I would be willing to try this. Back when there was hope that Sauro was gonna be part of the team this season I was even willing to think of a Naess/Tchani or Naess/Trapp double pivot. Thing is, it still wouldn't replicate what we had in Artur since I don't see Naess or Trapp getting forward or working between the lines as much. Also, I've seen absolutely nothing of Mensah that shoes he's ready to "lead" the back line. Naess has a calmness and cerebral quality to his game that has allowed Crognale to settle in (and he's covered for a few of his mistakes). I just don't see that quality from Mensah...yet.
Gregg is pretty loyal to players and dont be shocked if he tosses Abu back in the pool with water wings on. Earlier this year in Brazil Abu was getting fairly high praise from the coach. Lots of 'adapting quickly' mumbo jumbo "to the system" mumbo jumbo. What I would like as a few have suggested is for Nessie to get the start in the middle
Yeah if your on his good side you have a chance to always make the roster. For example, Jimenez should've been gone a very long time ago. Ethan Finlay always gets at least 30 minutes even when he is in the doghouse. As soon as you get on his bad side it's over. Larsen, Mabwati end of last year, Tchani, and now Kekuta Manneh. Figure he hasn't been here long enough to get on Berhalter's bad side. But, if Berhalter holds a grudge in his head it doesn't go away until dude is gone. So wonder where will trade him this Summer.
Manneh hasn't been here long enough yet to say anything one way or another. GGG has usually brought new players along slowly.
Abu was terrible. Worse than Tchani's or Mo Saied's worst outing in a Crew uniform. That's troubling as they were dropped for Abu. The bad games from others stemmed from how bad Abu was. Hansen and Meram can't get the ball with any space, Higuain has to drop further to get it and poor Ola is left all alone. Yes, all those guys could have had better games but we were basically a man down. Abu's half assed pressure in the center circle started the sequence leading to the PK goal. Afful was pretty bad too. Careless giveaways in our half (5 of his 26 passes in our half were unsuccessful per opta). One preceding the sequence leading to the first goal that was just gross. Then on that goal got caught way upfield, with an RB player in tons of space behind him. Not sure why he pressed so high, RB were overloading that side at the time. He and Trapp both were sucked out. The 2 injuries are so concerning, obviously Artur being the one we don't have any cover for is the one I'm hoping doesn't cost us too much.
Maybe, I'm way off here but has Afful's play this season gone down a few pegs from last year? Last year, it seemed that he was consistently one of our best players, many games clearly our best player. This season, maybe his performances have been lost in the shuffle, or maybe we are noticing his mistakes/shortcomings more cause we aren't expecting to lose every game by multiple goals. But something just seems.....off.
It has been confirmed. Abu is Kevin Burns Ghanaian cousin. Never saw a back pass he did not like. Seriously though are is team mates not telling him that he has like 20 yards to turn and look up field when he gets a pass? And Abu did look okay during the preseason. I am hoping he just needs some reps.
Jukka gets zero ink here. He recieves the ball from Nessy..then taps it back to him..over and over again. He also gets stuck on the sideline with two defenders ready to pounce. Has no chemistry with Meram. Bring in Hollingsworth
Agreed. What I've noticed is Afful seems to back off from challenges this year. Not sure if that is his or Ggg's doing but he seems almost timid at times defensively and confused going forward.
Jukka is fine. He doesn't attack as much as Ashe but is more solid defensively and is fine holding the ball. We are never going to see much chemistry between the two as Jukka is defense first. Not a world beater but a better than average MLS defender.
I'd say his giving space on the wing around the 18 is likely y design. Inviting crosses when we have guys marked in the middle is better than getting skinned and letting a guy waltz into the box (see RBNY 2nd goal).
Trap and afful need to look at the tapes and evaluate their roles in the first goal. Both ball watching or going to the same guy leaving space behind them.
I shut off the TV when the PK was called and with Crognale on the ground writhing in pain. The handwriting was on the wall. Funny that Crognale gave up the PK (and hurt himself) doing the opposite of what Berhalter told him to do: Stay on your feet. All defenders do that occasionally, of course. I hope he learned from the experience. If he's okay, maybe he plays next weekend. But I'd be okay with Mensah starting if he's ready to go and Crognale's ankle is at all hampering him. The injury makes it an easy switch for Berhalter. Okay, I only watched part of the first half, but is there a seat on the "Abu sucks" train for me? He was abysmal. To those who suggest more creative ways of plugging the gap in Artur's absence than just sticking with the next warm body o the depth chart, I'm with you 100%. As has been suggested, maybe Captain Trapp moves up a bit higher, paired with Naess. I wonder if Hansen might be able to slot into a central role, with either Manneh or Finlay starting out wide. We have options. And Abu really shouldn't be one of them. This is a classic example of a situation where, in the past, Berhalter would always stick with the depth chart. This season, he's shown a little more flexibility in moving players in and out of positions. This weekend will be a huge test of just how creative and flexible he's capable of being.
There are still seats available on the Abu Hatr Train, but all the beds in the sleeper car are occupied, and the rest of first class is filling up fast as well. General tickets and standing room only soon I'm afraid.
Exactly what we should do unless Saravia is healthy or Obwina is better than Abu. Which I doubt he seems like a devolpmental player.
Yeah, Saravia is currently on loan in Sweden. Unfortunately, he's also recovering from surgery on his foot.
Yeah I know but how long was his recovery suppose to be? I was thinking he was close to healthy. I'm sure we can pull him back if we wanted.
Something like 8-10 weeks I thought. Broken foot anyway, wanna take that shit nice and slow. He's only been out a couple weeks or something.
I see even if healthy I don't see him being that good but anything is better than ABU. Would love to have ABU settle in and make us all eat Crow. How he won midfielder of the year in any league is beyond me. He looked like a u12 player on a u18 team