So I believe, and I can only confirm this in one source, that the allocation money is assigned as the money comes into MLS. That makes sense since MLS does everything on cash accounting. Typically these deals will have 1-3 payments spread out over time. My supposition based on Canetti's comments is that most of that money hits sometime next year. That does not preclude a little bit this year. And by my math, we wouldn't need much to sign a mid-season DP. I am not saying he is a DP, but I am saying is we cannot infer his cost based on what we know. It could be anywhere from 45k to 175k.
I don't know, I fill pretty confident with out depth back in the 4-4-2 world. I would like an upgrade over the 2012 Camargo. Consider: ----------------Barnes (Camargo)---- Davis (Clark)--------------OBG (Carr) ---------------Rico (Moffat)--------- * You also have Kandji and Watson if you don't like Clark in a back up role. In the 4-3-3 we are atually a little thin only because we are using essentially five middies (4-5-1). So if this is an option moving forward, you need more quality choices on the wing. Even there though you plug Barnes into one of the five spots and you still end up with decent depth.
According to Lovell, Canetti says that the SKC game is the most likely debut date for Barnes. I believe that's also the roster freeze date. And Ortiz tweets that his deal is like the Costly and Camargo contracts last year.
unless I missed it, I don't think the official announcement has been posted on here yet Houston Dynamo sign Giles Barnes
The Dynamo played an 11 -11 yesterday on full training pitch at BBVA. The full scrimmage was to allow Dom to better evaluate his potential and skills which were apparent after he beat two defenders before being taken down. Lot of power on dead balls also. Here's some photos from the 27th and yesterday
I think his signing makes it likely we go back to a 4-4-2 with Clark, Davis, OBG, and Barnes as the starters. Bench one of Kandji/Carr. Really like the signing and the possiblities.
4-4-2 for life! officially can now be called the deepest Dynamo team ever. hope we do not have to trade anyone as we have call-ups, 11 games in 2 months, late season wear and tear injuries and possible suspensions coming. Bruin has 9 games to get back the 9 goals he lost in the 4-3-3.
i agree it looks like we go back to the 4-4-2 AND there are a few possibilities here. OBG could be moved up to the second striker position... Kandji goes to the bench and Carr stays out wide right. or Carr stays up top next to Bruin and OBG takes over the right wing....either way if this guy is what we are reading he is,then we just got better. /supposedly very creative,very good on set pieces and good in the center mid or wide mis position. ....past injury concerns but was an up and comer in English football until the injury bug hit..... looks like we are making our push for the cup..........i wish mac Kandji finished better. He would be so dangerous in MLS if he could just finish..... i cant see us NOT making some kind of impact trade.there are too many guys on our bench that could help other teams. Maybe they arent playoff caliber teams but Collin Clark,Moffat,Dixon,Rolfe,Sarkodie,Weaver these are all guys that can play in MLS and we need to explore making a big trade for a goal scorer if we can. Or get the top pick or a good chunk of allocation cash.......cant trade away all our depth but still see us trading one or two guys for something somewhat valuable....
Considering all the complaining we did in the CONCACAF+Superliga+Open Cup days about crowded schedules, but right now we could use some of those games just to get some of these guys minutes. I mean we have starters from April that are not even seeing the 18!
Totally agreed that we're in better shape depth wise in the 4-4-2, but with the success we've had in the 4-3-3 do we really want to go back? Or do we stay 4-3-3, maybe with Barnes taking Boniek's spot in midfield while we move him up top to play in Carr or Kandji's spot? I'm just not sold on reverting to a 4-4-2 after seeing us attack so much better in the 4-3-3. I think we lose a bit of what Bruin does well in the 4-3-3 but get SO much more out of Carr, Kandji, and even Davis. BD doesn't have to make the same sort of long runs up and down the wing and can play a more creative role as he pinches in, something I think he's proven to be very good at (as evidenced by his assist total this season).
