he's 19, he will fill out. Many of best D-mids in history were shorties. Makalala, the French dude who was on Chelsea.
The thing about Green is that he probably was playing at his ceiling in the game. I didn't see any room to grow. Most of the newbies struck me as particularly immature and not trusting themselves. This was particularly obvious in the first half when they could not find a way to get out of the back. Difficulty finding an open midfielder to receive a defender's pass and equivalent difficulty playing the ball from the midfielders to attackers. A lot of that, perhaps a large majority, has to be chalked up to lack of confidence in making the 20-30 yd passes necessary to start the process of unlocking defenses. How many times did you see what I did--open receivers who could be hit with medium length passes between two opponents, but the necessary passes were never made. Instead, the ball was recirculated to no effect. Some of the younger guys will soon learn to trust themselves and will make those essential passes just as Donovan and Beasley did. Others will not so learn and it will be the end of the national team line for them.
.......................................................................................... This is hanging, Chad.
I just don’t understand how you can play Trapp, Adams, and McKennie and expect to score goals. Of those 3, I’d be fine with Adams or McKennie as the 6. Anyone who thinks Trapp was good or adequate yesterday needs to hop on watch espn and watch again. His passing in the defensive third was atrocious
Yep, Makelele and Kante. Can somebody send Sarachan and Richie Williams some videos of the French NT, so they can see how a midfield should be set up? Obviously the talent disparity is huge, but France also leaves out terrific players in order to get the correct combination of skill sets in their midfield.
We certainly do seem to have a number of #8 midfield types, hard workers, runners with a little but not a lot of skill, guys who cover a lot of ground. But, what other #6 types do we have? I'm not particularly a fan of Trapp, but the more I think, the more I fail to come up with a better stay-at-home defensive midfielder in the pool. Sure, there are guys people suggest could just stop moving around so much and start sitting deep, guys who are not #6 players regularly anywhere, but they don't usually play the spot and would need to learn it. Admittedly I don't see enough of our MLS guys, but isn't Trapp supposedly about as good as it gets from the domestic bunch in that roll? As far as I know,we have exactly zero #6 players in Europe. Do we honestly have another option to play that spot that plays there regularly at a high level? Or, is the argument to leave him out based on not believing we need such a player?
Why on earth is he playing then? What is it about him that has given him a solid role? And how do these characteristics fail to be bettered by the other players in the pool? Hint: white, suburban, company man.
Good post. But the 6 has to be a good passer. Better technically. When McKennie gets better as a passer, then maybe. Also he wanders a bit (and is quite effective at times) in more advanced positions. Like I said, not now. Ditto Adams. I want to see if both/either can become more than a 6. Agree McKennie has a better shot. But if they both become better passers, and provide some connection to the forward, then that 4141 could really work as well.
I really think there should be a new coach starting from scratch and that's why I think this may be all sound and fury signifying nothing. I'm saying what I am more to be critical of Sarachan, as I think circling back around to once-rejected bubble players is a sign he's actually lacking in ideas. You're basically circling back around to the margin debates of a team that missed out. Only an assistant off that team would be wanting to go back around in that circle, would consider those players as almost equally worthy, not too blemished as the Road Not Taken. Most rational human beings would be like, you couldn't beat out that bad team, and we're restocking, ball it up and toss that idea in the trash can. I mean, I understand a coach off that team might be beating himself up still about whether maybe, if only, possibly if we make this change, we make it................for example, Lichaj. But with the exception of the one Gold Cup play, I don't think most of us who watched last cycle would be stuck on that one. It would be he generally looked bad or nervous, so, why? Which is why I am like, get some new players in and their challenge is not to try and overcome their bad impression for the 5th time, but instead to come in fresh and see if they look better than Miazga or Moore or Adams or the like.
Add someone kicking Lalas in the balls (not that I object to that, on principal) in a WCQ. Was it Pardo?
Mentaly ill to accuse racism where most of the lineup was black. And particularly where you see white guys like Noka who arguably should have played over Zardes.
Perhaps. But I hope McKennie can become MORE than just an 6. I don't want him (or Adams) stuck back there quite yet. If that is the road their club careers take, then I would adjust my thinking. Agree 100% we look better with an attacking player closer to the CF. Much better. But I will reiterate, defensively, the scheme works pretty darn well. I do not think we need it vs T&T, but for France, Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Spain....
Or maybe he was just taking the bite out of retaco's bluster, letting him know that he, and anyone else watching, knows that he would get the crap kick out of him if he actually started anything.
