they were relying a lot on hopeful long balls booted up the pitch. I'm thinking specifically in mid May against the Cosmos, they were doing this for the majority of that particular game. In the first half, they were getting thoroughly outplayed, and then a hoofball from Corea to Plumhoff put them up 1-0. Got them a win in the end, which is really all that matters.

If they have been building out the back in the last few games that is promising though.

[shamrock]

Well it just shows to prove you can want a lot of things as a coach, but it all depends on the capabilities of your players in the end.

Surely, Floro for instance would like to see a Barcelona-style tiky-taky football, yet he has no Messi, Neymar nor Iniesta. On that note I think Iceland is currently showing how to be competitive against "stronger" opposition. 

Miller has been cropping and building this team for three years now and it's plain to see the improvement in both results and play. In the end I don't think it will be enough for a Championship considering the gap in funds between some of the teams, but I do believe he deserves some credit for his work. 

[jedinathan]

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 1:35 PM, shermanator said:

Not going to lie, I did not see Edmonton finishing third in the table during the spring season. That sets them up well if they continue to have strong fall seasons like they have the last two years. I still don't see them making the playoffs, but I was wrong about the spring season so I can be wrong about the fall season as well. The club is going to need to start scoring more frequently if they want to make the playoffs, but if the backline continues it's solid play, they have a good shot.

I can't comment on yesterday's game, or any game in the last few weeks for that matter, but earlier in the year they were relying a lot on hopeful long balls booted up the pitch. I'm thinking specifically in mid May against the Cosmos, they were doing this for the majority of that particular game. In the first half, they were getting thoroughly outplayed, and then a hoofball from Corea to Plumhoff put them up 1-0. Got them a win in the end, which is really all that matters.

If they have been building out the back in the last few games that is promising though.

Your comment on the long balls was interesting to me, so I looked it up (LOVE the fact that NASL has better stats coverage this).

Going backwards (just easier to research):

vs Strikers: Passes: 424 Long passes: 16.3% (69/424)

vs Miami: Passes: 426 Long: 13.4% (57/426)

vs Carolina: Passes 418 Long: 19.6% (82/418)

vs New York: Passes 289 Long: 25.3% (73/289)

vs Indy: Passes 405 Long: 15.6% (63/405)

vs Jax: Passes 277 Long: 24.2% (67/277)

vs. Ottawa Passes: 375 Long: 20.8% (78/375)

vs. Tampa Bay Passes: 275 Long: 19.6% (54/275)

vs Minnesota Passes: 445 Long: 17.3% (77/445)

vs OKC Passes 273 Long: 28.2% (77/273)

 

I have no clue what this actually means, especially since I've noticed that FCEd has tended to start passing back and forth in the mid/defensive field if/when they get a lead. Reduces the percentage for sure. I'm also curious if this is Jeff Paulus's directive, as when we had him on the Loyal Company podcast (cheap plug!) he's talked about focusing on passing with the academy.

[yothat]

I think the Ledgerwood and Fordyce in the middle of the park are a big part of the increase in playing out of the back

[jedinathan]

Absolutely fantastic article by Steve Sandor on some of the off the field stuff that is going on for FCEd into the fall season.

 

http://the11.ca/2016/06/22/fc-edmonton-gm-the-eddies-cant-be-second-or-third-fiddle-at-clarke-field/

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

12 hours ago, jedinathan said:

Absolutely fantastic article by Steve Sandor on some of the off the field stuff that is going on for FCEd into the fall season.

http://the11.ca/2016/06/22/fc-edmonton-gm-the-eddies-cant-be-second-or-third-fiddle-at-clarke-field/

Shame they have so little control at Clarke.

Also, Ottawa just moved their July 10th game from 2pm EST to noon to avoid conflict with the EURO finals. I hope FC Edmonton can do the same; their game is at 2pm Mountain (4pm EST).

[jedinathan]

Its a symptom of Edmonton really. Soccer has historically taken a serious back seat to HIGH! SCHOOL! FOOTBALL!!! (shout out to Eskies fans that get the reference). Clarke is "historic" for those folks, despite soccer dominating the number of players in the city. Believe it or not, the Egg-Ball crowd actually complained about Big Blue being put up. They were mad that the benches got moved to the near side of the pitch. Didn't stop them from using Big Blue for their own games though.