Maybe not now, but it might be soon. There have been a few recent games where Arnaud is coming apart in the second half. Toronto was another one. Some really bad turnovers and his marking was pretty loose, giving the ball carrier space so they can't beat him for pace. He's getting tired.
That one game when we had a lead and Arnaud came on as a sub and played along with Kitchen and Halsti, that worked pretty well.
For now, I have to agree, the two of them seem to come down largely to tactical/style of play differences, Arnaud + Kitchen making things more 'hectic' in both a good and a bad way. And I think we know which way the current leadership would prefer to play, unless Halsti finds a way to really stand out or else inherits the job by circumstances.
I'm all for him having a shot in the first team, but this isn't really a reason. Kitchen, Arnaud, or Halsti aren't going to play out wide.
I'll two-thirds stand by that. The notion that DeLeon's workrate is subpar strikes me as just flat wrong. DeLeon burns as many calories out there as just about anyone on the team, excepting maybe the CM pair. If you don't see him making a run, it's because he doesn't have the football brain to make it, not because the desire isn't there. On the bit about tactical discipline, yeah, I should downgrade that to a maybe. Systems that don't play an ACM, like the flat 4-4-2 need guys to 'fill the hole', including having the wide mid come into the middle of the park and in advanced positions, so you'll see DeLeon in spots other than where the manual says the wide mid is supposed to be. But he does strike right away as coachable, and he will hug the touchline. If you plugged him into a wide back role, told him and don't get caught out, my guess is you wouldn't find him getting caught out very often.
There are two components to work rate. I agree with you regarding his work rate on offense. On defense, I think he fails. Sometimes he seems to lose interest, while other times it's the fact that even this far into the season he still isn't 90 minute fit, which is just absolutely absurd for someone who wants to be a professional athlete. In "disciplined and coachable tactically", I thought your use of "tactically" modified "coachable"; I was taking exception to "discipline" in general, and again that's with respect to his seeming issues with preparation and conditioning.
I think NDL is very much an above average defender from the wing … and frankly with his lack of killer instinct in attack this is the only thing that makes him worth having on the field. I often see him back in our box or on our touchline harassing opponents, making tackles and just denying space. You don't see that level of work rate from most MLS right wingers. I like NDL's defending so much that I actually wish he'd be converted into a right back.
Yeah, that's basically where I was coming from too, though I was really making a hypothetical argument--it's not something I'd be jonesing for us to do now, so much as something I wish had been done with him when he was about 18 or 19.
Exactly, and how much better is he for it? Okay, so I overstated "never", but you get my drift. Most colleges won't do it, and most of the ones who do the kid will transfer.
so... um Halsti? What do we think about him? I'd still like to see him get some games with the A team in addition to midweek and Open Cup games. We don't have enough data to know if he or Arnaud is a better fit for the team. Arnaud is certainly adequate, but if we want to be a better team, we have to possibly make some changes.
If by "often" you mean "in the first 20 minutes of a match" I'll agree. Otherwise, by minute 55 he's getting overrun and is trotting 1o or 15 yards behind the play or standing around 1/3 of the way up the field.
Exactly. Arnaud, at this point in his career, is probably best utilized as a super sub on the bench and as a spot starter. Duh, I meant "off the bench."
Was your quote/response intentional? I wouldn't quite make the same statement about both players, but the overall point is valid, I think.
Oh yea, I wouldn't argue it's quite rare. It should be a lot less rare, but there it is. As for whether Yedlin is better for it, I think he's very likely at least much richer for it. That move got him his first nat looks which got him scouted by Tottenham.
yeah this is where academies would serve player development a bit better. Najar was playing there in our academy, and though he was a spark, he didn't really become complete until he was moved back there again. If he had gone to most colleges, he would have played RM and followed the same path as NDL.
I'm not well versed on such things these days, but the last I heard he was a RB. Definitely could have changed though. Honduras would never play him as a RB, I imagine.
In the Euro games, he's been Right Mid. But his move to Right Back on Defense was only by chance, not design. He was regressing early in that season and then got injured. NDL came on as Right Mid as a rookie and was a real spark, and Andy couldn't get off the bench. Then we had injuries at Right Back, and Ben Olsen decided to stop experimenting with Dejan Jankovic as an over-lapping Right Back and try Andy there. And the rest is history.
I don't remember this at all...neither does this webpage http://www.dcunited.com/media-guide/history/2012-lineups btw i love that part of the site now...i've alreayd used it numerous times in the past week or so