Had the same thought...one guys Rolls Royce is the next guys Jalopy. There is no standard for evaluation and its all over map. Player eval is an art not a science and this board shows that.
@Patrick167 you make good points. I guess I just think the overall game state is affected by Reyna's selfishness. He's not a playmaker, really at all. I think he should be on the wing, feet on the chalk, receive the ball and go at people. That's what he wants to do anyway. We were abysmal in the run of play, and yeah that had a lot to do with Busio and Yow being bad, but it also had to do with Reyna not really being a playmaker.
He's only a 16 year old, so there's really no idea of knowing what's going to happen with him. If you give Pepi service, he's been a prolific scorer across all levels. Even for a 16 year old at the USL level. He is the focal point of the NTSC attack, and the whole plan is putting players around him to give him that service. He may not be the right player to start up top for THIS team. That's to be determined.
This simply is not a true statement. Pepi made run after run after run (and he makes quality runs) only to never receive the ball.
Well, there's also a lot we don't know about each other. One's a scout, one's an agent, one works for MLS, etc - it's hard to know whose opinion is more objective, and whose is less so (i.e. who's pushing product?).* I'm none of those those things, just a fan, a former college soccer player whose son plays high school soccer. What I appreciate here is reading the opinions of those who have sufficient time and opportunity to watch how the players perform over time. Note that comments like 'Player A sucks,' or 'Player B is ok but he'll never be mistaken for Messi,' have limited utility, in my view. On the other hand, comparing one of our young players to an established pro is constructive, because we can understand the comparison as a projection. * @bshredder is a pretty clear exception, because - even though he's happy to drive traffic to his columns - he has a strong track record of providing information 'form the horse's mouth,' and distinguishing what he knows to be fact from his own personal opinions.
My take on their first game... I was expecting more from Las. The team's go-to players are Busio, Reyna, and Pepi. Busio made lots of mistakes in the first half. He is known to have below avearage game and then pull a rabbit out of the hat. He has a good engine that puts him in a position to make things happen. Pepi has the size and know-how to be a good finisher. He did not show it in this game. At times he was MIA. Reyna is a good player, I like his game, he can take on anyone in a 1v1 situation, he was always double-teamed. My biggest concerns is this team doesn't have much width and their CBs are so-so. I would be very surprised if they win the tournament.
If you consider the long term, playing Kobe at CB makes sense. Imagine a back line with Bello, Kobe, and Scally. If the midfield gets sorted out, this back line could be a huge part of dictating matches. I'm not sure of his ceiling as a pro, but Fuentes is needed in this team for his possession and play making ability. Busio needs to be central and Reyna needs to be on the wing due to the way they play the game and how that relates to those around them. Leyva made the mistake, but he was very good and was the only player who was capable of moving the ball around the middle third, besides some very good (and some not so good) long balls from the center backs that skipped that third altogether. The selection and performance were fine for the first game of a tournament. Both should improve over the course of the next couple weeks.
Agree with you. The behind the scene bias of some on her would be interesting to know but at the end of the day we can see with our own eyes. When I talk about a player I try to tell you why I hold that opinion ( as many on here do) and that is what I find most valuable. For example: "he has vision" is useless without telling me what passes you think showed his vision. "He is a great dribbler" is meaningless if I watched a game where he lost it 10 times out of 10 on the dribble. Would be interesting how many here have a history of scouting kids and picking the ones that made it any professional capacity, without a bias. Overall, it helps the board to have all these opinions, but its clear folks can see things totally opposite when watching the same player.
In what regard? The first goal was a two yard out header, the second goal was so well placed that no keeper in the world is getting a hand on it. He kept a goal out of the net that could've been 3-3.
Pepi is a 16 year old who already has pretty good finishing tools, is scoring prolifically in a semi-pro league, and plays hard. I don't think he's earned anything other than optimism at this point. Can't overreact to him not scoring in one opening game where the team was dysfunctional around him. Seems like a pretty easy adjustment to transfer Reyna to the wing where his ballhogging can actually be valuable (I concur w/ the current Pulisic style assessment), and switch Busio to the center where he can make trailing runs into the box to poach like he's been accustomed to doing. Then maybe the 433 could remain. Does the 433 automatically bump AOC? Maybe he can play inverted winger on the left. Since Busio hasn't displayed so much that he's a creative engine from the center, Fuentes could be a good complement offensively. Or you could consider leaving Busio on the bench for suspect creativity and defense. But how would that go over with Vermes since he was a rotational player for them so he made a sacrifice? Something that needs to be considered. A cm of Fuentes, Saldana, and Leyva could actually be the best of all worlds. Leyva doesn't jump out at me, but hard to argue with some of the pro results already. One giveaway that happens to result in a goal shouldn't slow us down. Scally moves inside for me, KHF to the outside. Axel didn't make a good first impression. Maybe switch to Gray. And at rb, if you play Busio instead at cm, then that could be where you play Saldana to get him on the field like happened with Araujo. Doesn't really matter who they play against an island minnow though. And I do believe that they will win the tournament with time to figure things out. I see talent here. And the manager, while he botched the first game's decisions imo, has an impressive track record for this position.
