Comments on: NSC Minnesota Stars Announce Assistant Coach, Player-Asst. Coach

By: zlatan

zlatan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:50:37 +0000

BQ, I am in agreement with you on Friedland. I also know him as a quality person and a leader on the field. I’m not sure his body will allow him to play 90 min each week…so when I called him a sub, I was not referring to his quality as a player, more his age.

By: Jeff Wolter

Jeff Wolter — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:09:39 +0000

My BU12 team in 2001 did better than I expected BQ.

By: Brian Quarstad

Brian Quarstad — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:32:15 +0000

“We have seen good line-ups go on to do nothing,”
True!

” and we have seen new teams do much better than we thought they would…”

Which ones? I can’t really think of any.

By: Jeff Wolter

Jeff Wolter — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:56:20 +0000

I don’t think anyone can say how our team will do in this new league until all the teams start playing.

Vancouver and Portland should rule the league this year because any top player would see that as their best chance to get into MLS. The teams that appeared the most on a bubble of going away and now have new unknown/untested owners will most likely not attract the best available players in their first year.

But, at this level it’s more about how the team starts its season, then about the preseason line-up of players. We have seen good line-ups go on to do nothing, and we have seen new teams do much better than we thought they would…

That’s why we actually play the games.

By: Brian Quarstad

Brian Quarstad — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:20:49 +0000

Zlatan, of course that is your opinion that they have two good players. I would say one star player, one possible star player, and a couple of very good players but for sure we are not even close to the same caliber of roster as a Montreal, Vancouver, Portland or Carolina. However, take a look at many of the other rosters this year. Austin is almost totally rebuilding their team after the first year but do have a number of really good pick ups. Devo listed Rochester’s team yesterday and they aren’t looking all that strong and still have many unknowns invited to camp that are not signed. Tampa and St. Louis I think will have very similar to our roster.

I was a bit concerned with the roster for a while as well but I think what you are going to see this year are 2 or 3 tiers of teams in the league. And as Bud Grant was so fond of saying, on any given Sunday…. So perhaps if your team is disciplined enough you might surprise one of the big boys at home. Maybe not a lot different than the premiership where you have your top teams, your middle level and a bunch scrambling not to be on the bottom. I’m hoping we are someplace in the middle. We will see.

There have been plenty of player-assistant coaches through the years in Division II soccer. I have no inside knowledge on this next statement so this is only my educated guess, but perhaps in order to keep Friedland they needed to throw him a bone beside the salary. Whatever may be the case, I know Kevin to be a quality guy and I am really happy for him.

Manny is still unproven as a game day coach, but I like what they’ve done with this staff and I think the NSC has made sure there was a balance in the coaching staff.

By: Soccer Boy

Soccer Boy — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:49 +0000

In the movie Slap Shot, Paul Neumann was a player-coach. I think they ended up winning the championship. Maybe the Stars could get the Hanson Brothers to come play for them? I think they would make a great combo in back if they play a 3-5-2. Just a thought.

By: zlatan

zlatan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:43:40 +0000

Friedland, when health can be a strong sub at this point in his career. So far this team has 2 good players, and possibly 1 other if health, that can help the team win. Based on the general reaction, I have to assume that none of you really know CC, and are just charmed by his accent. So far, this team has good chance of ending the season with a goose egg in the W column (I know, such an American expression.)

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:37:37 +0000

Carl is an excellent choice, and I wish him well. He was my son’s coach at Wings SC for a couple years, and I very much respected him. Any complaints I heard about him were from parents whose kids were on the bench, not picked to ODP team when he was staff coach, etc. You can always count on Carl to be honest, if not brutally honest. My son would play for him again in a heartbeat.

By: Chris A.

Chris A. — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:35:33 +0000

The player-coach duality confuses me also. Wouldn’t it be best to be one or the other?

By: xxLAMPS8xx

xxLAMPS8xx — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:52:05 +0000

Coach Craig sounds like he will be a great addition to the staff. I am wondering though, is it typical of other clubs within our league to have player-coaches? Seems a little…
Can anyone answer my question?