I think Yueill allows McKennie and Adams to have more free roles, roaming towards the sidelines to help attack and defend on the wings as needed, or to combine in more advanced positions. Then you can put three attackers of your choice across the front line, giving you 5 (or six, if a fullback comes up) in the attack. Seems reasonable to me, if that's what he's going for.
Yueill doesn't have the ball control to keep the ball once he gets marked at the World Cup level though.
Fun fact, Adams (in his one really bad play in the midweek game v. Hertha) gets beat at the top of the box by Cunha (who transferred from Leipzig to Hertha in Jan) who is in 1v1 on gk and out of nowhere (in my tv pic anyway) left back Angelino (who played for NYCFC in 2015) puts in a tackle that saves the day and Cunha never gets a shot off. Cunha wreaked havoc getting the foul that earned a red card and put Leipzig down a man. McKennie and Adams in a 2dmid formation would be bad. Take a look at Leipzig's second goal yesterday where it is Adams who carries the ball to the box down the right side (but not old fashioned fb wide) Go to 2'25" for beginning of sequence. Rbulls are down a man here.
Yueill wouldn't free up Adams and McKennie. They would need to cover for him the way they did for Trapp against France. Unless the regista is some all-around, super-complete d-mid, the 8s will have to cover for him. The player is there for his passing game. Very few have that and everything else--like tackling, quickness, pace, lungs, aerial ability, etc.. Yueill isn't even Beckerman-level within MLS.
I found that article tough to sort through. They have Berhalter quotes but then much of it seems like their own thoughts on the depth chart. But is that what they were told but not to quote? Or is it just them throwing names in there. The quotes by themselves were good if a little cryptic. Not sure why Berhalter can't just tell us what he is trying to do. If he is thinking about playing Dest on the left, just say that.
I agree, partially. The dude's work rate, ability to get stuck in, and vision are all very good. He's just a step below World Cup caliber in terms of athleticism. But everything else is there to be a dynamic, pressing midfielder. You just have to it a bit more oomph, and he doesn't.
I agree, he is not as good defensively. Sounds like in the article, Gregg was saying they put in so much work with the three guys (MB, WT, JY) that it would be too hard to have someone new learn that. So, everyone who assumes Adams will be playing the #6 can get ready for disappointment. There are groups of three that can do what Gregg is talking about, but they have Adams at the base and nobody named Will, Mike, or Jackson.
Yeah, right or wrong, it's pretty clear he wants Adams and McKennie to have more freedom of movement and he wants his six to stay home.
Yes, it's very tough to tell if what Tenorio is relaying is his interpretation or something fairly clearly communicated but Berhalter didn't want as a direct quote/the quote wasn't interesting. Some places Berhalter was very clear: Altidore is his #1 striker. Others, not so much.
I just scanned the article and Tenorio's starting lineup is pretty predictable, with or without direct quotes. All quotes are Tenorio's unless indicated otherwise. GK: Steffen ("the clear No. 1" ) RB: Yedlin/Dest/Cannon ("The right back spot might be the deepest in the pool.") CB: Long and Brooks ("The two likely starters") LB: Dest/Ream/Robinson ("There are a whole bunch of things we are considering." - Berhalter) CM: Yuiell, Adams, McKennie ("would fit [Berhalter's midfield trio] description pretty well") LW: Pulisic ("the star of the team and likely has the left winger spot locked down") WF/AM: Reyna/Morris/Arriola/Boyd ("Pulisic and Reyna headlining this group") FW: Altidore ("He sets the tone for what the position could look like" - Berhalter)
Steffen is not the clear #1. He has a knee problem. That's a cloud. The question imposes itself: Who is the alternative? Horvath, imo. Right back isn't deep because anybody below Dest needs a kiddie flotation device to make it in this pool. People think "gee, we don't have a left back, everybody is a right back, ergo the right back pool is deep". No. Altidore can't play midfield. Reyna is obviously our best 10. Pulisic already got benched by Berhlater. Brooks has some problems with consistency of product. That's a lot more tolerable at club than country. Long doesn't satisfy our need for a left foot at lcb. Robinson loses games. Ream has one muck-up per game. etc. etc. I don't see a team in all this. I just see "players".
Altidore as 'clear #1' is sad, given his performances. Pretty wretched, if that's his thinking. Under him, the team has looked semi-competent only when a 10 occupied one of the center mid spots.
Why are we using a system designed around maximizing the touches for Yueill, Bradley or Trapp, rather than Pulisic, Adams, McKinnie, Dest, Brooks, Reyna, etc? Berhalter Quote: “There is so much instruction to the No. 6, it’s such a crucial position to play and there are so many ways we’ve figured to get the 6 the ball and we’ve done so much work in that area,” Berhalter said. “You can see that with guys like Michael Bradley, when he played, and even Wil (Trapp), but also Jackson (Yuiell)" Johan Cruyff Quote: "We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You’ll get it back in no time."
Maybe, I mean it’s def part of it, but we also don’t have many of those types of players and to play that game in Europe you need to top top class cause few teams play that style anymore and fewer leagues give you that type of time like the MLS.
Right and he was specifically talking about the number 6 position, right, which is Adams' as long as he is fit.
I think McKennie is too poor a passer, and not a quick enough thinker, to play the 6. He'd be a big liability there. He also likes to make long runs into the attack. He's an 8 for me, no doubt. He's got great defensive ability, great hops, and he's tough as nails. But he's not a 6 in any system I can imagine for the US. Adams, on the other hand, has a very good read on the game, doesn't seem to gamble often (and when he does, he seems to somehow know that he's going to get there first), is a much better and faster short passer and has tighter ball-handling and dribbling skills. He's definitely a 6.
He’s def better suited to the 8 then 6 but he’s got a lot of skills that would work well as the 6 too. Like I said it comes down to systems. I’d def prefer Adams there but ideally neither play 6 and we play a double pivot. That gives us the best of both worlds to each of their skillsets.