when one of the fbs push high, one of musah/adams shade over to cover that space the fb vacated. the other takes a more central position. and i said what i said. if you want haji on the ball a lot thats great.
News flash: Allegri has been starting Weston all season and giving him important defensive and attacking responsibilities.
Okay, so the standard version of defensive cover for a pushed up FB. Haji is 2nd percentile for touches compared to other AM/W in the Champo (even compared to FWs he’s 56th percentile). Because formations are able to accommodate different roles we can, and Coventry currently does, have Haji play “LM” and not be on the ball much.
No problem. I went and reviewed McK's time on the pitch v. Milan (after 71' when he came on). Heres what Allegri said post game: “It was a normal substitution, Dusan had done well, but I needed fresh legs. Milan were getting deeper, so I threw on Milik, Chiesa and McKennie who is good on crosses. “Pioli did very well, because he inverted the full-backs to put Florenzi on the right against Chiesa and a taller lad on the left. From <https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/so...31&cvid=d07f84f20e67432dacdb8c79f32912f3&ei=9> The "taller lad" he refers to is Bartesaghi. Within 2 minutes of coming on, he clears Chiesa's cross to McK at the far post, jumping head and shoulders over the shorter McK. BArtesaghi's stats defensively Minutes played 8 Defense Tackles won0/1 (0%) Clearances3 Headed clearance3 Defensive actions4 Duels Duels won4 Ground duels won1/1 (100%) Aerial duels won3/3 (100%) Was fouled0 Fouls committed0 The problem with a player with narrow skill set is that the top 8 type coaches know how to neutralize them. McK was 0/1 on crosses. He did manage to get one header over Bartesaghi which almost ended up scoring after the keeper parried it and it fell in the box for a scrum. McK was otherwise neturalized. There was little chance to see him against Leao because Juve had the ball most of the time after 71' when McK came on. Hwvr note how Allegri said that the subs at 71' (MIlik, Chiesa, McK) were done as Milan were sitting deeper.
Best 23, as it projects, for 2026 GOALKEEPERS 1. Matt Turner [lock] 2. Ethan Horvath [safe for now] 3/A. Drake Callender, Gabriel Slonina, Patrick Schulte, Roman Celentano, Zack Steffen, Chris Brady, and/or Diego Kochen [wide open] RIGHT BACKS 1. Sergino Dest [lock, but will monitor injury] 2. Joe Scally [lock] A. DeJuan Jones, DeAndre Yedlin, Bryan Reynolds, Brooks Lennon, Marlon Fossey, Nathan Harriel, Shaq Moore, Reggie Cannon, Jake Davis [none look great, all need to do more] CENTER BACKS 1. Chris Richards [lock if he can stay healthy and playing] 2. Cameron Carter-Vickers [not safe, need to do more] 3. Mark McKenzie [not safe, need to do more] 4/A. Miles Robinson, Auston Trusty, Tim Ream, Walker Zimmerman [either need to do more (Trusty/Miles), or, need to prevent regresssion (Ream/Zimmerman)]. LEFT BACKS 1. Jedi Robinson [lock] 2. Kevin Paredes [closing in to become a lock, but could play wing instead] A. DeJuan Jones, Kristoffer Lund, John Tolkin, Caleb Wiley, Jonathan Gomez, Nathaniel Brown, and/or George Bello [Jones versatility gives him a boost; all else are very promising but need to do more right now] MIDFIELDERS, 9 positions (HOLDING, WING, & AM) 1. Christian Pulisic [lock, at LW] 2. Weston McKennie [lock; rise of Johnny and Maloney, might push him further upfield, right wing?] 3. Gio Reyna [lock; at CAM] 4. Yunus Musah [lock, could play holding or as an attacking mid] 5. Tim Weah [last lock] 6. Tyler Adams [lock if he can get healthy] 7. Johnny Cardoso [closing in to be a lock] 8-A. Malik Tillman, Brenden Aaronson, Luca de la Torre, Lennard Maloney [frontrunners] Note: Tanner Tessman, Gianluca Busio, Aidan Morris, Rokas Puktsas, Kellyn Acosta, James Sands, Jack McGlynn, Taylor Booth, Paxten Aaronson, Cade Cowell, Diego Luna, Alex Zendejas, Ben Cremaschi, Quinn Sullivan, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Brian Gutierrez [still watch, they need to do more] FORWARDS, 3 positions 1-3&A. Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Folarin Balogun, Brandon Vazquez [someone needs to pull ahead; Sargent or Wright could also play wing] Note: Jordan Pefok, Duncan McGuire, Jesus Ferreira, Daryl Dike, Kahveh Zahiroslalem, Damion Downs [still watch, they need to do more] BEST XI A team: ——————Balogun——————— Pulisic——-—Reyna————McKennie ————Musah———Adams————- Jedi—————————————-Dest ————-Richards——CCV—————- ————————Turner——————- B team: ———————Pepi———————— Wright————Malik—————Weah ———-Cardoso———De la Torre—- Paredes———————————Scally ————-Robinson——McKenzie——- ————————Horvath——————- C team: ——————Vazquez———————- Sargent———Brenden————TBD* ———-Maloney————TBD*————- TBD*——————————————TBD* ——Ream/Walker———-Trusty———— ————————-TBD*————————
