I thought with Grimandi most likely on his way out Beckerman would take over a role in the midfield. Was he injured? or does it look like he will be a sub for the rest of the year?
I was pretty disappointed that he did not play. I really think that Hankinson has no confidence in him. Although, the Rapids look to have a pretty thin lineup, so if there is an injury or Pablo goes he should see time.
why doesn't hankinson have confidence in him? He played him the whole preseason and they had a good season. Instead he plays Roberts, spencer, kingsley- guys who didn't played during preseason! And also plays other players out of position. All i can think of is that he blamed Kyle for a preseason loss to chicago. I don't get this coach at all . A normal coach would of gone with his preseason lineup and then IF things don't work out you change.
While I agree with your point, I think you picked bad examples. Spencer is a proven player who was just elected team captain and who didn't play the preseason due to injury. If he's healthy he should be playing. Kingsley only came in as a sub with about 20-25 minutes remaining for the invisible Carrieri, which is what his role was in preseason as well. You have a bit of a point with Roberts, but once again he was injured in preseason, and he was a big offseason signing. No reason to sign a guy like that if you aren't going to use him, and to be honest, I thought he probably had the best performance of the rapids out there. Good examples of your point would be Crawford, Herdsman, and Carrieri.
Waiting for Beckerman to start and get regular playing time. Maybe Hankinson was trying to outsmart Yallop with a new style lineup ala Steve Sampson in world cup 98.
Next thing you know, the Rapids will be playing the revolutionary 1-8-1 used by Jim Smith at Derby County a couple of years ago.
That's funny, and the results were similar. But didn't Sampson have a warm up game or two where he used his new system and it worked? Hankinson just went for it.
if hankinson went for something, why didn't it include beckerman who had played all preseason with pablo in the middle? If then it didn't work put spencer in his spot. IMO thought he played well in preseason to warrant confidence in him...or has hankinson already put him out of the loop like trembly?
April 22, 1998: Austria 0-3 USA, in Vienna Apparently that game convinced Sampson he was a tactical genius ... nevermind the subsequent 0-0 games against Macedonia and Scotland and a sleepy 2-0 win over Kuwait.