Wild Turkey
20 Jul 2008, 11:56 PM
After major offseason turnover United fans expected a period of adjustment but it’s probably safe to say most of us got more than we were bargaining for. Bennie Olsen’s absence certainly didn’t help matters.
Those hotheads and potheads who want(ed) to fire Soehn and send Emilio packing need not reply. What I’m looking for are cool, calm, collected assessments of where United now stands and where we’re going. Below is my take on matters. Just skip to the overall assessment for each line and the overall team assessment for the short version.
GK
Wells is getting better but it’s happening too slowly - even he’ll attest he’s still making too many mistakes. With Carvallo now gone we know United will be looking for another GK. Depending on the quality of the new guy Wells may be seeing a lot of bench time or may be alternating in the starting spot. What kind of quality United can find out there is an open question. Let’s hope Wells remains healthy in the meantime. His current output would be a major liability against a good team in the playoffs.
Defense
Overall – Yeah, we’ve given up a lot of goals this year and still don’t have a shutout but we have some very good pieces and they seem to be gelling as a unit. The talent is significantly better than last year even though the results haven’t been until recently. What about the recent SuperLiga matches? Burch (in a new position every other game) & McTavish in center isn’t our true defense. With Namoff, Martinez & Peralta all healthy, a growing chemistry will lead to a stronger unit and I think they have the potential to become one of the better defensive units in the league over the coming months. Communication with Wells is still a concern; coordination with midfield is improving.
Namoff – Mr. Consistent. He makes an occasional off pass or defensive mistake and I wish he was sharper offensively when he comes forward but you can’t find much fault with Brian. Namoff will be here for many years to come.
Martinez – We struck gold here. Great defense, plays tough but doesn’t draw cards, brings the ball forward well and will shoot the ball.
Peralta - He’s had the occasional mistake and can appear a bit gangly at times but overall has been pretty solid. The defense struggled as a unit early in the year, some fault Peralta quite a bit but I’d argue it was the whole unit (incl. their lack of coordination w/ Wells). I think his absence in SuperLiga play showed.
McTavish = Has continued to grow and improve upon last year when he first began to blossom. Still, he’s the weakest link right now.
Pat Carroll – Has shown some good signs.
Midfield
Overall – No question we’re missing the grit of Olsen & Gros, I think this is one of the team’s greatest weaknesses right now. The lack of depth is also a major concern. We’re pretty good when we’re healthy but we’re not scaring anybody with this unit. We need to see more offensive threats from these guys. The chemistry with one another and the other units still isn’t there.
Simms- Playing the best ball of his life; seems to be finding the right balance for himself between aggressive & controlled play. If his technical skills progress he could become a very good player. If Simms goes down with injury we don’t have a real good option to take up the DM role and that’s a concern.
Fred – Playing well as (almost) always. Not to say
Tino- Has definitely exceeded my expectations for him this season; still there’s room for improvement. More consistency, less cards.
Gallardo – He brings such a different style of play to our game. I think this has been one reason for the long transition period we’ve experienced. He’s played well but the bang for the (major) bucks probably hasn’t been there – yet. But if this team starts to really play well I think he can raise their level even higher – making all those around him even better.
Burch - I like Burch. Too bad he's never put in one position long enough to get better at it.
Dyachenko – One always sees the potential but never the consistency. In some ways I feel done with him but at $30k a year you’re not going to get anybody better.
Cordeiro – Okay so far. With a heavy schedule and injuries we’ll be seeing more of him.
Forward
Overall – If Niell had worked out I’d be feeling a lot better. If we had another player who was a real force to pair with Emilio (and then pull Moreno back) our attack would become deadly. But that’s probably not going to happen this season. We’re left to hope Doe & Thompson can grow and we can insert Moreno – and well, that’s decent. We’ve finally begun scoring but I think the ultimate question is whether our attack is potent enough to go against the better defenses on their good days – say, in the playoffs? When you get down to it I think we’re very reliant on our midfield to buttress the lack of firepower in this position – and that’s just not there to the degree we need. In the final analysis I think we’ll be okay here and can go as far as the rest of the team will take us.
