This should be a fun game. I am especially excited to see what formation and lineup changes Cassar might be forced to deal with. May I remind the kind head coach, that Jordan Allen is just waiting to start. As is Luke, come on! Gil off the bench! First visit to the new SJ stadium. Anyone going?
Cassar has his work cut out for him this week in terms of player selection. While I think the system demands a player like Mulholland in it, I don't think Gil should necessarily be dropped yet. People are hung up on Mulhollands goal. Which, don't get me wrong, was a big deal. He played incredibly well in the first half of the TFC game. What people forget? That he was a ghost in the second half. Had Muholland had a 90 minute performance, I'd be a strong advocate of him getting the go. Having only ~45 minutes of good time, though, almost makes the argument to have him as the first sub even stronger. The XI I want to see out there: Nicky Tony Schu Olave Phillips* Gil KB Javi Jaime Sabo Olmes Bench: JeffA, Mansally*, Maund, Allen, Mulholland, Sandoval, Stertzer *If Phillips is still out, switch in Mansally and put Saucedo on the bench
He was injured... in fact, I surely hope they do a proper concussion evaluation on him. Even on our fuzzy feed the bump on his head was obvious.
I'll take a goal and disappearing for the second half over no goal and disappearing for the entire game every day...and twice on Sunday (On which this game falls).
Except when Gil is on, he's good. Look, the club has invested way too much in this kid to throw him to the bench 2 games into the season (that's how many he's played) in a new formation. I'd be curious to see what Gil looked like in the wing position, honestly. He isn't going to jump Javi with how Javi has started the season. That's a given. However, I think the wing could be interesting. Maybe slide him out wide and sub in Mulholland in this game? Or, even better, you move Gil to AM and sub off Javi. Javi almost always is gassed by the 70th. In fact, in the TFC game he was. I know I know, he assisted the winning goal, but outside of that remind me what Javi did after the 70th minute...?
How many starts does Jaime get before he see's some pine? I would much rather see Allen. Maybe Jaime needs to earn his minutes.
Yeah, but you can't play him just because we've invested a lot when there is another player playing better. Mulholland has earned his spot. Of course I'm not saying Gil should never see the field. Of course if he didn't start he would be a sub. I personally would actually like to see him on the wing.
How exactly has Mulholland earned it? He scored a goal and then pulled a Gil and was nowhere to be seen in the second half
Because Gil has pulled a Gil his first two games in the season and hasn't scored. Mulholland drew a (invisible) foul leading to a draw, scored a header which lead to a win, then pulled a Gil. Edit: And that's not even including last seasons stats. Mulholland just seems to be the better fit in the position. If Gil was playing in Javi's role things might be a little different. In his current role though Mulholland has proven to be the more rounded player.
IMO it's too early to do it. Way too knee jerk. Gil needs to be given the chance. In training, he's the better player. If by the end of this road series we're still in this mode where the midfield is shit, then do the move. Otherwise, you'll kill Gil's confidence
I think we'll have to agree to disagree this time. To me Gil never proved that he earned the starting position over Mulholland in the first place. Over the last season and what little season we have so far Mulholland has proven to be the overall better player, and has the stats to back himself up.
To early to do what? The kid has had YEARS to prove it. It would be one thing if we saw the "on" Gil more than the ghost Gil, but you're straight lying to yourself if you think he's on more than he a complete ghost. Gil has been an absolute non-factor in the first 2 games while Luke has made immediate and obvious impacts when he's brought on. I'm willing to wager that his second half disappearance had more to do with the fact that he was pretty much knocked out and probably has a concussion. Plus he took a second shot to the back of the head a few minutes later in the match as well. I'd be willing to give Gil a half, if he can't work with Javi and make something happen, bye bye to the bench, bring Luke on at half time. I'm so sick and tired of the rhetoric with Gil, yes he is young and he still has a long career ahead of him, but when others are actually producing and clearly working better with the formation then you find a place for the guys who aren't working (whether that's on that bench coming on as a sub or with another team). Maybe the real secret to Gil is to bring him on in the 60-70' and have him work against tired legs. Whatever it is, he is not contributing right now. As for Jaime, give him a few more months, if by August he isn't contributing I'm going to call him a bust. In any case, it'll be nice to have Plata back, hopefully he is the same player he was last year.
I like 15's notion. Our first guys off the bench are Allen and Mulholland. If they start, the guys they replace will be the subs. A little experimentation here and there may find the lineup that clicks. We're still getting narrow as we tire in the 2nd half and playing the 4-3-3 like it's the diamond (which had Cassar yelling). We're still getting way too vertically spread apart (as the wingers tire) - see Toronto's goal and Olmes not getting back and a fullback just running past Beckerman. We're still seeing Jaime and Olmes moving almost in sync where there are always defenders behind them (I like a little back/forward imbalance there - but my grasp of winger play is naive). Give it time. Offensively it's already showing some real promise. Defensively...we'll see the team adjust. The truth is the 2-way mids and the wingers are running the most, those are the positions we're going to sub most of the time. We need at least 5-6 contributors in those positions...and it's a good thing we have that. I'd like to see Jeff sub more early honestly - as others have observed. Jason almost always had someone coming in fresh at 60'. I have no idea what to expect from San Jose's new venue/pitch. To possess and defend with possession we're going to need our best passers/ball-handlers regardless. This is - IMO - even more true on the road than at home. I hope our starting lineup puts a premium on the ability to hold on to the ball against San Jose. Otherwise we'll be bum-rushed all night.
The soccer gods aren't too anal about spelling. They know what I meant. Ergo, it's not invalid since when I typed it the first time, I crossed my fingers and blinked three times.
I can see the merits of trying to get Gil to work in this formation, but so far he feels like a bust again. He looks good when he's in the Javi role, but that seems like another year or two out before he'll get consistent minutes there. It's possible he'd do better on one of the forward wings, but there'd be a lot of competition for those outside spots once Plata is back. I do feel like Mulholland is better in that spot currently, and should get the spot. I think the disappearing in the second half was more due to the head injury than anything else.
Interesting thoughts on a couple players. One who has been with RSL for years still needs time and one who has played 6 or 7 games in two different formations is a bust. As usual I'm confused.