The problem is that what he does isn't conducive to us beating teams like CR who are disciplined defensively. He can't unlock teams like that because for as good of a dribbler he is, he's awful in the final 3rd. If you were an NBA player would you really be worried about letting a player drive to the basket if you knew he was just going to throw it off the backboard as hard as he could every time instead of laying it up?
It wasn't Nagbe's job to unlock the CR defense. That was the responsibility of Fab, Pulisic, and one of the forwards dropping deep. More importantly, Arena simply had the wrong formation/selection for the match.
The HOT TAKES in this forum the last few days have been unbearable. The morons and agenda boys have been out in full force, and loud as ******** too. You, sir, make sense.
Sorry, but this is complete BS. Bradley made 93 passes in the game. Usually, when he has a high number of ball contacts the US wins. Of his 93 passes, 79 were completed (about 85%). Of the 14 that were not completed, 7 were made into the attacking quarter. Moreover, he had 24 successful passes within or into the attacking third, including 2 key passes. Fully appropriate for a defensive midfielder, IMHO.
A couple of comments here. 1) I am not a Nagbe fan. I do see a need for a control player but think he's the wrong one. I am a fan of Lee Nguyen and wish Arena would give him a serious look. Just as good on the ball, more creative and can score. The second two options make him a better player than Nagbe. 2) Neither of the two will ever have a chance with Bradley on the field. He still has way too much time on the ball for a DM and the AM ends up watching the game. Bradley has to go for us to move forward. A small note on Lee from the MLS game last night: NGUYEN TIES RECORD: Lee Nguyen made a bit of MLS history on Saturday, tying an all-time record by recording four assists in a single match. He's now in some seriously elite company, joining Landon Donovan, Carlos Valderrama, Dwayne De Rosario and Chris Henderson as the only players to ever record four assists in an MLS game. Seems our lack of scoring chances needs an AM that actually creates chances. He also put one in that was taken back cause somebody else was offsides. It was a beautiful shot that was very well taken. One of the reasons I dont think Arena was the right guy for the job was his player selection. I see it starting all over again. He doesnt rate Lee and he'll never get a chance. He apparently rates Wondo but not Dwyer. He likes Morris .... how does that work on a bunkered defense? Dax? please
I am sorry but soccer is not about "numbers" or "percentages". This is not basketball or baseball. The American way of creating stats in sports does no work in soccer. Numbers don't tell you how intelligent is Pirlo when he places a perfect pass to create a goal opportunity. So I don't care if Nagbe made 100 complete passes out of 100 attempts.
Agreed, the eye test in soccer is typically of more use than advanced stats. Does Bedoya pass the eye test? Does McCarty? Does Zardes? Who the hell else are we going to put out over Nagbe that's actually going to be more effective?
Again, Zardes has been a more effective player for the NT than Nagbe has. So yes, I'd rather have Zardes out there.
Biggest problem for Nagbe was playing as one of 2 CM's. That isn't his game. US was out manned in central midfield and once they went down a goal, it was really tough sledding against a super organized and talented CR squad.
FJ should have played LB, Nagbe LM, Cameron DM, Besler-Omar CBs and Villafana and Ream Bench. Putting FJ to left mid screwed up everything.
I don't like FJ at LM, either as I think he is prone to taking plays off if played in midfield. But, he doesn't seem to want to play LB so not sure where that leaves him. When I think back to when Klinsmann flipped out on FJ, I find it hard to believe it only had to do with that one incident that occurred in that game. That may have been the culminating incident but I suspect there were other frustrations that led to the boil over. I have a feeling that FJ is the kind of player that can drive a coach bonkers. The talent is undeniable but it just doesn't show up in the games like you would hope, or expect. In Shakespearean terms, flatters to deceive.
Nagbe played as an 8. Goal creation wasn't his primary remit. But he did complete ~ 19 of 23 final third passes. He was not dispossessed. Where was the indecisiveness? Also, soccer analytics have been a part of the sport for some time now. Most teams in top leagues employ data analysts. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...clubs-computer-analysts-managers-data-winning
So how many did he complete? He just never seems to play the right ball in the final 3rd. How many assists does he have for the NT?
