Questions About the Current Team

[Serie Zed]

I take long showers, have insomniac tendencies and my girlfriend is out of town (which has nothing to do with the long showers) and so I've had several DCU Qs pop into my head over the last few days. Yes, my life really is that pathetic (come home soon, baby.)

But enough about me...

Are we peaking too soon? MLS is all about the late-season hot streak and there's a long way to go. Can we sustain this level of play for 2+ months?

Is it possible that Gomez is a more complete/better footballer than El Diablo? Am I the only one who thinks he's been our best player over the last 30 games?

How come none of our current players ever makes a sideline to sideline switch of play with a single ball? Etch, Agoos and Harkes all used to do it.

Can we afford to keep this lineup together for a couple more years?

[spidergoose]

I don't think we're peaking too soon. I think Nowak is getting these guys up to mount a serious campaign in Sudamericana.

I don't know about any Gomez/Etch comparisons, but I feel that he's been our best player over the last calendar year. (Moreno a close second) The only knock on him is that he can't (or just doesn't) go the full 90, but if he puts in a productive 60 minutes then I've got no problem with it.

Couldn't tell ya.

I think so, Freddy should be leaving town around the time his money will hit the cap and Moreno might be close to retirement around then as well. If we can keep digging up such great values like Gros, Boswell, Wilson, Namoff, et al we'll be in great shape.

[Sundevil9]

Are we peaking too soon? MLS is all about the late-season hot streak and there's a long way to go. Can we sustain this level of play for 2+ months?[quote]

That's a good question. But I don't think the team has reached the crest of it's play yet. There's still a lot to fix in the overall play of the team. They're just much better than they have been in earlier months.

You want peaking too soon? Check out New England.

[quote]
Is it possible that Gomez is a more complete/better footballer than El Diablo? Am I the only one who thinks he's been our best player over the last 30 games?

Is it possible? Maybe. Is it fair to make the comparison? I don't think so. To me they're totally different players. Marco could almost always hold the ball, fend off a couple of players, and put a pass on a player's foot. Gomez helps the team work the ball around, I notice that Gomez does a lot of one or two touch play in addition to holding the ball and looking for a pass.

Dema is a more complete footballer than both of them. But that's hardly fair either. :)


How come none of our current players ever makes a sideline to sideline switch of play with a single ball? Etch, Agoos and Harkes all used to do it.

From time to time, I see Brian Carroll try it, and Tino is pretty good at it when he's on the field. For about 6 games, Guppy was good at it. :rolleyes:

Can we afford to keep this lineup together for a couple more years?

The thing to look for is who is up for big raises? Rimando could get a raise. The defenders, except Erpen, should pretty much top out in the $50k-$75k range. Same goes for most of the blue collar midfielders. Benny may be taking a pay cut when his deal is up. Now that he's found the net again, Dema may just stay at his level. Freddy will probably never count against the cap. Tino may be up for a little raise, and Eski's not really in a position to look for more money. So the only issues are Gomez and Jamie.

The team can just give Gomez what it can, and Jamie can take the remainder of the cap until he retires.

When the team had the early cap issues, RDA, Harkes, Etch, Jamie, Lassiter, Sanneh, and Goose were all making a lot of money (in MLS terms), and the team had Sanneh, Pope, and Olsen coming up and looking for more.

[Serie Zed]

Thanks for reminding me about Carroll. I've thought for a long time he strikes the best long ball of anyone on the team. Sooner or later he's going to score on a bomb.

[Sundevil9]

Thanks for reminding me about Carroll. I've thought for a long time he strikes the best long ball of anyone on the team. Sooner or later he's going to score on a bomb.

He deserves more credit just for taking the long range opportunities. Both passing and shooting.

[DoctorD]

Is the lack of "sideline to sideline" passing a deliberate decision? With 3 central midfielders, the tactics seem to be to get the ball into one of them, who then decides to redirect it into a promising space that (hopefully) another player sees at the same time and is already moving into.

Someone who knows tactics better can comment, but is a 3-5-2 even condusive to long passing? If a wing midfielder receives a long pass and is pressured, or the ball is intercepted, there's nobody behind him to either provide a quick option or to prevent a counterattack.

The skill that long passing requires is not making the pass, but receiving and trapping it cleanly. Gros, for example, can not do this and takes that critical extra 0.5 second to settle the ball.

[JoeW]

"Are we peaking too soon? MLS is all about the late-season hot streak and there's a long way to go. Can we sustain this level of play for 2+ months?"

No. We've played well almost the entire season. But we initially had a raw defense that would have a brainfart every 4 games and give up 3-4 goals. That has now stopped. And we couldn't finish. That has gotten better (but still not been eliminated).

"Is it possible that Gomez is a more complete/better footballer than El Diablo? Am I the only one who thinks he's been our best player over the last 30 games?"

No--he's not better. He doesn't have the ability to single-handedly beat a defense, his through-balls while good don't match Marco's and he's not as incredible of a passer/holder of the ball as Marco. But he probably is a more complete player--better shape, better defensively, better off the ball and better finisher.

How come none of our current players ever makes a sideline to sideline switch of play with a single ball? Etch, Agoos and Harkes all used to do it.

"Because they lack the ability. Gomez is a very sharp journeyman. Our team plays very smart team soccer but to a certain extent is a blue collar side that wins with smarts and efforts rather than pure skill. Adu, Quaranta and sometimes Gomez and Moreno are the only attackers who have the ability to switch play from one sideline to another. On the backline, guys like Namoff, Prideaux (and before them Petke) had to use another pass (and player) to get it to the other sideline. That is why quick play (rather than slow transitions) is critical for this side.

"Can we afford to keep this lineup together for a couple more years?"

Except that the side keeps changing. Look at the team Piotr inherited and the one we ended up with at MLS Cup. Look at the team we started with this season and what we have now. The cap has gone up, we've got a lot of players locked into contracts, lots of youth. I think we're more likely to lose players b/c someone overseas comes calling OR we find a better player around. I also think Adu will remain roster protected next season (that's a big factor).

Alas, I confess I was trying to remember the great line from Bull Durham where the pitching coach (Robert Wahl?) comes out to the mound and answers a series of divergent questions with some quick comments ending with "and candles make a great gift" but I couldn't remember and it didn't seem to fit your questions anyway.

[Serie Zed]

Except that the side keeps changing. Look at the team Piotr inherited and the one we ended up with at MLS Cup. Look at the team we started with this season and what we have now. The cap has gone up, we've got a lot of players locked into contracts, lots of youth. I think we're more likely to lose players b/c someone overseas comes calling OR we find a better player around. I also think Adu will remain roster protected next season (that's a big factor).

I'm talking about the core of the team, specifically as it relates to the salary cap. Can we keep that together for, say, an additional two years? Obviously Adu, Quaranta and maybe another player could transfer, we'll add where we're able, guys might get hurt and etc. But is the current side sustainable under the cap?

Agree with the comments on Etch and switching play. Not so sure about playing this well for another 15-20 matches.

[CHICO13]

No
Yes
No
Maybe
Who Knows
No

[Nodak]

stay healthy and this all works out for a very good finish.