Not sure, but maye either of these could help. Portland did go 3-6-0 in their last 9 games after going 4-0-5 in the previous 9. Whoscored characteristics seem a little harsh, but probably a little truth to them. http://www.squawka.com/players/darl...eason-2016/2017#498#all-matches#1-30#by-match https://www.whoscored.com/Players/99243 Darlington Nagbe Characteristics + Strengths Dribbling Very Strong Passing Strong Holding on to the ball Strong - Weaknesses Crossing Weak Finishing Weak Tackling Weak Defensive contribution Weak
Shocker. Who could have seen this coming? Klinsmann media manipulation 101. Solid reporting from Grant Wahl. It was down this year, as Porter was trying to plug a lot of holes and Nagbe was bounced around the field a lot. And, Nagbe just was not as good as he was in the run up to last year. As for his form with the US, here is an earlier post talking about Nagbe's impact. The narrative that Nagbe has not been impactful is shallow and a bit silly.
Where is that narrative coming from? I haven't seen it. There are other things in this thread that are more shallow and silly.
http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2016/11/23/13722664/jumping-into-hoops-nagbe-linked-to-celtic-fc The first wisps of smoke floated up on Tuesday afternoon with reports that Darlington Nagbe was spending the day at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland to meet with Celtic FC and take in the Hoops’ Champions League matchup with Barcelona. Those wisps turned to a plume by Tuesday evening when the Daily Mail and the Scottish Sunreported Celtic were, in fact, in pursuit of Nagbe’s services. According to the Daily Mail, Nagbe is among a handful of options Celtic is considering in central midfield, and that the Scottish side values Nagbe at around £1.5 million, or just shy of $2 million.
In this interview yesterday with Arena he mentions Nagbe as one of the midfielders (along with Feilhaber and Kljestan) he wants to get a look at in January. Describes him as "a mix between a central midfielder and a player that can play wide". Jump forward to 17:40 for relevant part: Bruce Arena talks USMNT, MLS and text messages | ExtraTime Radio
Stumptown Footy published an in-depth article examining Darlington Nagbe's influence and production with the Portland Timbers during the Caleb Porter era, in an effort to try to determine his best position in MLS: http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2016/12/27/14070394/nagbes-numbers. The article compares Nagbe's influence (points per game for the team + Nagbe's passes completed, successful dribbles completed and final third passes completed) as well as his production (goals + assists + chances created from open play) in the four different positions in which he has primarily featured for the Timbers: as a #8, a #10, on the left wing, and the right wing. It's a very informative read and I recommend at least taking a look at the stats presented by the author. Here are a few highlights (sorry for the poor copy/paste formatting below): Points-per-Game by Nagbe’s Position Position...Appearances...Points Per Game Eight...17...1.38 Ten...15...1.87 Left Wing...29...1.41 Right Wing...76...1.53 Nagbe Influence by Position Position...Appearances...Passes...Passes Completed...Successful Dribbles...Final Third Passes Completed Eight...17...55.19...50.25...2.88...15.56 Ten...15...43.07...37.8...2.47...13.53 Left Wing...29...36.52...32...2.07...12.97 Right Wing...76...40.74...35.34...2.37...14.11 Nagbe Production by Position Position...Appearances...Goals/Game...Shots/Game...Assists/Game...Open Play Chances Created/Game Eight...17...0.058...1.06...0.118...1.25 Ten...15...0.133...1.87...0.333...1.67 Left Wing...29...0.172...1.69...0.241...1.9 Right Wing...76...0.118...1.46...0.118...1.5 These stats do come with caveats. They don't factor in the quality of the opponent, the players featuring for the rest of the Timbers line-up, and they are based on where Nagbe starts the game (so, they don't easily account for instances where Nagbe changes positions during the match). That said, they appear to indicate that Nagbe's influence is best when deployed as a #8 (which, for the Timbers, has primarily been as an attack-minded #8 in a 4-3-3 with a single defensive midfielder) or #10, but his production has by far been the best when nominally deployed on the left wing, where he plays as an inverted winger and can cut or drift inside. Nagbe is very right-footed and doesn't cross super well, so his skills are best utilized when playing on the left where he can cut inside vs. on the right (where his dominant foot crossing isn't that much of a strength anyway). Personally, I'm intrigued by the Timbers' high PPG (1.87 points per game) when Nagbe is deployed as a #10 in a 4-2-3-1, especially considering that he has only really played that role when the Timbers' best player, Diego Valeri, has been out of the line-up. I can't say how this will translate to the national team, since his teammates, coaching staff and team tactics will all be different. My take is that the #10 role is unrealistic on the national team, because Nagbe's goals/assists/chances created production as a #10 simply isn't as good as