Judging this season by the Right-to-Dream core principles

[u/jusbrowsinjc]

Our style of play is mentioned so often within this subreddit and in other online discussions that I figured I'd remind everyone what those core principles are, and grade us on how we're doing this season according to those principles.

Whether we like it or not, the club is going to abide by these tactical principles, and it can help us all understand why they are doing some things in game play that seem risky.

I'm doing this purely off the eye test (no data to back me up), I watch each game attentively, but by no means am I a coach or tactician, just a good ole armchair analyst, with time to spare.

Core Tactical Principles

• Ball-Dominant & Aggressive: Focuses on a high-tempo, proactive approach where the team commands the play rather than reacting to the opponent.
  • Grade: B-
  • Rationale: we are ball dominant, but have really struggled to be high-tempo and proactive. We have been very predictable this season, and I think that is part of why it has become so easy for other clubs to face us recently.
• High Pressing: Employs intense, immediate high pressing when out of possession to win the ball back high up the pitch.
  • Grade: C
  • Rationale: You can't be ball dominant if you don't win the ball back fairly quickly. We are doing that, but we are not great at the high press in transition moments and it has a lot to do with why we're getting demolished by these youthful, aggressive teams who also like to win the ball back quickly. That rarely happened last season.
• Building from the Back: Encourages playing out from the goalkeeper and defenders under pressure, which is structured and systematic.
  • Grade: C-
  • Rationale: We have had some catastrophic mistakes out of the back from goalies, CBs and other positions (CM, wingers) that have led to goals, but I also think that is expected. Again, this is a facet of our game that does allow for high possession % but think our goals against this season shows that we are not building as productively as should be.
• Attracting Pressure & Breaking Lines: Uses short passing and rhythm to draw opponents in, creating space to break lines and push the ball forward quickly.
  • Grade: D
  • Rationale: Goes back to my comment about being predictable to opponents, and frankly this is one of the things I miss the most recently. We're not breaking teams down as fluidly as we were earlier in the season (first 5 or 6 games) or last season. Every positive offensive performance this season, we have done this well, so this might be where we need to focus on if we want to make a return to higher quality play.
• 8 Phases of Play: Guides players through all moments of the game, from deep build-up play to high-intensity transitions
  • Grade: C
  • Rationale: This may be where certain players who some of us like, don't meet the criteria for a good game by the standards of play. Again, without being in the coaching sessions it's hard to grade this one, but given our results, we are bang average so I gave us a C.

To summarize, we are lacking significantly in these areas:

1. Our possession is toothless, we are not using our time on the ball to create high quality opportunities and that means we're not doing a great job attracting pressure and playing through it.
2. Our high press needs work, too often are we losing the ball and not in the right positions to recover quickly, which has led to many transition goals against.

How do we fix this and get back to winning like we were last season? Share your thoughts.

[u/ForemostColt]

This is great - spot on analysis with the Grades in the right spots. To me most of these failures come from the midfield this year. They are the key. They need to command the offense and control the ball and find those spaces. I've seen so many misplaced passes and lack of continuity / rhythm between them and the rest of the team. When they lose the ball the team is not in the right spaces or positions to win the ball back and the opponent can create advantages with space and speed.

Last year at the peak the passing was crisp and the were easy to break lines easily.

[u/jusbrowsinjc → u/ForemostColt]

Appreciate you. Man, even in early parts of this season the passing was crisp and there was so much fluidity in play, and then we just slowly lost it. Sadly has gotten worse since the summer window.

Totally agree with you on the midfield, and I think it has to do with Jeppe getting hurt and being overworked and in his 30s. He’s the driving force of it all.

[u/sjj342 → u/jusbrowsinjc]

my biggest takeaways from the playoff game against Vancouver last year were that we struggle to play out on the right side, and Jeppe looked slow

this year we have struggled to play out on the right side (early in the season a lot of catastrophic goals were on that side) and the older midfielders are a liability when they play together

[u/Suspicious_Block9332]

This is by far the best explanation about the RTD style I have read especially how you point out how the team isn't performing well in certain areas of the RDT principles. Iam new to MLS, are there any other teams that have a similar style of play. I feel like a huge part of san diegos success last year was from other team not knowing how to counter SDFC's tactics. By the next season the other teams knew the play and SDFC hasn't been able to adjust at all.

[u/jusbrowsinjc → u/Suspicious_Block9332]

To my knowledge, there aren’t many clubs who have a top-down philosophy that dictates coaching and style of play across the whole organization so we are fairly unique. Red Bull is really the only club I can think of that has that and they are also part of a global network of clubs and academies. Their style of play is more high energy, high press and attack directly, so i’d say it is more adaptable and practical. Philadelphia Union might be another, and they also have a big emphasis on youth and development, but they are less ball-dominant and more direct.

There are plenty of other clubs in MLS today who play to our specific core principles better than us, but putting them all together is our formula and frankly, I think teams stay away from the combination of it all because of:
1) wear and tear
2) predictability
3) high risk situations that can lead to cheap goals

I really wonder what the internal coaching discussions are when it’s clear the players are not right for the system or the other team has us figured out and has a superior roster. Even though it looks like there isn’t a plan B, there has to be something defined in the philosophy to help RTD teams deal with those situation.

Pay attention to what Yoann Damet is doing at STL City, him and Corey Wray (the chief soccer officer there) completely turned that club around in less than season and now they are one of the best teams in the league. They do some of what we like to do, but better, and they are keen to be direct if it is there for the taking.

[u/havocbyday]

Good, fair analysis. One thing that I believe is critical to being successful using these tactics is player fit in the system. Last year, we had a number of pieces that fit this style very well - this year, we are lacking at a number of positions. Scouting and acquisitions must be better this off season, there's really no other way to put it.

[u/jusbrowsinjc → u/havocbyday]

Agreed. We’re missing consistently on new signings.