A little surprised to see no one questioning Hoesen's absence, thought this would have been a good time to see how match-fit he is and possibly integrate him with Espinoza and the rest of our first-choice attack. If you're wondering why Hoesen isn't here, he's in the Netherlands on Green Card duty. #Quakes74— Brian Taylor (@btjourno) March 24, 2019
I'm confused. You're surprised Hoesen wasn't there, yet you posted a tweet explaining why he wasn't. What is there to question?
Saw the goal. I’m really happy for both Cowell and Fuentes as only a few years ago they were playing for my cousins youth team , Ballistic United. It’s awesome that a 15 year old can score like that against seasoned pros. Exhibition game or not, the kid is the age of most junior varsity high school soccer players and to score a goal the way he did is pretty amazing. If we have to tank the season anyway, I’d also rather at this point play the younger players and let them develop as opposed to starting and losing with the veterans.
One thing I didn't mention before, but thought it was important was that the off the ball movement, like the speed of thought, multiplied several times over, especially toward the front of the field. One of the things I've criticized the Quakes for is letting a single forward sit alone by themselves at the top of the formation. It's a big problem, especially when that lone forward is Wondolowski, whose form was really kind of fallen off a cliff. The Quakes benefitted a lot from youth at the top of the formation. It allowed them to maintain possession better by folding in and out, covering for open space, and to pass into open space with players running into it. That made the defense better because they could anticipate players better, step in to recover possession, and get it back up to the attacking players quickly. Also, despite Affolter's very hard back pass that almost resulted in an own goal (not Tarbell's fault at all, who I think showed quite well actually), I think Affolter was good in that he anticipated better than Ockford, was faster to make his decisions, and knew to combine with other players instinctually. I know he got a lot of flack for his play generally, but I really don't think he ever got enough time to make a real decision on him. Ockford didn't play well, and frankly, looked quite out of shape. Can't say I'm surprised given his lack of real game time, but he certainly didn't make a case that he's better than Kashia or Cummings, whereas Affolter maybe did. If the Quakes can't do that with whomever they are starting, then they need to stop starting them. First half was really about Monterrey winning challenges all over the field and then quickly punishing San Jose. The second half was all about the Quakes dictating the pace, working for each other, and everyone having the mentality to play forward quickly. As I mentioned before, we're talking about roughly 30 minutes of play in a friendly. I don't think those players are at the point where they can play like that game in game out over a whole season. But let them try. We already know how the season is going to go with the players who've been out there already. They could very well lose every game, that's how bad they are. They could truly tear down and reward the academy players who have worked so hard, and who knows, maybe that would get some of the other players that have been disappointing to actually play like they enjoy the game again.
After watching the replay last night I find it incredible how doubly culpable Felipe was on the first goal. First off all, he makes a bad pass in the center of the field that is intercepted. You would think that most players would then try to atone for their misplay and do all they can to win the ball back. But, no, he half-trots back on D, even when Espinoza manages to initially slow up Monterrey's push forward by challenging for the ball, which would have given Felipe plenty of opportunity to defend on the play. However, it was like he looked around, didn't see the man he was supposed to mark, decided he didn't have any responsibility, and so literally let the Monterrey players run past him on their way to the goal. How pathetic.
I said I was a little surprised to see no one QUESTIONING Hoesen's absence, not his absence(put the word questioning in Fox Caps and bold so you don’t somehow manage to miss it again). Most of the post match discussion was rightfully so about how good the kids were but out of all the players not in the starting lineup Hoesen is the probably most agreed-upon player that fans think should be starting and I posted the Tweet in case anyone else here was also wondering the reason why he wasn’t there.
Fair enough. The word questioning has some connotations though. Questioning often suggests you suspect something is amiss, and not simply asking for information that you don't know. I also think it was stated before in some other press release or something that Hoesen was working on his residency status, so I don't think anyone was surprised he wasn't there.
Also my bad, I remember Hoesen going back to Holland in preaseason for his green card but didn’t see that he left again this week.
I saw the same in that play too. It reminded me a very similar play in the game against Kansas City a few weeks back when Godoy was watching Opara running by him unchallenged. Felipe had a pretty bad first half, looking lost and very unsure what to do. Second half was a bit better.
Monterrey played their first team, minus a few that are on intl duty, into the second half. They looked “loose” though. They weren’t loafing exactly, but it wasn’t Monterrey in full force. I didn’t think LaCroix looked out of place at all. It doesn’t surprise me since he’s solid with Reno. I think he’s a better option than Lopez at the moment. I’d play Lopez with Reno to work on his defending. I think Thompson shouldn’t be a sub at right back...he should just start over Godoy. I think Paul Marie did better than he’s getting credit for. Monterrey had to foul him quite a bit because he was causing trouble. That said, he’s got the same issue as Lopez, not ready for prime time as a defender. But there’s no competition for Lima’s spot anyway unless intl duty becomes a big thing. Wondo can still get into the right spots like usual at times, but that’s about it of late. I want Wondo to get the goals record but I hope that becomes Hoeson’s spot because we have to do better there. I’d rather if Haji had played for Reno instead of a 3 minute Quakes debut. He’s raw and needs to play a lot. In terms of DPs, I’d be looking at center backs. Weird position to spend a lot of money on, but I really think that could make a difference. I have had it with certain other players (Godoy, Erikson) but as a position group, the centerbacks to me seems like we start two guys that should be back ups and the back ups aren’t good enough to be even that. Tarbell, who gets a lot of grief that’s well earned had a couple of pretty decent saves in this game. I think they would have traded him though had they gotten offers. Bresano seems like equally good and ought to be the #2. Bresano is as good a shot stopper and IMO more confident coming to get corners and crosses. Not to wish injury on anyone specifically, but it seems like if another MLS team were to lose a starting goalkeeper to injury and need one, it could help the Quakes a lot to trade Tarbell. I doubt he’s happy mostly not playing.
