I know I'll take a lot of flack for this but I want to see DM Sunny, BtoB Rusnak, and AM Kreilach. I don't think Kreilach works as a BtoB mid. He just doesn't have the work rate. Yes he would look better with Sunny than KB I still don't think it would work. That being said I think the Rusnak could be a decent BtoB mid/deep playmaker. Any way you cut it I think Sunny needs to be playing most every game as DM and you need to rotate the others. Also I wonder how Kreilach would look as a false 9. He has no pace but seems to hold the ball up better than anyone else on our roster.
I'd be interested in seeing what you propose. I've never thought that tackling was a strong part of Rusnak's game and to be the b2b guy he is going to have to do that. I would like him on the ball more, though. Kreilach's size would be interesting in the false 9, too. Though it's hard to say we shouldn't play Baird. The kid busts his ass and scores. We all can see it could be better, but you can't really blame him.
I'll take your flack and raise it two-fold. Keep the midfield we've had the past two games and play Rusnak on the wing. It's where he has played his entire career and where he currently plays for Slovakia and Savarino has been playing poorly anyway.
left or right? Because Plata's injury didn't look like something he was getting over quickly. Bofo deserves time I still would like to ACTUALLY see the Sunny/Kreilach/Rusnak midfield before we completely reinvent the team.
I have a feeling we won't see anything that isn't KB starting for the most party sadly. So it might make sense to play KB/Sunny/Kreilach with Rusnak on a wing. Trying Rusnak as B2B might work, but since he's played on the wing or AM most of his career, B2B might not work out. It's just difficult because if they're going to insist in KB playing, then you have Rusnak/Kreilach fighting for the same spot. I think Sunny is a requirement though, because we've been far to slow without it, and Kreilach doesn't seem to fit as a B2B, at least with someone as slow as KB behind him. It's annoying that we have 72 wingers, and midfielders that can also play as midfielders, yet we have almost nobody for the CDM and B2B spots. And then here we are, linked with yet another winger for some reason. It's be slightly better with a healthy Mulholland, but we're still really short in those areas of the field.
It seems like Jason Kreis got a lot of flack on this forum for never benching his favorites. It seems to me that Petke is more open to lineup changes. See: Yura, Acosta...
I'll raise you KB. I'll be interested to see how the lineups look once everyone is healthy. If we revert back to lineups we used to have then it'll be a lot like Kreis, but if not then I'll be happy.
If KB has to start, he has to play by Sunny. If we want Kreilach's attacking mind, which seems to be pretty good, on the field, then he has to play a more attacking role. For that to work, Rusnak has to move to the wing. Rusnak would be much better on the left wing drifting inside than he would on the right. Problem is, nearly all of our wingers are better on the left side and drifting in. I would love Bofo on the right, but he might lose a bit of his bite on the right. All of this being said. Adding Kreilach and Bofo to the attacking midfield adds a lot more size than we normally have, which has some big benefits in attack. Especially with how we refuse to really play a quick counter game. Smaller guys in a team that wants to pin their opponents in their own end, become more of a liability in actually breaking down the defense. Kreilach as a false 9 would be interesting, but might be similar to what we already get with Silva more or less in that role.
Yes, but with IMO better hold up play, better vision, better finishing, better passing, better... you get the point
It's weird to me that people are willing to move so many other players out of their positions to fit KB in.
I don't think it's because we're willing to, we're just accepting the reality of how it's going to play out. We'll see if things change, but as of now KB hasn't been truly rotated yet.
There is ample evidence that Petke will play KB at dmid. I get that There is zero evidence he'll move Rusnak. The only time I've seen Rusnak not at the 10 is late in games when Petke goes defensive and essentially plays a 4-3-3-0. Emphasis on the 0
I think it's trying to brainstorm a way to get all these people on the field. Sadly what's bound to happen is we just go back to KB/Kreilach/Rusnak and watch opponents stroll right down the middle of the field.
I didn’t have the guts to propose this for fear of being figuratively eviscerated, so kudos to you. I would like to see Petke try this approach a few times just to see how it would pan out. The odd man out in the scenario is Plata....but, so be it. His tendency to get injured hurts our consistency there anyway. It still leaves KB5 in the starting 11, which is a weakness, but I think that’s going to be the case regardless.
I still believe that the continual presence of KB in the starting 11 is because of orders from above Petke. I really think Petke would use him mostly as a sub if it was his call to make.
The outsides of the diamond make or break that formation just as much, if not more, than any other player. Will Johnson and Ned Grabavoy were like the glue that kept the diamonds on the ring. Oh, and KB at the dmid in it? hell no. He doesn't have the legs. If you move Sunny there, you then are saying you want to play Kreilach at the shuttle spot, which again, no. Moving Rusnak to a shuttle position will change his tone from "I am hoping for a move to Europe eventually, but am focused here" to "Yo! Ortuno! Save me a seat at the pool!". And, we have so many god damn wingers on this team. The diamond is the death of wingers. We know this. Remember how many Garth brought in and Jason was like... dafuq i do with this? You wanna get crazy? Change to a 3-6-1 with essentially a box in the midfield of KB/Sunny behind Kreilach/Rusnak. But I also really hate this because you have to chose between players like Acosta, Bofo, or Plata to play that left wing. Lennon or Savarino on the right wing. BENCH KYLE BECKERMAN - Keep the 4-2-3-1.
Wouldn’t a 4 game winning streak feel nice going into World Cup? Dunseth has pointed out how leaky the LA D has been...
We get down on RSL at times here. Especially early off this season as we were playing like complete crap. Although we are a winning team currently, many here wonder how that is. I get it. But, for a little bit of perspective, you need only look at our rivals on the other side of the Rockies. It is always good to see your rivals do poorly... but dang I am almost starting to feel sorry for their fans. They have lost 7 straight league games, and this short thread tells the story quite well what they are now going through... https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/coach-tracking-thread.2083919/