Yeah, me too! I'm so glad to see him gone so that finally we can see..... wait a minute. Who is it that plays instead of him?
We got 75k??? I am not one of the haters (I like Gbandi), but that seems generous. Good for him and FCD. My best to Gbandi. If not for the knee injury, who knows?
THEO yo, put the HYPNOTOAD down! There's this kid we drafted a couple of years ago - you may not have seen him recently, he's was playing injured last year - anyway, as young rookies usually do, WAGNER began to develop as young player in the pro environment. Then he started lighting it up on the reserve side, then the coach starts noticing him, then the local soccer writers and fans who have seen him practice and play recently, any way... his name? WAGNER, Blake Wagner (USA) My opinion means very little in the grand scheme of things, but I believe you will see that WAGNER's play has stepped up. Go see the kid play and share your thoughts.
once again, big time semantic arguement, but a wide mid is not a defender in a 3-5-2, unless the team is really going to play a 5-3-2 This is what you said before: And, I fully recognize that Gbandi is more your traditional 4 man defensive line wingback. He is a bit slight of frame for a 3 man backline. But, you cannot have an immobile big guy there either. Teams that work the ball to the endline and corners of the field can expose an immobile backline pretty easily on the outsides. So, my point stands. The guy in your diagram labeled "LCB" needs immediate attention. Our best roster option for that position a week ago was Gbandi. When I previously asked whether Wagner could handle the same role, you gave the above answer, which basically was "no". People are really happy to see guys leave the roster. All of which is fine and ordinary, IF you have replacements lined up. The only guys that we don't get rid of are guys in which we are piles deep in surplus. I respect everyone's point of view. For some, this is a good way to do it. But, in my little corner of the world, it would be nice to move a bunch of defensive mids, some back-up-never-going-to-start forwards, and begin to ADD a "left back" (not to be confused with a flank mid), a creative center mid, and the ever elusive young proven international forward.
yes. nothing I have said contradicts that. That's very true. yes, I agree with you 100%. Never said you were wrong there. But that's not a left back... Gbandi wasn't the best for the LCB role. He and Wagner are very similar. Both play left back or left wing. Both played in the midfield in previous teams. Neither makes a very good center back. Neither can play the LCB role you and I both think the team is missing. So when you say "who is going to replace Gbandi" the answer is and has been Wagner. If you want to ask "who will play LCB?" that is a very different question from "who will replace Gbandi". The answer to "who will play LCB?" is a center back type. That means either a new signing or a prayer that Yi, Pitch, or Daniels makes a break through. You and I both know the answer needs to be a new signing. It was never going to be Gbandi nor Wagner. the minute they decided to gamble on Goodson going to europe and exposing him they knew they would need another central type defender signing. So in theory they have been working on this for some time. I would agree, but Wagner is Gbandi's replacement cause Gbandi doesn't play the position you seem to think he does. Other than Morrow's recent comments, I have some good info from sources that say they really are busting ass looking for one. So stay tuned.
Dammitt, Buzz... you can't DO that to us! Ok, I know you can, so I will just ask you this: By "busting their ass," do you mean they are busting their ass to find a striker(s), or that they are busting their asses to get the deal(s) done with said striker(s)?
I think we are agreeing on most counts. Yes, Gbandi is not a prototype left back in a 3 man line. Yes, we don't have anyone to play that position currently. That is why I don't advocate getting rid of Gbandi until we have something lined up, because until last week, he was the best alternative on the roster. Guys like Paul Broome have done fairly well in similar situations despite their lack of size. But yes, a poorman's Greg Vanney type of guy would be best. Not to nitpick for the sake of nitpicking, but to get a clearer understanding of what the plan will be, let me ask you. The term of "CENTER left back" as opposed to simply "left back" in a line of 3.....does this come from you or Morrow? And, as for the diagram, putting Wagner and Rocha? on the same parallel line as the two defensive mids, as well as the term "rightwingback", is this strictly your diagraming and verbage choices, or are they Morrow's? You probably already know where I am going with all of this. There is a huge difference between a 3-5-2 and a 5-3-2. 3-5-2 will give you lots of width and possession. 5-3-2 will protect your flanks and allow you to counter, with very limited possession. In a 3-5-2 you need some athletic left and right backs to cover a lot of ground. They also have to be versatile enough to handle the quickness of flank play ALONG with the marking and clearing responsibilities of a center back. I think Drew Moore in MLS will be alright in this type of role. Whether you do it in a zone defense, like we used to play before, or you do it w/ man x man marking when Lalas swept for LA, it has worked well in MLS. But, conversly, a 5-3-2 is way too defensive for this league. If we are shopping for a big left back that lacks the quickness to cover the flanks, I will take this as evidence that we are really planning to play a 5-3-2, not a 3-5-2. When tiny Costa Rica played Germany in the World Cup, they were preparing for Klose and an aerial Blitzkreig. That system made sense for that situation. It doesn't make sense for this MLS team. To really stretch defenses side to side, you want to have your wide mids, (Wagner and Rocha), playing north of your defensive mids. There is no reason to park them deep in defensive positions. The off the ball wide mid can cover the back door when the opposition penetrates into the opposite corner and your back three shift towards the ball. Otherwise, keep them high and looking to explode to the opponents endline. This system works beautifully if you have an attacking center mid who can show away from the ball and switch the point of attack quickly and accurately with balls to space. This type of system will run the legs off of the opposition. 5-3-2 won't, because you will lack the possession in the middle and will be forced into a more predictable vertical type of soccer we have been seeing for the past 4 years.