almost all formations have attack modes what differs is the how when and where. we had a good run in the 4-3-3 because it played into the strengths of certain players (Kandji, Carr, Ashe) but it can't be discounted that at the same time it exposed the weaknesses in others (Bruin, Moffat, Davis' wide play). early in the season we struggled in the 4-4-2 not because of the formation/style itself but because of the personnel we were trying to force into the system. what the locos above are trying to say is a destroying mid in Rico (as opposed to Moffat), a true wide player that can consistently cross on the right like Boniek (as opposed to the left footed player Clark on the right side), a true CAM in the middle like Giles (as opposed to an erratic Watson) that reduces the amount of times Brad Davis has to pinch in and speedy forward options like Carr & Mac paired with Bruin gives an indication that the new bodies would be better suited in the 4-4-2 than the current 4-3-3. now all of this is just opinion, but I always felt the success of Kandji and Carr in the 4-3-3 was at the expense of other players. players who are in theory the current and probable future of the franchise.
Whether we are in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3-, my point was that it seems likely that one of Kandji/Carr was going to the bench in place of Barnes. I could care less about the formation.
Well, in a 4-4-2 likely both go to the bench unless you start Carr opposite of Bruin. Camargo is the one left out in a 4-4-2 : Davis - Barnes-Rico-OBG In a 4-3-3, he may supplant one of Carr or Kandji as a winger.
I'm wondering about this as well. I think now we have a thoroughly solid setup to play both systems. I'm not sure Dom will immediately switch back to 4-3-3, because Barnes could certainly play outside midfield where Boniek currently is, or he play where Kandji or Carr play. The only reason he would have to line up in one of the outside positions in the 4-3-3 is because that center midfield role has to be a D-Mid (Clark). That is, unless, this kid happens to be stellar on defense as well, but from what we've heard he is a straight up attacker. SO, if Dom were to go back to the 4-4-2, I'd see Barnes sitting in front of Clark in the midfield, with Boniek and Davis on the wings, and Carr (Kandji) and Bruin up front. The only really compelling reason I could think of for Dom to want to immediately switch back to the 4-4-2 would be to get our best goal scorer scoring again (Bruin). We all know how he's suffered in the 4-4-2, and while he helped others to score in the beginning when we switched to the 4-3-3, those other goal scorers have not scored as of late, they've kind of hit a lull. But EITHER WAY, I see Barnes fighting for a starting spot in either formation, and it may just be that DOm decides on a game to game basis which formation we're going to play in, because now we are fully capable of playing in both equally well. And that is some sick versatility.
Very excited to hear about the Barnes signing. It's hard to say what kind of impact he will have this year if he's fighting a battle to regain fitness, but it's nice to see the club still improve the squad even after making quality signings like that of Boniek. Hoping he can rediscover at least some of the form that made him a star for Derby County and a U-19 English international. The most puzzling thing to me regarding potential formations/line-ups is what to do with BD and OBG. Those two have really shown a lot of chemistry playing together in the 4-3-3. I'm scared to see what would happen if that central midfield partnership is broken up. On one hand, it may benefit them by allowing them to return to their more "natural" position out wide and still benefit each other indirectly by taking pressure off one another through good wide play. On the other hand, it will just be that much harder for those two to combine and interchange like we've seen them do so well in the current formation. We also have no real idea of how Barnes will fit into the 4-4-2 and operate as a CAM. He sounds more like a winger, but that's just going off what I've heard, not what I've seen. Personally, I would like to see Barnes replace Carr out on the wing and keep the rest of the team as is. Another thing I can see working, assuming he is able to regain a little sharpness, is to allow Boniek and Barnes to both play wing in the 4-3-3 and bump Camargo into Boniek's CM spot. Yes, keeping the 4-3-3 may hurt Bruin, but I think we have the potential to dominate the midfield most games we play between having Davis, Barnes, Boniek, Camargo, Rico, Watson, Moffat, etc. Edit to add: It also may be worth keeping the 4-3-3 to maintain the great defense we have had since the switch. Rico would no doubt help the current 4-4-2 setup from a defensive standpoint, but we haven't seen this current backline perform well in the 4-4-2 yet. To me, it's still up in the air whether we could keep the same form we've had defensively in the 4-4-2.
