I don't define width as crosses. There are a lot more ways to be a wide player and create width aside from whipping in crosses. My team is not going to score goals from crosses, we are going to score from stringing passes together and running off of each other. Magee and Corona fit that game plan perfectly As you said we will have to agree to disagree
It's true that crossing isn't the only way to provide width, but as I've mentioned already, the heatmaps also indicate that Magee isn't a threat to get forward down the flank, nor does he receive as many balls along the touchline as some other wide midfielders. When he does go forward, the touches he gets are mostly inside the box. None of this seems to be what you had in mind when you brought up the heatmaps in the first place. Stop there! We can agree on this much.
Actually its exactly what I had in mind... he plays wide in defense and support until connecting with the forward and surging in to the box creating scoring opportunities
Ok, finally have time to do this. My team: GK: Matt Pickens, David Bingham RB/LB: Timothy Chandler, Justin Morrow, Brandon Barklage CB: Bobby Boswell, Nat Borchers, Danny O'Rourke RM/LM: DaMarcus Beasley, Brek Shea, Brian Mullan CM: Sam Cronin, Ned Grabavoy, Andrew Jacobson FW: Kenny Cooper, Justin Braun, Lamar Neagle, Freddy Adu Primary lineup: -------------- Cooper - Braun Shea --- Cronin --- Grabavoy --- Beasley Morrow - Borchers* - Boswell - Chandler --------------------Pickens * O'Rourke replaces Borchers until Borchers returns from his injury/surgery. Bench: Bingham, Barklage, O'Rourke*, Mullan, Jacobson, Neagle, Adu System: In this system Braun is the target forward, with Cooper playing off of him. Cronin and Grabavoy are both box to box, filling in for one another when the other goes forward. Grabavoy tends forward slightly more than Cronin. Both are tasked primarily with keeping the ball moving, not necessarily supplying killer service. Service is more from the flanks, where there is a lot of overlapping and pushing forward from the outside backs. Shea and Beasley may regularly switch sides if the situation calls for it. My secondary lineup (dependent on a good 2013 for Adu) would be ------------------- Cooper ---------------------Adu Shea --- Cronin --- Jacobson--- Beasley Morrow - Borchers* - Boswell - Chandler -------------------Pickens * O'Rourke replaces Borchers until Borchers returns from his injury/surgery. Bench: Bingham, Barklage, O'Rourke, Mullan, Grabavoy, Braun, Neagle System: In this formation the flanks still have the same role, but Cronin and Jacobson mostly provide the defensive solidity behind Adu to allow him to get forward and make things happen without worrying too much about getting back to defend. I feel like this is the most effective use of Adu, and he may actually thrive in this system. Position-by-position Goalkeeper: Pickens, Bingham Pickens is an MLS veteran and one of the best goalkeepers in the league. Bingham is a promising young goalkeeper who most recently looked very solid in preseason for the Earthquakes. Based on his performances and Busch's age, I suspect it may not be long before he's starting in San Jose. Right Back: Chandler, Barklage, O'Rourke Chandler is easily one of the best RBs in the US pool, which is why he has been starting with Cherundolo out. He plays at a high level and is strong going forward. Barklage had a breakout year in 2012 with the Red Bulls and is a solid backup to Chandler. O'Rourke is my emergency player here. Center Back: Boswell, Borchers, O'Rourke, Jacobson All three are solid MLS veterans with quite a few honors and titles among them. With Borchers out for some time after surgery, O'Rourke will slot in next to Boswell until Borchers returns. I'm not sure if Jacobson has ever played CB, but if I needed a CB he would be my choice. He has the height and defensive acumen to be successful. Left Back: Morrow, Chandler, Shea, Barklage, O'Rourke Morrow is one of the best LBs in MLS and on the fringe of the national team. He seems to get better going forward every time I watch him play, which should make him very effective on my flank-focused team, overlapping and interchanging with Shea or Beasley. Backup LB is pretty much by committee. If Morrow goes down to injury the backup would depend on the situation at other positions. My first choice would likely be to move Chandler to LB and start Barklage at RB. Right Mid: Beasley, Mullan, Neagle, Shea Beasley is primarily a left sided player, but with Shea occupying that spot I slide Beasley to this position. I think he can be successful, with all the experience he's gained in his lengthy career. I believe I've seen him play