Brian Carroll [R]

[ursula]

Aliens abduct Brian Carroll

That's the only explanation I can think of for his poor play lately. Poor passing, poor marking. Upon entering yesterday's game he was immediately beaten for a dangerous C-bus chance. It's as if he's two steps behind the play. Well not "as if"- cause he is two steps behind. As of now Clyde Simms is ahead of him at d-mid; Dema is too.

Hope he turns it around. I expect he will. But until then, he's strictly reserve game material.

[Doctor Woo]

It's hard to imagine another explanation. Aliens, hmm? All I know is that he doesn't seem to be the same player.

Could it be like a pitcher tipping his pitches? The whole league suddenly figured out some habit he has and now he goes from solid player to goat? It's not like being a striker who by definition is streaky. He should be about the same game to game unless he's injured or impaired somehow.

(By the way, is that the result that the [R] refers to, that he's been abducted?)

[rugman]

Didn't he have a bad run last season and was rested a few games and then came back like wildfire?

[soccershaggy]

After the initial mistake he played a solid game. Good passing, good defense, good hustle.

[bigredfutbol]

Didn't he have a bad run last season and was rested a few games and then came back like wildfire?

Yes, and when he came back he was much better helping to jump-start the offense--the first half of the season, I thought he played good D, but I cringed when he tried holding the ball for any length of time. He just wasnt' good with the ball at his feet, or trying to go forward. When he came back after being benched a few games, he seemed much more well-rounded. right now, he seems a little incomplete again.

[Bootsy Collins]

Poor passing, poor marking. Upon entering yesterday's game he was immediately beaten for a dangerous C-bus chance.
I agree that that happened, but I don't think it's a fair assessment of his late minutes last night overall. My view was from the stands, which isn't the best for assessing the players, and I haven't had a chance to look at the video yet. But from what I saw, after that initial flub, I didn't think he played too badly.

But I agree with you that at the very least, he's in a real competition with Simms right now, especially if Olsen's move outside is long-term.

[soccershaggy]

This thread is from two games ago i think.

I think he's gotten his head out of his butt. People are still calling for him to be benched, but if they look at his entire game, i can't understand it.
Sure, he has 3-4 passes right to the other team (as he did last night), but how many passes does he make correctly and right to the proper teammate all game long allowing the smooth transition from defense to offense?
He consistently runs back and to both sides looking to be an outlet from the defenders in order to pass to a more offensive minded player.
Only Olsen has a better workrate, and Carroll really bottles up the opposing teams midfielders. Im willing to bet that for his 3-4 giveways he made well over 20 quality passes to teammates that weren't flashy, but were necessary, and thus unremembered.

[Sanguine]

This thread is from two games ago i think.

I think he's gotten his head out of his butt. People are still calling for him to be benched, but if they look at his entire game, i can't understand it.
Sure, he has 3-4 passes right to the other team (as he did last night), but how many passes does he make correctly and right to the proper teammate all game long allowing the smooth transition from defense to offense?
He consistently runs back and to both sides looking to be an outlet from the defenders in order to pass to a more offensive minded player.
Only Olsen has a better workrate, and Carroll really bottles up the opposing teams midfielders. Im willing to bet that for his 3-4 giveways he made well over 20 quality passes to teammates that weren't flashy, but were necessary, and thus unremembered.

That, coupled with the fact that KC got absolutely NOTHING through the middle of the field shows that he had a decent match. He and Simms almost completely cut off service to the KC forwards.

[spidergoose]

That, coupled with the fact that KC got absolutely NOTHING through the middle of the field shows that he had a decent match. He and Simms almost completely cut off service to the KC forwards.
KC had what, 2 midfielders hurt? Pretty much saw this dominant performance coming. Glad United didn't disappoint me.

[Th4119]

Ah, the life of a D-mid.

Everyone bashes the position when someone in it screws up, and there's never any credit when they do a fantastic job.

Carroll was superb last night and it was good to see him get his stuff together.

[Winoman]

Ah, the life of a D-mid.

Everyone bashes the position when someone in it screws up, and there's never any credit when they do a fantastic job.

Carroll was superb last night and it was good to see him get his stuff together.

Exactly. He did give away a few passes, but so did everyone else on the team. There were several more times when he totally stuffed the KC attack in midfield, and he had his ears pinned back going for 50/50 balls, if they were anywhere in his general vicinity. I also thought he had a pretty respectable match last night.

[ursula]

I agree: he played a good match last night.

[DutchFootballRulez]

Its funny. Carroll and Simms can play together; Carroll makes better decisions going forward, I think Simms is the better ball-winner and long-shooter, but Carroll is better at making important passes.

[beltwayrob]

Brian definitely has gotten better in the last couple of weeks. Honestly folks most of the team started the season out in a funk (due it part to the CONCACAF Cup matches), and I think they are getting into form, I mean Cowlumbus, NE and Wiztards, we've looked pretty solid. BC is definitely showing vast improvement over April and it only reminds me of why I bought his jersey in the first place!