Stuart Holden should play in front of Gooch and Bocanegra. This is our best combination for those spots for the forseeable future. xxxxxxxxxxxx Holden xxxxxxxxxxx LB xxxx Gooch xxxx Boca xxxx RB In Attacking Midfield- you can have Torres, Adu, Fabian Johnson and others compete for it....but given we need to play the twin towers at duo CB- Holden is the best option to cover the space in front of them and keep possession. Comments from Stu's debut last night. Today, 07:53 AM #533 sXeWesley BigSoccer Member Re: Holden out for a quick recovery: Stu at Bolton [R] High praise from OC: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle802334.html A sample: Just got back from game. Top performance. Looked twice the team we have done recently. Holden absolutely bossed it. We played 4-5-1. N'Gog on his own up front. Looked solid. Same line-up for Saturday, but Petrov in for Kakuta and I'd like to see NRC, Holden and M.Davies in centre. 4-5-1 Worked well and Holden sat pretty deep sniffing out all the trouble and never put a pass out of place, world class that lad.
I love the idea. Holden just puts a smile on my face. His game is so simple, and he is so well-rounded that he can do any midfield job (winger, attack, defend, two-way) with aplomb.
Holden is the american Jack Wilshire. They both play very similar. Jurgen will continue with the 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3. These pairings require one defensive mid, one box to box mid, and one attacking mid. Holden is the box to box mid who can play the attacking mid well. I wonder how Jurgen will use him.
I would rather have Holden in front of Gooch and Boca than either Bradley or Mo. Holden is better with ball control and a cleaner tackler. Both Mo and Bradley are more erratic- tending to get out of position and overcompensate. The position right in front of Gooch/Boca is absolutely vital, since Gooch, Boca have limited mobility and are getting older- not as quick. I trust no one more than Holden to snuff out the danger. Keeping the opponent at 0 means that you at least take a point from games.
If you're expecting Holden to be the most defensive-focused mid in the US lineup, then you should also expect the US to give up a lot of goals.
But the signs are that this may not be true at all. Holden's strengths are mobility, quick feet, speed-of-play, smooth tackling, and tidy (but not aggressive) passing. Bolton are using him in the EPL as a central midfield holding player who is very active, good in the tackle and plays the ball quickly to teammates. Heck, it was his tremendous tackling stats in the EPL last year that wowed everyone, not his clever passing or scoring. Skevinrules's comment a few posts ago does Holden a slight disservice: Because Holden can also play DM or holding mid well. He's an all-rounder. Certainly not obviously a better attacking mid than holding/defensive mid. And if my choice at DM was Beckerman or Holden, Holden wins hands down. What I am curious to see is Holden vs Edu and vs Bradley in the DM role. Holden in that role is what supercooper suggests in the OP. It would be an interesting competition. One of those 3 will play that role in 2014, since I think Jones will be too old for full-time duty there in 3 years. A second of those 3 will become the primary box-to-box mid. Then the interesting question will be if the US sticks to using a 3d CM in a 4-5-1, or switches back to some version of the 4-4-2.
I agree with this, he's a good defensive player, but don't see Holden as someone you're going to play as a solo DM, typically he's paired with Muamba or at least a few other box to box types. The advantage of playing Holden as CM though, is that we might be able to get away with Bradley in the other CM role, as Holden can cover better for him defensively than someone like Torres. I also a think a 3 CM line up of Bradley, Torres and Holden could be interesting as they could dynamically shift roles and cover for each other.
So is Holden a better 6 or 8? I think he mainly played as an 8 for Bolton before his injury with Muamba as the 6. They apparently had a role reversal against AV. But from what I saw last year it makes sense for Bolton to do what they did before Stu's injury. They make keep the role reversal slightly longer until Stu is back to 100%. As for the Nats, I suspect the question turns more on other players. If Edu shows more than Torres, then Torres sits and Stu is the 8. If Torres shows more, then I could see Stu as the 6 in place of Edu. And finally there is Bradley. I think by the end of the cycle it will be Bradley and Holden in central mid. Hard to say which should be the 6 and which should be the 8 between those two. My own instict is Bradley will learn to play in a more disciplined way and end up being the 6.
To clarify his role with Bolton: he isn't a holding or defensive mid. He's a linking player normally paired with a defensive midfielder or a more active destroyer-type. It's not that he's not a good defender for the position he plays, but more that his success defending as linking or box-to-box player is as a complement to a more defensively focused player.