well at RM once or twice in Europe, cutting in and putting in crosses and shots. During play Shea and Beasley will swap sides, but my first backup at RM if Beasley goes down is Mullan. He's a solid veteran who has won practically everything in MLS and continues to contribute with the Rapids. My other option here is Lamar Neagle, as he has the pace and forward-thinking play that suits the position and he plays wide sometimes in MLS. Center Mid: Cronin, Grabavoy, Jacobson Cronin has been a solid box to box player for San Jose for a few years now, Grabavoy has found success with RSL as a creative linking player, and Jacobson has looked strong as a CM for Dallas. I think all three are suitable starters on my team. The best pairing will likely depend on their respective seasons, but right now I'm starting Cronin and Grabavoy in my primary lineup because I like the smart, simple passing that Cronin provides and the more creative play of Grabavoy. Jacobson could easily start here though, as he does in my alternate lineup. Left Mid: Shea, Beasley, Neagle Shea is the starter here, as this is where he has had the most success. As Beasley is also a very good LM, during play I envision Shea and Beasley regularly swapping sides when game situations call for it. If Shea goes down, Beasley slots in right away and Mullan takes over RM. Neagle is an emergency backup here as well, as he plays wide quite a bit in MLS anyway and I think he could do a job on either side. Forward: Cooper, Braun, Neagle, Adu Cooper is a starter at this point given his goalscoring in MLS (18 goals in 2012). In my primary lineup Braun pairs with Cooper and adds a target presence for Cooper and the rest of the team to play off of. Braun didn't have a good 2012, but he has shown that he's a good goalscorer with Chivas USA in the past. Neagle offers a third option at forward, which may be his best, most natural position. While he hasn't scored a lot in MLS, he has shown that he has a great shot and a lot of good attributes for a forward. I put Adu into this forward category for convenience, but he's a much different forward from the other three. He'll be playing CAM and playmaking. He's the key to my alternate lineup. He has talent, and if he can find a steady club situation maybe he'll be able to turn that talent into great success. I don't plan on him being a key player because his club situation is such a question, but I think he can add a spark off the bench even if he doesn't have the best 2013.
This is the team I voted. Pontius, Wondo, Bradley, Gaven, and Salinas is an amazing front 5 in this draft, and the defense is also very strong.
Neuwerld has done another nice job putting together a logical, capable lineup despite a low starting draft position, just like last year. Very nice bench, too, and I do like the Adu gamble as a bench option. Cooper is a proven scorer, Shea will hopefully do well at Stoke City, the outside backs are strong, and Beasley, Cronin, Boswell, Jacobson, and Pickens are all quality and all often underrated. The risks are Borchers and how soon he returns to starting form and if Braun ever returns to being a productive player; Deuts and I were considering him purely as a striker sub, not a starter. Also, I couldn't understand why Neuwerld took both Shea and Beasley, with the result being that Beasley has to be shifted to RM, which creates some additional uncertainty. This looks like a competitve, logical, balanced and deep mid-table team to me.
Balerion posted a few breakdowns back on page 1 of this thread. Here are a couple more. It won't be a surprise if I've gotten a few players wrong, though, so take it with a grain of salt. Young Players Drafted *young = born in 1990 or later* 13 -- AutoPenalti 10 -- bmo 5 -- sebsasour, subjectively.joecleats, Hararea 4 -- misoccerfan, Sean, MLSNHTOWN, Balerion 3 -- harper, Martin.deuteronomy 2 -- neuwerld Players Who've Been Capped by the US 11 -- harper, Hararea, Sean 10 -- neuwerld 9 -- Martin.deuteronomy, Balerion 8 -- sebsasour, subjectively.joecleats 7 -- bmo, MLSNHTOWN 6 -- misoccerfan 4 -- autopenalti
Yeah, it's a gamble, but I'm hoping Braun gets significant time with Toronto, because I think if he does he'll do alright. I like to have a target on the field, and Braun was one of the last ones left when I picked him. If he has another down year, I would either switch him for Neagle, or maybe go with a 4-5-1 with Cronin, Jacobson, and Grabavoy in the center. As for Beasley, I took him purely because I thought he stood out as one of the best players left at the end of the third round. There aren't many really good US wingers, so I just went with him, despite the fact that I already had Shea.
