Clearly taking personal. I’ve brought up the other points multiple times. You just don’t like them. That’s fine that’s point of a forum. To discuss. You’re usually much better than this. Something must have you in a shit mood today.
You and only you are the one taking this personally with your silly belaboring of minor points, as though they were some triumph.
Jozy’s issues at Sunderland wasn’t just not scoring. He didn’t do the other things needed. It was a horrible fit and a bad run of games for him. They asked him to be something he wasn’t. He couldn’t. He also let the form get into his head and missed sitters and stopped doing the little things. Context matters. You have to look at both games and minutes. Right now he’s played 3 games in a row and done well. He needs to score at some point. However, he also needs to continue to do the little things to stay on the field. That’s a good step for a 20 year old in a top league. Very different then a 25 year old.
Jozy had a whopping 2 goals + assists in 42 matches, and stopped doing the little things. Sargent's been decent at the little things (in form in that dept) and has 7 goals + assists in 32 matches. MAJOR false equivalency. More parallels to Jozy's Hull play, which I acknowledged at the time was solid in spite of the stats - 4 goals + assists in 28 - which is still significantly worse than Sargent. Sargent's in similar stead as Altidore now at CF, but more versatile to get starting opportunities. Both would be behind Morris.
an old poem by Pope. It used to be taught as a moral lesson in high school. Google it, I guess. It's long.
Have to agree that Jozy at Sunderland had struggled in all aspects of the game. And in his one full season at Sunderland, 4 teammates who had played fewer minutes scored more goals than he had. No one at Werder who has played fewer minutes has scored more goals than Sargent has.
People would be surprised at the stuff they say that was originally coined by Alexander Pope; 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread" (Elvis Presley?) https://www.bing.com/search?q=fools...s=n&sk=&cvid=e6d0c4def3a840199b54492beaca7d6e "to err is human, to forgive is divine" - that's Pope who said that first. A portrait of Pope: "He was four feet, six inches high, very humpbacked, and deformed. He wore a black coat and, according to the fashion of the time, had on a little sword. He had a large and very fine eye, and a long handsome nose; his mouth had those peculiar marks which are always found on the mouths of crooked persons...….." One of the all time under-rated minds.
Sargent needs to do something soon or else it's time to stop pencilling him in as an auto-starter just for being in one of the worst teams in a good league.
Morris is not a CF. Maybe that doesn't matter for Gregg since Gregg seems confused by what he wants a CF to do. He has as his two top 9s, Jozy and Zardes. Yet, they play completely different. Gregg talks about having the CF drop in to help with possession, Zardes can't do that. But he has asked the CF to press relentlessly and tirelessly, which Jozy won't/can't do. In January, Ferreira was a false 9, which Zardes can't do. Morris is not technically good enough to play a possession game anywhere on the field. He started at RW with Gregg, a more technical position, and didn't thrive until he was moved to LW, which is a more free position and one where you can mostly be a slasher off the ball. Arriola looked better at LW than RW. Everyone has looked better, that have played both sides, at LW than RW. Because we haven't had forwards who can play the possession game Gregg wants to play in the pool before. Gio is probably the RW right now. Not my opinion, what Gregg told Tenorio. He can play a possession game unlike all the others. Playing in the Champions League in front of 81,365 fans, probably means you can play anywhere. If Pulisic is the other winger, then Morris in on the bench. The day we bench our best MLS players is a good day for progress. Morris has been very effective off the bench for the USMNT historically.
I know you are being funny. Will he be treated like Dest or like Pomykal? One basically walked onto the team as a starter. The other had to prove it in camp and hasn't really done it yet, maybe because of injury. Gio is more like Dest isn't he? Becoming a key player for one of the top teams in the world? What had Dest done by his first USMNT start? 3 starts and 3 sub appearances against not very tough competition for Ajax. Pomykal had started the whole season for FCD at that point. Reyna is established.