Here's what I'd like to see tomorrow. I acknowledge it probably won't look anything like this, but I want to see Cuevas at right back and Kobe at left back. If that means Scally at CB, good. If it means Gray at CB, fine. Rotate AOC in for Pepi just to try something new, put Reyna on the wing so he can pin his ears back, and give Fuentes and de Vries a start. Neither was transcendent last night but they had a couple bright moments each. I was more impressed with Leyva (outside of his very poor giveaway) than most people. I did watch twice and he was better on second viewing, fwiw. Lots of intelligent defending and building out of the back. I think he has to start at CDM.
Finally watching it, observations: Las: Fine? I don't really know GKs that well. Doesn't seem like the goals were his fault. Armour: Definitely victimized in the first goal. Didn't seem to know where he was supposed to be early on. Movement was better as the game went on. I liked how he cut inside more often in the second half, it confused the Canada defense a couple times. Kobe: The best of the defenders. Made few mistakes and had more success pushing the ball up the field. Didn't blow me away with anything but looked good. Alejandre: Struggled early with his passing. Lots of balls to the Canada GK. Awful defending on the second goal. Much better in the second half. Scally: Didn't make a huge impact on the game. Looked decent in stretches but wasn't good enough as a defender. Busio: Got a lot of touches but didn't do enough with them. Played a lot of balls either too far behind or too far in front of his man. I thought his decisions were fine but his technique let him down. Grew into the game and of course had a beautiful goal. Kayo: Really disappointed by his defending on the second goal. Circulated the ball well at times but never really found a killer pass. Not aggressive enough and would get beat too easily. Leyva: I didn't really notice Leyva that much. I probably need to watch again and focus on him to really judge his game. Reyna: So much hero ball. Sometimes it worked, but sometimes he'd lose the ball in a really bad spot. Yow: Hard worker and got himself into decent spots. Really struggled to get the ball on frame when he had an opportunity. Didn't combine well with anyone. Pepi: As a striker that thrives on service this was not his game. He definitely worked the whole time but really never got the ball in a place where he could do anything with it. A couple decent moments in combination. De Vries: Not impressed. Looked rusty and never really got into the game. Fuentes: Per minute probably the most impactful player on the field. As active as you'd expect from a sub but really the best part was the quality through balls from him. It made the whole team look more dangerous.
I share your opinion. Fuentes was great, he looked a lot better than I saw him before. Maybe he deserves a place in this team.
I’m going to do something unpopular on this thread and give credit to Canada. Their CBs did a good job of tracking Pepi and they had one guy with him any time he was in the box. One of the things he does very well is find pockets of space and get himself in a good position when the ball is in the area, and they almost always had someone at his side. I think we absolutely have to start Reyna on the wing at this point and I don’t think it’s going to happen. This issue of no service to the 9 has been a very consistent theme with this group and it seems like every single coach is clueless that it’s even a problem. Alejandre was very unimpressive and I’d rather start Gray. Armour was the least impressive, and it seems weird to say, but I think KHF would be more valuable as a LB because Armour was so bad. If Gray and Scally are the CBs, I’d start Kayo or Saldana as the 8. I didn’t think Scally was as bad as a lot of people, but I’m a big fan of keeping guys fresh and I’d like to see Cuevas get a run. I’m not a Saldana fan but he’s well rested. Kayo covered a lot of ground in that second half. Usually, the way these tournaments work is guys who come off in the second half of the first game often start the second because they got that extra time off. Yow and Reyna are the two guys who fit that profile. Pepi came off in the 90th, but I think that was just to her AOC into the game. Like you, the second time I watched, Leyva looked much better. But he also covered a lot of ground so I also wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t start, too. On the other hand, I don’t know what Barbados offers, but if Wicky decides to experiment a little, he could be the steadying force that helps keep possession and keeps the team on the front foot.
Devries was very poor yesterday. I thought Yow was struggling and thought Devries would be a like for like to close out a game. But he was worse. Not a starter in my opinion. Gray is a destroyer and I don't think he has an offensive bone in his body. I'd like to see Cuevas and also AOC and Pepi together in some form.
I think everyone (myself included) is operating as if we have a 19 player roster. I had to re-check the roster to make sure Freeman was on it. I wasn't sure. I'd prefer we play him over Yow and De Vries.