The criticism of Bosko is definitely a result of zero return on our investment so far rather than just the one game. DeRo didn't have a great game, but he's earned that luxury. I'm not concerned that Bosko didn't do much against Montreal. I'm concerned that in the entire time he's been here he's either never been fit enough or never impressed enough in practice to get significant time on the field. I've seen him make nice plays, but I've yet to see him have a nice game. I don't expect him to run up and down the field like Kitchen or DeLeon. I don't expect him to score a bunch. I do expect him to not pass the ball back to McDonald when he's under no pressure. I do expect him to get involved in the attack rather than just slot a nice through ball from time to time and then watch what happens. Salihi still gets the benefit of the doubt. DeRo gets a free pass for being MVP. Santos gets forgiven all his bad plays because he's scored some goals. Pontius is also coming off a devastating injury but he was brilliant before the injury and is already showing improvement. Najar is young and was the lone bright spot on the team for many games the last two years. Korb costs almost nothing and shouldn't be starting anyway. Bosko has used up his free passes (perhaps through no fault of his own), is costing the team a lot, and doesn't have a body of work to fall back on. A few flashes of calm ball control and decent passing aren't enough. Still, hope springs eternal. I remain intrigued by a Salihi-Bosko lineup.
In rereading the thread, I don't see the irrational comments you are referring to. It was mentioned he has no goals or assists, that's a fact. It was mentioned that he floats in and out of matches, I agree with that. It was mentioned that he is slow, that is evident. You mentioned that he can strike a ball. Whoop-de-doo! There are players on any beer league team that can strike a ball, but obviously that's not enough or they would be pros. When you say that people aren't watching the same game as you, are you saying that Bosko did well? If so, that's cool, but I would like to hear more from you as to why you felt that way, just because it adds to the discussion and might help me better understand how he can help this team in his current form. If you're saying he needs more time, I think you're right, but good gravy, get it going already! I thought he showed promise in the LA game when he came on, showing for the ball and combining well with Saragosa. That's it for me so far this season. I want to see him play like a DP, trying to put his stamp on the game whenever he hits the field. To me, he looks like he's trying to find his way, still, and that he doesn't understand his role or the expectations placed upon him. I don't how much of that is coaching, or his limitations, or if he is just too thick to figure it out.
(to add to your post) ...or if his teammates aren't making the runs he's expecting them to, having played his entire career in Europe - previous to signing with MLS/DC. Due to injuries, national team callups, and a fore-shortened pre-season, we haven't seen all of the (pre-season consensus) "first-teamers" together much. Because the "second teamers" have performed well in their absence, we still haven't seen much of our "first-teamers." What I would have liked to seen, against Montreal, was Bosko & Salihi on the pitch at the same time. As others have already posted, there is hope that the two having played together before, would have a little bit of "chemistry" together. Maybe that would have broken Salihi's duck, I don't know. I was a bit surprised and disappointed that they didn't both start.
Wha? I'm pretty sure the most coveted skill in football is how well you strike the ball with your foot ... whether that be a trap, a pass or a shot. I'm pretty sure it's not how fast you are or how aggressively you show for the ball, although those are also nice qualities to have in some players. This is typical MLS/USA mentality of overvaluing physicality and aggression over intelligence and technique. For the record I'm not implying that Bosko doesn't need to raise the intensity and speed of his game a little, but that's not the ultimate measuring stick for him. For him it's all about finding form in his touch and vision. Just look at what Blanco and Barros Schelotto did in this league while playing at a relatively low tempo and little defense.
Oh please, don't go there. All I said was it's not enough to be able to strike a ball. Many, many, many, many, many, many players can strike a ball with intelligence and technique, but it's not the end all be all. You've read way too much into that single sentence. Barros-Schellotto? Never stopped moving, all over the field. Blanco? Could fake out two or three players without the ball ever moving. Bosko has done neither of those types of things, but since he can strike a ball I guess he's good to go. This doesn't make any sense to me. If that's all he can bring, then he's a luxury that United can't afford, that's my opinion.
