If you believe that Adu should start, where do you put him? Here's the catch: Nowak will be staying with the 3-5-2. Enjoy, Tim
Not sure this poll works as Guppy and Esky might not be available yet. If so, he could be the default start at left wing instead of Benny (even though Benny would be on the right and the real loser would be Simms). Sorry, I know logic really doesn't work on BS.
So you would have Gomez and Adu in central mid with Gomez more withdrawn. Interesting. I will consider most of the midfield votes then to be some part a reflection of this idea. While I had considered this, I dismissed it due to the fact that I always perceived Gomez and Adu together as too big of a Defensive liability. But, as our favorite troll would say, "that's just my opinion." Cheers, Tim
Not to mention playing Olsen on the wing, which I think everyone would agree is no longer his favored position, due to his reduced speed.
Oops. I forgot to mention one thing about the poll... Everyone who votes for Fred to play on the wing, must also declare whether or not they have played this position in a 3-5-2 in any kind of competitive match. I kid, I kid. Get on with the ballot stuffing. Cheers, Tim
I say we hearken back to the days of Pele...DC United should go with the 2-5-3...With Freddee, Moreno, Esky/Tino, all three should score bunches of goals! Sit Prideaux/Stokes and leave Wanker and Boswell to manage the back line, they'll be fine...
Sit Esky or Tino. I can't see sitting Gomez. I also don't see Freddy as being that effective on the wing in the Gros or Guppy role. Also, at this point, I'd be happy to have a good two or three games where we play some strong Defense, so I'm not sitting a defensive or holding Mid. I'd be happy if we got some defensive confidence through a few more shut-outs. Here's a crazy idea - (that probably won't work) - what if we moved Adu to the a-mid Role and put Gomez up at forward? Gomez has been the guy that's been creating most of the shots on goal anyway and he works well with Jamie.
While I still favor the 442 with mids as wingbacks, I think that idea has some merit. At the very least it would be something I'd try out if I were in charge. Besides, from all I can tell, Gomez is the best on the team at heading the ball at the goal. What a strange target forward... noble
While I don't think he should start at this time, to get into the spirit of things, I voted for Forward. Reasons, he has skill, might poach some goals, and his deficiencies in defense and tendency to try to beat everyone on the dribble would cause the fewest problems, indeed all that holding of the ball might actually lead to a penalty or two.
I have a rather insane idea (which is why I'm not a coach) that we should try playing a 343. I know, I know. We'd get scored on a lot. But... With Moreno, Eskie and Gomez up front, and Freddie and Dema/Olsen as central mids, we'd still have decent defense, and we'd pack a hell of a powerful punch. Also, 4 mids falling back to defense vs 5 mids falling back for defense is a difference, but I think we could handle it. --kravi
Not to meddle with the polling, but seriously, everyone knows that the Defense option was a joke, right? Either there are 2 smart-asses out there or we need to talk people. Tim
I can't believe that anyone from Baltimore would say such a rash thing! Seriously, in 03, when he was just as slow as he is now, no one was complaining about his speed. People did complain that when Benny went down to injuries that the offense disappeared with him. But on to today's topic. Here- again- is the 352 that I propose with how it would work: -----------------Rimando ---Prideaux-----Boswell-------Petke ---Olsen---------Carroll--------Gros -----------Gomez--------Adu --------Eskandarian---Moreno The key line here is the Olsen-Carroll-Gros line. The key thing about them is not speed but intelligence. Those three would be expected to be full two-way players and thus they would have to communicate with each other- and switch off frequently in the games. Normally two of the three would hang back. Also they would be expected to interchange sides of the field. Because they would have to be good readers of the game, Kovalenko would probably start when he comes back and possibly Simms would start if he showed superior ability to anticipate the game.
I don't really think that you are describing the 3-5-2 as I know it. When you leave the D-mid job primarily up to one guy, you are asking for a world of hurt. [pedantic] When the opposition plays a long ball to a forward running towards a line, you pull over the three defenders. The defense must stay compact in a 3-5-2, which is pretty much their primary focus. So, you have an entire opposite side of the field in your half undefended. What compensates in a 3-5-2 is a wing dropping back (if he can and is not caught upfield) or one of the TWO d-mids slides over, leaving the other to check the primary mark coming from midfield. Without the two d-mids, you could have a guy covering the exposed flank in lieu of the midfield and your sweeper is marking. Hence, you would essentially be anchoring either Gomez or Adu to d-mid. [/pedantic] Cheers, Tim
why worry about the # of defenders? If we have 4 attacking players; Adu, Gomez, Eskandarian & Moreno, the other team will never have the ball and hence won't be able to score. After watching last weeks debacle against KC I wouldn't mind seeing that many options up front. But seriously, give Esky a rest and put in Adu to start. Tino didn't show much last week and Adu should have started over him. Put him out there the whole game with Moreno and Gomez and see what happens.
That accounts for one... I'm not sure about the other... But y'all know me, I want Freeedeeeee to sit and think about how he can improve this team and not how this team can improve him!
Why was goalkeeper not an option on this poll? Think about it people, you know he's gotta have cat-like reflexes and I bet he's got a good vertical too.
This gets my vote, with Quaranta for Eski if he can't go. This doesn't exactly fit any of the options in the poll.
This is a really inventive use of a 352. It seems to bridge the gap between the 352ers around here and the 442ers because it accomplishes all the things some of the 442ers seek to address, but it does it in a tidy 352 format. Which I suppose goes to show that formations can be really muddy when you get right down to it, because in this instance you have the same tactics, roles, and directions given to the same players, but in a different formation. Nice.
This is what we were talking about earlier. Unless you're behind and pressing, it leaves Boswell and Carroll isolated in the middle--and that's too much to ask of those two players at this time. Replace Boswell with Nelsen, and you've got a winner, because you're adding a defensive stopper to the mix. Heh. We just don't have a player who is ready to take on that role yet. I don't mind unbalancing the formation this way late in a match when you can bring a fresh Freddy on to wreak havoc on tired defenders, but trying to start the game this way is not likely to produce the results we're looking for. You're still not getting the fundamental issue here: Players win games. Formations define roles. Unless you've got players to fill the roles, formations are useless. I still can't believe I'm having this same damn argument. It's been going on since at least '96 on SAG. Move over here, and it's the same damn thing all over again.