What are the historical numbers for 8s in the US's 442s? Bradley? Clark? Edu? Reyna? O'brien? Acosta? Hint: the position is not one of goal generation.
Again guys, stop trying to use numbers to evaluate a player. It is not about quantity, it is about QUALITY. Assists stats in soccer are completely deceiving. If you don't have a good finisher, the assists do not show in the stats and viceversa. Stats in sports were created only so that people that don't UNDERSTAND how the game is really played and does not have the knowledge to recognize the quality of a player, can use this data to compare one player with another. But for the knowledgeable person who has played the game or has been watching soccer for a long time, it is all about quality and not quantity. And for the "well trained" eye, you can assess the quality of a player just by looking at the way he touches the ball and how he kicks the ball. You don't need stats for that.
Some stats matter. I will use Zardes who is basically stealing a living with a professional football contract. He has a goal or assist every other 90, but some of those were literally off his arse. When viewed over a large sample size, I have to admit that touch of a prison lover, or not, he contributes to goals for at a good clip. When it comes to Darlington, the stats cannot show that when Mikey passes to him, Mikey immediately retreats and does not push on, forcing the defense to make a choice. Not likely for Mikey to get benched, so Darlington becomes an ill-fitting piece.I also think the problem is complicated by Pulisic emerging as the future. If we set up like I think we should Pulisic needs a free role. This means our center mids have to be above average defensively, and need a little bite in their game. I know the CB's are in disarray ATM, but I think GOnzo/Besler with Cameron in front is about as good as we have right now. I cannot see a CM pairing of Bradley /Nagbe ever working like they were set up last night. Whether they played the way they did because of gameplan, or just playing to their natural tendencies, I do not think they make a good pairing. We always seem to be cursed with tweeners. Nagbe is not offensive enough to be a AM, and plays too soft to be a DM. Him and Bradley in a "pulley" or whatever the hell they did v CR sucked ballz. Unfortunately for Nagbe, the son of the coaches mentor and longtime stalwart is unlikely to be dropped to make a place for him.
It actually does matter. Bedoya has a bevy of caps as an attacking mid, how many goals and assists does he have? Nagbe is the best of a crappy bunch that are in our player pool.
Is there a stat which shows how many times Nagbe misses playing forward passes and lallygags on the ball instead? I'm not concerned with the lack of assists from him. He's not a final 3rd player. I'm concerned with how slow of thought he is and how often he plays with blinders on. No one doubts he's a good dribbler. Problem is dribbling for dribbling's sake. For the BVB fans here, it's also similar to complaints about Mor. Very good dribbler but head down and repeatedly misses the runs of his teammates. Hence why even though on pure quality, he was BVB's 2nd best dribbler behind Dembele, he was put on the market and sold off. Nagbe's not a 10/ACM, so his role is to connect the defense to the attack. And as we all know in sports like soccer/basketball, the ball moves faster than the man. The middle 3rd dribbling instead of forward passing, hurts us. To launch a counter the first thing you need is....to play the pass. I don't like Bedoya but he's much more forward thinking, attacks space both with and without the ball. Nagbe doesn't but there aren't stats for that. What it does however is change the shape of the squad and the threat of the squad. Rowe would be similar, forward thinking. A key to an 8 is getting the ball off your feet ASAP. Turn your mark and get the ball off your foot. Problem with Nagbe at this level is he keeps taking 1, 2 and 3 too many touches. Then the window/opportunity passes, he gets fouled, defense resets, Pulisic is like WTF. At least if Puli is playing central then as soon as Nagbe turns his mark you've got a Puli diagonal run. That helps make it work somewhat. Or get Clint as a SS in the central pocket as an outlet. Either helps Nagbe. On Fri Bruce went with neither.
Has Nagbe ever been successful as the most attacking CM, or in a 442? Portland plays best when Nagbe - when he's playing CM - has one guy who is much more defensively minded (Chara), and then 1-2 (Valeri) other mids who have more attacking responsibility. Nagbe covers space well and relieves pressure to maintain possession, occasionally contributing in the final phase. That's a useful player, but for some reason our coaches' obsession with playing 2 CM's and 2 ST's leads to him playing on the wing or centrally in a system that doesn't highlight his abilities. I really hope we see a 3-man midfield vs Honduras with Jozy out.