other pure #10s like Sacha Kljestan and Benny Feilhaber. I also think that, in order for Nagbe to play as an attack-minded #8 as he did with the Timbers late in 2015, we need to engineer the entire line-up to accommodate a 3-man central midfield with a 4-3-3 similar to what the Timbers used. This requires having a really good ball-winning defensive midfielder and also has the effect of pushing either Bobby Wood or Jozy Altidore out of the line-up or out of position on the wing. Nagbe doesn't have the defensive bite to play as a #8 in a two-man central midfield against good international teams, which would seem to rule out playing him as a CM in a 4-4-2 or some variation of that formation. If he is to play on the wing, I like him on the left side where he can cut inside, circulate the ball, and attack, very similar to how Benny Feilhaber was often deployed as a substitute during the Bob Bradley era. If Fabian Johnson is deployed as a LB in that set-up, we still maintain width and wide attacking ability as Johnson bombs forward. Here's a potential line-up with that tactical dynamic: ----------Altidore------Wood---------- ------Nagbe>---------------------Pulisic -------------Bradley---CM-------------- Johnson^-------------------------Yedlin -------------CB---------CB--------------- --------------------GK-------------------- Another possibility could be a 4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond) as follows: ----------Altidore------Wood---------- ------------------Pulisic----------------- ---------Nagbe----------Bedoya-------- -----------------Bradley----------------- Johnson---------------------------Yedlin -------------CB---------CB--------------- --------------------GK-------------------- This line-up would be dependent upon Pulisic's ability to be a creator from a central attacking role, and it would require tremendous positional and possession discipline from Michael Bradley. I placed Bedoya in the starting XI in this configuration because he has the work rate to play on both sides of the ball as a runner, and is also a hybrid between a central player and a wide player. I suspect this line-up could work against weaker opposition but that the central midfield may get overrun against better teams.
Nagbe has also had strong performances in the '2' of 4231. I don't know how he'd pair with Bradley, however.
It looks like Celtic would pay $3m but the issue was salary. This piece makes it sound like they expected Nagbe to play for something close to what he makes in Portland which wouldn't make much sense. http://www.goal.com/en/news/14202/m...be-move-dead-after-celtic-and-timbers-fail-to
That's frustrating. I'm glad Darlington dug his heels in and said no. I think that's disrespectful of Darlington and MLS that he would leave for nothing other than the prestige of playing for Celtic and nothing else.
I doubt England. He would be a more likely target for France or Spain where he won't have work permit issues. Brand of soccer will fit him better there as well.
He has to start a percentage of games of the course of the year and even then it's not a lock. Plus as I said he's better suited skillset wise for the other leagues and they'd all be a jump up from the MLS.
I'm looking forward to seeing him get a chance to start. He offers a fairly unique skill set in the US pool (a somewhat Reyna-like metronome and possession player with a bit more speed than Claudio). But I'll wait to find out if he is worth a regular starting spot. It could be that he gets his chances, like Feilhaber did under BB, and then the coach settles on using him mostly as a change-of-pace key sub, while starting only when one of the better mids is out for injury or suspensions, just like Feilhaber under BB. Either way, it looks like Arena will give him a serious look. That's what I've hoped for ever since Nagbe became US-eligible. But under JK, Nagbe only played as a 2nd half sub, never started, and he averaged only perhaps 30 minutes per appearance. Starting is different than subbing, and the evaluation will also be different.
I think JK was playing mind games with him. He liked "tough" personalities and I imagine Nagbe's quiet and reserved personality was seen as a weakness. Just a gut feeling. Even after the turning down a call up, JK comes back later and says he was still part of the picture. I agree though. He has such a unique skillet at a high level. I have been eager to see him get a chance to start at least a year before he was eligible.- ( as such I am not without bias)
As I was watching the Nagbe vs Ecuador video, I was thinking — "damn, this is just the kind of stuff Reyna took such a slagging for on Big Soccer — but stuff I thought was greatness!" (I guess Claudio didn't have an end-of-game winner like that, that I can remember.)
I still on the Nagbe bandwagon! Then again, given my track record on evaluating players..... that might be a bad thing.
Nagbe was the third best player on the pitch last night after Pulisic and Dempsey. Superb performance and should be a permanent fixture in our starting XI.
Very Reynaesque performance. Kept the ball moving, never seemed to turn it over. It was nice seeing an American player who can beat people on the dribble.