TT looks quite good. Not really a great crosser, but attacks really well. If he can get that and the defense down, maybe he's a FB prospect? 23 IIRC.
who is this SJ team and what have they done with my Earthquakes...... and again a game i didnt watch, is one they slay at.
Playing full back brings a calming force to bear which TT needed. He was always a bit impetuous and squandered his team's chances as a winger. As luck would have it, he always played good defense. Tab brought him on to close out games with u20's towards the end, iirc. He's still young. After more time at fullback he might actually be able to move up into midfield eventually, if he still wants it.
Thompson has been doing well at RB. Zardes's goals have dried up. Ebobisse now has 3 goals on the season. Agudelo in CM! This is a move I've been anticipating. Will Bedoya get a recall? TFC's defense has looked worse since reverting to MB as a lone d-mid..
17 y/o Julian Araujo got the start for LA, at RB. 13 net defensive incidents, 83% passing, 4 tackles, and a WS of 7.1
Yeah, in the Youth National Team forum, bshredder said a source told him that Cerrillo is on the initial 50-man US roster for the u-20 WC.
This is the first Atlanta game I have been able to watch this season. Does Nagbe always play that far from goal in the middle. Not sure this is his best position. He seemed a little out of it yesterday. Really like what I have seen of Pomykal. Glad the Timbers finally got a win. Hope Ebobisse continues to get goals.
I thought they could have used him as their attack is good but predictable. Almiron brought some unpredictability that they haven’t replaced although it could obviously be the new coach strangles it.
few players can shine under a poor coach and many can look great with a good one.... the impact of coach-on-player is very important and one that is generally very undervalued in evaluations of US players imo. thats why i like it when players leave mls for europe...the coaching and team culture there is just higher. many seem to think that players are operating independently of coaches, teams, teammates etc....i think its because that's how a lot of athletes are rated in many other american sports - where it makes more sense... a good baseball player looks great with a bad coach. a good basketball player can still do his thing with a bad coach/team. a good football player will still mostly do well (although team/coaching matters a lot)....etc not in soccer.....very very few soccer players are good enough to single-handedly standout - or, in amny cases, to even look decent - when they are on a bad team/under a poor coach....very very few soccer players are able to overcome a poor situation and single-handedly be winners despite that dynamic. but time and again people fail to make this connection when evaluating players. when zardes for example had zero goals in his last season in LA and then like 19 in columbus...he was the SAME PLAYER. I'm glad MLS seems to be trying to get better coaches in the league a la almeyda etc...will really help the league, imo.
I thought the DC/NYC game was pretty ugly...lots of poor touches and reckless challenges. It was hard for anyone to stand out positively. That said, I thought Sands was quite good at CB. DC couldn't get anything going through the middle in the offensive third. I hesitate to make a controversial comparison, but Durkin kinda reminds me of Trapp. His passing is his greatest attribute, but he doesn't have great speed and doesn't excel when the game gets physical. He has a big frame, so maybe he can get stronger and play with more of a physical edge (though not the sort that got him his stupid yellow today). Arriola made some good runs and got himself into promising positions, but as is often the case with him, the final ball/touch let him down. Lewis came in at the half and wasn't super involved, but he did have some runs down the flank, beating guys on the dribble. Still seems like more of a 2nd half sub, change of pace guy, not a 90-minute guy.
Already praised Sands in the youth thread, but will reiterate this is a true breakthrough season, at the fresh age of 18 for a defensive-oriented position, and while I think he's sufficient at cdm, he was a bad complement to ring who also fits that mold, and cb is where he maximizes his abilty due to aerial strength and 90-minute focus. Maybe Bayer Leverkusen should be putting in bids for him instead.... I actually was pretty pleased with spark Lewis provided this match. He had been in his own head. But you saw a lot of positvity. Especially true when you consider he was an isolated cf half the time. He was making diagonal runs sideline to sideline and had some surprisingly deft hold-up plus interplay. Could have just as easily recorded an assist. Would like to see consistency from him now.
Seattle getting fried in the middle third of the pitch in LA. If they were going to call on Roldan to wander all over the place they should have pulled Shipp for a better middle third presence. Svensson can't hold down the fort by himself and middle third isn't Roldan's best area. Still, Roldan is better than McKennie for sure.
LA 4 - 1 Seattle is a game Berhalter should consider very carefully. Kaye had 3 assists as a dmid playing in the middle of the pitch where the American Grand Canyon appeared as if by magic allowing Kaye to pull the strings all afternoon.
WS U-23 Team of the Week: ----------Ebobisse(7.4)----- Ferreira(7.3)----Baird(7.5) ----------Mihailovic(7.9)------ --Delgado(7.3)--Yueill(7.7) Herrera(7.4)------Thompson(7.3) ---------Glad(6.8)--Sands(7.5)---- -------------J. Gonzalez(7.7)------- other notables - Araujo(7.1), Mueller(7), Cerrillo(7) - Ferreira, Sands, Pomykal, Robinson, Aaronson, and Mihailovic all w/ breakout seasons. WS system underrates Aaronson, imo. - Ebobisse is breaking back in to PDX's lineup, which is encouraging - highly promising first start for 17-yr old Araujo