Emilio – He’s back. ‘Nuff said.
Moreno – He’s not going to run for as long or score from the run of play like he used to but boy do we miss him when he’s not there to exercise ball control.
Doe & Kirk– Raw, hopefully they’ll grow over the coming months. I don’t see either turning into too much of an asset this season though it’s possible.
Craig Thompson – I like what I’ve seen so far – a lot. Appears a bit raw but showed grit and hustle (think Gros) and some signs of craftiness. There’s a possibility we may have found something here.
The Team Overall
We’re getting better (SuperLiga aside) but health/lack of depth is a major concern with our heavy schedule. We’re very reliant on Moreno & Gallardo for ball control – take them out of the equation (read, injuries) and we’re half the team we are with them. Take Simms out and we don’t have a good replacement. With our three strongest defenders in we’re good, lose one and we’re in trouble. Lose Emilio and we lose a lot of goal scoring ability. Olsen is probably gone for the year. Our bench players are simply not as strong as some teams’, when we lose a starter our play if often greatly affected. This is something United needs to do a better job with.
If we find ourselves with a healthy team in three weeks and can remain healthy and continue to build chemistry between the guys and greater consistency we could become dangerous. What are the chances we’ll be healthy like that? Probably not great. That leads to the question of new personnel. We know we’re gonna get a new GK – hopefully United will find some quality here in which case we’d address one of our major concerns. It looks like we’re shopping around for another midfielder as well but I’m not overly optimistic it’s going to be someone potent enough to make the difference. I’m not up on how much money United has to spend but the chances of United getting a real good GK and a real good midfielder appears to be unrealistic.
If we get healthy and hot at the right time anything’s possible but with teams like Houston and New England playing consistently good, we are not a favorite for the Cup this year. I think we’d have to get very lucky. We had huge turnover in the offseason, some guys worked out and others didn’t. It takes time to build chemistry and that’ll come if we keep this team intact.
Those hotheads and potheads who want(ed) to fire Soehn and send Emilio packing need not reply. What I’m looking for are cool, calm, collected assessments of where United now stands and where we’re going. Below is my take on matters. Just skip to the overall assessment for each line and the overall team assessment for the short version.
GK
Wells is getting better but it’s happening too slowly - even he’ll attest he’s still making too many mistakes. With Carvallo now gone we know United will be looking for another GK. Depending on the quality of the new guy Wells may be seeing a lot of bench time or may be alternating in the starting spot. What kind of quality United can find out there is an open question. Let’s hope Wells remains healthy in the meantime. His current output would be a major liability against a good team in the playoffs.
Defense
Overall – Yeah, we’ve given up a lot of goals this year and still don’t have a shutout but we have some very good pieces and they seem to be gelling as a unit. The talent is significantly better than last year even though the results haven’t been until recently. What about the recent SuperLiga matches? Burch (in a new position every other game) & McTavish in center isn’t our true defense. With Namoff, Martinez & Peralta all healthy, a growing chemistry will lead to a stronger unit and I think they have the potential to become one of the better defensive units in the league over the coming months. Communication with Wells is still a concern; coordination with midfield is improving.
Namoff – Mr. Consistent. He makes an occasional off pass or defensive mistake and I wish he was sharper offensively when he comes forward but you can’t find much fault with Brian. Namoff will be here for many years to come.
Martinez – We struck gold here. Great defense, plays tough but doesn’t draw cards, brings the ball forward well and will shoot the ball.
Peralta - He’s had the occasional mistake and can appear a bit gangly at times but overall has been pretty solid. The defense struggled as a unit early in the year, some fault Peralta quite a bit but I’d argue it was the whole unit (incl. their lack of coordination w/ Wells). I think his absence in SuperLiga play showed.
