Tactical genius. A holder of a high soccer IQ. Student of the game. Master tactician. The professor.

All phrases that were used by respected soccer journalists and commentators to describe Metro coach Juan Carlos Osorio. FORMER Metro coach Juan Carlos Osorio.

But those phrases do not say as much as the following ones: two wins in 22 games. No league road wins in over a year. League record 13 straight games without a win. At the end, it didn't matter how high Osorio's soccer IQ was; he is no longer the coach because his team was on route to the worst record in MLS history.

And whenever his fallacies of 2009 were mentioned, Osorio had an answer ready: he did the unexpected. He took his team to MLS Cup last year.

And we applaud Juan Carlos for that. Yes, it took for him to shed his mad genius ways and settle on a lineup for the first time all year, but the final is the final. And with first round exit following first round exit, last year's run was a welcome cure to early playoff disappointment. But at the end, it still ended in disappointment, be it late disappointment: Osorio fell one game short. And that might get you an absurd "MLS Cup Finalists" banner in your home stadium, but in our world, that just doesn't cut it.

But at least it was better than what we saw from Osorio this year: loss after loss, excuse after excuse, failing to learn from his mistakes, baffling tactics... And yes, it's only been one game, but with him gone, the players who seemed to quit, the players who couldn't string two passes together, the players who bowed their head every time the opponent scored, the players responded, going down a man but still pulling out a late victory. The team's first victory in almost four months.

But all was not horrible about Osorio. He did care. He was liked by his players and the media. And he did take the team to MLS Cup. Whether that will be enough to get people to see past 2009 and offer him another job is unknown at this point.

But what is known is that Osorio is NOT a tactical genius. Sorry, respected soccer journalists and commentators.