The IndividualEleven depth chart ------------------------------------Forwards----- -------------------------------------Midfield---- --A.Robinson---------Brooks----------M.Robinson---------Dest--- --Hollingshead-------Long-------------Miazga---------------Cannon---- --Vines-----------------Ream-----------Zimmerman---------Yedlin--- --Gloster---------------McKenzie------CCV-------------------Duncan --Gomez---------------Trusty-----------EPB-------------------Herrera --Foster-----------------------------------Otasowie-------------Araujo---- --Sousa-----------------------------------Richards
You have a lot more faith in Adams than his managers todate. Great player. But savvy managers know the difference between a great player and somebody who can accomplish what you are suggesting. Go to my lineup above the key to the above is Adams defending our left side so Pulisic can attack. That means smiley face has to move into the space Adams vacates or defend our left side if Adams presses. After all, Adams pressing or moving in to intercept a counter may be the best use of Adams. But who will cover him if he fails? Old smiley is key. That's the guy Berhalter never could figure out and why we don't make it out of group.
Pulisic and 10 others. I remember Bruce Arena saying Landon Donovan was our best forward, our best winger, our best #10, etc. He'd probably have been our best left back. The idea was to put Landon in his most impactful position and then build the team around him. [This was before Dempsey broke out.] The same is true right now with Pulisic. Put him in the position where he can make the most impact and build around that.
Yes, and you get the feeling that GGG managing Puli is like handing the keys of a Lamborghini to your Grandmother.
like everyone else, I am just observing from the outside. But he certainly seems like a leader to me in the back.
Yes. It seems so obvious. Unfortunately, this kind of “I will make my mark” rigidity s common among young coaches in team sports tackling their first really big job.
OK, so I’m officially claiming Pulisic is better than Reyna right now. At the start of the season and especially when Reyna started getting Champions League minutes while Christian was out it appeared that maybe Reyna was quickly vaulting to the top of US players. After the restart though Pulisic has made a charge into territory no American player has ever been in while Reyna has come back to earth a bit. Now if in a year or two Reyna can also jump to that level then we will have an incredible team. * I will state I’m not knocking Reyna here who I think will be very good to great - just that Pulisic has gone to another level.
I get what your saying and want to do. Just don’t thinks it’s best in the long run to build a team around a single player. What happens if he’s injured then. Build a team to take advantage of your players strengths and minimize their weakness. You do that and you’ll be ok.
He didn’t which was awesome but that doesn’t help us now. I think it would a mistake trying build the team solely around Pulisic. We should build the team around a core group and play to their strengths. Pulisic, Wes, Gio, Adams and Dest. Play to their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. We do that and we could actually be decent.
Gio is the one guy who, if he pans out, could be the talisman, upping the performance of the weaker guys in the team.
Fair enough. I’m not married to the idea that he’s not a leader. But to just point out that he seems more the type that’s I want to just keep my mouth shut and do the job right. I freely admit I could be 100% wrong and he is very vocal on/off the pitch.
We throw around terms like "build" as though we are playing legos or something. You may build a club team, but you select a national team. No need to worry about whether or not he will be healthy in two years because it won't change what we do, which is select the best team available at the time.
I thought mental health or stress counts as an injury in today's world, something walkabout, qualifying, something.
What joy do you get from constantly criticizing Landon? He was like the first iPhone. It's not as good as what we have now but was a game changer in its day.
He was out for less time than a strained hammy. Anybody who begrudges the guy that over his 4 world cup cycles is ridiculous.
I've always had much more respect for coaches who have been able to adjust to their circumstances and still be successful. Any coach can try to force feed his preferred system on a group. Good coaches are able to adjust their game plan based on the strengths of their team, what the opponents are giving them, etc.
Especially when coaching guys in a country setting. Where you can just go out and get such and such type player for some rigidly defined role.
No kidding. The guy is the USMNT's all-time goals AND assists leader after all. The abuse that guy gets is unbelieve. There was a period in the mid 2000s in which Donovan either scored or assisted on a shocking percentage of the USMNT goals. I forget the number, but its crazy. Maybe there's a younger generation of fans that doesn't understand the extent to which the USMNT was dependent of Landon Donovan being the "difference maker" every game. Anway, the point being is that right now Pulisic is FAR AND AWAY the best USMNT-eligible player. Put him in a position to be the most impactful and build around that. He's probably our best forward, winger, and #10. Sargent is our starting forward, and he's only scored 4 goals this season for a relegation-threatened Bundesliga team. Reyna has 1 career goal and 2 career assists. I like Reyna too, but he really hasn't accomplished anything yet. This isn't rocket science. Its the same that Portugal does with Cristiano Ronaldo. That doesn't mean we don't have a Plan B or Plan C. Pulisic hasn't exactly been a beacon of health in his career.
Nicely said. Donovan is a lightning rod because he kind of sums up all the insecurity of American soccer. He never excelled in Europe but played well mostly for the USMNT. It was during the last peak of the USMNT doing well. I enjoyed him as a player. I think the push back from people is because of the relentless push forward by many fans. American soccer fans can be pretty insecure, but MLS fans are a special breed of insecure. Donavan was the poster boy for American soccer and MLS. Many players in the generation following him followed his example and just played in MLS. It is interesting how the best player sets the tone for the whole generation. Pulisic is drawing players away from MLS; which gives more impetus for certain segments to be defensive of Donovan's legacy. But you are right, this isn't rocket science and nobody has to choose. Further, comparing a whole career to what a 21 yo has done is also silly. GKs aside...Dempsey had the impact of Pulisic, but at a club that dreamed of sneaking into a Europa League spot. Donovan was bought by a club with Chelsea's aspirations, but did not succeed there. Pulisic is basically having the impact Dempsey had, at a level Dempsey never attempted and Donavan failed at (Spurs were not the Spurs they became under Poch when Dempsey did ok there). I can't even think of any of American that has played well for a club like Dortmund, much less Chelsea. Adams and Reyna are the closest. I'm not familiar with Jones at Schalke, but I don't think Schalke was ever at the level of aspirations and pressure that Chelsea have been at in the last decade.