I'm thinking John Busch has a pretty good shot at it. Garcia too. Hejduk. McBride if he's there. Clarkie. Beyond that, you can make a case for a lot of different scenarios.
Having lot's of choices is a good thing. We should be able to tactically switch and swap to get the best match-ups as needed. I'd add Mais & Martino as every game players.
I would have said the same thing, but unless we go to a five man midfield Mais AND Martino sits down Oughton.
Here's my starting 11... 4-4-2 -- McBride - Cunningham -- ---------- Martino --------- Garcia -------------- Buddle ----------- Mais ----------- Denton ------------- Hejduk ----- Clark - Dunseth ----- ----------- Busch ------------- 3-5-2 -- McBride - Cunningham -- ---------- Martino --------- Garcia -------------- Hejduk ----Oughton --- Mais -------- -- Denton - Clark - Dunseth -- ----------- Busch -------------
I would guess something like this ---------McBride----Cunningham------- Garcia---------Martino----------Hejduk ------------------Oughton-------------------- Akwari--Denton--McCarty--Dunseth -------------------Busch----------------------
---Cunningham----Buddle ----------Martino-------- Garcia----------------Hejduk ----------Oughton---------- Torres-McCarty-Dunseth-Clark -----------Busch-------- Captain Dunseth or McCarty
Amazing, I didn't know Oughton was so good he could start at D-mid and RB in the same game. Now that's versitility I think it's going to be a 4-3-3. It seems to be Andrulis' formation. ------------Busch------------- Hejduk--Clark--Dunseth--Denton -----------Oughton----------- ------Martino------Garcia----- Buddle-----McBride---Cunningham You can maybe switch Martino with Mais depending on if Andrulis wants Mais's experience out there. He may still be afraid that Martino doesn't have all the tools to run things yet, like he did in the later part of the season and the playoffs. Here's a 4-3-3 for sh!ts and giggles if McBride doesn't come back. I've been thinking about it and I really like it. ------------Busch-------------- Hejduk--Clark--Dunseth--Denton -----------Oughton------------ -----Martino-------Mais-------- Buddle----Cunningham---Garcia-
If Martino doesn't have all the tools yet, then Maisennouve has shown he has no tools. Martino is 5x better at being the orchestrator than Maisennouve.
I take a back seat to no one in my admiration for Kyle Martino. This, however, is getting carried away.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming: McBride -- Buddle Garcia -- Martino--West ---Oughton---Mais--- Clark -- Dunseth --Hejduck --------Busch-------- JC as the 65th min forward. I think this puts our best 12 on the field and balances the field. Lots of ways to sub and move to the 4-4-3 as needed.
lineup McBride - Cunningham Garcia - Martino - Gonzales Oughton Denton Dunseth McCarty Hejduk Busch This 4-4-2 shifts on the fly to a 3-5-2 as Gonzales moves up top and Hejduk slides into midfield with McBride dropping into the hole behind Cunningham and Luchi. I don't know if Gonzales is starter material but we have about 3 guys (West and Buddle) that can play there, I just wanted to make sure my starting 11 was different enough from the others to justify the post. I think Dunseth and McCarty are shoe-ins for the central defense unless Tores makes a real push there. I think you could see Hejduk push Denton to the bench at the left back spot if Leitch shows well in camp. Sitting Mais pains me, but you've got to have your best 11 on the field and at the midfield slot I have to say I would rather have Oughton in there. Mais is quite expensive for warming the pine though.... Z
If I were coach.... McBride - Cunningham Garcia - Martino - Buddle Maissoneuve - Oughton Clark - Dunseth - Hejduk Busch
On a related note, how likely is it that we will have the same starting lineup from match to match this season?
Well taken. The answer being not very. Game to game, match to match, situation to situation, we could regularly see over 50% of the lineup change. This will be a real test for Greg - it's not easy for the best of coaches to do a constant juggle like this AND sell the players on it - but the plus is that a lot of guys will see substantial playing time.
Exactly with Bill on this one. Add in injuries and the slate of national team games this year and every game will have a slightly different lineup. And, if we play a speedy team we'd want speedy guys to start. If we play a team of hacks, we want physical guys to start. So yeah, you will not see a constant starting lineup this year.
Re: If I were coach.... I'd like to see my 3-5-2: McBride - Buddle Garcia - Martino - Gonzalez Paule - Oughton Denton/Torres/Joy - Clark/Dunseth - Hejduk But we'll probably see the 4-4-2 that we had at the end of the year: McBride - Cunningham Garcia - Martino - Oughton - Buddle Denton - Dunseth - McCarty/Clark - Hejduk I think that Busch will start either way and that Greg probably scrapped the 4-3-3 (hopefully until we have midfielders that know how to play it).
Word I heard was Gary was in great shape, but is so far technically behind that he is working for a Maybe A-League spot. 3-5-2 Dennis. Suits our personnel better. Can't believe you'd start Paule over Mais at D-Mid, though.
I can also see the Crew playing a 4-4-2 this year. I just don't think Andrulis feels likes the team can play in a 3-5-2. -----------Busch-------------- Hejduk--Clark--Dunseth--Denton Mais---Oughton--Martino--Garcia ---Cunningham---McBride---- This is about as close to a 3-5-2 that Andrulis will put out there with Hejduk coming up the right flank on occasion, Oughton moving back to help Clark cover Hejduk's runs forward, and Mais moving center to play D-mid.
I don't mean to butt in, but I'm curious about West's situation. He's not in most of you're starting lineups and the last I remember of him was him being a young and fast and exciting player for the nats last year, just not experienced enough to be a regular. Has he fallen off since last year?
The problem with West is he isn't a very good technical player. That can be just a little problem for a forward, but for a RM it's not good at all. He needs to get more consistent on the ball and serve better crosses. IMO, he needs to go somewhere they can use him as a forward, he'd be better used there. It also has to do with the talent around him. Oughton has proven well at D-mid and seems to be the only player willing to take a shot at 30 yards. Martino and Garcia are just amazing with the ball and the Crew need their creativity. As far as Mais goes he's a good holding mid capable of playing the center, wide right or left and you'd like to have his leadership out there. I don't think it is any coincidence that the only year the Crew didn't make the playoffs, was the year he didn't play at all for the Crew. Also, Buddle has been pressing for time anywhere on the field because of his talent and the wealth the Crew has at forward. West has never really stepped up his game to answer those threats.
I think Maze and Paule are currently pretty close in talent. Maze's age and injuries have slowed him down. We'll probably start with Maze but I don't think he's a 90 minute player anymore and probably would be better off coming from the bench to help settle down the team or to help protect a lead.