I don't mean to read into that single sentence, but I just think DC is desperate for a little composure and possession in midfield. De Ro can do that at times, but De Ro drifts so far forward he doesn't consistantly show for the midfield passing game. I'm talking about just the simple passing that links the 2 wings and relieves pressure off the defenders. Boskovic is that stay at home possession midfielder. If there's a better option for that on the bench, I want to see it. If Neal can do that, then bring him in. But I'm convinced that De Ro is not that guy, and besides he's already 33 and playing 90 minutes every game ... ideally you don't want him tracking back deep into midfield on top of all his attacking responsibilities. So where does that leave Boskovic? Mostly on the bench it seems ... I mean last year Benny was keeping Bosko on the bench in favor of McCarty? Seriously? Would we have been that much worse off just giving Bosko a run of games to see what he can do? And then of course the injury, but now he's back and it's happening all over. People always complain that Bosko only shows glimpses, but how is he supposed to show more when he's only shown glimpses of game time. Many better players in MLS would struggle to make an impact with occasional 15 - 30 minute cameo appearances off the bench. I'm a little concerned that we paid all that money on Boskovic and he might be out the door this summer without ever being given a chance of 3 - 4 90 minute games in a row if nothing else just to satisfy my curiosity. If he fails after an honest run of games ... fine, ship him out. But now we may never know.
Agree completely with Boloni86 on Boskovic. He needs to be on the field, preferably with the "first team," so they can get used to getting themselves in good positions where he can find them. I was encouraged when Bosko and DeRo were on the pitch together, but DeRo, despite being nominally a forward in the Montreal match, often dropped back into midfield in his eagerness for the ball, and Bosko was so deferential to the league MVP that he gave it to him, even when the better play was for DeRo to move aggressively toward the goal and let Boskovic play the ball forward.
I don't think that's really how the soccer world works. There aren't enough minutes out there to give all the guys who might eventually work it out given a full run with the A-team a...er, full run with the A-team. Right now, this team has points to try to win, and we were better, as a team, after Boskovic came off than we were while he was on. Some of that might not be entirely 'fair' to him (for instance, the sub brought Maicon Santos out there, who leads the line, whereas neither Pontius nor DeRosario do). Every backup quarterback in the NFL is great when he's given the reps, getting great protection, and the receivers are getting open. It's what you do with only half a shot that teams have to go by.
Considering injuries and the other choices we have I think there are plenty of minutes/starts to give to Bosko. So I suppose I strongly disagree.
I would agree with this if there were better options out there getting the job done. I just don't see the other central mid options out there that are keeping Bosko on the bench. OK I know De Ro is more than adequate there, but is De Ro really the answer at center mid for 90 minutes each game? I worry about wearing out those legs by mid summer. But even if you take De Ro out of the picture, who did Olsen start at center mid in LA? Stephen King. Seriously, f***ing Stephen King. The blind 3 legged dog my neighbors rescued has a better chance of making a play out there. What about last year when De Ro wasn't here. Bosko was benched so us fans could be graced by the brilliant magic of Dax McCarty? Seriously, that midfield play at the beginning of last year made my eyeballs bleed. At least if Olsen gave Branko a fair shake at the beginning of 2011, I wouldn't be sitting here wondering what Bosko could do with a solid string of starts under his belt.
OK, I can't say much there. I can re-iterate the point about this game, though, that we simply played better with him off the field. What we can do in the long run is cut him loose in the summer and use that cap money on someone else. But wasn't a misjudgment about Boskovic. It was a misjudgment about McCarty. A fair shake at that point would probably have been none at all. 2010 is when he got his most minutes, and did the most nothing with them. (Whereas McCarty, in 2010, had been pretty good.)