Except for the last 30 minutes, it was a pretty poor showing by the Quakes. It was pleasure to watch Monterrey with their speed of thought, player movement, ball movement, etc. Could of easily been 4-0 at halftime. While I was pleased with the composure of our young players latter in the game, Monterrey had mentally checked out. Credit to the young players who came out fighting and showed good skill. Cavello surprised me after some poor showings at the end of last season. Excellent possession and distribution. Of course, it's easy to play 30 minutes at the level they were playing. It would be interesting to see them play a full 90.
It's not really so weird to use a DP slot on a center back. Goodson was not a DP but he was one of the more expensive players on the team when he joined the Quakes, and it was money well spent. However, if you use a DP slot on a central defender, then he needs to be the best defender on the team, without question. Right now, there is nothing but questions as to who is the best defender for the Quakes. All of them have serious flaws, and those flaws aren't made up for when they play as a unit. I think it would be a reasonable approach to use one DP on the offensive side, and one DP on the offensive side. The Quakes have pretty much only used the slots for midfielders, which is more weird to me.
Yes it is... how many DP center backs have their been in MLS history? Only a handful. Some have worked out okay (Liam Ridgewell), some have been disasters (Rafa Marquez), but the bottom line is, it's not common at all.
I would say uncommon doesn't equate to weird. I think it's something one should definitely consider when thinking about how best to use DP slots, especially since you get three of them. DPs need to be the best players on the field, so I think it would be weird to use them all on offensive players. In that sense, there are three positions I'd regularly be looking to fill with DP players: center back, center midfield, center forward. Most things are negotiable, so it's not as if I think everyone would make the same decisions as me, but it doesn't seem weird at all to me to think about having one of your best players being a defender. Good defenders can make the rest of the game seem a lot easier.
Look at the top defenders in MLS, and their average salary. Look at the top offensive players in MLS, and their average salary. The best CB pairings are often two (often cheap and/or young) domestic players (Parker-Long, Besler-Opara, Hedges-Zimmerman, etc.) whereas the top attacking players are guys like Robbie Keane, Giovinco, Almiron, Vela... Given the salary cap constraints in MLS, if you spend $2.5 million to solve a problem that other teams are solving for $300k without using up one of three precious DP slots, or even international slots, that seems like a failure unless you're really making up for it elsewhere... can we count on Siad Haji and Cade Cowell to be Vela-Keane level good?\ Only one MLS defender of the year was a DP (Jose Goncalves in 2013): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_Defender_of_the_Year_Award Even a foreign signing like Laurent Ciman who was on the Belgium roster at the World Cup wasn't a DP! The last five MVPs on the other hand, were Keane, Giovinco, David Villa, Valeri, and Josef Martinez.
Did you miss the part where I said you should also be using DP slots on center midfield and center forward? You don't get just one DP. And MVP votes are heavily weighted toward offensive players, but point taken about defensive player of the year. Again, I understand that my methodology wouldn't necessarily align with how other or any MLS have constructed their rosters. I'm also not a huge fan of how most MLS teams play.
Yes you get three DP slots, which is not nearly enough to fill all six non-defender field positions. I would prefer the Quakes try to emulate the most successful teams in MLS, even if you're "not a huge fan of how most MLS teams play", rather than construct their roster based on your "methodology" which has not been tested in the real world. Let some other MLS team test it out first, and if they're successful, the Quakes can follow.
I went to the game and I just finally got to this thread and I was expecting to see Espinoza ripped to shreds for his terrible defensive play in midfield. But really he was barely mentioned or was mentioned slightly positively. I did not watch a replay, just from the stands, but I felt he was greatly responsible for three big chances against in the first half, two of which scored. He over-pursued in mid-field, shot past his man and ended up on the downfield side, and that left his man a free 20 yards to run at the back line, 1v1. head up. I was hoping Flo would save his bacon, but really, being run at 1v1 in wide open space is not a good position for a back, and Flo didn't come up with anything. You'd hope he would, but it is a losing hand to start with. When you are defending all alone in front of a big space, you can't over commit to stealing the ball. Your main job is to not let the man get past you. Espinoza has got to read field, feel the huge space behind him, and stay on the correct side of his man. I'd be interested if someone who can replay the game saw it differently.
Using one DP slot on a defender has been tested in the real world. That is all we were talking about before. And I didn't even commit that hard to it, all I said was that it wasn't that weird, if uncommon. It really boils down to not ruling it out simply because it isn't done all the time. Remember, just because things are done a certain way doesn't mean there isn't a better way. Taking the best parts of what other teams do is all fine, but if you aren't willing to do any experimenting on your own, I would have to ask what's the point?
Didn't comment on it, but his poor defending stood out to me as well. He just didn't seem to even realized that he should be defending at times, which kind of shocked me. If I give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe there's some aspect of the person-marking that plays a part, but I don't really buy into the idea that players like Espinoza or Lima are struggling with that part of the game. I think the players just aren't putting in the effort they should or aren't good enough. If Espinoza continues get time on the field while defending like that, it'll be hard to watch.
I commented on the first goal? we gave up and put most of the blame on Felipe, who started it all on a pass of his that was intercepted. Espinoza then did challenge the Monterrey player, who beat him, but did slow him up enough to give Felipe time to get back and defend. Felipe instead just slow jogged it back while Monterrey ran past him. I guess you could put some partial blame on Espinoza, but, I saw Felipe as the biggest culprit since it was wayward pass that started it all, and then he decided he had no responsibility to defend. Espinoza at least tried to win the ball back.