I hear John Barnes is broke as hell, and he is unemployed .he does have coaching experience... maybe the Fire should invest 20K or so into bringing him over for the offseason and preseason.Have him as a "Winger Mentor" for Dom and Nyarko.If these two could just figure out how to cross,and play the wings more effectively this team could be a real terror.
Twice in his career, Barnes was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. He has also won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and is widely regarded as among the most talented players to wear an England shirt. Barnes was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game. He also appears frequently as a selection in Four Four Two magazine's Perfect XI, a choice in which current and former professional footballers select the best 11 players they have ever seen, played with or against, including selections by Michael Owen, Steve Mcmannaman, Peter Beardsley, Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher.[25] Legend Tom Finney was also mesmerised by Barnes' talents: "Players like John Barnes come along just once in a lifetime."[26]
Once Fernandez and Mac Donald made the stating 11 (9/2-10/31), the only changes Frankie made were because of players being injuried or suspended (Pause, Pardo and Segares). In those 10 games only change was Paladini/Alex in for injuried Pasue and Pardo, Gargan in for suspened Segares. Berry, Freidrich, Anibaba,Fernandez,Nyarko,Rolfe,Mac Donald and Johnson start all ten games. If any of those players weren't injuried or suspended they all would of been in the starting 11. Even when we had 3 games in short period of time Frankie had the same starting 11 out there. Once Frankie has his 11, then they will play every game unless they are injuried or suspended......
First,the fact that we were willing to jettison players whose minds were already in Europe (Pappa), who apparently had some off-field issues (Grazzini) or who just weren't cutting it (Robayo) and bring in new player who were for the most part improvements gives me hope that deadwood will be dealt with. Second, I sure hope a coach would start his best line up under almost all conditions. This is especially true in MLS where you don't have rosters the size of small nations like you do in Europe and elsewhere. And it's not like we had to worry about schedule congestion from the USOC or CCL this year. Third, as we found out, the drop off in quality from our starters to our bench was pretty big. This is sadly to be expected when you're still sorting out who your starters are and making big changes to the very spine of your team. Now that our starting spine is pretty much fixed, I expect to see improvements at few starting spots (like right back since Frankie obviously plans on trading or selling Gargan if he kept the woefully inadequate Anibaba there and at right midfield to get rid of El Flaccid, for example) but mostly focusing on adding capable depth to our team.
It seemed like we stopped playing to his speed and started playing him like a target forward. He did score 18 goals over the last 2 seasons. Lots of people here seem content to just ship him out. Show me another player who has produced for us like that recently. The list is very small.
Based on what we saw this year, the only way that Oduro starts is if Frankie decides to only play with one CDM or if Dom learns how to cross and play defense so he can replace Fernandez. Otherwise, he is basically first off of the bench when chasing the game. I think it would be interesting to see Oduro play with MacDonald for the start of a game. I think Dom would be able to run off of MacDonald and give another option for MacDonald to pass to. We know that Rolfe is best withdrawn and is lethal from distance. I would like to see if that is possible in the offseason. It would sacrifice a lot of defense by pulling Pardo or Pause so Oduro can play up top, but it couldn't hurt to try.
Yes, I too want our best 11 out there at all times (which we haven't seen yet), but you can't expect them to start every game. We have at least 15 players that could start for us, but the only way that the other 4 get a chance to play is when there is an injury or if someone is suspended.....
I think if Fernandez does stay and he get a whole preseason with the team he's going to be a different player. I would take Fernandez in the starting 11 over Oduro.....
Johnson, Tornaghi, Rolfe, MacDonald, Oduro, Nyarko, Pardo, Alex, Fernandez, Pause, Segares, Berry, Anibaba, Friedrich and Gargan You could add Paladini to the list also, beacuse Frankie sure thinks he's good enough to replace Pause or Pardo when they are injuried....