Last year I asked Benny if he had considered playing Boskovic in front of Dax in the midfield. He thought about it a minute, then said "Branko in front of Dax...it might just work." But then came the injury, so it never happened. BTW, as I said in a post last year, one reason Benny might have overlooked Branko is that he runs so smoothly that it looks as if he isn't hustling, and Benny is all for hustle. Dax, like Benny, put a lot more effort into the act of running, whereas Branko glides. Matt Mathai, who had a field-eye view, concurred.
Absolutely DeRo will run down if he has to play every minute, or close to it. I actually thought Wednesday was a great opportunity to rest him and try Bosko/Salihi. Well, they decided to go half way, ended with a poor result and in turn put DeRo's vigor in jeopardy for Sunday. But Bosko and King aren't the only options. A Kitchen-Saragosa pairing could be intriguing, forming a Mastroeni/Larentowicz type situation. I would like to see that because I believe Saragosa is the type of turnstile you (Boloni, etal) are looking for, but one who can definitely shore up the midfield defensively. DeRo's tendency to drop back would be welcome in this situation, and the 4-5-1 some have wanted could occur. It basically did Wednesday anyway (sub Salihi for Pontius and there it was). Not every DP is a hit, of course. It's okay if he's not good enough. Olsen and staff see him every day in practice, so I will give the benefit of the doubt to their choices. To me, it's very telling that Olsen would choose King over a healthy Boskovic. Olsen's only agenda is to win, so why wouldn't he play who he thought would best get them there? I'm sure he has a preference for gritty play, but at the expense of victories? I don't think so. Also, given time and space (the same thing really) any professional AM can cut apart a defense. When that is taken away, as it frequently is, what's the plan? This is where Bosko has yet to show me that he is DP quality. Other slow players were able to get that time and space through various means. Blanco and Etcheverry had a seemingly bottomless bag of tricks to pull from. Barros-Schellotto and Javier Morales will pull their mark all over the field to find the space. The classic example is Valderrama who seemed to never move but was unbelievably effective. How he did it, I don't know, but he did. I agree that he needs time to get into a flow with his teammates (you would think some of that could come in practice, but I'll concede this), but I don't see that certain something that sets him apart and screams DP. That was something you could see immediately from Gallardo, although he was certainly considered a bust. Branko is sitting well below the Gallardo line for me.
We were better with Bosko off the field in this particular game because our backline was awkward, Najar was worthless at right wing and we were misusing DeRo. There have been times where we played considerably better with Bosko on the field, specifically against Seattle. Seriously, start watching that game from 70' on, especially the opportunity between 73:00 to 74:00 and one near the 81st minute.
Didn't Bosko come into camp last year with a beer gut or something? I'm not entirely serious, but it sounded like he was nowhere near fit. By the time he got fit, he got injured. My point being, I thought King was picked because he could go 90 if he had to, and last year we were so thin, that was a major consideration. King hasn't seen much of the field this year not necessarily because he sucks, but because our forward options are better at forward than King is at midfield - and we need DeRo on the field. No shame there. He's a second string option - a utility guy. He's had some miserable minutes this year, but not one of them has been an easy minute with a team that's otherwise gelling. I don't want him starting, but I don't think he deserves to be disparaged, either. Watching the Fulham game this weekend, I was struck by the fact that Clint's play at withdrawn forward is exactly the kind of play I want from DeRo. He drops deep on occasion, but picks his times, and wisely. We really need Bosko or an equivalent out there if we're to get DeRo minutes in that spot. Saragosa might be effective enough getting forward to play that role, but I'm not entirely convinced. DeRo at withdrawn forward and Salihi at poacher means doing without someone like Santos, and we've come to rely on his skillset greatly in this version of the 442. Salihi may be increasingly a very expensive odd man out. Bosko isn't DB quality, if your definition is "better than someone making less than the league maximum." MLS is still a somewhat isolated and unique market. Because of that, he may be better than someone who we could poach for less than the league maximum. That said, if we keep him around, I hope it won't be as a DP. He hasn't earned it, regardless of his talent. If he goes, my best to him. If he stays, he stays under terms that recognize we got almost nothing for his DP salary these last two years.
