Puli is not a similar player to KDB or Iniesta. He does not have the vision. Nor does he possesses the passing ability of those 2. Having the ability to run at defenders in space is a trait you usually associate with good wingers. This is why he is utilized as a winger at club level. In concacaf, I think he can play the cam role in 433. The problem I see is when we play physically strong teams that possess technical ability. Once again, I believe he can do the job as the cam in 433. I just feel that we can play him in his natural club position and fit a strong midfield core in at the same time. This way our best players aren't being shifted around in unfamiliar roles. Adams is a phenomenal athlete and can run at players too. Not on Pulis level on that but he offers defensive bite. Mckennie can also turn on the burners and beat a man. Id prefer Puli beating the last man or beating a fb to create a 1 on 2 or 2on 2 situation. Look what Lewis was able to do in Jan. Surely that can translate in Pulis game with his explosive dribbling and better footballing iq. I see nothing wrong with going with Puli-Zardes-Morris up top. With Bradley-Mckennie-Adams behind. Let Lima see if he can carry on the success from January in the rb role.
1- In the system that GB has been putting together, the wingers are very, very wide. The CAM position puts CP closer to goal. It also allows him to combine and create off the others. 2- In this role, he'll be able to switch regularly with the outside winger. So he will get his chances to do what you want. 3- In this system, defensively it becomes a 4222 with CP up top with the striker. That limits his defensive responsibilities while allow him to be sprung on counter attacks.
Pushing Adams out of the midfield just seems dumb. I hear GB say he wants to try it and he can change if it doesn't work. We will see. Since he has been hired the whole point is to get WT/MB into the drivers seat and get Adams into this hybrid role. He built all of January around it. Meanwhile, Adams goes right to the top of the BL and becomes one of the best 6's in that league. Does GB change his mind? No. We will see if he can change. It has to happen eventually. I haven't heard one Pro yet in the Pro/Con discussion that makes me like it. The only Pros I've heard are it "looks like Pep", "gets a controlling player in midfield". Not sure the former has any meaning really and Adams controls the midfield for his club just fine. Any other Pro's? The Con's are pretty easy and have been listed numerous times in this and other threads.
“He’s not going to be in the back,” the coach continued. “He’s going to be forward, at the top of the penalty box, or he’s going to be combining in the wide areas, and that’s right in his skill set...it may not work exactly how we have planned and we’ll have to adapt. But I think in theory, it’s something worth trying.” https://sports.yahoo.com/why-gregg-...dams-as-the-usmn-ts-right-back-012158072.html It's about getting all of Adams, McKennie, and CP forward and into the attack.
Ummm, ever heard of #longdiagonals? The Pros are "Garber/SUM says we need MB/WT pulling strings, this will be done". What else is there to say? It can't be argued he is using his best players, by any measure, in positions that are most beneficial to them most easily impacting the game. It is to simply keep MB/WT in the lineup. Is MB close to breaking the caps record? That could very well be the conspiracy at this point...
This interesting thread started with the concept of system vs. player based. where I keep getting stuck is that it appears that we're building our system around a couple of similar players, despite them not being our most impactful. It'll be interesting
I understand what GB is trying to do. Im aware that Puli will be expected to stay up top. Ive seen the articles and interviews. Reflect back on Mihailovic vs CR. He was forced back and they dealt with him physically. Towards the end of the Hex, teams began to work on Puli physically. I imagine this will be the blueprint going forward vs most teams outside of Mexico in our region. Im afraid GB is trying to be too cute. He may over complicate things trying to add to many different moving parts. On top of that hes telegraphing his every move. At this rate opposing managers wont even need tape. I paid $80 to watch this. My faith hasnt diminished yet. I want to see how this looks in person from a scouting perspective before I judge GB.
Yeah Adams is a controlling midfielder who is actually superior in that aspect to Bradley and Trapp. Not sure what Berhalter is thinking here - I mean he has to have watched Leipzig recently right? Central midfield should be the area of the team that requires the least amount of thinking - just build around Adams and McKennie. Playing one of your best players out of position to accommodate Bradley or Trapp seems like a recipe for disaster. Especially since we have some good players who actually play RB at a high level in leagues far superior to MLS (Yedlin, FJ, Chandler).
