Now that Stoichkov is in DC will he be taking all the Free Kicks? You really gotta stop letting Etch take them.
Well, considering that Stoitchkov will only play sparingly, I think that other players will be the primary FK takers. I agree that Etcheverry should share the free kick duties with some other players, specifically Convey and Stewart, who can both deliver a sweet ball. I'm also hoping that someone will be able to step up and put a poweerful shot on goal from time to time.
Agreed, Etch shouldn't be taking free kicks or corners IMHO. I love Etch, but that skill isn't the best on the team. Convey should take all left sided corners and long distance free kicks. Olsen or Convey should take all right corners. Stewart or Stoichkov should take the potential goalshot free kicks and penalties. Etch should be the short option on corners and the other guy on the indirect kicks. That's my $0.02. -Tron
Free kick takers are a luxury this year for us. Etch, Stoichkov, Convey, Stewart can all hit them. I'd like to see something along the lines of Stewart taking inswinging corners on the left and Convey taking the ones on the right. Then Etch and Stoichkov can alternate on direct ones from near the top of the box, and Etch can serve the ball from other parts of the field. We could also give Tino a few shots with them.
Ideally you'd want outswinging crosses. They provide better sight angles and heading angles to the finishers, and they tail away from the keepers, which sometimes causes keepers to make the wrong decisions about coming off their lines. So, if you have Convey delivering corners, you'd definitely want him doing the left corners. Olsen could do the right sufficiently, but IMHO, Convey is more consistently accurate than Olsen, so his inswinging crosses might be just as good as Olsen's outswingers. But either is preferable to Etch. I'd want Stewart finishing, we have too few finishers as it is. I understaind letting Etch take the corners as he's not really a finisher, but I think the accurate delivery is crucial, so I'd pull Etch from those duties. Stoichkov can finish and deliver a beautiful free/corner kick, so I'd be fine with him in either role. Frankly, given his health and physical shape, set piece finishing and serving are probably the best parts of his game. -Tron
This makes much more sense.... I agree i also want stewart inside being a target.. his height really would help finishing.... scott
One problem here though.. Stewart never has been and probably never will be a traffic goalscorer in the air.. Heading is a particular weakness to his offensive game.. As a matter of fact, I can't ever recall a Stewart headed goal... He is much better suited to taking corners.. As for Etcheverry, yes his goal scoring is way down on free kicks.. One last season and none the year before, but his accuracy in placing kicks is still probably better than anyone else on the team IMHO.. The mere fact that we have little to no target players has a lot to do with Etcheverry's declining numbers in regards to assists from corners and free kicks.. I do agree however that he should not demand to take all the free kicks on the team... As a matter of fact, I'd rather have him take most of the long distance kicks (from beyond midfield) because of his said accuracy.. Closer to goal should probably change but don't get too pissed off when you see #10 lining up most free kick opportunities cause he will be taking most of them... In all honesty, I don't think Marco wins or loses us any matches with bad free kicks...
Ray seems to have a thing with fixing weaknesses in players, maybe he can work on stewarts head... stewart does need to give better head.ers. scott
as to stoichkov being able to take set-pieces I remember a game back in July (?) Chicago vs. Dallas that would help his case. Stoichkov took the set-piece from about 23-25 yards out left side of the box. he nailed it right in the right corner. didnt hit anybody. Matt Jordan didn't even touch it even though he spread himself out completly. I think stoichkov still has got a little juice left in him.
I definitely think Hristo can still take one of the sweetest free kicks in the league, I just think that there has to be another option besides he and Etcheverry, because Etch seems to have lost some sharpness and Hristo won't be on the field much.
Etch still has the accuracy! etch still has th accuracy to strike the ball close to the box. however , does not own th ball for god's sake. he should take kicks in the area outside the box. and some corners. but not all over the field. thnk etch and stoich both have the skill to put it in---the goal.. I think some people have to realize that his assists and scoring have both been down....as his overall productivity, but imagine how a John Elway, Dan Marino, or Joe Montana in their prime would do if we put them on say the lions, or cowboys.....yuck... i mean it is so diffucult to do good, when all you have around you are some dds for players... now that he has some qualit players around him, it will be a different story..you can quote me on this, but i know etch will put the best numbers of his career this year.... having said that , i stll think he has to learn that he cannot do everything himself...he should let others play too.....i hoped he learned sharing as a kid..haha anyway that i my humble opinion