Yesterday we saw both of these guys play in the central mid, along with Marco (Chmarco?) I wanted to put some thoughts down. Chino I loved his play yesterday, particularly in the first half when the team was having problems adjusting to new personnel and a new formation. What I saw was what I saw last year- that Chino is small and slow, but if you put him in a position that he could succeed in he does quite well, thank you. If you put him in a position where he's on an island much of the time- either on the wing or as a d-mid in a 442, he gets repeatedly burned- as in Dallas: not pretty. But with five players in the midfield, including three in the middle, the spaces get quite tight, he can cover the distance, and be a disrupting influence (to the other team). He also was not that awful on the offensive end too. He did well in support of the real offensive players, helping/scraping to keep the ball in the forward third, at least as well as, say Richie Williams can. Al in all, his usefulness is limited. But get him in that comfort zone and he's an asset. Cheyo Q2 I'm starting to worry about. It's that foot. No, the other one. Yes, he has two. I'm meaning the right one. As I've feared, the other teams know all about it now. Andrulis' team sat all over his left foot yesterday, just daring him to go right. By the time he did try to go right, the attack had fizzled. Repeatedly. That lack of a right foot, combined with his lack of speed and size is gonna make his impact on an MLS game less and less. He had quite an impact when Hudson first resurrected him from the bench in midseason- gave a real spark to the team in the miracle NE comeback and against the Rapids. But now he shows all the signs of... well in baseball you sometimes get a rookie who gets a call-up and gets hot for a week, a month, till teams see him again and then they have him figured out that he can't hit a curve ball. I'm thinking that Cheyo is such a rookie. And I'm thinking that Hudson is starting to see this too. yesterday he didn't start on the wing because he would have been overwhelmed by Brian West's speed. No, not all wingers have West's speed, but many of them are plenty fast and a bunch of them are a lot smarter than West. So Cheyo is becoming to resemble Chino on the wing: exposed. So it was smart of Hudson yesterday that he started Stewart on the wing and moved Quintanilla (and Alegria) inside. Long term though (beyond this year) if Olsen ( or Convey) leaves, or moves to the middle, we need a better option on the wing.
Agreed. Chino covered his side of the field quite well and worked hard thru out the game. For all his faults, he put in a workman like performance last night. Not flashy or in your face but tough and gritty. His play was exactly what the team needed with all the players we were missing. I have to give Ray props for keeping his second string players focused and enthused. As far as Cheyo goes, I want to believe anyone can have on "Off" game. I think down the road, Cheyo will be an asset to this team. Show him the tape of his performance against the Revs last time out. Bottom line, I like that this team is still fighting and scratching for everything. They seem to be a close knit squad and that can only be a positive as we head into crunch time.
i was very impressed with chino. he seems to be learning to position himself and read the game in ways that minimize his liabilities, he is playing smarter football. what struck me was his comfort passing going forward last night. he had several plays he really went up connected well with stewart, convey or cheyo. definitely cheyo isn't lighting it up like he did there for a minute but i didn't find him a massive liability and his one-sidedness is a weakness but that can be overcome/minimized. he doesn't quite have the workrate of a ben or a dema but he is confident in the attack. i was formerly against the 3-5-2 but i am beginning to the think that in order to get our best 11 on the field. at this point we have more holes in midfield than in the back. even with injuries we still have options, although i guess ryan is gone next week. that still leaves mike, brandon,brian,galin,stokes. midfield has convey,stewart,chino,cheyo,dema,marco and martins and cerritos up front with stoich or esky off the bench. with warren back that still gives us a lot to work with. my guess is chino doesn't start due to dema coming back. i am not sure they will start cheyo either. at this point if they go with four mid it is likely stewart,convey,dema,marco and i imagine if they go 5 it will be cheyo. i'd personally like to see us start out with that. that does but some pressure on us, but i'd like to see us stay attack-minded.
Please realize that I don't think Cheyo is dogmeat. I think both he and Chino have their place in MLS on DCU. For both of them, however, that place is not as an everyday starter, but as a situational one and as a major sub as they do somethings very well and some things poorly- too poorly for MLS standards. Both of them require the coach to put them in the right situations to succeed and if done correctly, both are an asset to the club. People have speculated in the past that once Chino becomes old enough to be an SI, he's history to MLS. Very possible, but depending on how tight the cap is, his club may not be able to spend much on SI's and so a cheap one like him may find a niche in the future MLS. The same can be said for Cheyo.
Yeah right Both these guys are too small and too slow to be kept around much longer. Neither is worth an SI spot and are barely woth a roster spot. Hudson plays them because they are willing to play physically, other then that they have really nothing going for them.
Re: Yeah right I tend to disagree. While I do not think either one of them is going to ever be an MLS MVP, they are hard working players with enough skill to make up for their lack of speed and size. I am sure they are not making much money either, and since we do not have much room in the salary department, these guys can be great additions to any MLS team, given the coach knows how to utilize them.
I think you overestimate both of their skills. Q2 constantly plays too slowly. He gives to ball away all the time. Q2 also takes way too many extra touches and constantly is playing balls too late to people that have been closed down or moved off sides. Chino is just hopeless. He is closed down and can't play the ball forward at all. Their only strong point is that they don't cost much money, but that doesn't warrent being put in as starting central midfielders.
I would fault Cheyo with inconsistency. He had a great game against the Revs last time out. He was dribbling at people, attacking and stood up when the PK was given. He showed a lot of confidense that day. I'd like to see him play with that same fire. Chino on the other hand stepped up when needed last game and did a decent job. He is by no means a starter on this team but can give you some valuable minutes when called upon. Even so, I doubt we'll see him here next year.
I thought both of them played really well Saturday, but you could see their limitations. Q2 moves better with the ball than without, but isn't strong enough to really take a 90 minute game and dominate it. As for Chino, he plays best in short spurts and in a very defined role. He's better off being the link between defense and attack without too many real responsibilites in either end. Sachin