I can help on this. I had the same questions before I saw the scrimage. Here are three ways to run a 3-5-2: - three center backs, two way wide mids, two d-mids and a central mid. - a left back, right back, and a center back, outside mids are wingers who don't play much defense. Defensive mids stay home. - The "5-3-2", where you have three central defenders, outside mids stay back defensively, and the middle three is more aggressive (one defensive, two attacking mids). FCD is going to run the first 3-5-2. Three central backs (CB, LCB, RCB). The outside mids run 18 to 18, they are asked to be part of the offense as much as part of the defense. Two way players. For the triangle in the middle, in the FCD setup, the defensive mids are asked to join the offense, and the attacking mid is asked to help on defense. The defensive mids are not required to stay home because there are three central defenders, and there is no need for the traditional "#10". I hope that helps. In this formation, Wagner is seen as a true outside midfielder. Apparently he was penciled in as a left back here, but he saw time at left midfielder with the U-17s. He is good enough with the ball to be dangerous going forward. So he is more of a two way player than we have labeled him as, and certainly more two way than Gbandi.
From me, I call it left center back to make a distinction that it's not an outside player. It's not a player who gets up and down, it's very much a Vanney kind of guy. BUT morrow also called it a left center back this week when I was talking to him. mine. I draw it that way cause it's make it clear they are not in the back line of 5, but also aren't high forward wings. I also call it a wing back to distinguish it from both a outside fullback and from a normal wide midfielder type player. I can't recall morrow referring to it as wingback. I really don't think it's a 5-3-2. Morrow refers to it as a 3-5-2. Pareja, before he left, talked to me about Wagner and how the shape was going to be great for him cause he'd be able to get way forward and not have to do a lot of tracking back deep. Also in T&T when the played it the two outside players, Wagner on one side and the trialist, who's name escapes me this second, on the other side both were getting into the offensive box and combining with forward.
Thanks soccerctn and 3rd, that sounds very positive. The only thing, I'd still advocate, is that a true #10 is still needed. I understand that if that midfield triangle has two DM's at the base, one can always push up when the team is in possession even if a team throws 3 forwards at you. But, not every player has the characteristics to play the "10". I've not seen Toja, Ricchetti, nor Serioux playing w/ back to pressure. I've not seen them routinely switching the point of attack. I've not seen them have the vision and technical ability to curl a ball from the middle up the sideline. I've not seen them capable of reading a situation under pressure and quickly assessing whether to put the ball to feet or to space on one of those diagonal switches. I've not seen them being able to show for balls and relieve pressure in tight marking situations. You don't need everyone to have these skills, but you at least need one. Dax on the other hand, has shown some of these traits, but he is still a ways away. Who on the staff is capable of teaching him to do this? And, are these traits even valued and being planned? I would feel a lot more optimistic if we were to get a proven veteran at this position if even for one year to help Dax along.
I wouldn't say that Dax is a long ways away. After all the training he's had this winter with Nowak and the U-23's it wouldn't surprise me at all for him to come out on fire this season.
Is this where Morrow is looking to play him? It seems that I saw somewhere that he is penciled in as a flank player. I think that they are still experimenting w/ this whirling dervish of dribble type of players in the center mid spot. (Nunez, Toja, Denilson). I hope not. I am seeing 3 guys trying out to apparently try out for the spot of leftBACK. Cabrera, Stokley, and Malcolm. Of the three, it only seems that one has played leftBACK before. I hope that we are not going to try another goofy Serioux as center back type of experiment. If we need a leftBACK, I'd like for us to get a leftBACK.