Should Arturo Move to Forward?

how about we continue to use him where we did last year-- where he thrived

 

Even in this league, I can't imagine a one-footed forward.

 

Toja maybe could do it, but he would be a different case altogether. Toja is a sturdy 6'1, incredibly hungry for the ball and fears no contact of any kind. It remains to be seen what Toja can do beyond 10 yards in the scoring department but his Chicago goal was right-footed.

One-footed midfield is, to my mind, different than a forward who has to make the best of chances he's given. You can't turn down a chance like Ruiz's game-tying Chicago goal because it's on the wrong foot and you damn sure can't miss it consistently either. A mid can just back out and let someone else deal with it like Toja repeatedly did in the all-star game.

 

I AM GETTING SO TIRED OF THIS!!!!!!
Check the STAT sheet PLEASE (go to FCD main page, click Stats on left side)
I know it is for MLS play only but he was BY FAR our WORST shooter!!!!!
61 shots, 30 Shots On Goal but he scored only 3 goals!!!!!!!
HELLO, that's less than 5% of every shot and 10% of every SOG (I am only using the ones that actually scored for this discussion).
Granted, he played WELL in SuperLiga but those 3 games seems to make everyone shoot a nut when he is mentioned.
My god DeNothing had less than 1/3 his playing time but scored 1/3 of his goals (in other words, in MLS play DeNothing scored more goals per minute than AA).
Let that sink in for a moment.
In fact, just below AA on the sheet is Ramon Nunez' FCD stats and if you look at minutes played and compare, yikes.
I would obviously rather have AA any day of the week and I know stats can be made to say anything you want but just slow down a little on the AA up top crap.
I believe he belongs starting on the left side attacking mid.
And I am not even going to comment on him helping HOU-STANK win the playoff series.........
Oh yeah, both playoff goal scorers are gone now and everyone wants the keeper to be the one who gave up 4 goals in the playoffs compared to the one that gave up zero, hmmmm.......

I do AGREE Ruiz needs to be replaced but AA is not that answer.
KCJ is a excellent #2 (I don't have a problem with him #1 myself w/a very good #2 of course), Abe very good #3 and Oduro decent #4.
I can't say I wanted Ruiz gone (although the flopping always killed me too) but I will reserve judgment until mid-March when our roster is close to ready for opening day.
Then we can start a '08 season prediction thread and let the ripping begin if needed.

 

I didn't see those guys play but I would be willing to bet they were more ferocious in the box than Arturo has shown.

 

Arturo's highest FIFA 08 rating is at forward. That's all I have for this conversation.

 

i also scored a 25 yard left-footer curler into the upper90 with oduro last night. thats realistic isnt it?

 

he should be given a couple of shots at forward. that's where he's going to end up anyway. AA's not very one footed... he's one directional. He uses both of his feet to move with the ball but his most effective shot set up is that left slither. He leans on that slide because it gets him open. I think that if AA is given shots closer to the target then you'll see more go in.

 

no - if Arturo is going to make the jump from really promising to actually good, he'll need to do it by becoming less selfish and setting up plays. I suspect what he'd theoretically be best at, and what we should try to make him work on, is getting down the flank to the endline and sending through balls into the box.

 

but he's selfish AND not any good at scoring. see mspan's statistics. he got better last year and seems like he's ready to be successful in MLS, which is great, but he's going to need to specialize in moving the ball forward and providing service.

 

dribble downfield, sharp cut left, dribble, dribble, shoot.
Repeat.

 

7 goals in his last 20 games in all comps last year.

Not that bad.

 

not bad at all, and I'm very eager to see him become a top-tier MLS player starting this year. but he's not a forward any more than Toja is. he's a midfielder who can occasionally shoot and score.

 

Well I completely agree with you that if Alvarez wants to have a slam dunk starting spot next season he needs to up his assist totals. 3 in 27 games is not enough for a winger. He'll get you a nice amount of goals from the wing, but IMO that's not what we should be looking for out there.

 

I think trying him at forward wouldn't be a bad idea. There are dozens of forwards that have been succesful in MLS who completely relied on one foot....but no one ever talked about that because it happened to be their right foot. People only focus on lefties when talking about being one-footed, why is that?

Anyway, I think Arturo is darn good on the dribble at full speed. I think he has a pretty darn good shot, if not the most accurate. I think he can spread defenses around, and he can beat guys one v one. I don't think he can pass, I don't think he can cross, I don't think he can help on defense. If Morrow goes 3-5-2 then Arturo DOES NOT fit in as a wide mid. His only realistic option is forward.

And this pains me, because I usually disagree with everything Paladius posts. I mean, should we really take advice from a guy who thinks its a good idea to abolish the off side rule?

 

Because, people who are left footed are freaks and cannot be trusted. I love to yell when a lefty has the ball, "watch his left, he can only use his left foot!". It always makes them panic.

That's a very true but insightful comment Tex. It's a rightfooted world, and the lefties are just lucky that we let them exist in it.

 

Jason did well being switched from middi to forward. AA might do well, too. He's got an excellent shot.

 

definitely, it makes no sense NOT to try it in training and exhibition games and whatnot. my "no" vote is more along the lines of a prediction about how it will work out. they'll need to focus on making him a better midfielder