Reading and Listening to the Athletic guys go through their Best 11 after talking extensively with Gregg, there are some important points on Gregg's thinking: 1. He seems to be wedded to Yueill/Bradley/Trapp as the 6. It seems nuts to me, and many, to start either of those three over Holmes, Lletget, Pomykal, Morales. I'd add a few more names, but that is enough. Almost as crazy as Steskjal suggesting Lletget start as the 6...But Sarachan tried many times to play Adams and McKennie in front of Trapp/Bradley; with the idea of them, "covering ground and wreaking havoc". But, it always ended up with one or the other or both having to drop back and not be aggressive because the space behind them was poorly defended by the slow, lone 6. 1a. This is only tempered by Gregg wanting 3 (not 2), "dynamic midfielders that can win the ball back and arrive in the box late". I don't think Yuiell is that player and Bradley hasn't been that since 2012? So, maybe then you can have Adams as the 6, then Mckennie/Pomykal/Holmes/Etc. in front of him? That sounds like an imposing midfield, especially for CONCACAF. Which means it will take Gregg 11 months of failure to get to it. 2. Gregg seems happy with Altidore and Zardes as his two options up top. But there can't be two different players in the entire pool. The team can't play the same with one as the other. 3. Sounds like Reyna is in Gregg's Best 11, even if the very next games he starts from the bench. 4. Dest is clearly being looked at as a LB. If Robinson can get his heart fixed, he is in the mix. 5. Long will continue to destroy the possession game at RCB. 6. Guzan is Steffan's back up.
From all indications, Reyna is much more like Dest than Pomykal in Berhalter's mind. I'm not going anywhere near the semantics argument because I think it's irrelevant. I do think Reyna has the talent level to come in and start and likely never give it up, much like Pulisic. But we also haven't seen Reyna play in a situation where he has to play 90 minutes, or be the focus of a defense. Those are checkpoints (small and large) in his development.
I'm not sure #2 is entirely correct. Yes, he's said some nice things about Zardes, and he's not entirely wrong. He has scored, he does what Berhalter asks, and the clubhouse loves him. He's not going to dog him. But he has given a ton of time to Sargent, and he has called him the future of the USMNT. Tenorio was pretty clear that Altidore, Zardes and Sargent were the trio. Berhalter also called in Gioacchini for the friendlies in March, so while it seems the January strikers didn't make a huge immediate impression, he's still looking. I'd also say on #5 ... it's clear Berhalter wants or feels he needs recovery speed next to Brooks/Ream. I don't blame him. It's why Miles Robinson has gotten a decent amount of run, and it's why he tried to call Chris Richards in. I think both will be better on the ball in a year than Long.
I agree that Gregg already sees Gio as part of the team and a key piece. At the club level, Pulisic has never, "[had to] play 90 minutes, or be the focus of a defense." He only gets that with the USMNT. Gio is going to be playing with Sancho, Haaland, Hazard, Reus, etc. for the foreseeable future, he will never be the focus of the defense. With the USMNT, he will most likely not be the focus with Pulisic on the field; at least at first ;-)
I agree with all that. I'm not sure what to make of the March call ups for some of these kids. January was a 50/50 U23/USMNT camp really and with no MLS players in March (out of choice), I think you were going to see the same with Europe based players not released for the Olympics. Cardoso, Gioacchini, and the like I'm not sure if they are really in the plans. Same with Richards, was he really looking at him for the senior team or Olympic team? I understand the logic of having an athletic defender next to Brooks/Ream. But in the GC final, Mexico sat Jimenez on Miazga and made Long play the ball. Long not only wasn't good, but he didn't even look like he wanted to. Maybe Miazga isn't as fast as Long, but if we want to play this possession heavy game then he is probably the best choice currently. But, also listening lately and watching the Canada and CR games, we might be going more up tempo, "more vertical", and that would take some of the pressure off Long to break lines with passes.
Agreed, but I'm still waiting for someone to provide the # of minutes or starts needed when everyone has him in the lineup. This is absolutely insane. Again, can anyone explain why we need a slow, average midfielder playing BEHIND two starting midfielders who are tremendous defensively? As you said, if you want 3 in central midfield, why not put one attacking player (Reyna) in front of those two. That player would have zero defensive responsibilities, and do nothing but float around looking for open space in the attack. As it is, he wants a slow midfielder with zero defensive abilities to play BEHIND our two best defensive midfielders. Can anyone provide any possible rationale for this setup?
