Klopas Says Dykstra Was Always Going to Be No.1
March 23, 2010 
19 Comments
Excerpt from an upcoming piece from Nick Firchau for MLSsoccer.com.
Fire technical director Frank Klopas on Tuesday denied that veteran goalkeeper Jon Busch was a casualty of cost-cutting of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and added that the team had long intended on promoting backup Andrew Dykstra to the top spot before the season opener. “This decision was not made because we’re bringing someone else in. That’s inaccurate,” Klopas said. “This decision was not made because of the players’ union came to an agreement on the CBA. This decision was made over the course of time in preseason.”
The Fire waved Busch on Monday –less than a week before the club opens the season on the road against New York– after he and Klopas met on Sunday evening and Busch was informed he would be traded or waved outright if the team could find no potential suitors. Dykstra did not appear in a MLS regular season game during his rookie season in 2009 but still managed to beat out Busch, who appeared in all 30 games for the Fire each of the past two seasons.
“You go into preseason, there are no guarantees,” Klopas said. “Obviously we felt that Andrew was going to be our No. 1 goalkeeper going in, and this was something that was discussed with Jon by our coaching staff. And I support that decision 100 percent. Those decisions don’t come in one day – it takes a while to make a decision like that, and we felt like it was time to move in a new direction.”
How is klopas still there? he is as about as competent as a mule. Dykstra is a joke, and to say you were going in a different direction is total bs. i dont buy it one bit. good luck without busch, hate to say it, but karma is a you know what.
I cant wait to see how long it will take for the coaching staff to realize how dumb they are and how many games it will take for dykstra to blow before they figure out they made a massive mistake. not to mention, the now back up sean johnson is a massive 6-3 ogre who is technically retarded. weakest at the goalkeeping position in the entire league that one isnt even up for debate.
Dear Frankie Klopas,
Are you kidding me Kloas? So now Jon Busch is lying to us? Ok let’s 1st do a quick recap of Jon Busch’s career. He has been playing professional soccer for 14 years and Dykstra for 1 year? Are you kidding me Klopas? Jon Busch was Goalkeeper of the year in 2008 and had a very good season in 2009. He was always called back into the US National Team camp in 2009. What has Dykstra done in 7 weeks of pre-season that could prove to anyone that he would beat out Jon Busch? Klopas you sound ridiculous and if you think the CBA had nothing to do with it you are not kidding any of us. Klopas are you saying Jon Busch is lying to us? On ESPN’s website Busch is quoted as saying “Everything was going great,” Busch said. “I had a good seven weeks of preseason, Carlos was saying how well I was playing and how sharp I looked, telling me how I was their No. 1 goalkeeper. I played four games during the preseason, three clean sheets. I had one of my best preseasons in my 14-year career.” Here’s the link to the article on ESPN.com http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/fire/post/_/id/161/fire-waive-goalkeeper-jon-busch
C’mon Klopas really? Do you think we are ALL stupid. Way to try, keyword being try, to cover your butt. Or maybe Carlos De los Cobos is lying? Klopas thanks for lying to us ALL. New York is going to trash you this Saturday and I will enjoy every minute of it. Do you think Jon Busch’s teammates moral got a positive boost from this? Yes the players are professional BUT they are also human beings. Lastly Klopas what happens when Dykstra looks like a piece of swiss cheese after a few games? Then what? Oh I forgot you have Sean Johnson as a backup. Let’s see Klopas how soon it is before you bring in a foreign goalkeeper. It is such a shame as there is no need for this on a logical level.
Jon remember this quote “If not this something better”. You will do just fine without the Chicago Fire and perhaps MLS. I hope you go overseas and find great success.
Sincerely,
Doug Parra
Doug, I’m going to tell you once, and only once, that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Forming competent sentences seems difficult for a lot of people these days.
Doug were you with the team in preseason? Do you manage the team’s salary cap?
People need to move on…Like the decision or not, its about supporting the badge… Support the keeper that’s going to be starting on Saturday.
First off, I agree 100% with doug. dpm and crizz, you both dont know squat so dont worry about it. doug’s statement was completely on point. You really think its ok to do that? you really think that frank is being honest with the fans? give me a break. chicago wont get anywhere at this point. good luck fire, but i believe you owe more to the fans than you are giving. and for dpm and crizz, learn a soccer background instead of being some typical, ignorant, no nothing beyond the surface fan. get a life…
Ok dpm so Jon Busch is lying to us about what his coach has been telling us? His resume speaks volumes, does Dykstra’s? And please enlighten me please explain to me exactly what I don’t know about?
And Crizz I really don’t think I need to be in pre-season camp to know what is going on. By the way were you in their pre-season camp and do you manage the team’s salary cap? If not that statement has no relevance whatsoever as you have no idea about what happened in pre-season camp or what their financial situation looks like. This is not about just supporting your team it’s about standing up for players who get screwed like this. I am sure if you were in Jon Busch’s shoes right now, and you are not, you would not like it one bit. I hope Dykstra does well this weekend, for his sake, but it will not be easy with no experience.
