I’m on holiday in Saint Tropez, it was very late, and I was pretty drunk. Not sure why I was on BS at all.
I'm just trying to prevent the re-writing of history to support an argument. If @TheHoustonHoyaFan is going to claim that Morales has looked stellar in appearances for the USMNT when everyone else said he looked pedestrian, well that seems like a completely different history.
I didn't manipulate anyone's particular post or put words into anyone's mouth. That's a distillation of a bunch of people's opinions expressed in multiple posts. It's the general idea. What you did was to try to put words into someone's mouth. Person 1: "I don't think that color is red." Person 2: "So, you're telling us you think it's orange?" Person 1: "I didn't say that, just that it's not red." Person 2: "Please explain to us why you continue to argue that it's orange." Person 1: "WTF?"
I never insisted that "certain players have to provide evidence of stellar international play", or anything remotely close to that. I don't give two shits how Morales looked however many years ago, but I won't just let people make adjustments to history because it supports their viewpoint. As I said in post 779, another poster made the claim that Morales and Danny Williams have looked stellar in the US shirt. Maybe he just meant that they are fit and the jersey looks really good on them, I don't know.
I wanted to rep you so bad until you had to include MB in your preferred lineup. I've been clamoring for Cameron and Lichaj, two guys who can actually defend, to make their return. But I'd also add Besler into that trio if we're trying to put our current best team out there. I'd put Besler in the back and move Cameron to Bradley's spot and that team will win some games for us! Cameron and Besler are also leaders on the field, something we desperately need.
lots of interesting stuff in here. more than enough for me question views on players going forward. you are stuck viewing the game through your MLS lenses. "keeping your feet and making short passes out of danger" doesnt make a quality international player. he played a very specific and very limited role. he only played 3 games of the Hex and it was only once he performed well at the world cup that people started hyping him up. his decline after the WC was sharp and was poor by the following summer. yeah, we would take him over Trapp today, but dont see him playing at another WC without a coach changing their system. I saw him in training a few times in his career circa 2003 while still an attacking mid. not sure if he was a hippie yet, but if so, it didnt have any impact on my assessment of him as a player. I thought he had very good vision, distributed the ball well, and was aggressive/fought hard. I questioned his athletic ability. that assessment fits pretty well with a player that was able to become an international role player if he had the right player around him.
I think you’re too smart to actually think this. Just look at the defense side of the ball: A smart opposing team can take the hybrid out of the game while it’s very hard to do that with a good DM. FYI - I’m going to post a bunch of responses individually so they don’t get lost in a juvechelsea / ed Crocker manifesto, if you don’t mind.
I'm all for players getting to Europe, but Beckerman was a very good player and performed his role exactly as he needed to. He was the one who made that midfield difficult for opponents to play through when Jones and Bradley went roaming. And not only did he tackle well, but he was very clean with the ball and yes those short passes to relieve pressure and keep the ball after winning it are absolutely important and something not very many of our guys do well, regardless where they play. The earlier knock on him was always a lack of speed, but his positioning made up for it. He was always a very tidy player and perhaps most importantly realized he had a role to play and embraced it.
It’s frustrating that simply stating that there is a global soccer meritocracy and MLS is about equal to B2/Championship while all are materially below the major leagues is viewed as anti-MLS. Quite frankly, after what we’ve just seen, you really think that people are getting carried away with critiquing Trapp? It was the worst performance from a spine midfielder that I can recall. Truly truly awful. And Berhalter put him there twice in a row and named him captain for the second one.
I think the gap is immaterial and that if we asked Adams to simplify his game, he would be able to achieve 90+% passing. As for midfield leading, I think Adams is at least as good as Bradley and far far better than Trapp. C’mon, don’t we have enough examples of trapp’s awful leadership for a lifetime now? Wrt Bradley, have we forgotten Couva? Where was the leadership then? I say this as someone who still admires Bradley as a person, rather than as a soccer player and leader.
I’d be fine with either Trapp or Bradley on the roster as I can see a role. What everyone is complaining about is that we’re building around them as a spine player and in fact, the one that touches the ball the most.