Reading the quote from Gregg, it almost seems like a sunk cost fallacy. Basically, the 6 has to do things in possession and the team has worked all year with these 3, so it will be hard for someone else to know what to do. In NFL terms, these guys were given the playbook, nobody else was, so we have to stick with one of these three guys. Putting Adams at the 6 makes the team better imo. Anything else has to be a short term transition to that point. Even Bradley buddy Tenorio had a hard time with 35 year old Bradley starting. He would only say maybe away at Mexico or CR if it was the first game. So many fans of Morris here and in the media. But if Adams is not the 6, I don't know how you get him on the field without dropping Reyna or Altidore.
Pulisic has absolutely played 90 minutes. Gio hasn't had a full game yet. I'm sure he can play 90 -- it's not the most massive test -- but performance can greatly differ when you have to spread your energy over a longer time period. Pulisic has absolutely been the focus of the opposing team's defense. What do people think Pulisic's sophomore slump was (in addition to injury)? He went from playing a lot like Reyna -- in the flow, playing off his teammates, not trying to do too much -- to playing as the focal point and it was too much at that age. Reus went down, Auba was either injured or whining about a transfer, and suddenly Dortmund was putting an unfocused Auba or Gotze up top and playing subpar talent opposite Pulisic on the wing. Dortmund's counterattack dried up and they kept trying to get Pulisic to create one on one against set defenses. He was too young and he wasn't ready. He suddenly looked like he was playing much better when Michy Batshui came in for a short run -- you can't do it all alone. People acted like he sucked or regressed. He didn't. He went from playing like Reyna is now to being the focus. He's that focus for the USMNT, and he's succeeded at it versus middling opposition and largely struggled against good competition. I don't think any USMNT player has succeeded in the latter, though. However, he looked like he might be taking the leap at Chelsea. We really haven't seen if this improvement at Chelsea is permanent and how it translates. Nothing here is knock on Reyna. But he's going to have it easy in terms of focus and teammates until Sancho and Haaland leave (or he does). That'll be the next big test of his talent.
If Reyna comes into camp and demonstrates to the manager that he can consistently impact games over 70-90 the same way he obviously can over 20-30 minutes, then he should be starting from the get-go the same way Dest did. That has nothing to with being "established," it's a much more practical question of can he do something that he's never had to the opportunity to do against adult professionals before, when talented young players sometimes need experience to translate the qualities they display in short bursts or at the youth level to a consistent level against adults. No one says he can't do it; only that it's hard to make confident pronouncements about this without seeing it at least once or twice, and preferably more (and no I don't have a magic number for what that is, but I'll just say it's more than zero). That said, at the point when Dest was first capped in a friendly (very early in the season), not only was he "established" as a sometimes starter for Ajax, but he had also started a decent number of games against adult professionals in the Dutch second division the season prior. No idea what sort of level that is, but I'm guessing Gregg Berhalter and Earnie Stewart, who both started their careers in the Dutch second division, might have a better sense.
I'm not in favor of the set-up, but I would say two things. One, Yeuill isn't World Cup caliber, but he's not slow and not toothless defensively. He's not as bad as you are implying. But I don't think that's Berhalter's rationale. More to his rationale, I think Berhalter wants a stay at home player to help with distribution. If you look at our defense, it's not sturdy, and it's also the biggest weaknesses in terms of trying to build out of the back. I'm not saying this logic is right, as you will undoubtedly question trying to build out of the back, but if you take that as something we're committed to having as an option, supplementing a weak backline with a strong distributive passer who also does not commit forward isn't the worst option. Why not play Adams there? I have no doubt Adams > Yeuill in that role, but Adams clearly would not be best utilized as a stay at home 6 with distribution responsibilities and a mandate not to get out of position. He's much better offensively and defensively where he can attack on instinct. Adams in Berhalter's setup is our best 8. And our best 6. I don't agree with the rationale. At the end of the day, I'm sacrificing Reyna or Morris for Yeuill. And that's before I get to Pomykal, who I am a big fan of, or Duane Holmes or whomever else. But if you are locked into certain assumptions, and you believe, as a lot of people on here do, that you should play players in their best positions ... you can see how someone gets there. I would also say ... if we actually are going to counterpress hard, a McKennie / Adams CM ahead of Yeuill makes a LOT of sense. And would be pretty devastating. Personally, I would look at a 4-2-3-1 with McKennie and Adams in the double pivot and look at Reyna and Pomykal at the 10.