*OUR* best 11?

Actually, I'd be fine with that.

 

How about a 3-4-2-1?



Not saying this is ideal, but it would get a lot of our "Best 11" players on the pitch at once. Napoli and Udinese play a similar crazy formation like this, and they both play attacking football while also being mostly stout defensively.

 

Considering that Napoli and Udi are two of the most fun teams to watch in Serie A Id love to see that lineup. Would we win games with ridiculous scorelines? Yes, yes we would. Would we lose games with ridiculous scorelines? Without a shadow of a doubt.

 

Mwanga was very soft as a strikers.........reminded me of Ricky Watters going over the middle.

 

To be fair, that mancrush outran the USMNT defense and Timmy-Hates-Spanish-Speakers-Howard on fresh legs in the fifth minute to put Guatemala 1 up.

 

I would switch Marfan and Garfan. Marfan can move the ball accross the field and take on defenders but he needs to start from the wing.

 

But can Garfan handle the center? While I do prefer Marfan on the wing I think he is better in the center then what I have seen from the rest of the roster. Adu is the only player on the roster that can really play the center well but he must remove his cranium from his anal orifice and show he deserves it.

 

couple of cost-effective pieces to add. Trying to get more width/depth on the left while taking better advantage of LeToux's propensity to roam. Mkosana gives flexibility to move LW and making more of a 4-3-3 at times............

Smoke signals on the Captain portending exit.

 

I love the picture - McMath the beast needs no center defenders. Just try to attack his goal head on!!

 

eh, the shirts are inflexible, the players aren't. (first time trying to work with that thing, give me a break.......) * I said I wanted width..............

 

Sorry, nt a dig at you at all. I actually do like it. It would be great if we could try and psych out our opponents by claiming this was the formation we planned to use against them. Realisticlly, I would expect the Union to keep it quite and then spring it on the opponents at the last minute and then wonder why we lost 7-0.

 

Or this....




Looking at it, you have 5 defenders, 5 midfielders, and 5 forwards

 

How can you lose when it's 15 v 11?

 

16....You forgot McMath!

 

Rep'd for creativity. I'm, like you, skeptical that we could handle it. It certainly would be aggressive. That said, anything is worth trying after the year we just had.

 

The problem last year wasn't the defense, it was mainly creating and finishing chances. Replacing Parke with Valdes should be fine, and Carroll as a D-mid is very solid. Marfan and Cruz as your outside mids are strong defensively and Marfan can add things to the attack as well. I think with the two new strikers, a lot more of Freddy's chances created will be finished. Also Freddy playing in his natural position will make her that much more effective. If he sucks than yeah I agree you should bench him and change the formation, but right now I think he deserves a chance to play in his natural position now that we have adequate forwards. Soumare can be your backup CB and Jack Mac your backup striker. I think Cruz is pretty bad but Hack loves him and at least he can provide some defensive cover for Freddy.

 

The diamond seems to be our best option.

 

Yep, I'd bet on this for our opening day lineup. I feel a lot better about Cruz in a "run around and play D" role than as a 4-3-3 winger, for sure.

 

I think everybody has their favorites right now for formations and the starting XI, but seasons aren't made or broken by the first XI, the 18 or the 20 are just as relevant as the presumed starting cast over the course of the season with injuries, fixture congestion, and formational flexibility.

I think these are the best players 18 players on our roster today (Valdes and Pfeffer not included) with the next most field ready player IMHO in (parentheses).

GK - MacMath (Konopka)
D - Garfan, Soumare, Parke, Williams, Gaddis (Albright)
M - Carroll, Okugo, Lahoud, Marfan, Cruz, Adu, Torres, Daniel (Jordan)
F - Hoppenot, McInerney, Le Toux, Casey (Hoffman)

Unfortunately, as of today, the only line I can say improved in the offseason is the forward line with the addition of Casey and LeToux. (Adding Parke would have improved the defensive line but I think Valdes missing the season is a wash out). I think Hackworth has done a good job of cleaning house, I just hope that we're not done acquiring best 18 caliber players ahead of this season.

 

You are seriously underestimating what both Parke and Soumare will bring to that backline. Especially Parke.

 

I agree, I think as long as Soumare is healthy him and Parke are a better tandem than Valdes and Okugo. It would not be a huge upgrade as Valdes was a very good player for us and Okugo grew to be a decent CB as the season progressed. Okugo still has a lot of potential as both/either CB/DM.

 

Seeing as Adu may be on the way out...

^ Maybe Anding will beat out Gabe for the LB spot, but this is basically what I think we can expect at this point going into training camp and preseason.