That's the team I picked, as well, if yesterday's injury to DeMerit was a major one, then that's a significant blow to HTown's chances. Rusin apparently played well in DeMerit's place, which is good news for Sean's team.
MLSNHTOWN takes the first big post-draft injury hit, with Demerit going down with a serious achilles injury and surgery coming up. Might be out all year. Brunner becomes a starter and now both midfield and defensive depth is weak (he also has Pelosi out). That's exactly the kind of stuff that hit my team hard after the draft last year, with Onyewu's second knee injury and Ihemelu's concussion. We had overstocked on CBs because we were planning a 3-5-2 system, so we actually had enough CBs to cover, but only if changing to a 4-4-2. Next year I think we should increase the draft to 20 players. There are more than enough Americans available undrafted to have stocked 12 teams of 20 each. Indeed, I'd also like to see if we can add a 13th team, which would then allow a total of 44 more players to be drafted than were taken this year. The numbers are there for 44 more players to be drafted, and a 13th team would force us all to be a bit more creative with our XIs.
yeah I wish I had another pick to grab Dillon Powers, he was next on my list and I came close to taking him but already had Pause. Sounds like he had a good debut for Rapids as a starter
Obviously bad news for MLSNHTOWN, and for Jay himself. Without being in poor taste as I drafted Demerit last year and feel he's a true US Soccer hero, the injury helps my team. Brad Rusin, enter stage left. He looked the beast that he is billed and seems to be the heir apparent. Helps even more considering I got him so late in the draft and Gooch still isn't seeing regular time. Mikey Lopez also helped the US U20s to the final of the CONCACAF tournament, can't remember exact stats, but he played the full 90 in the 4-2 semi-final game win against Cuba. Gabriel Farfan also started at wide-midfield for the Union. Helps also since I'm essentially down a winger with Rogers sabbatical. Jose Cannon kept a clean-sheet for the Whitecaps also. This shows how important it is to have a strong bench to supplement your starters poor performances. Cannon has a better week than Kennedy, Rusin has a better week than Gooch, Farfan plays as opposed to Rogers and Lopez gives me a bonus under the youth national team spotlight. Starters: Kennedy: 90 mins, 3 GA in loss to Colmbus Lichaj: Unused sub for Aston Villa v Man City Gooch: N/A for Malaga Parke: 90 mins, 3GA in loss to Sporting KC Ashe: 90 mins, Clean sheet in win v DC Rogers: N/A Beckerman: 90 mins, 1 assist in win v San Jose Convey: 63 mins in win v Philadelphia Torres: 72 mins in 1-1 draw v Morelia (1-0 when he left field) Altidore: Broke scoring record for American in Europe Bunbury: still injured. If this was fantasy soccer, I'd be thankful for my subs this week Cannon: 90 mins, clean sheet in win v Toronto Rusin: 82 mins, clean sheet in win v Toronto Lopez: numerous appearances and starts for US U20s in CONCACAF tournament, finalists Gabriel Farfan: 70 mins in loss v Sporting KC
I think I have more guys injured than healthy lol. Jean-Baptiste in the last round is looking like a big steal tho
A lot of the draft teams have issues early in 2013: Balerion: Howard out. Castillo's facial fracture (should be back soon). MLSNHTOWN: Demerit out. Pelosi out. Lletget not with 1st team. Mastro nagging injuries. Deportivo Vejete: Ream and Whitbread not playing. Gordon out. Donovan just returned to practice. Sean...: Onyewu not playing. Lichaj not playing. Rogers out. Bunbury and Agbossoumonde not playing. Darned United: Here's a team with most guys playing! Real Soccer: Cherundolo out indefinitely. Lenhart out. MI-Soccerfan: Spector left March 16 game in the 4th minute. Buddle not playing. Packwood out. Harper916: Holden on short loan, not playing much yet. Davies not playing much. But most of the core is OK. Sebasour: Williams not starting much. Boca benched for club and Nats. Parkhurst benched. Academica: So many young guys not playing. Thank God for Dunivant! Neuwerld: Shea still not really back. Borchers out. Adu in limbo. Pickens out. bmo180: Johansson not playing (and still could choose Iceland). Salgado not playing. Wenger not playing. Silva not playing. Zavaletta not playing. I'm definitely pushing for 20-man rosters next year!