Not bad for a USA "B" teamer, lol Johnny Cardoso to Barcelona?! USMNT midfielder earning rave reviews in La Liga as he fights for Copa America starting spot (msn.com) Playing under ex-Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, Cardoso has established himself as one of the league's top midfielders. In fact, defensively, there may not be a better midfielder in Spain. He's in the 99th percentile for interceptions, 96th percentile for clearances and 95th percentile for aerials won. He's also in the 88th percentile for tackles, but he's not just limited to defending; you can find him in the 71st percentile for passing percentage, too. Would add he's 84 percentile for blocks. His stats reflect the role he's been given in Brazil and Spain (2322 minutes).
Here's the brazil squad: Brazil reveals 23-man squad for Copa America 2024 (msn.com) Goalkeepers: Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Bento (Athletico Paranaense). Defenders: Danilo (Juventus), Yan Couto (Girona), Guilherme Arana (Atletico Mineiro), Wendell (Porto), Beraldo (Paris Saint-Germain), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Eder Militão (Real Madrid). Midfielders: Andreas Pereira (Fulham), Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham). Forwards: Endrick (Palmeiras), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Evanilson (Porto), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Savinho (Girona), Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid). here's who I'd line up against them: ------aaronson-----sarge-----pulisic ------------------------gio ------------------johnny----tyler -----ARob------ream-----mrob-----weah Edit: I put sarge at the 9 but I'd be hard pressed to come up with an argument against Balo. I was thinking Sarge might be better to start with better build up thru midfield but not really sure.
Best XI at the end of the European season. 1) Heavily influenced by form right now. 2) Skewed in favor of players in Europe. 3) Personal bias +/- noted --I love technical+gritty 4) Numbers a/b/c refer to: -> a) technical/tactical individual prowess -> b) how important is to team overall, based on mentality, organization, and how much of a step down a replacement is -> c) how good they fit the position they are expected to play with the NT GK: Turner 2/3/4 CB: +Richards 4/3/4 Miles R. 3/3/5 RB: +Moore 3/1/3 ---note: Dest injured, Scally playing LWB w/club LB: Robinson 4/5/4 DM: Johnny 4/2/4 ---note: Adams not fully fit. I consider him our most important player. CM: +McKennie 3/5/4 AM: Malik 3/3/2 ---note: not really a great fit for our system, but can't support Musah at this point RW: +Weah 3/5/5 LW: +Pulisic 5/5/4 ST: -Sargent 3/3/3 Moore is a guy I feel deserves a last shot. Malik has been underwhelming with the NT but I also feel he deserves a shot.
With the season winding down: ------------------Reyna---------- -----Wright-------------------Pulisic-- ---------McKennie-----Musah--- ------------------Adams------- --Jedi------------------------------Weah--- ----------Ream------Richards--- ------------------Turner--- Reyna would be in a free role. When out of possession, the team would defend in a 442 with Pulisic dropping in to right mid. In the attack, Pulisic and Wright could play wide forwards. Or in Real Madrid fashion, Wright could play centrally while Puli splits wide. In the 2nd scenario, Reyna would be a nominal a-mid. Central midfield with a pool of Adams, Musah, McKennie, Johnny, Maloney, Aaronson, the Tillmans, and de la Torre is the strength of the team. In 433, Reyna in a cental attacking free role would keep that central midfield intact while getting him into optimal positions. Right now, he lacks the work-rate to compete in central midfield against good teams.
