I've been meaning to post this for a while... and watching today's game, it was even more obvious. Williams, Clark, Guevara and to a lesser extent Lisi play about four feet from each other. They get in each other's way... which in my opinion kills some of our chances of scoring. Does anyone else agree? How can we solve this?
This problem was exacerbated on Naperville's narrow pitch. The problem is we don't have any true wingers, and Mathis has a tendancy to drift back into the midfield during the course of the match. Maybe Bartolomeu can fill in at left back and we can slot in Digi in left mid, which would solve some of the width problem. But all in all, I've been impressed with our midfield positioning this season.
Nope, don't agree. They are all pretty good playing in a small space. A space made small by defensive pressure. You can not isolate the dribbler against a pressure defense. He will either lose the ball or make a long clearance up field and lose the ball. They have to be able to hold the ball in a small space until someone can make the break out pass. Danger is you can't play in a small space for too long. We also need to play away from the pressure more then we have been.
One thing Oz did pretty well, and that was how the team played on a narrow field, and avoiding the double team on the flank. You can play on a narrow width field if you use the flank to receive a pass then get the hell out into the inside. Once you leave the flank that opens up the flank for someone else. The use of takeover can help do that. inside dribbler leaves the ball for the wing moving inside and past the dribbler and he take over the ball. Beside once you have the ball on the flank do you need a player on the far flank for width? No you don't. If a player is wide on the far flank when the ball is on the other flank. The far flank player is of no use to the team near his own touch. You are playing numbers down. Ball moved to the middle or even 15 years inside the field then you need players on both flanks for width. ----------- As far as I am concerned I want Mathis to come to the ball. That creates space up top for others because he can drag a back with him. Also he will get more touches doing that. I want to see him, Gueavara, Lisi and Clark get more touches then just a few.
Too bad we don't have a guy like Andy Williams who can control the ball, beat his man one V one and create scoring opportunities for himslef or with his crosses. Bartolomeau for Williams seems rediculous now that I have seen edgar actually play.
I like to see Di Giamarino at left, Clark at right, Williams as defensive and Guevara as attacking midfielders. There was no left midfielder in the first half and the first goal by chicago came from that side. The real problem is at central defense. That blast came right from the center. The two guys we have there do not have a lot of experience. The sad part is that this is the strongest position on the team with Pope and Joley healthy.
Well, the deal was made to open the way for a player like Guevara to come on board. That said, Andy Williams sure is doing a fine job of making this deal still look bad. Guevara, on the other hand, well at least he drew the foul that led to Clark's beauty of a goal.
I knew Williams was going to huirt us when he left the team. We could have used him with the players we have now. I think Mathis in this game showed signs of beating defenders like he would do regularly before the ACL. Maybe finally he is getting over the hump in that regard. If over the next 2 months he can be his old self 1 v 1 we are going to get a lot better as a team. The National team as well.
When are you idiots going to realize that the only two good games Andy Williams has had all year have come against the MetroStars? He has played like crap the rest of the year yet some people here seriously want to question why Bradley let him go. Get a clue people.
I'd rather have solid play year round from a player (Gueverra) then two wonderful matches (Williams).
And those two wonderful mathches were against us (Metrostars), which knocked us out of first place. I think Andy Williams and Gueverra could have played on the same team. Use Williams as a winger and Gueverra in the middle. Just my two pence.
Why does this either/or myth persist on this board? Andy Williams signed with Chicago for $60K, if we wanted to fit him on this team with Guevara, we could have. Bradley didn't like Williams so he was let go, it had nothing to do with the salary cap. Personally, I trust Bradley that maybe he something else (workrate?) in a player like Galvan that he didn't see in Andy. But this salary cap excuse is just total bullsh!t. It's also very funny to see the "Andy Williams Sucks" crowd going around calling people "idiots" again. They did this when Andy was initial let go. Their mantra was: "Andy sucks, if you disagree you're an idiot." - They're looking silly here. "Andy will be in the A-League." - Looking even sillier. "Andy never plays the early ball." - Silliest of all, since his early balls have killed us in both games. My only question to these people: Do you ever get tired of being wrong?
Gee, this argument again... So if Andy is so great, why did 4 teams get rid of him? Why couldn't Bob find any takers until he went to camp with Chicago?
Conversely, if Andy is so terrible, why did 5 teams pick him up? Why would a good coach like Dave Sarachan waste valuable Salary Cap room and an SI spot on him? The answer is that Andy isn't great but isn't terrible. He's good offensive-minded player who has his up and down games. I think with the right combo of players and the right coach he could be an effective starter or useful as a supersub off the bench. But Bradley has a pretty clear idea of what he likes in a player and he didn't see it in Andy. That doesn't mean he sucks, it just isn't what Bob was looking for.
Have you watched any games this year? Guevara has practically been our entire offense. I would say outside of Howard he is the MVP right now. It is not his fault that he does not have the talented offensive players to play the ball to that Williams does. The guys around Williams (Razov, Ralph, Beasley, Mapp, etc.) seem a lot more talented both in terms of crossing and finishing than the guys around Guevara (one big exception Mathis who hasn't been available for a few games before Saturday). He struggled at Naperville which is understandable because I don't think he is used to playing in a shoebox.
Your just wasting your time and effort on this. Haven't you yet realized that WC'94 spawned a nation of soccer experts?
This is how you know if a player is good for your team. Does he play a good game for your team. Williams did play a good game for us. That's all I care about I don't give a shiite how many teams he was on before he came here. Maybe, he was wrong for them. He was definately right for us, and now he is right for Chicago. A few yrs ago we could have had Valderama some said including some Metrostars we don't need him. I say to them bullshiite we don't need a passing genius?