I'm curious. Did anybody on this board watch him play while at UConn? I wonder because it is hard for me to believe that somebody who is so poor at tackling could be projected as a fullback to warrant a #1 draft pick. Has his game regressed? Given what Gbandi has become does anybody think he can ever live up to that #1 pick? I personally doubt it because at 25 I doubt there is all that much upside to the player we see today. Given what he has shown us - fast, decent on the ball, decent crosser but a poor tackler and poor sense of defensive position - I wonder if Clarke shouldn't maybe experiment with him on the left wing where his defensive deficiencies would be less pronounced and his speed would be an asset in a slowish midfield.
I never saw him play in college either but, I am growing less confident in his abilities every game I watch. Is it just me or does he go for the slide tackle WAY too much? I think I heard once that he played as a sweeper in college.
All I saw of him in college was were the semis and the championship the year UConn won it. He was dominant. Shut down all the opponents attacks (don't remember if they were playing UNC or Creighton) and nailed the gamewinning free kick from about 30 yards out. No one could beat him for pace. He never had to slide tackle. His ball skills were outstanding, as well. As dominant a performance as I've ever seen, at any level. What the hell happened? Perhaps as a sweeper he had more time to read the game before the play got to him, thus negating his biggest deficiency IMO.
OR perhaps the competition improved a bit since college. Seriously, the injury set him way back but I think he is gradually improving each week. I'm surpised people keep throwing rocks at him, he is not the Burn's worse defender.
If he isn't then who is, Terp? Salyer's had some moments here and there, but generally he's been solid. Gibbs is outstanding. Jolley, with the exception of the double own goal game, has been a rock.
I must have watched a different game, because I thought Gbandi looked strong. He neutralized Stewart on DCU's right flank most of the game and have several very good tackles where he just picked the other guy's pocket. He continues to look dangerous going forward and he is getting better each week defensively. Though he was involved in DCU's goal, Eskandarian wasn't his man. Sure, it would have been great if he had pinched in a second earlier, but where were the central defenders and the D-mid? Not to mention that Salyer, whom I really like, got beaten by Gross on the goal. By no means is that goal Gbandi's fault and he didn't give up any scoring chances. So, what is the complaint about his play?
I think Salyer has benefited a bit from having the fan focus taken off him and on Gbandi. He was poor on Saturday and it seems each week he is being exposed more and more as teams focus on him. On Saturday I'm thinking specifically of the goal, which he got started with a bad pass, and the absolute asskicking Gros gave him on his very dangerous run late in the game.
What I'm saying is that he hasn't been the worse defender every game as many would imply. Jolley has had a number of lapses including a few own goals. Phil had a couple of moments that resulted in easy goals that cost a game or two. Behnke has struggle at times as well. In 12 games every defender will have "moments" and it is a bit unfair to put everything at Chris' door step. During that 4 game stretch when the Burn gave up like 12 goals no one looks too good but now defending is not the issue, scoring is. During the recent good run of play defending has been the team's strength while scoring more than one goal is a total mystery.
Gbandi impressed me on Saturday. Maybe you Dallas fans have higher expectations than I do? I do think he's lost a step with all the knee problems. Speed used to be his trademark, and now he has just average or above average speed. That said, I think he is just now adjusting to the pro game (how many games did he play his first two seasons?). IMO, he will always be a good league player, it won't be a steve shak kind of thing where he's out of the league.
His tackling. I can think of two occasions where I think we were perhaps a bit lucky not to get a red. Otherwise he is usually good for a yellow card tackle in every single game, though not all are called. I think eventually his luck will run out and we'll give up points because of it. His positional sense is poor too. He's not helped by Davis who is also a poor defender, but part of knowing the game is also knowing about the players around you. Time and again he's made a forward run that exposed us on the counter-attack. Most notably, the home game before last, where it cost us 2 points.
I grew up in CT and watched him play a few times. He has been a disappointment b/c I have been tracking his progress since he was drafted. Back then, many were wanting Arena to call him into camps, but he got injured, and then injured again.. I have yet to see what the hype is about, b/c now he is helathy, and really hasnt elevated his game.. I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt (assuming his game would blossom, once he got healthy) but it hasnt happenend. NOt only that gut he aint getting any younger.
Was this in response to yesterdays game? The reason I ask, is I thought it was Gbandi's best defensive game of the year. He made at least half a dozen sliding tackles, each one picking the ball cleanly away. It got to the point where everytime DCU got close to Gbandi with the ball, I would comment to those with me, "now Gbandi steals the ball with a slide tackle", and sure enough he would. He showed good pace tracking back and covering people. As mentioned before, Esky really wasn't his responsibility and even if he was I am not sure he could have covered him any tighter on the goal. The only negative, was his failure to touch into the goal Johnson's through ball.
