I wonder who will be doing all the awesome back passing next year? Also who won't be scoring any goals from center mid?
Nah, we should be asking who will be holding possession and distributing the ball all over the field, clogging passing lanes, getting boatloads of recoveries, chasing down breaks, and providing a herculean work rate...
The thing is, Baca was actually a wide forward who got converted to a CDM in Yallop's system. He was solid in that new role but not spectacular and didn't offer much going forward because his attacking game is based on moving outside-in from a high starting position. Compare that to the attacking skills of a well-rounded CDM who will dribble up the middle, play precise through balls, make perfect over the top passes to the wings from deep, take long range shots and/or crash in on goal. That is not where Baca's strengths lie and therefore he has limited offensive capacity in a CDM role. He becomes depth at best should we acquire an attacking player to pair with Cronin in midfield.
Really? A wide forward? I always thought that Baca was a box-to-box holding center mid all the way, and in fact he didn't play as well when moved outside. I agree though that his game is not that well suited to a CAM role as he is hesitant to take people on with the dribble. He will make a short pass and give and go, but won't take folks on like Dawkins would or Tommy Thompson would for that matter :--).
I guess I'm of the mind that we shouldn't need to be judicious regarding mid level MLS talent - if you are a starter in MLS, the cap should accommodate a salary in that range.
Yeah, the problem is that the Quakes were paying lots of non-starters that mid-level salary range (6 of 8 by my estimate). And that, my friends, is a non-starter. :--)
Well he told me he didn't want to be here this season...so I just assumed he wouldn't want to be around next season. Muh bad. The new question is with Baca gone, who are you gonna blame?
He's not bad, but lacks Baca's quickness, both in closing down lanes and defending, and in making short, quick movements to buy space in order to pass and not lose possession. Not to mention pure sprinting speed to chase down breaks when necessary.
Those are not my arguments. You are the one who pointed to praise from the media as propping up Baca. You were the one who linked an article from April 2012 as support for your argument. My argument is that Baca sucks. Your argument is that he is good, and point to passes completed as if that means ANYTHING considering 95% of his passes are back or to the side and point to team statistics that any CM should naturally rank high in on any team. If only those stats directly correlated to a player's contribution and worth, you would have a point. Just as Baca's goals/assists stats are meaningless according to you, right? "The analysis is valid today"? No, it's not. Baca was consistently mediocre at best, and consistently THE weakest link. I really do not understand this rabid devotion of Baca from other Quakes fans, either it's blinders or WANTING him to be good because you like him as a player. I slowly brought more people to this realization, but there are still people who refuse to admit Baca is even simply a mediocre player, much less a bad one. Again, all you have to do is watch the guy play. He's terrible. Good riddance. Good for the Quakes.
It's not a question of blame, it's deserved criticism. I was criticizing Baca during the great 2012 season. Not blaming him for anything. I look at the weakest pieces of my team and want to improve them accordingly.
The way we play is thru our outside miss and crossing. It's not like our forwards know how to do anything with a pass on the ground. Our strength is to attack with crosses to our big guys. Baca and croning are box-to-box mids holding mids, not this attacking/defending/diamond/CAM/##10 people keep referring to.
Read Matthew Doyle's article, and weep, QT. . The data is there, very clearly. You are the Scrooge of the Rafael Baca thread, QT. All I hear is "Baca Humbug, Baca Humbug". :--) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
Baca's off to a better league. Good for him. I suspect he can do well there, but we'll have to see. Unless your name is Eddie Johnson, you don't go off to a better league unless you're a good player with valued skills. Now we'll have to see if Doyle can fill the gaping whole in our midfield.
In college he played as a forward but not a center, target or poaching forward. Maybe more of a withdrawn than a wide forward (though he scored most of his goals and made assists from a wide start). Baca would maybe say that he was a CAM but he didn't actually offer much play-making. And due to lack of technical skill he certainly can't be a CAM in MLS. And since he also can't play as a pure winger in a 4-4-2 he was thus converted to a holding mid.
Yeah, it is a bit unclear exactly what he played in college. He was listed as a forward most of the time, but when he signed with the Quakes he was called a midfielder. At LMU he wore #10. So I guess based on what you're saying and all the rest he was probably a CAM or withdrawn forward. His skill set is not really great for a forward or even a CAM. He doesn't have a hard shot and he doesn't take people on. So I think the Quakes definitely put him in the right spot - as a holding / box-to-box mid, where I think he does really well, and I think that's where he's going to stay in his career.
"backpass" Baca is gone. GOOD! Now the front office will have to act to fill his position, hopefully with somebody several levels above his ability.
I've been working on a little project this evening. I think my findings are so earth-shattering (for lack of a better term), that it deserves its own thread, which I will post shortly. This should, at the very least, put a giant foot in the mouths of those on here who insist on Baca's value to our team, if not put a nail in the coffin of this whole discussion.
Not to belabor this on multiple threads, but you can select a tiny bit of data to "prove" just about anything about anyone. You're mainly proving that you're good at selecting the right slice of data. The real proof is in the pudding (a cliche that my children have heard way too often). Both coaches relied on Baca throughout his time with the team. He was a workhorse, not a star or glamour boy. If they had thought they had better options, they would have used them. They didn't, and they don't, and I'm not sure anyone else is on the horizon who can do a better job than Baca did.