The Weekly Dis
Nothing but hot takes
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If you're a Blue Jackets fan, you had to swallow quite a bit this week, and its a good time for digestive aids, cleansing thoughts and maybe a 72-hour couch-nap. Same goes for me.
In the coming days and weeks, we're going to be talking a lot about the NHL playoffs (the Reign of Terror is already in postseason mode), the draft lottery (May 5), the draft itself (June 26-27 in Buffalo), free-agent season (opens July 1) and signings/roster decisions (all summer).
This weekend, however, I am metaphorically headed to the proverbial lake and I'm taking a case of Garage Beer, as in, "Yo, Garage, how does 'Presenting Sponsor of Disrespected Media' sound?" Fantastic. Right?
It's soccer season.
Your Columbus Crew (1-3-3, minus-1 goal differential) are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and sit at 23rd on the big MLS leaderboard. If you squint a little, though – as Chris Doran does on the latest episode of The Crewcible podcast – check it out – you might see that they're 2-0-1 in their last three with seven goals for and one against in all competitions.*
(*Their last game, on Wednesday, was a 3-0 victory over the Tier 3 Richmond Kickers in a U.S. Open Cup match played in Arthur Ashe's hometown. That's the asterisk.)
Crew coach Henrik Rydström both acknowledges the asterisk and looks beyond it. With his team on short rest, he used a heavy rotation in Richmond. He wanted to tinker with his system as he goes forward without his star striker, Wessam Abou Ali (knee surgery, done for the season). He also wanted to gauge his team's depth.
"We have this boriing thing that we do," Rydstrom said. "We look at: how many times do we arrive in the opponent's penalty box? (What) are our numbers. ... We have seen that we have become better and better, and have better numbers (forward). We need to keep working on that.
"If we don't have a player of (Abou Ali's) quality, we will maybe need a bigger volume of runs into the box, (a greater number of forays) in the box, and compensate Wes' skills with, maybe, one more player in the box. That is something we look at, and try to create a formation so that we can do that."
The Crew have left points on the field, and they remain winless at home. The first half-plus of the Orlando game still "haunts" Rydström, and not only because that's when Abou Ali went down (twice). Rydström doesn't like his team to be squishy, especially within the freindly confines of Fertilizer Field.
That said, his team is beginning to shape up for longer stretches, and to score in a variety of ways.
"I see it, and I see it in training even more – we create in different ways, we score in different ways," He said. "We still want more, and we still think we can do it even better. I show the players: Last year, there were a couple of tough moments in the end. (So it goes with) human beings. They also have the tendency to beat themselves up too much.
"So, (the variety) has been good to see. Also, it has been different players. Can I help them to see the same pattern when they attack the box? Then, they can use their skills more and more."
Rydstrom's press conferences are always interesting and often fascinating. He crawls inside questions, bounces around inside of them, and often (but not always) emerges with a distilled anwer. I tape his pressers and post them at my YouTube channel. I have the ability to download an A.I. transcript, but I much prefer the laborious task of transcribing with my ears and a pen on paper (Sharpie no-bleed .05mm fine, either felt tip or roller, on medium-weight, acid-free, sketch-book paper).
Why? Because that's how I hear him. I can track his his thought progression, identify when he starts to bounce around and see how his answer connects in a circle. I can also take some liberties to clean up his English and fill in what is lost in translation. I listen to audio books, a lot of audio books, but when it comes to Rydström, I need to read him on paper.
I'll provide an example. Probably, it should be something related to the technical side because, for instance, Rydström provided a ramblingly detailed take on how his outside backs are beginning to interact with the wingers. Instead, I'm going with what he said when he asked about what his "enjoyment gauge" was telling him about his process. He loves that kind of shit. So do I.
Here's his answer. See where he starts, where he climbs inside the question and bounces around, and where he emerges with something resembling a crystal:
"I remember a coach in Sweden (who said), 'Fun is winning.' In a way, it is, but in (another) way, it's not everything. What I have felt (where) maybe I haven't succeeded fully is to unlock the stiffness, this fear that you sometimes have ... But this is part of the profession on this level.
"I remember, I think it was before a game in Spain. I think it was (Manchester) United against a Spanish team. (The players) line up and the camera goes like this – (pans across) in front of the players, and (everyone) is doing like (the sign of the cross). They're praying. And it looked like (they were) going into their execution.
"As a player you sometimes feel that, and maybe as a coach, also. But understand: you also like that feeling because it gives you the feeling that you are very alive. But it's also fear of letting people down, fear of losing, fear of getting criticism – all of those things that are quite natural.
"That is something I talk to my players about: 'That is what your brain is telling you. Don't listen to that, because your brain is not a truth (teller). It's trying to predict this – this is not a good environment, you're tired, you don't want to do this.'
"Maybe, it is just my brain that is like that.
"But I haven't fully unlocked that and won. But I see it more and more in training and in games, and in the Richmond game, second half, they really enjoyed playing together. We will get there.
"I think I saw it in some parts against Atlanta, some parts against Orlando – but it affected me also about the start of the game – so everything felt like shit. That's why I try to disconnect myself from feelings during the game – to look at the iPad, to not get involved in all those thoughts the brain is telling you ... You have to leave that (and say), 'I am a Zen Buddhist now, I'm just thinking about the game, and how we can help the players.?"
You're talking about a laserlike focus on the process?
"It's always that. Again, maybe some things were a little more stuck in the players' minds than I thought. But I would say the last three weeks, after Toronto, it has been really the way I want to work, and the way I want to be, and the players, they see more me, the coach I want to be. I also understand them more and more, too. You would love it if everything was like this (snaps fingers), but I see good signs."
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I try to write M-W-F for paid subscribers and The Weekly Dis, free to all, on Saturdays. I've yet to miss a day, so strong-arm someone you know, preferably a very old person whose eyesight has failed, into subscribing. I need the help. But I digress.
The topic that dominated this past week's missives was the Blue Jackets' death march and Rick Bowness' epic rant (which can be found here).
Monday:
Michael Arace
Wednesday:
Michael Arace
Friday:
Michael Arace
Chris Doran issues a fiery-hot take on the latest episode of The Crewcible podcast
Does Lionel Messi want Wilfried Nancy?
Here's a snippet of my interview with the radio voice of the Crew:
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Michael Arace
