I see flashes from Roberta where, in the right circumstance and with the right mix of players around him, he could be good enough at this level. He's just not good enough to overcome whatever intangible issues are keeping him from being a good fit. I'm a bit biased because of the Levski Sofia connection, granted, so I started off looking at him with rose-colored glasses. But I really do think that he could've been an effective role player for a better roster, if nothing else. The world is full of 'almost good-enough' players who bounce from club to club hoping to find the right fit.
Columbus didn't deserve it either. We definitely out-played them in the first half and should have been up 2-0. We weren't but that's what happens in soccer. Then they brought in their two starting forwards in the 2nd half and schooled the right side of our defense ( Durkin ? ). We started our best available - They didn't Their 2nd half subs were starters - Our subs were below our fill-ins
The thing I saw from last night is players having a reason to step up and play their best again. Impressing the new coach is a big deal and no one seemed to take the night off. Hopefully that level of accountability will stick around.
So where do you put Andy to take advantage of his skill set. Not sure he'd be effective from the middle of the park. Is he really a winger?
It must be nice when you can stay in a game and then bring $15-18M off the bench to take things home.
An impressive rebound from last week's horror show, and a good showing from a lineup missing starters Gressel and Smith, I thought Hopkins was terrific, Durkin had his moments, and the much-maligned Skundrich didn't look out of place. The match also saw some up-from-Loudoun players who performed under the eyes of coach-to-be Rooney.
I thought Durkin had his best half of the year in the first half when he was one of the 2 in a 4-2-3-1. If Taxi wasn't having an off night we could have easily been up 2-0. Then, for some reason, we subbed off Odoi-Atsem, brought in Djeffal, and moved Durkin to left back. This, along with their subs obviousy, really changed the game and Columbus looked much better. Columbus attacked the right side of our defense, exploiting the holes left by Najar's runs. Usually it was Skundrich who would cover for Najar and this in turn would impact our overall shape. Later, I think when Najar came off, they moved Durkin to right back. But for most of the second half I couldn't for the life of me figure out what formation they were trying to play. It was a big mess. Other comments. Hopkins looked great, not just with his service but overall. Nigel didn't, although that was a very good cross he put in on Taxi's goal. Romo doesn't inspire. I don't think I've seen him make a save yet where I was like damn, that was impressive. My kids and I were talking about what we thought would be our best line-up with current personnel (assuming all were healthy) in a 4-2-3-1. We came up with: -----------------------Hamid------------------ Gressel - Birnbaum - Hines-Ike - Najar -----------Canouse - Durkin---------------- Hopkins --------Taxi-------------Rodriquez (we hope) -------------------Kamara---------------------- Looking at this, we thought the biggest thing that could change the team was a replacement for one of Canouse or Durkin - a guy who can really control the game. This is the biggest missing piece. We'd use the second DP to upgrade Kamara.
For me with Robertha, it's always been about awareness and composure in the box, and he's young, still. He's got the physical tools and sufficient technicality to be a CF. He's not like Kamara, who can excel anywhere across the front line, so when we play him out wide, I try to think of it like playing a young CB on the outside - we're broadening his understanding and experience - and I don't worry so much if he has a bad game.
Skundrich was awful. He simply cannot advance a ball forward when needed. His first instinct it to pass back if the first option isn't available. His defending on the first goal was also poor. He gave too much room and was too slow to react. In fairness, I doubt any of our players would have done much better on that goal, but still.
hey - wow! - its as if the coach didn't bother to tell him that Columbus subbed in their first squad Forward, so you better mark him tighter - oh - that would be Ashton
Romo is just not a MLS calibre goalkeeper. I don't see him sticking around for long. He has hardly created a high bar for another keeper to surpass.
True. Taxi was clearly another level of class compared to the others up front. Kamara for me is just a squad player at this point. The rest are not worth keeping. We had huge problems in midfield. Andy played well but can get caught out of position. Hopkins can play. He has a way to go but his service from the wing was excellent. I also liked his looking up to connect with other players in the middle rather than just blindly centering the ball. No one else in the middle tonight showed they could help control the pitch. I have to say I was surprised how well Durkin played at left back. He is not going to create havoc on the left side going up the wing, but he was very solid in defense and was able to combine well with others in getting the ball up field. He also didn't make mistakes in getting caught out of position and pretty much locked his corner of the field down pretty well. The rest in the back were very inconsistent with Romo being the worst back there.
I mean is this the new norm? We have a half decent game against a lower end competitor and now Durkin and Djeffal and Hopkins etc are arranged into starting lineups
Romo is a serviceable backup. The coaching staff wants the position to use their feet and help the build up from the back. Romo has better feet than Hamid. He is a decent shot stopper. His anticipation isn't great. The defense and his expectations of them don't align. The defense doesn't do any goalkeepers any favors.
For us, maybe. Until we get reinforcements you are looking for players on an upward trajectory. Is Durkin better than Guederi? Yes. Does Djeffal seem to have a better field sense than anyone at the 6 on our team? Again, yes. Is Hopkins an option to spot Gressel? Yes.
Is that her name? I don't mean any disrespect, but she is not the caliber of reporter I'd like covering my team. What are her soccer reporting bona fides? And I apologize -- she hasn't been an intern for a couple years. Actually, she's perfect for this team, right now. Her talent and the talent of the squad are totally simpatico.
Yes but seriously this is not exactly a midfield to make the playoffs. I do have some optimism on Hopkins. He looked good against Columbus when the rest of the midfield was downright awful. He was also good with the US U20 on their recent CONCACAF tourney where the team qualified for both the U20 World Cup and the Olympics.