I couldn't agree more. Stewart clearly swam up his back on the play Waldo kept yammering about, and there weren't many DC attacks down the right side other than that. He's also balanced his attacking runs, which were a problem for him last year, with his defensive responsibilities. Given that he has Brad Davis (zero defense) in front of him, it means he makes about two overlaps a game. Both of them Saturday led to attempts on goal. As a neutral, I have to say that Burn fans are a lot more impressed with Salyer than I am. He's a nice player in the right set-up, but his lack of speed has been exposed now for about four or five straight weeks. One other poster mentioned Gbandi's reckless tackles, which is a fair complaint - though there were none in evidence Saturday. He does have a tendency to go in low and hard in all-or-nothing challenges and it will cost Dallas points eventually, but then again so will Salyer's footspeed, Jolley's lack of focus and Gibbs's "adventursome" passing. The issue with Burn fans, I think, is that they could have had Twellman with the pick instead of Gbandi. So even if he becomes a national teamer (which I honestly think will happen - he's been the best left back in this league since about week six) he will always have to battle the shade of a 20-goal scorer in their minds. I can't say I blame them, but the criticism I've seen of Gbandi on these boards is way, waaaay over the top. EDIT: I also want to add that Gbandi, Salyer, Johnson and Davis have had the "benefit" of some of the poorest coaching in MLS since they've come up. Clarke is a clear improvement on Jeffries, but the Burn system should still best be described as "aimless" and "muddled".
It wasn't really based on Saturday. Actually, I posted it because I was looking for responses to my idea that he would be a better fit at left wing, but nobody has even commented on it.
I think that's because Clarke will switch to a 3-5-2 when hell freezes over. He certainly could play there, but the point a lot of non-Dallas fans (myself included) have been making on this thread is that his defense, as is, is pretty good and he's managing to contribute to the offense when he pushes up now. So there's really no need to go 3-5-2, especially since you lot have no one who could man the right side in that formation (unless you want to take off a true midfielder in favor of Reyes, which would really make it a 5-3-2).
Why can't he play it in a 442? And his defense hasn't been good. It was acceptable on Saturday but in a usual game he is smoked a time or two. He sometimes recovers enough to commit a professional foul, but usually the defense breaks down with somebody either needing to make a play or a goal is scored. Such is not the stuff of good defense.
I have remained a big supporter of Gbandi's this whole time. I just think he goes in for the slide tackle too much. Eventually, he is going to miss and it will cost us. However, I don't think his chances of a Nats all up are very good right now. There seems to be a major abundance of leftees: Gibbs, Bocanegra, Vanney, and Convey. Though the inclusion of Convey does show Arena's desperation at that spot. And don't forget about Todd Dunivant. He's been injured but I thought he played really well last year. Then again, Gbandi would have probably looked a lot better player for SJ as well. See, I can't even make an argument without coming up with my counter statements.
I saw him play. He was by far the most dominate player in that final four. He played outside back, centerback, sweeper, left mid, and defensive mid at different times in college. I don't think we can underestimate how much his knee injury cost him. I think he got some bad advice in college when he tried to play with the blown ACL(?). I am sure that it made it worse. I think Chris feels he is just now getting back ton full health for the first time since then. Actually that is only kind of true. At the time, for whatever reason, the Burn staff had Brad Davis rated #2 and would have taken him before Twellman. At that draft Twellman was kind of an enigma, no one really know if he would be good in MLS. My point being that while it's true Twellman was avaliable he was not the player the Burn would have gotten instead.
I don't think Arena playing Convey at LB is a sign of desperation, its a sign that he really believes Convey is a great player who needs to be on the field in some way. Since most of the midfield is tied up with veterans, he is using LB as a way of getting Bobby on the field. Personally, I don't like it, I'd like to see a natural defender back there, but I'm not Bruce Arena and he won't take my calls.
Too many Gbandi defenders here who are cutting him too much slack. Every single tackle he makes is full speed with both feet, usually swinging the trailing leg a little bit for some scissors action. Is this effective? Of course it is, it scares the crap out of the guy with the ball. If he keeps building this reputation the yellows and reds will fall from the sky like rain. And why is it that he's always making 100 mph slide tackles? He's out of position all the time! Number one attribute for a defender isn't speed or tackling ability. It's the ability to know where to be. The slide tackle is a great tool for a defender to have, but it almost always is used covering up for an earlier mistake. And Gbandi does not have the ball handling ability to play on the wing. I like some others around here are interested in the idea of Salyer to the left and bring in Reyes on the right. Anything to get Gbandi off the field!
Frankly I'm not that worried about the speed of Gbandi's tackles. Most of the problem I have is the fact that he is on his arse. If you miss you are done. Stay on your feet & you still have a chance to make up for a mistake.
Eventually? EVENTUALLY? The slide tackle is Gbandi's move. And 90% of slide tackles are because the defender was out of postition to stand the forward up. Whether that is that defenders fault or someone else's - a slide tackle is the last desperate move a defender and Gbandi spends more time on his ass than Homer Simpson.
Thats the truth. Players are taught early on (if their coaches don't suck) to stand the guy up and force him to make a mistake. Slide tackles are a last resort. Gbandi seems to think thats the only way to play defense.
Brilliant assessment, couldn't agree more... 1. 100mph slidetackles as result of bad positioning: key evidence that NCAA as a petrie dish to assess talent is inherently flawed; athletic ability often shows, but the intangibles do not because the level of play is so low; ergo, Gbandi flattering to deceive, Twellman a wolf in sheep's clothing. The NCAA draftees are a crapshoot. With Gbandi, we rolled snakeyes, and them's the breaks. It's impossible to know if a NCAA draftee has field sense because by definition, no one else around him on an NCAA side can ever develop it with a non-pro schedule; select soccer to earn a scholarship for EDUCATION is just that; it's a dead end for professional development for all but a rare few. 2. Salyer to left, Reyes in, Gbandi out. Said this at halftime of the LA game 6 weeks ago when Gibbs went down. Maybe Gbandi should get some time in front of Salyer on the left side. Hoping Salyer/Gibbs/Jolley/Reyes is the back line by August..... -bs