He should have been sitting two weeks ago IMO but it's not like we have anyone ready to step in except Nana who Nowak doesn't seem to think is ready yet.
Nana has a couple of skills that other DC players are not showing a lot of right now: a) He is absolutely fearless at carrying the ball through traffic - he is like a cannonball. None of this feinting, putting a foot on the ball, etc. Very direct with the ball at his feet. b) He is good at quick one-touch passing sequences and does not try to do too much by himself (a strange combination considering point a). c) He works very well with Freddy. They have an understanding. Somewhat naturally. d) Dude is a freak of nature in terms of his build. He is like Jaime before the back problem. Almost impossible to knock off the ball. e) He possesses a cannon of a shot and he is willing to let go with it. I don't even care if he plays right wing - he will get and take his shots. The drawback with Nana is he has Kovalenko disease. He sometimes plays through guys late and (honestly - not in dirty fashion) throws himself around too much. He is young and doesn't really know when to pick his spots to get wound up like Speedy Gonzalez and go. That being said, I think that he is definitely due a twenty-minute run at a home game sometime soon. I would agree with you if you were talking about Q2. But not about Nana. He does bring extra stuff to the table.
I think that this team has taken team defense too far. Even we as fans fall into the trap of applauding strikers for tracking back and winning balls in the defensive third. Strikers need to defend, especially in those moments immediately after the ball is turned over in the attacking third. They need to challenge defenders to slow the oppostion's transition and possibly regain possession. However, strikers primarily need to expend their energy making themselves available to receive passes in a forward position and stretching the opposing defense. The quick transitions that every one wants cannot occur when our attacking mid and forwards consistently track back and receive the ball well on the defensive side of midfield. Then, that player looks up and the other forward is level with him at best. Forwards need to play up top. Take turns anticipating turnovers to their team and trying early runs. They can either receive an early ball or force a defender to follow them, creating space for other attacking players in their wake. I haven't checked the stats, but I'd be interested to know how many off sides calls Esky has received this year. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't down from the second half of last year when he was a more productive forward.
Nana has a couple of skills that other DC players are not showing a lot of right now: a) He is absolutely fearless at carrying the ball through traffic - he is like a cannonball. None of this feinting, putting a foot on the ball, etc. Very direct with the ball at his feet. b) He is good at quick one-touch passing sequences and does not try to do too much by himself (a strange combination considering point a). c) He works very well with Freddy. They have an understanding. Somewhat naturally. d) Dude is a freak of nature in terms of his build. He is like Jaime before the back problem. Almost impossible to knock off the ball. e) He possesses a cannon of a shot and he is willing to let go with it. I don't even care if he plays right wing - he will get and take his shots. The drawback with Nana is he has Kovalenko disease. He sometimes plays through guys late and (honestly - not in dirty fashion) throws himself around too much. He is young and doesn't really know when to pick his spots to get wound up like Speedy Gonzalez and go. That being said, I think that he is definitely due a twenty-minute run at a home game sometime soon. I would agree with you if you were talking about Q2. But not about Nana. He does bring extra stuff to the table.[/QUOTE] I have not seen any of the reserve matches, but based on your ( and others) description and the stats, I appears that Nana deserves some PT. With Freddy gone, I can't see why he can't come in as a sub at ~70 min. Sometimes I feel like DCU is trying to create the perfect goal or somehow pass the ball into the net. If Nana is currently putting himself in positions to get his shot off and is willing to take the shots in the reserve matches, I say give him a chance. However, as I mentioned above, I feel the slow transition and overall sluggish attack is more of a coaching issue.
I've seen enough of Nana (mostly in reserve matches) to relish the idea of unleashing him on a tired defense; hell, even a fresh defense! As I've said on earlier threads, he is more an instinctive player than a crafty one, and he may not yet be up to handling the full A-mid role, but he will barrel through defenders and take a shot with either foot from almost anywhere. And if we had a real poacher up front (the best role, I think, for Esky) we should get goals off rebounds of Nana's cannonades, because they are hard to handle cleanly.
I guess you weren't paying attention. Anyhow, add me to the list of people who want to see a change in th lineup. Maybe our Argentinian Man of Mystery is a goal scoring threat?
He can't do any worse than the forwards on our "A" team. He might actually score a goal. Or, on the other hand, if he plays the way he has on the reserve side (per report from others), he might be the first forward in MLS to get straight red-carded out of a match, after 2 minutes!
First off some general thoughts. First off, expectations I think have been blown way out of proportion. Don't forget, DC was not that strong last season, and it wasn't until that fantastic late season run that everything started to click. A let down should be expected. In regards to Eski, and his banner season last year. From my experience, when you see a forward who is talented going through a rut, the best way to get out of it is by working hard. Eventually something will click, and he'll start scoring. That to me is inevitable. The bigger thing for me, if I was Nowak, would be focusing on how Moreno is playing. I think Moreno has been good, but from what I've seen (again, no where near as much as everyone on this board), he seems a step slower than last season. And not only that, but he seems more frustrated. Obviously, not winning pisses him off, but Moreno plays his best when he has that wry smile, with an attitude that oozes "I'm just so much better than you. You def. shouldn't be on the field with me." I haven't seen that much this year. just some thoughts from an outside observer, rip them if you please. I do think Dema is going to help though. Don't for get, for the first half of the season last year, he was your best striker (at least shot to scoring rate, or first 12 games, something like that).