McTavish = Has continued to grow and improve upon last year when he first began to blossom. Still, he’s the weakest link right now.
Pat Carroll – Has shown some good signs.
Midfield
Overall – No question we’re missing the grit of Olsen & Gros, I think this is one of the team’s greatest weaknesses right now. The lack of depth is also a major concern. We’re pretty good when we’re healthy but we’re not scaring anybody with this unit. We need to see more offensive threats from these guys. The chemistry with one another and the other units still isn’t there.
Simms- Playing the best ball of his life; seems to be finding the right balance for himself between aggressive & controlled play. If his technical skills progress he could become a very good player. If Simms goes down with injury we don’t have a real good option to take up the DM role and that’s a concern.
Fred – Playing well as (almost) always. Not to say
Tino- Has definitely exceeded my expectations for him this season; still there’s room for improvement. More consistency, less cards.
Gallardo – He brings such a different style of play to our game. I think this has been one reason for the long transition period we’ve experienced. He’s played well but the bang for the (major) bucks probably hasn’t been there – yet. But if this team starts to really play well I think he can raise their level even higher – making all those around him even better.
Burch - I like Burch. Too bad he's never put in one position long enough to get better at it.
Dyachenko – One always sees the potential but never the consistency. In some ways I feel done with him but at $30k a year you’re not going to get anybody better.
Cordeiro – Okay so far. With a heavy schedule and injuries we’ll be seeing more of him.
Forward
Overall – If Niell had worked out I’d be feeling a lot better. If we had another player who was a real force to pair with Emilio (and then pull Moreno back) our attack would become deadly. But that’s probably not going to happen this season. We’re left to hope Doe & Thompson can grow and we can insert Moreno – and well, that’s decent. We’ve finally begun scoring but I think the ultimate question is whether our attack is potent enough to go against the better defenses on their good days – say, in the playoffs? When you get down to it I think we’re very reliant on our midfield to buttress the lack of firepower in this position – and that’s just not there to the degree we need. In the final analysis I think we’ll be okay here and can go as far as the rest of the team will take us.
Emilio – He’s back. ‘Nuff said.
Moreno – He’s not going to run for as long or score from the run of play like he used to but boy do we miss him when he’s not there to exercise ball control.
Doe & Kirk– Raw, hopefully they’ll grow over the coming months. I don’t see either turning into too much of an asset this season though it’s possible.
Craig Thompson – I like what I’ve seen so far – a lot. Appears a bit raw but showed grit and hustle (think Gros) and some signs of craftiness. There’s a possibility we may have found something here.
The Team Overall
We’re getting better (SuperLiga aside) but health/lack of depth is a major concern with our heavy schedule. We’re very reliant on Moreno & Gallardo for ball control – take them out of the equation (read, injuries) and we’re half the team we are with them. Take Simms out and we don’t have a good replacement. With our three strongest defenders in we’re good, lose one and we’re in trouble. Lose Emilio and we lose a lot of goal scoring ability. Olsen is probably gone for the year. Our bench players are simply not as strong as some teams’, when we lose a starter our play if often greatly affected. This is something United needs to do a better job with.
If we find ourselves with a healthy team in three weeks and can remain healthy and continue to build chemistry between the guys and greater consistency we could become dangerous. What are the chances we’ll be healthy like that? Probably not great. That leads to the question of new personnel. We know we’re gonna get a new GK – hopefully United will find some quality here in which case we’d address one of our major concerns. It looks like we’re shopping around for another midfielder as well but I’m not overly optimistic it’s going to be someone potent enough to make the difference. I’m not up on how much money United has to spend but the chances of United getting a real good GK and a real good midfielder appears to be unrealistic.
If we get healthy and hot at the right time anything’s possible but with teams like Houston and New England playing consistently good, we are not a favorite for the Cup this year. I think we’d have to get very lucky. We had huge turnover in the offseason, some guys worked out and others didn’t. It takes time to build chemistry and that’ll come if we keep this team intact.