Anoyone else see a connection between getting red carded and getting a call-up to the nats? There may be no other evidence that this is true, but CJ Brown called up was a bit of a surprise to me...
At this point, perhaps it would be better to let Faria stay in Brasil until the situation with his dad finds some resolution. Seriously, he's not really going to be of use to us as long as he's commuting back and forth to Brasil every week so why not let him stay there until such time as he can return permanently? I'm sure Faria would prefer to be there full time and it's not like the Fire don't have forwards who can cover for him until he can come back, especially if Dipsy is almost ready to play. [edit]I'm not just saying this because I've been unimpressed with Faria's play. I sincerely think that it might be best for both the Fire and the whole Faria family if Rodrigo were allowed to stay in Brasil until he can get some kind of resolution to this sad situation. I also wish his father a quick and full recovery from his illness.[/edit]
yes, even if Dipsy is incapable of playing for another few weeks, Ralph has shown that he can handle playing at the professional level and Jaqua has apparently been improving, so it's not like we have a shortage of forwards. .... although it would be pretty nice to see Dipsy get some playing time. It's probably going to take him some extra time to get back if he's been down with a leg injury though. He's going to need to get his lungs and legs back to the shape they were in a few months ago. but seriously, we're loaded with newcomers that want a shot at starting, and it's not like Faria has guaranteed any wins so far (let me reaffirm that I think he's a good guy... just that he has not really been an integral part of the Fire's offense so far), we should let him go home and take care of what he needs to, so when he finally does return he can focus on the game.
Andy Williams okay, so CJ has to sit out a game--so he goes to play for the nats (logical so far) but is there any reason that Andy Williams can just leave the team to play in an international friendly? Isn't it possible that without Brown and Faria at either end, we will need all the midfield help we can get?
Re: Andy Williams Well, if you listen to Karl Keller, Mr. Williams is responsible for all the Fire's problems... I see this as the perfect opportunity to test the rookies at several spots. Colorado has been weak and disorganized lately but you know they're hungry for a win. Dave has a built in excuse to start several youngsters without his managerial prowess being called into question. He can legitimately say "Hey, I was forced to do it!". So why not go with: Razov, Jacqua/Dipsy DMB, Armas, Pause, Mapp, Capano Perez, Curtin, Boca Thornton If there are prioblems in the midfield, sub in Whitfield for Mapp or Capano.
With the offensive problems the Fire has been dealing with, would it hurt to run a formation with 3 clear forwards? .........Razov....Dipsy/Jaqua....... .............. Ralph ................... Beasley, Armas, Whitfield, Mapp .....Boca ... Curtin.... Perez..... ............... Z.T.................... Armas and Whitfield could provide solid defense in the center, and the back 3 are more than adequate at stopping an attack. That way you have the Boca-Beasley-Razov connection on the left, and Mapp-Jaqua (who made a nice connection off of a corner in the latin all stars game) to work with on the right.
I'd rather hold Ralph in reserve as a possible sub, just in case. Also, haven't you been reading Karl's posts? Pause is the second coming of Franz Beckenbauer. Without him in the starting lineup, we're doomed before we step on the pitch!
Asside from JP's increasingly annoying sarcasm, I would rather have Pause in the lineup then Whitfield.
believe me, I'm the number one proponent of the "Pause for league MVP" campaign, and I'm sure I will be proven right by the end of the season, but for the time being... he's had a few solid games at the beginning of the season (certainly nothing bad, but no glimpses of anything great either), but now we need offense and the lineups we've tried haven't produced much of such "offense" lately. It's probably just be a matter of giving the team time to gel, giving the rookies time to adjust to the pros, giving Razov time to get back in game-shape, but at the moment we haven't been playing very well. I don't think drastic changes are necessary (this is not the time of season to even think about getting worried), I just think that with the right combination of veterans and newcomers we could find a rhythm and play rather well this season. ...and I do think we should let Pause get a lot of playing time this season, but we can't put all of our rookies out there at once.
Another idea that was brought up watching the game last week... Maybe we can try Faria as a winger instead of upfront? An idea with little to go on but speculation, maybe, but with our overloaded forward situation it might be worth a try in one of our lean weeks with players gone for National team duty.
What do you mean? We're among the leaders in shot taken. So what if they were mostly from 30 yards out, that's offense, dammit! OK, but seriously the Rapids may look a bit weak on paper but they still have Mark Everybody-Wang-Chung-Tonight and Chris Harry-and-the-Henderson on their roster and if they move Carrieri (Damn, can't think of anything for him at the mo')back into the midfield and start Spencer-For-Hire up top then I'm afraid of a repeat of New England where we get shredded in midfield and Spencer runs riot in the box. An "all rookie/new guy" line-up. What would that look like? Jacqua, Dipsy Capano, Futagaki, Ralph, Mapp, Walls Perez, Gray, Pause McGinty/Ring Anyway, in my lineup we wouldn't start all these guys. We'd still have Ralph and either Dipsy or Nate waiting on the bench. And our defense would be all vets while Armas and DMB stiffen up the midfield and Razov gives us experience up top.
