so my initial claim is that the MMA midfield cannot play effectively for all three games in a three game window. If you don’t agree with this claim this thread is not for you. I’m not looking for an argument wether the MMA can be rolled out for all three games and press effectively or not. This thread is about how would you go about solving this issue? Do we switch up our formation? Who’s in the midfield? Which game in the window do we do this? Lots of things to consider. If we switch our formation and go 3@ the back, we could use Brooks, Richards, and even Miazga, as they play for clubs that use 3@ the back. Scally would feel at home as a wingback. But who are the two mids, that are not Adams, Musah, or McKennie? Do we have two mids that could be effective that are not part of the MMA? I thinks this is a good jumping off point for a discussion.....
Interesting subject for sure. The answer to this issue is "it depend." Depends on who the opponents are. Depends on the result of the first match. Depends on fitness and card availability. Depends on what happened in the previous match (or 2) and how many minutes MMA got. Then the big "depends." And I think your basic assumption is correct. Probably not starting MMA in all 3 matches. So your options look like this. Match 1 - MMA Match 2 - MM and other Match 3 - A and two others or Match 1 - Two of them Match 2 - MMA Match 3 - Starting only the one who hasn't played both matches or Play MMA in two matches and none of them in one match. Now lets take the next window specifically. El Salvador - Busio McKennie Adams Canada - MMA Honduras - Busio Acosta Musah And I would press like heck against ES and work to be able to get McKennie and Adams out early in second half. This would open up the possibility that they could be available to Honduras.
The projected pool of players whose leagues will be active during the January window---- --------------------------------------Pulisic/Pepi/Sargent/Hoppe-------- ----------Aaronson/Mueller/Clark----------------------------Weah/Konrad/Gioacchini ----------------McKennie/Reyna/Harkes-----------Musah/Busio/Torre/Mendez ----------------------------------------Adams/Tessmann/Durkin---- ---Jedi/Vines--------------------------------------------------------------Dest/Scally/Cannon/Duncan ----------------------Brooks/Ream/Miazga/EPB-----Richards/McKenzie/CCV---- -----------------------------------------------Steffan/Horvath The pool will be supplemented by key mls-based players.
rules are---- 1. no field player starts are three matches 2. players with a history of injury issues won't play two consecutive matches 3. Musah won't start consective matches.
HITA (i'll let y'all figure out what it stands for): A press is pointless, or even counter-productive to open yourself up ro counters, if the opponent is going to elect to be in a low block. There's a strong chance el salvador and honduras are going to do just that. Now i thought that about costa rica and jamaica here, but we only saw it for 40 minutes. In that time we were impotent. That's because breaking down a d involves problem-solving, intricacy, and distance shooting mma are in short supply of. Especially if it's a 3-game window, it makes sense to rotate 1-2 of the mma members out for a more creative cm (i.e. gio or ferreira) in the easier game(s). You can over-think, but you can also over-simplify. Have to find a happy medium. Some would think rotating out part of mma, in conjunction w/ significant changes elsewhere w/ in a window would constitute over-thinking. But the jamaica performance reinforced that narrative was mostly an overreaction to the panama road debacle, if history w/ continuity, such as the loss at t&t last cycle, hadn't already been your guide.
i agree with the premise, certainly re musah. depth charts arent any more real a thing than "best 11"s but given a 23 man roster today my central mids would be mckennie, adams, reyna, musah, acosta and de la torre. adams and acosta are clearly defined for me and would only be used at the 6., and i would look to play adams and mckennie as much as possible. i would use reyna and musah situationally, roughly 1 and 1a, while ldlt would be be depth at either 8 and not an option as a starter outside of injury/suspension. ill use to the jan/feb window as an example: i would start reyna, mckennie and adams vs el salvador as we will need to unlock their defense and i would lean towards reyna more directly contributing to that. due to fitness issues, ideally i dont take musah off the bench in that one. at canada i would go musah, mckennie and adams to disrupt their midfield play and support a front line i would use to all out press the canadian backline. reyna would be an offensive sub if needed, while ldlt (who i think best emulates the ball progression musah brings) and acosta would both be good to bring on simply for rotation purposes. the third match of any window will largely be dictated by the two that proceed it, but in this fantasy scenario i would plan on musah starting with an eye towards going to ldlt as early as the half and either reyna or acosta could start pending prior results and/or mckennie or adams' fitness level. obviously thats all grossly oversimplified- again, im just trying to explain my reasoning. a general thought on rotation is i think we rely on key guys (in this case wes and tyler) going 90 minutes too much. you cant predict how matches are going to go, and there are going to be times you havent made the breakthrough or are hanging on to a result around the hour, 70 minute mark- i get that you dont want to pull your biggest players. but every match isnt in the balance, and (imo) we/gregg tends to err on the side of the more "fringe" places to make changes. i think preserving tyler and wes over the duration of a 3 match window is more important than bringing on a weah for an aaronson to chase a goal in some cases. for a completely hypothetical example imagine we had a third match in this last window- we didnt look especially likely to take full points in kingston after an hour so we would be better served pulling/saving tyler for the next one he would influence more than any of the subs did vs jamaica in comparison to using acosta in that third match. anyways, thats my take. again i completely agree musahs fitness (or effectiveness, i should say) is an issue that could be managed better. expecting back-to-back strong 80 minute performances is contrary to what weve seen (granted, small sample size, strep throat, etc). but wes and tyler are rocks. weve got to beg, borrow and steal minutes to rest them and trust acosta to fill a role he can fill as a sub rather than simply as a rotation option. gio and musah allow for rotation and differing looks. in qualifying we obviously have more than one spot for depth, i just look at things through a 23 man roster lens. and ldlt is my guy at/for the moment. i think we are in deep enough the water is just over lletgets head and i think busio is a poor fit with what we do (and not good enough to adjust/accommodate for what he does well).