I've been following this 4-3-3, 4-4-2 etc conversation with interest. As some of you might be aware, I go to most of the training and Dom pretty much agrees with whatever advice I give him regarding formations, starters, bench etc. Y'all will just have to wait to see what we have planned when #42 takes the pitch for the first MLS start.
Hmm...your advice has certainly improved over the last few months. Were you the same guy giving the advice in that 2010 season?
hmmm???? 4-5-1?????? tally,andre,boz,taylor,ashe boniek,clark,barnes,davis,kandji/carr bruin/ching?????????? depth: ,moffat,camargo,c.clark,kandji/carr ,ching,?????
List of current free agents that played in England last season: Adriano Basso 37 GK Hull James Beattie 34 Fwd Sheffield Utd Lee Bowyer 35 Mid Ipswich Papa Bouba Diop 34 Mid West Ham Akos Buzsaky 30 Mid QPR Mikael Forsell 31 Fwd Leeds Owen Hargreaves 31 Mid Man City Emile Heskey 34 Fwd Aston Villa Michael Owen 32 Fwd Man Utd Nigel Reo-Coker 28 Mid Bolton Darius Vassell 32 Fwd Leicester
I think we stay with the 4-3-3. We currently have more 4-4-2 depth but we have more 4-3-3 success. I think we need to be looking at some Dom magic trades to offload some of the unneeded forwards for some depth that better fits the new formation. If we can offload some excess salary there are likely some other solid players we could sign on a free transfers. I personally like Buzsaky, Forsell, Haregreaves & Owen from above list. Probably could get or afford them all but worth a look at them or others if they are on a free transfer. My formation/depth until some trades/signings are made... 1st team ----------------- Bruin ----------------- Kandji ------------------------- Boniek ------- Davis ----------- Barnes ------- ------------------ Rico ------------------ Ashe ------ Boz --- Taylor ------ Andre 2nd team ----------------- Ching ----------------- Watson ------------------------- Carr ------- Clark ----------- Camargo ------- ------------------ Moffatt ------------------ Creavelle ------ ??? --- Sturgis ------ Sarkodie As far as I am concerned we could stand to upgrade a starter or 2 and could definitely use some stronger depth (CB, FW). Other than that not bad at all.
I can see what you mean with regards to the 4-4-2 but I feel like overall the 4-3-3 takes more advantage of our personnel better. Our 4-3-3 in my observations plays more like a 4-1-2-3 that places a ton of defending responsibility on the wingers. Boniek and Davis as the outside midfielders function more as two central attacking mids while Moffat/Clark in the center midfield role sits back as more of a holding midfielder. With the two outside midfielders generally pinched in the wingers and fullbacks make most of the runs and overlaps along the touchline. I think Davis in particular functions better pinched in than he does as a true wide midfielder, he isn't the fastest guy in the world and his runs up and down the touchline are limited where we're in the 4-3-3. He's generated a lot of assists in that more central role and Carr and Kandji have seen their output increase exponentially playing as wingers rather than forwards. The one negative of our 4-3-3 is that Bruin doesn't seem nearly as dangerous as the lone #9 as he does when paired with another striker in the 4-4-2. If Barnes can do what we're hoping he can I'd probably bring him into the midfield in Boniek's spot and move Boniek to one of the winger positions where we can use his speed more. I don't see that that leaves anyone critical out of the lineup that I consider the players we're building around for the future. If we can be as effective with that personnel in the 4-4-2 then I'm all for it, I just don't see either Carr or Mac functioning nearly as effectively as true strikers. If Boniek can play that spot then I think it could work really well, I've always thought that Bruin could play really well off a smaller speedier striker (as opposed to pairing him with a very similar forward like Ching).
I don't follow at all the assumptions you guys are making that Nigel will switch away from his 4-5-1 to the 4-4-2 because he added another MF. We will see, but I assume Nigel sticks to the 4-5-1.
Thanks to my subscription to Ancestry.com I discovered much to my chagrin, that I'm actually descended from some bloke called McGee who moved from Ireland to England in the 1700's. I think he was probably one of the directionally challenged Irish who had intended to immigrate to America, but got off the boat in Liverpool thinking it was New York.