A small discussion started in the other board of where Paule should play. For the most part, the consensus is the lone holding midfield. I dont' think Paule should play there. He has long been one of my favorite players. In his current position of D-mid with Moore, he has become increasingly marginalized. The result is that his biggest strength, passing isn't utilized at all. My question is what does OZ want to do? Does he want flank play? The way he has been playing, he doesn't. Our backs are just not capable of running the miles it takes to go from endline to endline well, and pressure offensively. That in my mind is a fact. Thus we are left with the situation where we clog up the center, and our attack is easily stifled. That is why in games we can't connect passes or create any fluidity to our game. We don't stretch the field at all. Personally, I feel that we can't trust Ramos. All he is at this point is a 15 minute player at the end of a match. That's it. That's why I feel that Andy Williams should play on the right flank, leaving Paule and Moore in the center. Now, people will jump at me. However, at Chicago this year, they capably played well with Walsh and Marsch in the center. Neither of who are offensive dynamos by any stretch of the imagination. Out on the left and the right they had DMB and Dema. The result was a very competent midfield that continuously pressured. I would like the same thing to occur for the Metrostars. --------Mathis---------Diallo-------------- Davis---------------------------Williams-------- --------Moore-------Paule------------------ Akwari---Petke-------Jolley-----Ziade------ --------------Howard--------------- Davis adn Williams play wide on the left and right flanks. Thus we will force the defense and midfields of the opposing teams to stretch, and create more gaps. This is where I feel Paule can capitalize. Paule can make the through ball. He has shown it before. With Diallo and Mathis up top, we can be lethal with this lineup I feel.
I like your lineup. Substutite Faria for Diallo because of injury and Chrono for Ziadie because of the red card and let's see how they do against Dallas. Clint also likes to drop into midfield - in this formation he won't be getting into Andy's way. Oz just needs Paule and the rest of the defense on utilizing AW and Brad on the wings. If we are down late in games, bring in Tab for Moore and slide AW into the middle and let Tab play wing half. Going into the tail end of the season, this lineup provides Metro with the best opportunity to salvage the season.
Williams is not a wide mid and lacks the pace and defensive prowess to play the part (at least Davis fakes that aspect), and since most MLS sides employ a 3-5-2 with two flank players, a box midfield is asking to be killed on the counterattack. Paule and Williams should start in the middle with Moore holding/defensive mid and Lisi (no better options) and Davis out wide. Next year, we should look to move a draft pick and maybe Diallo to KC for Klein, a solid offensive player who tracks back very well.
I too like the thought of Paule more involved in the offense. He has shown, on a number of occasions this year, that he can make the dangerous pass even when playing a defensive role. I believe that he can score too, if he is moved up to take advantage of his stronger skills. I agree with Arisrules and would love to see Sweeper's idea of dumping Diallo for Klein come into play. I doubt that Gansler would be that gullible.
You act as if the person playing a defensive midfield role can't utilize their ability to pass. That's not true. They can, they just need to win the ball and have passing options. The last game I think Moore and Paule conceded too much ground in the midfield. If they continue to do that no lineup change is going to make much difference as our defense will continue to get shredded. That said, the way I see it Paule doesn't have enough passing options, in part because Moore is playing the same role as him, in part because Davis is not on the field, in part because Ramos is hurt, and in part because our forwards are not making smart runs. The two options he does have lately are to give the ball to Williams, or to pass to Mathis, who is dropping back way too far. Either way, Mathis/Williams then encounters the same problem. I think the gain from having Williams in the center and Ramos/Ziadie on the right is greater than the gain from having a second holding midfielder, because it provides an additional outlet. Plus, without Williams in the middle, Mathis is likely to continue dropping back, leaving Faria as our lone striker.
My friend have you watched the matches? Most of the time Mathis comes back and gets the ball. That just slows down the whole offense. Instead of a quick outlet pass to whoever, Mathis has to track back. This is bad for two reasons. Time it takes for Mathis to come get the ball, and pass. This allows the other team to get back in position. Secondly, it takes him away from where he is most lethal, the goal. Paule does not have this job. Mathis comes back to do it, which makes no sense. The lineup isn't really a box system. Williams and Davis would be outside wings mostly. I think Williams can do it, soley for his ability to hold the ball.
That might be a bit harsh, but for whatever reason, Paule's the least criticized player on the Metros.
I think that if you want Paule to be more involved in the offense than he should be on the bench and Lisi should take his place. Lisi is a better passer and brings an offensive aspect to the team that paule simply does not.
That's exactly the point I made. Mathis comes back because we can't bring the ball upfield consistently. The reason for this is Paule and Moore don't have enough passing options. Under the system you advocate they would have two midfielders to pass to (Davis and Williams), where as in the system I advocate they would have three (Davis, Williams and Ramos/Ziadie).
Anyone who thinks that Paule's play has been less then solid needs a solid knock to the head. His defensive play has increased exponentially this year and his distribution and holding skills remain among the best in the league. The emergence of Williams in the central midfield has allowed Paule to be the Anthony Mason of our team (doesn't compile the statistics but his hard work and unselfish play contributes greatly to the team). I think that without Paule on the pitch, our team loses its most valuable outlet on the counterattack and a true midfield workhorse. Before Diallo joined the team, Paule could well have been our team's MVP, and most under-rated player on the team too. Because he lacks the flash of Mathis and Williams or isn't the scoring presence that Diallo is, he often gets lost in the shuffle, yet for a full ninety minutes, I can think of few Metros who contribute more the team. With all that being said, Mathis dropping back to midfield, at times, can be extremely valuable. As noted before, Clint often draws two defenders to his Gazza-esque form wherever he roams on the pitch, and by moving on occasion to midfield, Mathis frees up the wings/and or Faria for a quick counterattack by leaving the wings exposed and usually only one central defender back in the defensive third. To use another basketball analogy, Phil Jackson used this strategy quite well by often placing O'Neal at the perimeter for the opening moments of a play, because wherever Shaq goes, usually two defenders will follow, and at least one man is left open to cut to the basket. Now if OZ had a brain, he would work on counterattacking under this premise.
I agree completely. I'm now certain that he will not be back next year. Why would the MFO want to keep a guy like this? It would make too much sense.