You're being irrational if you think that Boskovic would suddenly become a Best XI player if he could only just get playing time. If I made that argument about Lance Rozeboom, you would rightly say, "Put down the crackpipe, Q." Well Boskovic trains with the team almost every single day. He's been on the team for a while now. I'm pretty sure Olsen has seen enough of him to know how he would do if he got some minutes. The fact that he's being beaten out of a spot by the likes of f***ing Stephen King should tell you everything you need to know about him. With a 3-goal lead, the coach thought it more important to see what some English (ENGLISH!) dude could do than to bring in Boskovic. Which is fine, if he's making $120,000 a year. For a DP, it's not even close to being enough. Joseph Ngwenya got chased out of RFK with the same level of production even though he made far less. If you sever your emotional attachment now, it won't hurt so bad when he inevitably gets mercilessly dumped this summer.
Alright Q, put down the crack pipe He did not get beaten out of a spot by Stephen King - that's a ridiculous statement - SK came in as a sub late in a game where we had it well in hand, the other team might have had murderous thoughts after being spanked around like red-headed step children, and it was pouring rain. Not exactly the greatest spot to sub in a guy you are paying semi-top dollar to, if you don't need to do so.
If you think that Bosko is our ideal choice at that position when fully fit, but is still recovering form and fitness from his ACL injury, everything Benny's done and said makes sense. He said maybe he threw Bosko in to the mix too early in the KC game. LA was the very next game. He's been treating him as a sub since then. He started him against Montreal on Wednesday, which was a big step up, and then didn't play him 5 days later, in sloppy conditions, when we didn't need to play him. I think Benny thinks Bosko IS our ideal choice at that position when fully fit, and precisely because of the way he's playing him. Ha!
What's delusional is to think that Bosko isn't good enough to contribute at the current MLS level, especially at the beginning of last year before the injury and before De Ro. But whatever it's 2012 now, Olsen has this vision of De Ro as the attacking mid on this team. That's fine, I'm not going to question Olsen now in the midst of a 6 game unbeaten run. I'll wait and see how things unfold. I'll withold judgement until I see what Olsen has planned for life after Bosko.
In his time here, Boskovic has had 11 1/2 full matches worth of minutes. That alone should be enough to cut bait -- if showing up out of shape + injuries are making him miss so much potential playing time, and if the rest of the time he's not showing well enough in practice to make it onto the pitch, then what's the point of tying up so much of our limited cap space in him? But never mind that. In those 11 1/2 full matches worth of minutes, he's contributed zero goals. Well, that's not that big a deal, since he's never been a scorer and was not brought here to be a scorer. He was brought here to create. Has he done that? In those 11 1/2 full matches worth of minutes, he's contributed exactly zero assists, too. So, no, he hasn't. But hey, he did have one really fantastic half against the reserves of the worst team in the league last year out in Germantown; so he must be just what we need.
Boskovic money can be better spent elsewhere. Let Boskovic walk, use that money on a quality veteran CB. Trade Jakovic to Toronto (I like Jakovic but he is injured too often and United can't afford to have two rickety CB's and Dudar is the better of the two) for Eric Avila (Toronto is desperate for D and Jakovic is Canadian) to spell DeRo. I really like Avila and he could be another young building block. If United can pull this off, I would really like the makeup of this team and its' chances.
I can't imagine Toronto going for that. You're right that Toronto needs D; but (cf. last night's match, which I watched after coming home from RFK) Avila is the only one on TFC doing anything exciting. They can't afford to give that up. But the other component of your comment -- using Boskovic' money (or some substantial chunk of it) on a quality CB . . .do you have anyone in mind?
