15 Comments

I think saying he was unlucky is overstating his impact on the team. Yes there were injuries, but every team has that. He has to lead through that. What player did he help in his tenure? I cannot find one. He had a bad habit of making the same choices at that same time. He was very predictable. Opposing managers could guess his game plan and counter. They could also guess his halftime changes. I do hope he learns from this and grows. He is a nice person and deserves another chance.

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I've argued the same for years: Pineda is a solid coach who got absolutely shucked by circumstances that most managers wouldn't be able to handle. We can debate from now until kingdom come whether he was the right hire for results, but I can tell you one thing:

He was absolutely, 1000% the right person to get the players and staff back on board and rebuild the team culture that was shattered by FdB and Heinze. And that has almost certainly given his successor a fighting chance to take the team to the next level.

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I’m certain he’ll get another chance to manage. And I’m certain he’ll be more successful than here. Because all the underlying data says he will. I agree with the figurehead comment. He was put in a bad situation from the jump, and wasn’t able to succeed. If I’m him, that’s my biggest regret. Next opportunity I take would be one where I am setup to be successful. My only gut feel on his shortcomings is that the system he ran does require a lot from its players; more mentally than anything. And our guys are good for 3-4 bonehead mistakes a game which seemed to be our downfall. I do feel sorry for him though; a very promising young coach, put into a bad situation, and everything seemed to go against him. But it’s what it is, and I hope he finds success wherever he goes.

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Really lol. I thought you wanted this? Feel sorry?

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We need a change. I just don’t think we set him up for success and I do feel bad for Pineda. Our next guy needs to be a Tata like figurehead that can be the charisma for the team. We need a real leader that can drive culture and represent the ‘big club’ that we want to be

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Absolutely the right move. But I'll also say we are unlikely to ever have another coach we want to succeed more than GP. And he should be OK... four years of MLS head experience is not nothing.

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lol. Tata still living rent free in your head 🤣🤣🤣🤣 how did he do at Mexico yeah. Players still going to suck just watch

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He won MLS cup FYI. And the broader point is we need an experienced coach with a big name that has a history of delivering. Not a first time head coach.

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Ok that makes sense you want a big name coach…if one is available that means he was either sacked or wore out his welcome somewhere else….but ok

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It is about time. Yes, has had injuries to deal with but so do all the other coaches. His decision making process and his inability to read a game was constantly on the forefront that was never addressed. He subbed incorrectly more often than not. He had no system that actually worked. BOCA needs to be on a train tomorrow. You would have to be a fool to hire him again. He dismantled piece by piece a championship down to only one player left after only 6 years. I have no idea why we waited so long to make the Pineda move, Boca will continually bring in players that can't bring a championship. It's like the front office skips the game. If I was the owner and wanted to win, I wouldn't have waited this long to make a change. The fan base is dwindling as the empty seats in the stands show this. Yes, the seats are sold so they are counted but they are empty and shouldn't count. I have lost so much interest and used to get so excited to go to a game, watch a game now I get excited to see if the manager is fired to see if change is coming. We the fans should be treated to a better product as they want us to buy all the crap and support the inferior product that produces the sub standard results. How many people watched Rob's body language with Pineda? He's wached so the last 3 get fired and has stood the test of time. He's a great coach and deserves this. I hope it gets better.....

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Interesting thought……this screams the manager(sarcasm) but interesting take

“Now, what you can argue about is whether his game model is optimal for MLS. It asks a lot of players in possession and it demands a high level of execution on the ball. In MLS, it’s rare to have a starting lineup that can play at that level game over game and even rarer to have players that can do that once you’re forced to dig into the depth chart”

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Jun 4·edited Jun 4

I'm guessing you mean this to point to it being a player personnel issue rather than needing a coaching change. Which is a completely valid take and one I've not entirely ruled out. But to follow that logic, I have to assume you think our players are below average for MLS (as opposed to just not being prepared/trained up, because that's also coaching) and you'd at least fire Boca for fielding the team he did right? So if you were to put on your Boca hat, what players do get rid of? Which players do you go get while managing the financial limitations of MLS?

Or I guess to be fair, maybe your take is everyone has done (mostly) everything right, and we just need to wait it out with all the same FO, staff, and players?

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Happy now?

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

Yes, thank you for asking.

This piece sums up my feelings perfectly, actually. Was it necessarily Pineda's fault? There's some things, but overall, no. But it reminds me of the scenes from Master and Commander where they have the one poor Midshipman that the crew thinks is a Jonah - a bringer of bad luck. Was all the ill wind because of him? No, that's silly. But he falls on his sword, and the wind returns.

This team was pressing. This streak, this run of bad luck, seeing tweaks in tactics and formation and starting IX all go for naught made it seem like they were snakebit. It wasn't going to get any better from here. That's probably not Pineda's fault, but he's also really the only person that can be jettisoned in a move to try something differently.

Sports luck is a weird beast. Sometimes you have to sacrifice someone into its maw to feel like you can get away from it enough to catch your breath. It's just bad luck that Pineda, who everyone seems to like, was the designated first man overboard, and everyone's been eyeing him for weeks at this point.

ATLUTD was losing the non hardcore fans, and it's no wonder MBS has lost its fearsome reputation. It was starting to feel, overall, like it did when DeBoer was here. I watched all the games, but I wasn't excited about what I was about to see. I've got trepidation for what comes next (especially if Boca is involved - talk about snakebit) but overall, this choice had to be made, and now was the time to get it done.

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