Thanks tonyshome. I wonder what level of soccer dpm and crizz have played? If they knew how hard it is to play at that level they would think differently. But hey to each is own.
Frank Klopas has played 40 times for the US national team and was one of the first Americans to carve out a career in Europe.
Carlos de los Cobos was part of the Mexico team that went to the 1986 World Cup and has over 15 years of coaching experience at the club and international level.
Questioning their decision making in the wake of this is understandable, but looking at their resumes, you’re foolish to do so in the end. The soccer fan reacts, not always taking into account all scenarios…
Jon Busch was great for the Fire for two years…the way it went down sucks, but that’s sports, it happens more than you think. This isn’t a massive conspiracy theory against Jon Busch, its just the way the cookie crumbled this time… Move on.
Just because they were also players does not mean that they have good business sense does it? It also does not mean they can’t make a mistake either. We will have to wait and see if they made a mistake, in the one sense if Dykstra does well then their choice will be not so bad. If Chicago does indeed bring in another keeper then they will look really bad as ” Dykstra was always going to be No. 1″.
I know it happens all the time but that does not mean it is right or it should happen so often. And I agree this not a massive conspiracy theory against Jon Busch it is blatantly clear what is going on. Just don’t lie to us about it. I would respect their decision if they said we want to bring in another keeper or we need to make some room on our salary cap. But don’t tell us a rookie with no experience in 7 weeks of pre-season beats out a 14 year veteran. That is a lie and we all know it. Just like Irag had “weapons of mass destruction”. Look at Kevin Hartman he almost got screwed this year but it worked out for him in the last minute with FC Dallas. We don’t need to be looking at bringing in foreign goalkeepers to play in the MLS taking spots away from US players. We don’t need Jimmy Nielson. Pretty much half, maybe more, of the foreign keepers brought to play in the MLS were a bust from Walter Zenga to Ronald Waterrus.
I believe Busch over Klopas. I like what Klopas has done with the Fire this preseason but Busch has no reason to lie and I just don’t think he would lie to the supporters.
Also:
It is waived not waved. Waved is what happens to a surfer when they are engulfed by a wave.
No one (even Klopas) can convince me that Jon Busch is not one of the best keepers and leaders in MLS. I can think of a number of teams that he could go to and I pity Chicago when they play them. There has got to be….more to this story! Every quality team has to have confidence in their goalie…what player in Chicago will be able to say that…
Mr. Klopas does not sound credible at all about this all Busch thing.
He could have just said the truth, it would have made him and the Fire look more serious.
Doug, you are spot on. This is all about lies, lies, and guess what, a little more lies. Until we stop going to the games though, in protest of such management BS, the lies will continue. We need to call these people out and demand the truth.
Anyway, Busch is a very solid keeper and he got screwed. He should have little trouble finding a team though. It was fun watching a 5 foot 9 keeper do as well as he has done for us. I am also a 5′9″ Keeper and I played all the way through college. I suspect Busch has been told for many years that he is too short to make it, and he just used that as motivation to prove everyone wrong. I am sure he will use this BS to propel him for at least the next couple of years!
Is this why Blanco Quite
HAS A CERTAIN SMELL TO IT LIKE HE’S A SON IN LAW NOW?
Hey, I’m shocked about Busch being waived. Even if Dykstra *is* better, shouldn’t Busch be a good insurance policy? Nevertheless, we don’t know how good Dykstra is because he hasn’t played. I am going to give Dykstra a chance. Remember Zach Thornton? He was Tony Meola’s backup, but he played better than Jorge Campos. We were all surprised, but I for one was glad to see Campos go away. Still, having Busch as backup seems like a good idea (if it was not about money).
I think there’s more to this story… I’m not certain Busch took the demotion from starter to backup as well as he said he did… Knowing how fiery the guy is, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went differently…Often times teams don’t fully disclose details of these things so as to not ruin someone’s rep…
No inside info, just wouldn’t be surprised if there was more that someone’s not talking about.
There is more to this story, that is what everyone is saying, but we are not saying that a guy with 14 years experience under his belt lost his spot in 7 weeks to a goalkeeper with pretty much no experience…1 game. None of us were there during pre-season so we can speculate all we want about Jon being fiery and over reacting when being told he was not going to be the starter come the start of the season. BUT none of us were there so all of that is irrelevant as it is just guessing. What we do know is Jon is a proven goalkeeper, 14 years, and being waived because the backup supposedly beat him out of a starting spot in 7 weeks of pre-season camp does not makes any sense at all. Once again Jon must have been lying to us when he told us the head coach was telling him all along he was doing really well and was 31. If there was more to this story either Jon or Chicago would be saying something as it would only solidify “their position” and their side story as to why all this happened. Once again let’s see if Chicago signs someone else is Dykstra does not fair so well. Test #1 for Dykstra in tminus 10 minutes against the Red Bulls.
Doug Parra,
I just watched your gk videos. You are not good. I will be in orlando, Fl in may; if you are around let me help you… please.
your comments are legit, but you are not a good goalkeeper.