I expect Weston to be shifted to RB this summer in Dest's absence. The second half of the Jamaica match is a hint. I'll be very surprised if Scally is our starter at RB. Weah/Musah are also candidates. But I think Gregg values Weah's ability to stretch defenses from his right attacking position. And Weston is more defensively reliable than Musah. With that as a preamble our best 11: Goalie: Turner Defense: McKennie, Richards, Ream, Jeddi Midfield: Musah, Adams, Reyna Forwards: Weah, Balogun, Pulisic
One of the stranger things I've witnessed this year is Weah playing flawless right back for Juve ( I think many have confused Weah having some muscular issues mid season with coach not rating him) and Paredes taking no prisoners at lb for Wolfsburg, not to meniton with Olympic team and nobody rating either one. Strange because you give ARob the highest rating (5) for being "above replacement" (Paredes) and you would actually play Moore who couldnt make it in LaLiga over Weah at RB when Weah starts there for a Champion's League team !! Ok, it's because Weah is your right winger? ......but we have Pulisic playing RW for another Champions League team !!
Yes, I had to think a lot about it. I was putting Weah at RB and Puli at RW and Malik at LW (where he plays often for club). But Moore has been good with Nashville in his limited minutes. And I want Weah close to goal. He's a guy who can score. Also, with Musah underperforming, I needed Malik as the third man in midfield. Adams only has 10 minutes of play after his most recent injury, so I'm not counting him in yet. Also, Johnny is a guy who looks so good with Bilbao, really really good, but so far has been average with the NT. I'm not sure he speaks English, even. Jedi is integral to the team. I like Paredes, I commented about how much he's improved quietly on his YA thread. But he has far too little presence with the NT yet. There's a huge gulf in NT experience between Jedi and Kevin at this point.
ok, so is this stuff. I just wonder about the brain farts in big games. Fullham down 0-1 to ManCity in the 58th minute and......
For the national team, Weah has 5 goals in 37 appearances, Heck, Brenden has 8 in 40. Malik has 0 in 10 so far. I gotta say, though, Shaq v. Vinny Jr. could be worth the price of admission when the Copa rolls around.
I believe that Berhalter's coup in recruiting Johnny away from Brazil will be the support he needs to extend his contract thru 2030 when the time comes. Hwvr, Johnny would not be eligible for Bilbao as he is not Basque to my knowledge.
Weah playing RW isn't about getting goals, it's what he does that very few others do/have done there positionally, and how it seems to yield good outcomes / opportune avenues for the attack in an overall way. You want to rely on Aaronson for that? Just not going to work as well, IMO. That said, with Dest out even I as a why would you play Weah somewhere else when he's been so good in attack for the US? guy must admit that now more than ever that move makes sense. I also don't mind the McKennie there argument, effectively gives a "midfield" of Reyna, Adams, Musah/Cardoso, and also McKennie popping up in Trent-like positions. I think that also makes a lot of sense, especially against certain opponents. I really hate Reyna as a free false 9, especially in light of him playing quite well in a much more traditional midfield role... it really seems to misunderstand what even the softest "9" does in order to make space for players who are good on the ball.
I don't think anybody has Aaronson taking the rw spot away from Pulisic. Suyuntuy wanted Weah near goal because he can score goals but I think Weah's style of scoring and doing other things can come as well from the rb position as rf. Allegri has him playing the mezzala role where he is in the box in front of goal quite often. I'm pretty sure Berhalter can devise schemes like that while relying on Weah to deliver a defensive performance far better than anything we've seen from Dest.
If you play CP at RW then just hold up a mirror, what I'm saying still stands -- you shouldn't want Aaronson at LW either. And average goal contributions based on how many caps they've played isn't the reason why... that's not why Weah is good for the US.
This is a BS take, pun intended. Weah doesn't even start as AM winger for his club and mainly plays wingback when he starts, Aaronson has more goal contributions for USMNT, and if you compared club xG/A for both I bet Aaronson's is higher as well. This whole Weah is irreplacable at winger nonsense needs to stop, it's bordering foolishness. And Weah wasn't great at the WC, other than the goal he was ok. Weah should be playing RB at the moment, and Aaronson should be at RW, keeping Pulisic at LW. Or you could switch them as Aaronson does drift out left often at Union. It's that simple.
Aaronson is this cycle's Danny Williams. A terrible player for some reason only people here think is amazing.