Alternately is that he may be better in the middle but his club teams prefer veterans there and he can also play winger at a high level. How many central attacking mids in the Bundesliga are 20 or younger?
I think that is exactly why he is playing out wide for Dortmund. He has mostly been deployed out on the touch line by Favre, but played a bit more centrally at times in cup game vs Bremen. I he had a few misplayed balls and had the ball taken of him as well, but overall though he combined well with his team mates. I think he just is bigger threat cenrally as he is more likely to score.
It was nice knowing you... “I was disappointed with the chances I got. I didn’t feel like I got a complete chance.” - Russell Canouse on January Camp. pic.twitter.com/LxhEpQ6Qty— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) March 1, 2019
I'm listening to a podcast where Matt Doyle is saying Toronto insiders feel Bradley has "lost 3 steps" and can no longer play DM. Podcast ends, check twitter and the news that the camp "competition" was rigged for MB (and/or WT). In what sane universe would any halfway intelligent person like GB be building around MB? If I've heard this assessment then certainly a coach that coached against him and was in the league, whose boss was a GM in the league understands it. Right? So, then it is all for WT? We are going to play Adams is some bizarre role away from the center of the field to get him into the attack? Meanwhile, bench an EPL RB to do it. All so WT can dictate play from the #6? Is that really going to work in anyway? What are they smoking in Chicago?
Honestly, the joke here is that we need "Toronto insiders" to tell us this for some people to want to believe it. I actually appreciate Bradley's career, but you have to have the vision of Stevie Wonder to fail to see that Bradley can't keep up with any skilled team with decent athleticism at this point.
The level of anxiety around here about Bradley and Trapp has failed the sanity test. It's as if people wanted to call up no dmid for Jan camp and instead put an empty throne in the pitch with a disembodied crown on the cushion and a royal scepter lain forlornly across it to mourn the absence of King Adams. It was never a good idea to play 19 yr old Adams at the 6 when there was never going to be a problem moving him into any position he would be playing for Leipzig anyway. Have to wonder why the animosity has reached the level of "I'd rather play with 10 men than see Trapp on the pitch."
I was on the fence about keeping him in the fold after his great performance against Panama B. But they seem to have protected him against Costa Rica who has made him look really bad with their pressure in the past. And talking about building around him is absolutely crazy at this point. To a lesser degree that's true too about a guy who has been a mediocre starter in MLS when it comes to Trapp. This would all reinforce the belief it's a boy's club, as Bradley especially is tied to so many members within it. And maybe the theory about MLS using their influence on the USS board to influence the national team and prompt them to hoist lifers.
Why anybody was talking about Bradley after Couva is beyond me. All the criticism of Trapp opened the door a sliver so they stuck Bradley in against Panama B but if you look at Trapp's game v. Costa Rica and compare with Bradley's game you'll see Trapp's game was much better. I thought the smart thing to do was stick Trapp at the 6 and invite challengers. Instead everybody just concentrated on getting rid of Trapp and presto we have Bradley back. It's like sitting thru Scream 5.
This. And right now the #1 challenger should be Morales. I was never a fan of his, but he's had a renaissance and become once again a regular starter for a Bundesliga team that has gone from relegation fodder to mid-table with his help. PS: The guy is streaky though. Once his good form is over, he's not unlikely to get himself benched again. But he has good recovery numbers, solid in duels won, and excellent as distributor. Not bad for a #6.
False dichotomy/dilemma, don't settle for playing either guy. Employ McKennie, Adams, maybe Roldan as the 3rd, and press. Don't need to be married to playing gradually out of the back. That should be plan b if the ball isn't won up high. The personnel fits a press better, and that's what many came up with under Tab with pretty strong recent results.
If we're going to be playing Yedlin and Robinson as our fullbacks, then by golly we're going to need a dedicated #6 behind McKennie/Adams when facing any decent team.
I want to play Lima on the right and Yedlin on left, as of now, until Robinson proves more to be clearly at the other's level. I'm not a big Yedlin fan, but he's sufficient starter in a top 4 league, and I think Hertha liked Lima but that was just a training stint + SJ wants to hold onto him for another year. McKennie can play a dedicated destroyer 6 if you ask him to. He shined there in a couple games w/ the NT when otherwise his play has been erratic. I thought the question with him was going to be can he fulfill the distributor role GB likes out of his 6.
Yea I think we should be rocking the double pivot too. 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-3 fits the pool so damn well. Let them rock the double pivot in either of those
Keep up Skippy. The discussion today is about how the best american in MLS dmid wasnt given a chance to play in the Jan camp. It is a great idea to play Adams as our 6 given his success in MLS over the last two years, his impressive start in the Bundesliga, and most importantly, he has the best all round skill set in our pool for the position. The animosity is over watching Bradley NOT lead us to the world cup and Trapp being gifted the captaincy in 2018 and being embarrassed by above average to top talent.
If people want to say we are better off with somebody else at the six than Trapp, that's fine. We can have that discussion. Trapp embarrassed? Haven't seen it. And the joke answers prove my point. I always felt like Trapp was underutilized by Berhalter because he told Trapp to give the ball to Higuaín and retract into his shell. I always looked forward to Trapp given a chance on the USMNT with a new manager and what we got was Sarachan and the 4141 and now Berhalter again. Maybe it is too late for him.
p.s. to the above re Trapp getting "embarrassed"??: v. France, we had the game won til Robinson collapsed. v. Brazil - Robinson got shellacked. v. Peru - Yedlin gave up the tying goal v. Colombia - Bradley played and we lost 4-2 v. Paraguay - we won with midfield of Adams-Trapp-Delgado which is my prefered midfield. v. Mexico - we took McKennie off in the first half and won 1-0 with Adams at the 8 and Trapp at the 6 v. Ireland 1-2 loss, Hamid caught out of the nets and another GA in a team fail, none of which involved Trapp. The only game that could be called an embarrassment would be England 0-3 loss where once again McKennie was playing and Adams was not on the pitch. I'm not seeing the "embarrassment" unless we want to start talking about Yedlin, Robinson and McKennie - two goal leakers and one guy with no position to play. those are the hard facts, like them or not.
People here give a huge pass to Yedlin and Robinson 'cuz Yourope. They're useful as wingbacks, and a huge risk as fullbacks. Even their own clubs understand that and play with the needed safeties to cover (Newcastle using 3 CBs, Wigan using a defensive CM plus a defender as their midfield pair).
I'm not a Trappist, but getting beat by a player off the dribble once doesn't prove the argument that he got embarrassed in 2018 against good competition.