Where Did Jimmy Nielsen Go Wrong With Hartford Athletic?

Nutmeg Analytics
Nov 7 · 4 min read

Before I start, I want to state how much of a challenge this season was going to be for Nielsen, and that I give him all the credit in the world for taking a stab at it. He was certainly dealt a tough hand with all the hurdles that came with coaching Hartford Athletic in their inaugural season. With that said, here is where I think he went wrong this season.

In my opinion, how a team’s roster is built is just as important as a coach’s tactics in the USL. With so much roster turnover year by year, clubs have the opportunity to build a well rounded, and flexible roster every year. For me, this is where Nielsen really put himself in a bad position from the start.

With only 4 defenders on the roster to start the season, one being a 21 year old Danish CB with no USL experience, the Athletic were left with no plan B. After an abysmal start to the season, Nielsen was forced to experiment with different combinations in their back four to find some sort of solution. Players such as Phillip Rasmussen, Harry Swartz, and Jonathan Brown all saw some time in the backline, but it wasn’t until true defenders were brought in later in the season that the defense had a bit more cohesion. Whether the lack of defenders was a risk Jimmy took due to budget constraints (Assuming that mostly midfielders and forwards had higher salaries) or just due to him thinking that his squad was more versatile than it actually was, he took a gamble and paid for it.

I don’t believe that the individual defenders were not up to the level, however they lacked cohesion and their individual strengths did not glue well especially in the style that Nielsen was trying to play.

Hartford was trying to play a style where they could control the game with possession, working the ball from the defense and the midfield, before looking for some of their dangerous and very quick attacking players.

The Central Midfielders to start the season were simply not good enough. They had trouble with controlling the game like they wanted to, which put a lot of additional pressure on the defensive line. Although they had experience with Phillip Rasmussen and Ryan Williams, paired with the promising young talent of Mads Jorgensen, they really failed to have any source of creativity who could create many opportunities for the attackers.

In terms of attackers, Nielsen did a great job of bringing in players with experience who were able to play a very fast-paced and dangerous game. My only issue was that the team had 3 strikers who were very similar in playing style. Late in games, it became very hard for Nielsen to change much, in terms of tactics, since all of his attacking options essentially brought the same abilities. The only thing that Woj and Steeves could improve over Angulo, was their aerial presence. Later in the season, Nielsen would have to play people like Alex Dixon at striker to bring a bit more pace into the front line.

As you can see, the lack of flexibility in the initial squad became a real problem, and the club was forced to act in order to save their season.

The turnaround of the season, was really when the club started bringing in players in on loan from MLS clubs. The likes of Collin Martin and Logan Gdula really added a much-needed source of quality on the field, which immediately made a difference for the team. Mixed with the late addition of team MVP Harry Swartz, the Athletic started to show some promising signs.

Later in the season, the club hired Paul Buckle as a technical advisor. After this move was made, the club brought in players like Danny Barrera and Daniel Bedoya to add a much needed creative spark to the team. Off the bat, these players left their mark and raised the level of the team.

Although the on-field performance of the team improved due to the midseason signings, the initial makeup of the roster gave the team issues before the regular season had even started.

Had the roster been constructed in a more thought out way, with more versatility and flexibility (positionally and tactically) I truly believe that the season would have turned out much better than it did. I do think that Jimmy is a great coach, with a lot of players seemingly getting behind him, but I hope that in his next job he is more careful and thoughtful with his roster decisions.

I sincerely want to thank Jimmy for his service to the club and wish him the best of luck with his future.

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