I really want to like Acosta. His set pieces weren’t great in this game, but he’s far better than anyone else we have. But in the run of play, I just don’t think he’s good enough. He’s too safe to play the 10, not consistent enough of a passer to play the 8, not defensive minded enough to play the 6, and has almost no qualities that would make a good wing. I still just don’t see him as someone who should be getting called in
There are plennnnnnty of Mexicans of European ancestry. I worked in Santa Ana schools for about 15 years and it was the norm for darker skinned folks to be referred to as "indio."
Idk... if you have some great wingers, I guess you can expect some offense. As long as Pulisic is out, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation for us tho. Plus, you need someone who will get the ball to them quickly so they can get out and run cuz none of those guys can fill the creator role from the middle.
Is Trapp better than Morales? Or does Morales not count? Im sure he has the ability to do everything that Trapp can do. I mean hes doing it at a higher level now. Is he not? Mckennie is a better defensive mid than Trapp. He has played cdm at Schalke this season and prior. When did Trapp become this soccer savant. I mean when did this happen? Nobody was speaking about Trapp when MB was playing every minute. Now all of sudden hes this organizer extraordinaire. Its a compete fallacy. Its BS. I have my suspicions as to why this is happening but ill keep those to myself for now. At some point people have to stop lying to themselves. Trapp wasnt a factor prior to the Portugal friendly.Nobody had him penciled in as a everyday starter. Suddenly, hes this mystical footballing figure worthy of the armband. Stooooooppppp IT. Realistically we could achieve the same results vs Bosnia c team and Paraguay u23 with just about anybody you plug in his position. Thats being honest. Trapp is not the only guy that can 'organize'. This to me is code talk for all the MLS/GOB defenders. They use it when the want to deflect and ignore reasonable options. What an insult to all the other players who invest their whole lives into the sport. They must not have the mental capacity to communicate with a team mate! You know organizing is simply communication, right?!?!. Many of these young guys seem eloquent enough. Also an organizer does not have to be a cdm. This isnt quantum physics. Trapp doesnt have some magic fairy dust on him that separates him from anybody in the pool. Looks like we are destined to learn the hard way, again! Teams are not getting weaker around us.
Do we have anyone who can take defenders on the dribble? It was a joy to watch the Mex players actually go at people. Would Carleton be playing if he was in the MFL?
I grew up near there. My Spanish teacher used to say that her mom told her, “trae tu paraguas. no quieres parecer como indio.”
This is the national team. Solid is not enough. You pressurize solid and it often becomes turnover prone or has nothing left to offer. Last night's first half. Give me people who are actually gifted on the ball or who can actually break up stringed possession. The problem of last cycle was too much two way mediocre mush. Jacks of all trades, masters of none. Nagbe, Acosta. The unrequited promise of occasional goals combined with ball winning, turned in reality into rare goals, a midfield starved of scoring as a result, and then not enough actual ball winning. I thought last night -- or more precisely, last cycle -- was a repudiation of the empty bucket style with a bunch of two way types but not enough creation or actual ball winning. I expect whoever the new coach is, he will depart from this negative crap, and it'll be 1-2 DM specialists, who will be culled based on do they actually win balls. One concern I have at the moment is I haven't seen a Jermaine Jones 6 yet in this bunch, despite the fact on paper quite a few would be selling use at that spot. In which case, given there is some attacking talent, maybe it flips over and like the second half last night, eff it, here are the people who can attack, try and stop us. Neither scenario bodes well for Acosta, Trapp, etc. Looking at what I saw last night there won't be a ton of 6s on the field at any one time, and I am not sure either would be the best ball winner option if there are just 1-2 slots. I mean, when Pulisic comes back, and Bradley gets his call, and you have Weah and Adams and Green etc., why would you put very many of these two-way suckages on the field together? Even if I was playing Brazil or Germany it would be play to strengths and let them stop us. Not repeat Sarachan's mistake last night. In which case, is Trapp the leading option at ball winner, if there is only one slot for the type? Not so sure. Put differently, like I said earlier, I see a contradiction in criticizing Sarachan for what he did but then you tell me how Trapp fits into some highly negative formational scheme that, well, actually sounds like Sarachan. I expect we flee this style rapidly. I expect there won't be a ton of work for a lineup like we started last night.
It's CM-focused formation, so we have the players for it. It's the same formation JK used against Ghana. The midfield 'y' then was Jones(LCM), Bradley(CM), Beckerman(CDM), and Bedoya(RCM)