Very few would argue this, but I maintain that he is being directed to actually build around MB/WT. I cannot think of any other reason to move vastly superior players out of position just to force these guys on the field.
Cool. I think this should be a very good test and fun to watch from a fan of the game and soccer tactics.
Being on the wing doesnt mean you have to be far from the goal. In this system it may be a possibility. Ebobissie started the first game. I imagine GB wasnt using him as an out and out winger. So you can argue that 1 wing option plays higher up and the other plays deeper covering for the inverted fb.
Except in this system its very "dutch" and it wants to maximize the space. The width and space comes from the wings. So that does put the wings further from goal. They can cut in at times, of course, but the width is coming from those wings so they have to stay wide for a significant amount of time. That is what creates the space for the two CAMs.
Berhalter looks for the striker to score most of the goals. That's why strikers often seem to do better under Berhalter. They don't necessarily get better or play better, but they are put in a spot where they are on the end of a lot of quality chances. If you're a striker and not scoring in this system, you're pretty dire. Sadly, our strikers look pretty dire, so no telling what will happen.
All very valid points that we could go back and forth on and honestly I agree with most of them. We seem to agree on the approach which says: 1) Identify your core difference makers (Adams, McKennie, and Pulisic) I would add Brooks and Steffen to that list. 2) Identify their individual capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. 3) Design a scheme which puts them in the best position by maximizing their collective capabilities and strengths and minimizing their collective weaknesses. Berhalter is not using that approach. He has come in with the thought that he is the smartest man on the planet and the answer is a gimmick morphing 4-3-3 to 3-2-2-3 to 4-2-2-2 scheme centered around Wil Trapp. Modern soccer 101: A team is most vulnerable during transitions because your shape is in flux. Morphing schemes require many more highly coordinated transition shape changes and exponentially increases your vulnerabilities.
I know people don't like to buy into a conspiracy like this. So, lets take it down a notch. It could be that he got the job because the vision of building around MB/WT in the middle was what USSF was looking for. Nobody needed to tell him, he offered it. Pareja and others didn't bring it up as a way to play in conversations so they were crossed off. Your only hope is that he did it to get the job, will show it doesn't work, and move in a different direction. Maybe his brother told him that was what they were looking for...
He also says "Look at me, I'm a young, talented forward. The only one 3G bothered to call up!" Michael Bradley and Wil Trapp's outsized influence says "Business as usual, nothing needs to change".
I like the combination of speed and power that Morris brings to the table. It is fairly unique in our pool of forwards. Sure, I would have liked to see Weah and Sargent, but I do look forward to seeing Morris as well. I know he's had some injuries and down times of late, but he seems back to good form and his previous stints with the US team looked like he was a potential difference maker.
MB and WTF cant make that play. It is great that we are getting all these all touches videos of of our young talent. It really helps to see the strengths and weaknesses of the players. Unfortunately, we dont get them often for MB and WTF (the WTF90 one against Brazil wasnt pretty). Luckily, we can see a lot of their weaknesses when there are videos of players playing against them. This is a nice video of Pomykal against Columbus. Paxton looks like he might be better than guys on this roster. I'd watch it once to enjoy the growth that Pomykal is showing. Then watch it back to see how many times WTF provides zero impact defensively. I am going to only highlight one play. Check out around 1:04 when WTF coughs up the ball in the middle of the field. How diagonal balls does he have to complete to make up for plays like this. Paxton Pomykal vs Columbus Crewpic.twitter.com/VZOLOxGdor— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) March 17, 2019
I peeked in on this forum last night, and my first reaction was that I'd missed the game and we lost 4-0 or something like that.
He also said that MB and WT are pretty controlling players, which is a fairly laughable statement so I wouldn't put much stock in GB quotes at this time.
I’ve said it before I’ll say it again. I just have questions with the system in general. Even if we had prime Pirlo in place of Bradley it is not defensive enough for me. Maybe that’s why yedlin on the wing? I just don’t see where much of the defense is coming from besides the 2CBs and LB/CB hybrid. IMO even against CR/Panama we showed signs of defensive instability.
Intentions are nice and all but that won't magically add the ability to control a game to either of those players repertoire's.