Yeah but so often he was our only goal threat two years ago. The team was built around him in the worst possible way. With MacDonald and Rolfe now, in front it brings other players into the attack in a way that Oduro never could. Which means we are considerably harder to defend when Oduro is not leading the line. Teams have figured out how to handle him. Just sit incredibly deep, and don't let him get in behind. He can't take on a defender with the ball to save his life. Just runs straight at them and hopes for the best.
When's the last time there has been an MLS team that has tried a regular keeper rotation? I don't see Fernandez as a starters. I'd take Alex over Fernandez. The only other players you named who don't already start for us are Oduro, Alex and Gargan and of those, I'd say only Gargan could expect to start regularly in most other MLS teams but given what happened this past season, he's on his way out the door. So here's what should be our currently starting 11: ----------------MacDonald--------------- Nyarko----------Rolfe--------????????? ---Pause ---------Pardo----------------- Sega-----Berry-------Arne-----???????* -------------------Johnson--------------- * Should be Gargan but won't be There are three players who we can expect to need a break during the regular season: Pardo and Arne because they're older and Rolfe because he's fragile and other teams will focus on him. Pardo we can replace with Paladini for a couple games, especially if Dan plays like he did against NY. Gibbs or Anibaba can be Arne's backup. We have no credible backup for Rolfe. Some people think Sega will need backup but he played the fourth most minutes for us in 2012 so there you go. Since we don't know who will replace Gargan as starting right back since he's not in Klopas's plans for 2013, we need both a starter and a backup there seeing as Anibaba spent half a season demonstrating why he should never be placed anywhere near that position ever again. Unless Oduro learns how to cross the ball or unless we groom Alex for the spot, we also need a starter and a backup at right midfield. It would also help to have a backup for MacDonald who is the same type of player.
Sorry, but if Fernandez is still on our roster for next year he will be starting. So you could move Rolfe uptop with MacDonald and have Nyarko play the right, Fernandez left or center and Alex left or center and play only ONE defensive midfielder. Just not to start this Pause BULLSHIT again you have Pause in there, but it would be nice if we could get a Beckerman/Alonso type in that position. -----MacDonlad---------Rolfe---- ------------Alex/Fernandez------- -Alex/Fernandez--------Nyarko- --------------Pause-------- -Segares-Berry--Arne--Anibaba- ---------------Johnson------------- I would rather have Gargan at right back, but Frankie isn't going to make that change. Sort of like he's not going to play a 4-4-2 like above, oh well I guess it will be another year of counter attack soccer. But players like Segares and Pause don't need a break, also Nyarko get beat up he needs a break every once in a while..... Maybe just maybe we get that so called striker and CAM in the offseason and everything will change. Wish list for 2013: Striker (Someone that could put the ball into the net) CAM (Someone that could run the team, like Nowak did) CB (Arne's last season and he's going to need some rest during the season) RB (Anibaba isn't the answer)
It depends. If we can get someone who knows how to cross the ball, we would not necessary have to be any less attacking than, say, Houston. We need a Brad Davis big time.
I want Hamdi Salihi from DC. I'm sure they want to dump him, he would score prolifically in our offense.
Instead of just making shit up and complaining about 2013 like it's already happened, why don't you go to today's watch party and Nyarko celebration and ask Klopas yourself what he wants to do? Show a little backbone.
Like he would give a true answer. He said on day one last year, his prefered lineup is a 4-4-2 formation. Once we get the right CB (which we did Arne), yet he still plays a 4-2-3-1 formation. Why? I'll leave the ass kissing to you bunge.....
You're chicken shit, that's all. I confront people with questions, not kiss ass. Go ******** yourself with a Ruiz.
Great, everytime somebody dosen't agree with you, your come back is go ******** yourself nice (grow up). Have fun at the watch party.....
When we talk about who's a legitimate starter, it makes me wonder, if Cory and Arne were healthy all year, would Austin be a consideration for rookie of the year, or a bench riding unknown that would have some people here saying, "he's just not ready" or, "he's obviously not good enough to start"...
I'm not asking you to agree with me. I'm telling you to complain to the person who can answer your questions. No one on BigSoccer can but there is someone who can and you have access to that person.