half agree, half disagree. i see medranda over seth at left back as a case where you can get more positives out of the position, but you'll also have more opportunities for more negatives. medranda dives in to tackles (sometimes recklessly) all the time and has a real issue with composure, both of which can be penalized harshly as a defender. it might be one of those positions where you play seth when you're on the road, and medranda when you're at home and expect to have less defensive responsibility.
Except Seth is pretty much a guaranteed yellow per game these days. Gets beat, cynical drag back, card.
I was at the game Saturday and in person Gerso Iles were really impressive. But I watched the game afterwards and they were more impressive. These are good additions. That said, while I like having Medranda on the field all the time. I'm not sure I'd replace Sinovic with him. With this back line, I'd rather see a defense first option in that spot. Esp because the DC approach was a bit sad. They sat back and waited for the counter, didn't they? I mean, in KC I get that. But if we're going to face that a lot on the road, if we're going to dominate the way we did but be playing clubs trying to absorb and wait for a mistake, we could use a bit of bite in that position. As it was, it didn't feel like DCU was ever going to score, until we handed them stupid opportunities, when it felt as if it was easier to score than not to. As a road opener, it was encouraging. And a point on the road is a good thing, esp when we gave up a PK. But this left me a bit nervous. Dom wasn't finding space. Opara looked a bit off. Besler, man, the brain fart was so sad because he was really solid otherwise, but the brain farts can cost us.
Opara looked fairly terrified on the ball. Reminded me of when San Jose fans used to call him Baby Deer.
So I saw this making the rounds on Twitter yesterday, and while it's fun to be amazed by the ball Benny plays, and to question exactly what Zusi was trying to do, this one play pretty much perfectly encapsulates the tactical malaise we have under PV: Benny Feilhaber submits his application to be part of the #USMNT XI. So does Graham Zusi, I guess. #DCvSKC pic.twitter.com/EiOIk4K085— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 5, 2017 You have your RB getting the ball in an incredibly advantageous position - and less than nothing comes from it. What's the point of springing your RB behind the defensive line if there's literally only one other person in the box? The CBs didn't have to do anything besides stand there and they had Dwyer double-teamed. Medranda ducks (?) and is out of the play. Espinoza stands around doing nothing - not even an attempt to get in the box! Gerso is standing on the other touchline, providing width for absolutely no reason, and offered no danger. Sanchez is nowhere to be seen. Sure, Sanchez is your DM, but if Benny is going to drop all the way back there to create offense, someone, needs to be ahead of him to take advantage. Surely, Zusi didn't do what he intended, but from where he got the ball and what his options were, what else was he supposed to do? And the song remains the same. I'm encouraged by Gerso's skill on the wing. It would have been nice to see Blessing get some time in this game, but subs are for sissies, right? It's possible, and maybe even likely, that our offense improves over last year; the problem is that our offense wasn't very good last year! Improvement might still lead to an unsatisfactory result. Hoping for something different as the season progresses, but this opener was same old, same old.