Wow. By the way, the first round of voting ends March 30. We can have a second round in August and a 3d round in November, if those months make sense to everyone.
Davies just started his first match for Randers, so hopefully he can keep it up and start scoring. And I really hope Holden's loan gets him some much needed playing time.
I've followed these threads tangentially the past few years. Silly exercise, but then again, I've been playing fake baseball since the mid-80's. Since there's a tie for 1st, I guess I get to cast the deciding vote unless someone else comes in here in the next two days. This is how I ranked them (prior to MLS season, later injuries, retirements, etc.): Gotta say, all these teams have stuff going for them, testament to the drafters, but especially to US soccer. #12 - Auto Penalti If all these guys stayed in school, they'd definitely challenge for the NCAA title. #11 - bmo180 Good backline, and future looks bright on the attack, just not quite yet. #10 - Sebasour Solid team really, but just a bit plodding for my taste. #9 - Ballerion It's good, but not sold on the wings, and L/L double D-mids depresses. #8 - Real Soccer FC A lot to like, strikers are questionable. #7 - Darned U Backline will leak goals, but love Boyd/Agudelo combo, serviced by excellent mid-field. #6 - Harper A lot depends on Holden. If he returns the Zusi/McCarty/Stu center-midfield is tough to beat #5 - Neuwerld Similarly Adu is lynch-pin. I still have belief, and he can set up Coop here, OBs and wings are scary dangerous. #4 - Deportivo Vejete I usually agree with the guys managing this squad, so was sure I'd have them #1. Close. It's solid, but Clark/Edu pairing creates a lot of 0-0 draws. #3 - MI-Soccerfan JJ/Sasha can work well me thinks. And Magee/Corona. A lot riding on O'Brien however. #2 - Sean... Rogers need to un-retire. Other than that, it's a bit boring, but I don't see any weaknesses. So the winner is... #1 - MLSinHTown One of the better GKs; inexperienced, but extremely promising OB; big, strong, and talented CB pair with mix of youth/experience; Dmid is one of my picks for long Nat career ahead; Wings are very underrated MLSrs right in their prime; Michael Bradley; two guys who can flat out score and I think would complement up front; adds up to winner. Edit - and when's our next game again, so I can stop wasting my time with exercises like this...
Thanks for making the effort to post a full ranking. It's funny to me to see how much your viewpoint differs from my own. The one noteworthy place where we had agreed was in picking HTown to win, but after the first month of the season, I'm shying away from that one, too. With DeMerit out, Connor Lade benched, and Austin Berry in a terrible sophomore slump, his back line has taken a major hit. He still has a strong team, with Brunner and Creavalle looking like great late pick-ups, but I'm not sure I'd pick him first any longer. On a different note, How is it that none of us drafted ... ? DeAndre Yedlin Danny Califf Jeb Brovsky, who is one of only a few Americans contributing to the Impact Matt Reis and Clyde Simms, both pieces of the Revs' early defensive success. (Pity about their attack.) I'm sure that this list will get longer as the season progresses.
For our 17th pick we targeted Jason Hernandez and Califf, since we knew we needed starting-quality depth at CB besides just the option to move Edu back there. We were very concerned both would be gone before the 17th pick and discussed taking one of them as early as the 15th Round. We liked Hernandez' ability to also play RB in a pinch (versatility helps for a late-round pick in a short draft) and that he was a bit younger. Deuts and I are also surprised Califf wasn't taken at all. If we had more rounds, we would have looked at either Simms or Lahoud as good DM depth guys in the 19th round. Yedlin and Brovsky I had never heard of, but I'm shocked that Academica (AutoPenalti) didn't take Yedlin.
Since Wenger is barely playing I think I would change our lineup to this: I didnt bother trying to replace the injured guys since all my backups are injured
Cap-tied in Gold Cup Situation looks promising Still an asterisk pick, but the switch came through Not accepting US call-ups since he's with Chivas, but since he hasn't file his one-time switch, I think he's ok. Was a good year for drafting dual nationals.
It is August and so I think I will set up a new mid-year poll later this week. Many interesting developments in the last few months.