I think you're right on this. Torres at least has a chance.........but the inclusion of Jones really puts that into question. And it's unclear how Edu fits into the whole thing. Adu's inclusion...................probably depends on whether he goes to a club where he can get playing time this season. We've seen what that's done for Feilhaber. If Adu goes to another club where he sits on the bench, he can forget about it. He knows this. That's probably why he and his agents are taking so long on their loan decision. It's arguably the most important decision of his career so far............. I like both players, but neither have a natural place in Bob's system.
With Gooch sitting out the next match because of yellow card accumulation and the game being played in Rio Tinto, I think we may not have to wait long to see Marshall.
I know what I am about to say is blasphemous, but please hear me out. What about a central midfield of Jones and Torres. You would have a central destroyer, and two players that are pretty tidy with the ball. Now, imagine bringing Junior off of the bench to run the opposition in to the ground at the end of the game. Any thoughts?
Getting muscled off the ball wasn't exactly our midfield's problem against Mexico. There are some teams out there who would make life very difficult for a small central mid, but they're not necessarily the norm. Torres would have been a great guy to start or bring on against Mexico. As for Adu, I have no idea why people think he would help with possession - he has great ball skills, but his off-the-ball movement is poor enough that he doesn't consistently provide an outlet; he'd probably be a net negative for possession if anything. And I think people are underrating the potential of a Clark-Jones switch to help our possession.
that's disheartening.... Bob messes around with every position except Junior's own position.... I really hope we go undefeated the rest of the way.... or else I am gonna write him a letter or something
Want better possession? ------------------Howard-------------------- Dolo/Spector/Hejduk--Gooch--Boca--JB/Pearce/Spector/Hejduk ------------------Jones--------------------- Dempsey/Holden--Benny/Torres-----Donovan ---------2 of Jozy/Davies/Dempsey---------- Bench Jr and Clark, don't play with 3 CB's in the back, don't play two DM's. Yes, in terms of passing ability, Jr. might as well be a DM.
You're on to something here. Many will chime in that it will never happen (and they may be right), but I think at a minimum we need to try something like this lineup in a serious match before the WC. I would go further and suggest Marshall for Boca. And Frankie shouldn't be in there if the idea is to have a team that can play through pressure.
This line up is what I would do if I want a more possession oriented team: ------------------Howard--------------------- Dolo------Gooch------Marshall------Spector --------------------Jones---------------------- Dempsey-------Benny/Torres-------Donovan --------------Jozy---------Davies------------- Heck, this is my #1 line up at the moment, possession oriented or not.
Michael Bradley was among the top 5 US players in the Confederation Cup, one difficult match doesn't change that.
I don't think under rating, it's just he makes a mistake and still plays every second, Torres makes half of a mistake and doesn't play the what 5-7 games or so.....
I agree. This guy made his bones in Mexico, has played in Azteca several times and has a skillset that the US desperately needed in the game and he doesn't see the field? Are we supposed to believe that in the five Confederations Cup games plus the Mexico qualifier that Torres wouldn't have been able to help in ANY of those games? I mean, Sacha Kjlestan and his terrible form got repeated games. Conor Casey, who I like but who can't score in a whorehouse when playing for the US, got games. Jonathan Bornstein got games... at midfield, when the US needed a goal. Sometimes things happen in a game and you can't use a guy. But SIX games? That isn't circumstance, that's ignoring a player. And when that player has Torres' potential, ignoring him is criminal. I mean, it's not actually a crime in the legal sense, obviously, but it's a bad act by a coach who shouldn't be ignoring Torres' skills and giving him an extended chance with the US to show what he can do.
It says more about Bob Bradley than anything else. BB is not going to get the USA to the next level. Torres should have played instead of Clark. Yes, we would have one less defender on the field, but with four defenders back and Michael Bradley playing defensive midfield it should have been enough. I think we would have seen good chemistry in Torres-Donovan-Dempsey. Or should the real question be-Does Bob Bradley not feel comfortable with just Michael Bradley playing in center of the midfield?
I would also llike to see more of Torres, but I can understand why he is not seeing the field. In South America Bob found a line-up and formation that was successful us (4-4-2 with Landon and Clint on the wings). This lineup pretty much calls for two CM's that have a least decent defensive skills as Landon and Demspy are more offensive minded. Add to that fact that Benny has returned to form for the most part. Benny brings pretty good skill on the ball but also has more size and is willing to be somewhat physical and at least attempt tackles. When someone brought up a concern about Torres size earlier in this thread another poster responded that we should not be worried about him getting muscled off the ball. I agree, the worry is whether at 135lbs can he muscle anyone else off the ball. As good as Torres has looked offensively against Costa Rica, he looked as bad defensively. Torres may be an possibility as a CM in a 4-4-2 if we had someone stronger defensively on the wing (like an in form Beasley). He certainly could play CAM in a 4-5-1 but we have not had any success with playing only one forward. I like him on the roster because if Landon ever gets subbed out I like Torres as his replacement. I also like the idea of brining him in as a sub if we are behind in a game. But unfortunately for Torres, Landon never comes out and we have rarely been behind when have made our midfiled substitutions. I hope he gets to see the field as a sub in the next two WCQ's so we can better evaluate him. But if shy's away from physical contact like he did in the Costa Rica came I don't really see him getting on the field in front of Bradley, Benny, or Holden.
To be fair, I think Feilhaber's resurrection has a lot to do with Torres' not getting playing time in recent matches. They are different types of players. I like what each brings to the team. However, I don't think there is room for both in our lineup. The El Salvador match is ideal for bringing either Feilhaber or Torres back into the starting lineup. Hopefully, whichever one doesn't start will be brought in as a substitute for the other.
This may be a bit off topic and would never happen under Bob but I would love to see this lineup (4-1-2-1-2) and not sit back and just attack all game(of course this would be for a friendly and not meant for possession): -----------------Howard----------------- Boca/Dolo--Gooch--Demerit/Marshall--Spector -----------------Jones----------------- Holden/Dempsey----------------Torres/Adu ----------------Donovan--------------- --------Altidore----------Davies-------
List of "incomplete" starters from Wednesday: Ching:Can't dribble or score Clark:Below average in possession Dempsey:Below average in defense Dolo:Bad in the air Demerit: Poor Distribution Bocaoor Distribution, Slow for position. Subs: Feilhaber:Below average in defense Altidoreoor off the ball. There is not a team in the world with 11 complete players. But you don't really mean "complete player", you and BB mean "hustler".
Very few coaches are comfortable with just one player playing in the center of midfield. Most want two and alot want three. Or Edu or Jones, if they become available. Other than this little addition, a great post. Again, I agree - we don't need Rico Clark's attributes (and yes he does have plenty as demonstrated in the Spain and Egypt games) from the start against El Salvador. Bradley plus either Torres, BF or Holden is what I would do (as well as sending Bornstein and Dolo out wide).
I obviously meant playing "the sole defensive midfielder", as in: Is Bob Bradley uncomfortable playing Michael Bradley ass the sole defensive midfielder?