Boy, I couldn’t disagree with this more if we’re talking about big 4 UCL players who actually play more than a cameo vs. minnows.
Mike's had worse days than Trapp. So far Wil has not gifted a ball for the rival to score right away. Also, Mike's blunder likelihood seems to increase the more important the game is, of late.
Will got juked out of his shorts for the Jamaica winner, and took an odd line on the Italy winner last fall that basically turned what should have been a game ending double team into an escape route. No, we're not going to pretend he's better, or sufficient, or whatever the argument is here. Both those DMs are subpar. Use someone else. Holmes or McKennie couldn't be worse. Someone was asking well but Trapp might work well with 3 center backs behind him. Really? We're tipping the formation south to Antarctica to cover for a DM who stinks at his primary task and doesn't produce offense? Or there is the argument of Weston and Holmes with Bradley behind them. Those two sound like defensive cover enough, how about some offense? Are we that desperate to get Bradley on the field? At least one thing lost in the drive to imitate Late Klinsi Tactics is he had excellent ball winning 6s. The other is that if most of your talent is offense sometimes The Best Defense Is A Good Offense. Half Berhalter's problem is there are few players on the field whose offense I have to respect on defense, and then many players who either are technically subpar and gift turnovers, or are out of position players, in crossing positions, who can't cross a ball to save their lives. So we have declawed the offense that used to be decent, in favor of a DM heavy defensive scheme when it turns out we don't really have good 6s in the pool. Sarachan had a similar problem with some of his 1 forward bunker offenses. We couldn't find the forward to get out. And then the bunker didn't hold many a night. And then there is the idea that if what you have at best is 8s and not 6s, plus some forward talent, that maybe you aren't a bunker or defensive team at all. I think we need to tip the opposite direction, put the fear of god in the other team, make them adjust their tactics to trying to keep us within limits, and worry about lock down stopper play when Adams comes back.
I wouldn't trust any history written around by MLS fans from the period Morales played for the usmnt... especially one for a dual national. The team's play was all over the place in the period from 2014/15 when Moralles got most of his minutes. I dont really have an opinion about his play and would seem someone was going out of their way to claim he was pedestrian. if he was pedestrian back then, he would be a huge upgrade to Trapp who has been consistently poor over the last 1.5 years. there is also the chance he has improved significantly over the last 4 years bouncing back and forth in the bund 1 & 2.
Ian Darke called Adams one of the fittest footballers in the entire planet. I think he knows more than that poster.
I also think a ton of us also believe that we're not even calling in the proper MLS players. Trapp over Canouse? Gonzalez over Besler? Where is Greg Garza in our attacking outside back system considering he's one of the best in MLS at it, certainly better than Lovitz? I've always liked Roldan and Long but one is injured and one is in a bad run of form, why are they on this roster? This post is exactly correct in that many of us have no issue in calling up an MLS guy over a Championship/B2 guy when it's warranted. I've been in the bring back Besler camp for a year. But Trapp/Bradley over Morales/Cameron? Zardes over Sargent? Gonzalez over CCV? Lovitz over Lichaj/Robinson (better current/future player)? Horvath having yet to see the net when Steffen is there? Gall is the same age as Jordan Morris and higher valued on TM but he hasn't gotten more than a cup of coffee whereas Morris gets infinite opportunities? I can live with many of those decisions in a vacuum but when you put them all together they form a clear pattern of favoritism and it deserves to be called out especially when it's leading to some pathetic performances by the USMNT.
He definitely may have improved over the last 4 years. Trapp has been poor the last 3 games. He has also looked good at times in the last year and a half, but also don't think he'll ever be good enough in the role Berhalter is asking for. I don't know that we have anyone good enough, though.
Bsky22, I strongly agree with the first sentence in the last paragraph but you’re playing the against the poster and not the ball in the first two paragraphs, particularly the first one. Other than scratching an antagonistic itch, how does the first paragraph further the debate? Just make consistent and strong points - that will do more to convince others than coming across as holding a grudge. Most people will never change their mind or apologize - that’s why the confirmation bias thread is in the dust bin - but there are posters who exist in the middle.