I disagree. Holden should play in the center with Torres at his side as an attacking/distributing midfielder. This would make better use of all of his best attributes than a pure destroyer role. I want our midfield to look something like this during the October friendlies: -----Holden--Torres----- ----------Edu----------- Wouldn't mind seeing Jones or even Bradley in Edu's spot, but I definitely want to see how Holden and Torres combine together in midfield.
I'd say this sums up his role quite well. With a player like Jones or Edu behind him, Holden would be able to make use of all that he has to offer. Playing him directly in front of our backline would put too much defensive responsibilities on him and wouldn't allow him to flourish in terms of distribution and linking play.
I don't see how this is possible. We have to play 4 in the back. We pretty much have to play 4 in the front with: Shea, Dempsey, Donovan and either Altidore or Aguedelo up front. So, this leaves only 2 spaces for central midfield. I think the most important position on the squad is who plays in front of + between Gooch and Bocanegra. Historically, that soft spot has been a liability for the US. Too many games to mention, but the Slovenia game was a classic example. As much as I like Holden going forward, he is more valuable as a(lmost) forward sweeper in front of Gooch and Boca. Forget this word 'destroyer' ...it is antiquated concept for many teams. I'd rather have Holden as DM in this set up and take my chances with 1 of either Torres, F. Johnson, Adu or someone in AM. Defensively, we will have speed on the wings (Chandler and Lichaj) so it will be difficult for teams to 'round the corner'. We pray for the high lob in the box with Gooch and Boca- that is our bread n butter (and has been for years). That leaves the soft spot right in front of the box, side-2-side as our big weakness. Gooch and Boca are just not fast enough to get out and block shots and defend 1v1 there. We need someone steady who plays angles well, can tackle when need be, and keep possession/make intelligent pass forward from deep positions/under pressure.
Holden at defensive mid wouldn't even work in fifa games so it won't work in the international game. Holden isn't as aggressive and good at defending as a true defensive mid. Holden is the best box to box player we have so why play him elsewhere? Plus Klinnsman wants the 4-3-3 so a front 3 of Dempsey-Altidore-Donovan with Holden and an attacking mid controlling things would be great.
Last I checked, just because you're right in front of the defense, that doesnt automatically make you a defensive midfielder or anchorman. It's quite comment to see a linkup or playmaker play in front of the back four in a 4-5-1/4-3-2-1 a la Pirlo/Milan. I think he'll be fine there with the US if played there, and when we do concede a lot of goals, it's not because of Holden's positioning, it's just because we're not quite that good, to be quite frank.
It's not about that. But if Holden is the most defensive player in your midfield, then you will leak goals. Especially if it's something as lol as Holden/Adu playing in midfield alone like the OP is suggesting.
Well I do see how this is possible. I guess I'll post a hypothetical best 11 IMO (of course excluding the fact that Torres is injured right now): ---------Altidore-------- Dempsey--------Donovan ------Holden-Torres----- -----------Edu---------- Dolo-------------Chandler -----Boca--Onyewu------ ---------Howard--------- This line up puts everyone, with the exception of cherundolo... and maybe you could make the argument for Edu, in their best positions. It lets Donovan and Dempsey attack a bit more than they can when acting as 4-4-2 wingers, something that I think is important for both of them.
Speaking of the deep Pirlo style role, I think this would be a good place to try Torres, because he's not very good going forward and doesn't seem to have great fitness to cover a ton of ground as a two way midfielder. So we could let him hang back deep and play him with two other CMs who cover a lot of ground, defend and get into the attack (Pirlo typically played with two of guys like Gattuso, Seedorf, Ambrosisni, Perrota or De Rossi). Something like this: ---Bradley-Holden ------Torres I think Holden could play the deepest role for us, but if he does he's still probably going to need other midfielders who can defend with him. Holden and 3 AMs and 2 forwards is unlikely to be good enough defensively (although it might be useful as a late game attacking strategy, if we are losing). Also, because he's a fairly good attacking player relative to the rest of our team, I don't think playing him deep, without another CM to cover for him if he goes forward, maximizes his value.
I just think it's too early to pen Gooch back into the starting lineup. He might be doing more at Lisbon, but hasn't really done anything of note since the Confederations Cup in 2008. I want to see more before he is reinstalled as a starter.
Eventually I'd like to try this for once and see how it goes... -----TH------ Dolo-Ony-Boca-Eric -----Holden--------- -----------Torres--- -------Adu---------- Dono-------Demps --------Jozy-------- At least it'd be fun to watch.