Of course not. No way any manager trots out the same MF three for all three games of a 3 game window. No chance. The question then becomes, do you try to play MMA intact for 2 games (if so, which two?), and make wholesale changes for the other? Or do you try to play 2/3rds of MMA for all 3, and rotate 1 guy every match? For the next window, it is pretty straightforward, with games 1 & 3 at home and game 2 in crappy conditions (and probably turf). Play MMA in #1 & #3. Go with an alternative in game 2. I'd think about changing formations for Canada. Matching them with a 343 or 352. Or maybe 4231 with someone like Reyna/Aaronson as a CAM. Acosta works in any and all of the above. The other two spots would be open.
Specifically, for El Salvador & Honduras: Steffen; Dest, Zim, Miles, Jedi; Adams, Musah, McKennie; Weah, Pepi, Pulisic. Canada: Turner; Yedlin, Richards, Brooks, Scally; Acosta, LDLT, Reyna; Morris, Zardes, Aaronson.
Let's play a defensive center midfield in the easiest matches of competition & an offensive one in the hardest one. Sounds like a smart plan to maximize results.
Interesting lineups. This is why I thought it would be a worthwhile thread. To get all the takes. I appreciate the detailed line ups.
I understand your take, but if we prioritize home wins, MMA has to be against the two home opponents. No?
Yeah, there is tons of complexity to these decisions. I see you have MMA once and BAM twice in your rotation. Jamaica didn’t even try to play through the midfield, but I suspect El Salvador and Honduras will. Do you see BAM being effective enough in the press? I have my doubts. I don’t think Busio brings enough proactive aggressiveness in the press. This is my opinion, and would love to be proven wrong.
The point of the press is to pin teams like Honduras and El Salvador into their own end. I think both teams will try to play through instead of over like Jamaica did. If the MMA can create turnover after turnover in their end, we should be able to bank on several good looks.
THIS is why so many internet wonder coaches are so good as picking on GB. For one thing they get to use hindsight. Now to respond to your thoughts on my potential lineup. 1. I don't have BAM being used twice. I actually have two different BAMs being used. Only Busio is the constant in those two lineups. 2. I wanted my strongest midfield in Canada. 3. Other option would be to go with MMA for both home matches and Busio Acosta, and Lleget in Canada.
Could we go with the smooth-passing CBs in the easier home game(s) and the tougher defenders in the Canada match away?
My take on this is simplisitic. Use the type of midfield that goes along with the type of backline you are using. If you are going to focus on playing out of the back then use the MMA midfield. If you want a stouter physical back line then probably play Acosta.
1st Strategy---sticking with a single-pivot 3-man central midfield Game 1: Busio, McKennie, Adams Game 2: McKennie, Musah, Adams Game 3: Reyna, Busio, Acosta Save MMA for the Canada match Musah is good for going 90 in one match per window. He needs to be getting more time at club level. Always start with at least 1 mezzala. Reyna and McKennie are the two in this pool. Creativity out of central midfield is lost otherwise. Acosta has a good record in Concacaf, so long he is not tasked with creating.
I don't prioritize home games. I prioritize maximizing results for ourselves, while minimizing them for our rivals. Our rivals aren't el salvador & and honduras. They are the likes of canada. One point in the hand is worth 3 in the can. An we should smash the caliber of home opponent w/ any functional lineup. Mma is a dysfunctional lineup against a bunker anyway like i said. They can't break them down and you can't push back an opponent who's staying back by design. It's playing in to their hands. So you don't actually lose anything by not playing a couple of mma in the 1st match, while you increase your chances by preserving 2 min for the 2nd.
Yea, that's why fans shouldn't have been impressed w/ the whopping 2 goals we scored at home v. #5 and 6 in ccaf. They weren't even bunkering, outside jamaica for 40 mins, during which we generated .1 xg.
Canada certainly bunkered, though. 28 percent possession. They set a deep block. And their attackers did not press. But then GGG started Lletget and Acosta.
I would start all 3 game against El Salvador. Get the result the first game. Hopefully we get a multi-goal lead and can sub in backups. I do think I would rotate against Canada, and probably sit in a defensive posture and try to win it late with subs (not unsimilar to what they did to us). I think Busio could do better against Canada than he showed against Jamaica. I think as a finesse player the crappy field affected his game more than others. Playing in Canada in January isn't going to be fun but I don't expect a beat up water logged field like we saw in Jamaica. Adams I think has to start all 3 games, which I am not thrilled about. I thought Acosta did a heck of a job in the Gold Cup final but I have been very underwhelmed with his play since. I suspect he'll remain the backup 6 but I think we need to canvas for other options. Honestly if Adams couldn't go for a game I would probably switch to a double pivot until someone emerges.