I'm on the train. Martinez is the best forward in the league and may have totally revolutionized what's expected of an MLS striker. There's one problem though... he's only on loan. Let's make this deal happen. Viva Josefinho!
Not to get carried away... Seriously I am just now seeing the highlights of Atl Utd.'s last two matches and wow what an attack!
I read an interesting article that took a close look at Martinez (think it was Fourfourtwo). In every goal he's scored for us so far, he's split the defenders. Every single time. He lives/dies with that timed run.
It's an interesting dilemma. If there isn't an automatic purchase option then obviously his price is only going up with each game. Unless he has a vested interest in wanting to stay here and force the issue then he could be a costly buy. Well, even though he has mad hops it's hard to control headers when you're jumping as high as he does, especially when you're more easily pushed around by bigger defenders. So he and the midfielders supporting him obviously know this is the best approach, and they're gonna milk it till someone stops them. A much faster version of Obafemi Martins, essentially. Lot depends on the linesmen, as well, cause so many of his runs have razor thin margins regarding offsides. Some he's received the benefit of the doubt, others not so much. What I love is that they stick with it, knowing the mere idea of his break away abilities forces the defense to play narrow and on edge, giving the wide players more space and forcing the keepers to play off their line more. He's an ideal partner for Almiron in this regard, I say.
The CBs know it's coming, but so far there doesn't seem to be much they can do about it. The threat of his breakaway forces CBs to play HIS game - and it also opens space for the wingers to penetrate.
The only way the CB's can stop it is by going man-to-man and the defense doing a better job against the midfielders that would feed it into Josef. Keeping Almiron, Asad, Gressel, et al from penetrating through the middle. NYRB were able to do that late on by dictating the flow of the game and forcing the Atlanta mids to spend more energy on defense, leaving Josef more or less alone up top. Dallas, Portland, NYC and a few others will have the chops to replicate this approach, and Seattle will be an interesting test, as well. This is one of those "door swings both ways" issues, where Atlanta being new to the league means the team needs time to gel but that opposing teams aren't experienced in dealing with them, either. As more and more game film makes the rounds I suspect the attack will need to grow more dynamic.
Here's the article discussing martinez's movement: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...zs-movement-giving-atlanta-united-their-shape
According to this article from Dirty South, the transfer fee has already been agreed to: If that's accurate, Torino might be wishing they had asked for more of a fee.
Fixed* If we're going to have the best team, let's also have the smartest fans Luckily for Martinez and our team ARs are instructed at every level to never raise the flag unless you're 100% and when in doubt always keep the flag down. Never seen a forward as smart as Martinez in regards to staying offside to remain blind behind the center backs, but then get just barely onside at the very last second. At first I just thought he was lazy. He's insanely intelligent at timing these runs and with our midfielders passing ability we will continue to see plenty of goals like this.
Well, there goes all the UGA fans, then. I'll grant you the "linesman" is a bit too American, but "offsides" is acceptable even with English press. Just as well. We don't want to sound too much like Europosers, now, do we!
Well in fairness I don't think anyone would claim UGA is the best team at anything other than women's swimming and diving and gymnastics in the past. Linesman is just dated and hasn't been in the LOTG for a couple decades now. AR or assistant referee. There is no 's' for offside. Never has been. It's either offside or offside decisions for plural. If you say offsides it just makes it obvious you don't know what you're talking about and thus your opinion is rather moot. Use proper terms and you can at least pretend that you're in the know.
Nonsense. Europeans, even the British pundits who get paid by American broadcast companies, call MLS "The MLS" constantly. It's wrong. We all know it's wrong. Yet, many of us still listen to them. Mispronunciation or misuse of a plural is just a mistake. Doesn't necessarily mean one doesn't know what he's talking about.
I appreciate what you're saying and will assume you're not trying to be a smart-aleck, and I do usually make a pointed use proper terminology for most of the discussion. Pitch, endline, keeper instead of goalie, etc. Been playing, coaching, reffing, and administering footie in GA since the 70's, so when I assist at a high school game and hear the coaches talking about linesmen I get it and don't care. It's still the beautiful game and no one is gonna sue or get confused if they hear an "s" after offside. Such is life in the US where fans and announcers cross over from other sports. So, yes, you're technically correct but for this level of discussion does it really matter? I've no problem with implying what the correct wording should be but please don't pass off other posters as someone who needs to "pretend that you're in the know." For whom are we needing to pretend? Pretentious Eurosnobs? Just relax, sir, and enjoy the gift we've been given with this ride! Cheers.
I often use linesman because it's the most direct translation from my birth country's language (though, they did change it to assistant starting in the 1996 season). We happen to have won more World Cups than England, so I'll ignore the non-Brits who carbon copy EPL terminology when they try to tell me how to talk about the game Honestly, not a big fan about people nitpicking about little things. In my experience it's done for two reasons: long time fans acting like "i did it before it was cool" hipsters wanting to put n00bs in their place and n00bs wanting to show how much they know about the game. Neither of those are productive in any way.
I tend to use Britishisms when speaking about the game to Americans, and Americanisms when speaking about the game to Brits. In this way I'm an equal opportunity asshole
I don't mind people using EPL terminology as long as they don't make it a requirement. A lot of people don't realize that Germany, France, Italy, and all the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries have strong soccer cultures too that don't exactly translate to British lingo.
My "footballing" history is in direct descent from my Italian family roots. Because of this, i feel free and clear to use whatever the hell terms i want when speaking about the game. If your culture says "goalie" and everyone around you knows "goalie", then what the hell does it matter? It's the same position, different words. Mainly, though, I like to piss people off because I'm a terrible, terrible person. Ask my parole officer about that.
Does Darren Eales read this forum?! Kidding http://www.atlutd.com/post/2017/03/21/atlanta-united-finalize-permanent-transfer-josef-martinez