Regarding some of these lineups, why would you put Boca or Perez on the right side of the defense? Neither of them have ever played there, and it's not really worthy of an experiment when we've got other options (i.e., Whitfield). If you go with the "Razov and Faria are too similar in style" argument, Razov/Dipsy looks a lot more like the Razov/Wolff combo up front, at least in terms of potential. Later, COZ
I'm honestly confused. Do you mean that Razov/Dipsy have the potential to be as underacheiving as Razov/Wolff were, or do you mean they have the potential to be as good as the potential Razov/Wolff had? I still think that the defense & offense need to be left alone for the time being. It's the midfield that I question. Did we look that bad last week because Williams is that bad, or vice versa? Anyway, we have 8 of 11 I think. The three defenders & Zach, any two forwards, Armas & Marsch. After that I think the question is what offensive midfield combination works best. To me that's the whole question. Any thoughts? Unfortunately I know very little about our newer players.
The latter. After rewatching a little bit of the match, we looked that bad last week because, with very few exceptions, nobody was hustling for 50/50 balls. That may be a byproduct of having one less body in the midfield, or we might just have been a bunch of slackers. It might be as simple as everybody being more aggressive...we've come out looking hungry in other games, so it's not like we can't do it. That said, getting guys who want playing time in the lineup may be good for that shot of energy and enthusiasm, Kelly Gray notwithstanding. Later, COZ
Can anyone give me a brief summary/ comparison of the following three players: Gray, Capano, Pause? Actually mostly I'm wondering where Capano and Gray stand in relation to one another's skills / weaknesses and how they would eventually fit into the lineup. I don't really know much about either and was wondering what you guys thought about those three as future starting midfielders in terms of who is the best now and who has the most potential.
That makes more sense. At least it's more how I feel as well. As for the hungry part, I think that's about it. Until someone mentioned that half of our team is inelligible for the next game my feeling was to leave the team exactly the same and weed out the problems later. Let the team play before making any wholesale changes in the lineup. It's still how I feel. I just think the 3 midfield spots are going to make or break the team.
Re: Re: Andy Williams First of all, JP, that is a completely unfair and superficial assessment of my views, particularly about the New England game and those specific players. And you know it. Second, you're welcome to take my name in vain, even when I haven't posted anything up to that point in any particular thread, but don't think you'll get away with it. Third, everybody, if you listen to JP, here's what you will get: --A 'sky is falling' sensibility. --Useless, unproductive, and uninsightful sarcasm. --Many arguments structured like a house of cards on nebulous, unhelpful, and untestable concepts --A third rate intellect when it comes to politics, as well as soccer
Babe Winkelman is an amateur Insecure reactionaries are so easily caught, it's a wonder they've survived in the wild. But don't worry, folks. This one's too small so I have to throw him back. There ya go, lil' feller...
You know, this sort of online bickering loses something when you've actually met most the people involved. The anonymity is apparently important. I'm just sayin'.
Well, COZ, you've read my stuff...what do YOU think about what I say, anonymity not withstanding? That fact is that Mr. Pakovits engages in uncalled for, unjustifiable, and unsupportable sarcastic cheap shots. On line, in person, it just doesn't matter. Heck, I wasn't even PARTICIPATING in this thread, and he starts to slam me in a completely uncalled for fashion. Meanwhile, I have tried, as you know, to address in a subtantive manner, the issues related to the Fire, and tried to be as fair as possible to the players and coaches (who to a man try hard and work hard to succeed). Frankly, it frosts me, as a fan of this team and the of the players on it, and the front office who runs it as best they can, to hear the intellectually empty drivel of some posters here, and the even more empty drivel of some posters directed specifically at me. I try to put forth the best analysis I can, and try to provide some insight into what's happening, and all I get is this superfical ad hominen bullcrap from lightweights like Pakovits who don't now a soccer ball from a volleyball, and rant about lack of "leadership" with the level of insight of some misplaced gridiron youth coach, ranting about how the kids just don't want it enough. He's an idiot, pure and simple, and deep down HE knows it, and certainly YOU know it.
I get the feeling that if we were 3-1-1 instead of 1-1-3 there would be a lot less bickering and in-fighting in this forum. I mean, check out the metrostarts forum. They're so nice to each other over there...
Those folks are in uncharted territory. I bet they don't know what to do with themselves. They certainly aren't as much fun to lurk around any more. Isn't the term happy New Yorker an oxymoron?
Yes. Of course, who can blame them? If I had to live in that vortex of hell, I'd be pissed off all the time as well.