What is Ertz's best position?

Ertz's best position is - on the field. Where she actually plays should be determined by the flow of the match.

She was, at one time an almost great passer and a good scorer but, for some reason, she lost some of that ability when she move forward. However she also went through some small injury problems and she got married during the time when her offensive prowess dropped.

I think she is wasted if playing too far back as she is one of the best ball winners in the world and winning the ball closer to the other goal is a good thing.

I might actually like her playing as a center back in a traditionally played 3-4-3. But that is unlikely because the US is too conservative to really figure how to play such a system even though, against weak or average teams we often end up playing a 2-5-3 (or 2-4-4) for much of the match.

I really think we would do pretty well to put just about any 10 of our best 16 field players on the field and let them work it out in the match.

We, and maybe two other countries, actually have the personnel to play "Total Soccer" and I find that quite heartening.

Now if we just had a goalkeeper that I felt real confidence in we would be set.

 

Yup

She's my personal favorite of the current USWMT players. She's smart enough to figure out where she's needed. If I'm the manager her name is on the lineup card in ink.

 

I think some of Ertz's passing issues out of the back is that a lot of times there aren't enough options and she's sometimes forced to pass the ball forward (over the top) because Sauerbrunn (and Sonnett when she's back there) are too conservative and pass between the other defenders and goalkeeper ad infinitum. Dunn is always pushed up the left side, leaving 3 in the back, with Dahlkemper as the main distributor along with whoever is playing CDM.

 

As for Ertz's best position, I think it's where she's at right now.

She could definitely play CB or higher up in midfield, but given our other options at CDM, I think she almost has to play CDM. Brian isn't as good at defending and Long really shouldn't even be on the team.

 

(From 'Your 23 for France')

What about if Ertz were in defence?

 

I had just seen this, he compares players who are out of position. I mean I can say that Solo is better than Pichon in goal as well...

 

Ertz played defense, as "Johnston", for many very productive years. Even now, just for her personal performance, central defense might be her best spot against top teams.

However I can also see her, if we absolutely must have a goal, pairing at a center forward or the withdrawn forward position to provide better ball winning ability than we usually show in the middle.

It is the old "Desperate times call for desperate measures" type of situation that might call for that, particularly if we are out of subs or short at all up top.

 

She should play CB. She is a bruiser that can win balls, play physical and lob it up to Morgan to make runs in behind. Can also get a goal on corners off her physical play and heading ability.

 

on the bench. average player imo

 

Her best spot is CD.

 

You’ve said some pretty rediculous things in past posts but now I’m pretty sure you are just trolling
Ertz is and will be one of top 3 players on the pitch in any game during the WC. We don’t compete without her

 

While that "might" be the best spot for her overall play I do not think it is at all best for the team.

If she is back at center back it moves the best destroyer into a position where she has fewer chances to destroy. While she is not the best passer on the team she is pretty good and paired with Horan we might have the best central midfield tandem at this WWC.

Placing her further back actually places more strain on the other defenders because she is not breaking up as many plays.

Against weak opposition it probably matters little but against strong teams their mids would get too many chances to look up and find the right pass. You do not want mids like say France has having time and space to pick the defense apart and central defenders are too far back to really make it hard on the other team's mids and if they push forward where they do have the impact needed then it opens too much space behind them.

Remember space and time are the friends of attacking players. The job of the defensive mid is to reduce or eliminate the space and time that attacking players have to find space elsewhere.

 

I am perfectly entitled to my opinion and you yours. Funny that you consider my posts ridiculous. Why? Because i dont agree with you all the time? I dont rate Ertz.You do. I dont consider your position ridiculous. We just value different things.

 

Fair enough. I’d like to know what it is that doesn’t rate? She is a beast defender, probably the best player on the team in the air and sees the pitch as well as anyone. A better question would be who you think is better fitted for the holding mid position

 

I agree to some extend. You could be right about France at the midfield. This US team is somewhat problematic because it is top heavy in attacking players. My thing is to half-assed the midfield and counter. I think that's why we see Heath (attacker) at LB for a bit. Note that O'Hara (attacker) is on the other side.

I'm a bit biased towards getting Mewis in there as much as possible. This team will only start to face real pressure at the quarters, against France. We will need help from the breakout players at this WC - to me they are Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle. For them to run amok, we need a central defense that's a wall, hence Julie.

 

I think we have seen a bit of the plan in many of the run up matches where Ertz starts in the DM roll and wears down and discourages the opposition and then drops back later to allow the more offensive players to enter and create. I am not really sure this works against good teams as part of what makes them good is that they will probably not wear down much if at all.

Actually I would, at least in practice, like to see what a central defense pairing of Ertz and Horan could do behind a central midfield of Mewis and Lavelle. That would leave the destroyer on the field and get the best passers out of the middle all on the field at the same time. I have also noticed that Horan is pretty good at tackling and stopping attacks when she remains focused and Ertz could keep her in focus.

But I think we are very unlikely to see much of Ertz, Horan, Lavelle and Mewis on the center of the formation at the same time as that has not happened in any matches that I remember.

Another possibility to accomplish what I would like to see is a hybrid 4-4-2 with Ertz as DM and the other three mids playing a central triangle. The width then would have to come from the outside backs. But that is even more unlikely due to the fact we have not practiced it.

I think what we have seen is what we will get at the WWC. I just hope it does not get exposed against strong teams that do not wear down. While Lavelle and Mewis are really good players they do not have the bite to play as a central pairing against a team that stresses them. and we do not have a goalkeeper that can bail us out when the middle allows controlled passing to good attackers.

 

i think she is poor passer, over commits defensively and does not read the game well. I think she is careless in possession as well. On the plus side she is strong, good in the air and has a great workrate. I think she gets a pass on her weak points because she embodies American spirit/grit.

Part of the problem is you dont see the USA playing competitive teams very often. We will see in the World Cup.

 

All legit opinions (though I don’t necessarily agree). Who would be better at the holding mid that can be effective on offense and step up the way she does defensively

 

Thats just it. I dont value offense from the CDM position as much as I do passing, vision and game reading. Often she puts out fires her poor passing creates. Players like Killion, Colaprico and a few others deserved much longer looks than they got. As a pure destroyer, i think Zerboni is better.

My WNT would look and play a lot different to this one.

 

and btw , you dont have to agree. It half the fun.

 

Thanks for clarifying. Still think Ertz is our best option here but respect your options. I love Zerboni but don’t think she had it over Ertz

 

I have a feeling this is the diamond formation, best for this team vs. big guns like France and England. It's a fake 4-3-3. It's a 3-1-2-1-3 with wingbacks. All attack, all the time.

 

There is a filthy joke here but I just can't quite....