I believe where it really falls apart is the last sentence, which I bolded. I think maybe if he had come along a bit further by now, and Halsti had come in this season and met expectations, the midfield might be okay. I think you could have Kitchen, Halsti, and DeLeon interchanging, Arnaud stepping into the mix. That's about as balanced as we can get across the midfield. It's not ideal, but for MLS I think it would work. You'd like there to be a little more strength going forward, but that's pretty hard to do in this league. I think your pick of Espindola would not work at all, for the reason you gave. I think mine has more balance, but is obviously lacking Espy's punch. As for the forwards, I think Pontius was the key figure. Note that he was. He's one of those tweener attackers that can fill that role well, and now having seen him play so much outside mid in a 442 it seems clear he could do that job in a 433. Aguilar, Rolfe, Saboria, agree on all those. We seem to specialize in these tweener attackers. Not quite a defensive midfielder, but not quite a forward. Hell, even Doyle for that matter would be better suited to it than his current role, I think. At this point we'd need to acquire the other starting attacker. I thought you were going to say that because Espindola is our most influential player, but very poorly suited to a 433, that makes it impossible currently, which would also be true. I love to be able to unload him for the kind of player we need, but I'm happy to see things out with him and our current tactics. The page has turned I think on this team's ability to be effective in a 433 on a regular basis. A couple years ago I thought we may have had the right players.
I think United could run a 4-3-3, but they don't have the 'Feilhaber'. A player who can make teams pay with a pass or a shot, but also links play and will get stuck in. Doesn't exist on this roster. I don't worry as much about the wing play, but centrally you better be on point because you are always outnumbered. United is bad enough with four in the middle, three only complicates the problem. Now a 3-5-2 is tailor made for this team. Maybe next year (no chance).
I don't feel comfortable making any kind of statement about what Espindola is or is not suited for. I don't understand Espindola. I don't mean that as a negative statement about anyone except maybe about myself: he doesn't really fit into any of the artificial categories I have in my head for players. Then again, neither does Lionel Messi; yet both make big contributions to their team. Well, in Espindola's case, when he plays he makes a big contribution, and that's my only gripe about him: between injuries and discipline, we pay him a lot to play little.
I think I see where you're coming from. He's got a lot of determination, which is a great quality to have defensively speaking. And it's not unusual to see him use pressure to cause problems in the back line. But I don't think that in anyway translates to him taking on any more defensive responsibility, which he would have everywhere he would play except CF, which would also not suit him. If anything, he would just get carded more, I think. And even if you expect him to go Valderama and be exclusively the thing that makes the offensive go from CM, I'm not sure he can do that either. When he's dropped back, he's not been as effective. And at this point in his career, you might as well play roulette on his knees. He likes to have the ball on his feet, that's clear, but I think the further from goal he is when that happens the less bang you're getting out of him. He's best suited to how we use him now, and we'd be pretty foolish to screw with it. If there's one guy we need to show up and play 5 games to win a trophy, it's him at his best.
Agreed. I think Olsen said himself that Espi is allowed to do what he wants. Trying to pin him down with certain responsibilities would be a mistake. As it is, he's free to do what he wants, and thankfully he seems to like to chase defenders as well as score and create goals. He's a soccer player, not necessarily a winger, forward, etc.
That's probably why he has bounced around the league. Ultimately, the guy is a bit of a tease. He's not all that. He's not the second coming of Etcheverry . I am Tallman and that is my opinion.
Espindola is very versatile. He's shown in the past he could play on teh wings for RSL, many times spreading wide to the corners or down the flanks with his speed (older now though), he also has a hell of a cross/lob with that left foot fo his. He can be used too as a false 9 and drop behind 2 wingers and distribute. He's very versatile and why it's hard to pin him down anywhere. I just don't buy he's NOT a LW forward or RW forward. He plenty of times plays the 'role' when he ends up assisting from outwide. I know the excuse is how about his defense and ability to track back? I want to see him tried there, and Olsen tinkering with a higher backline to 'shorten' the field for him to help there...but I am not holding my breath. I think Rolfe too could play out wide, may need a break and that's when Doyle comes in--but this team CAN play a 4-3-3. It just takes time for players to get used to that formation and to figure out where the 'gaps' are that need to be filled in on the practice pitch. If Espindola has trouble coming deep to recover on defense when we don't have the ball, you have Kitchen slide left, Kemp or whoever teh LB is to push up into that hole too to help Fabi. A good coach finds a way to maximize talent and minimze their weaknesses.
Why does it seem that the only people who still insist on the importance of formations in football are fans?
SAF got schooled by Pep and even by Ancelotti (AC Milan) with formations. Its not so much formations as match-ups - negating their star players and finding space for yours. In that regard, Rolfe and Espindola are essential to any success by DC United. If we could add a healthy and dangerous Pontius to that, then the team would be very potent.
It's a kind of shorthand for tactics, which I think everyone agrees are important. What teams are actually trying to do is much more complicated and certainly takes a lot longer to explain on big soccer.
To me, Espindola simply does not fit into any "team" concept. He's a lone wolf in a lot of ways and that's why he's hard to pin down into a "formation". He floats around looking for ways to change the game, but he doesn't actually do any role consistently. I believe he's been somewhat under appreciated in MLS because he doesn't fit into any role and really the vast majority of his success comes from him creating something out of nothing. He does combine with others for sure, but the way he does is never really all that consistent. Probably drives coaches and team-mates crazy sometimes, but then again his enigmatic play results in goals more often than not. Which is of course the point of the game.
In one of the "meet the coaches and players" STH events, Olsen was asked which player he would want on his team among those who had played in the last 40 years, he pondered and then said "Maradona." He was asked, "how would you coach him?" His answer -- "you don't."
Like Etcheverry, he was a guy you just handed the keys over to--and let him do his thing. That's supposedly what Bruce agreed to do after the first handful of games in DCU's history. Team stunk and he threatened Marco with shipping him out if he didn't improve. That's when Marco asked for the keys to the team..the rest is history.
That too was one of the ultimatums that Bruce gave him. He needed to get ni better shape. Marco was a guy who had trouble with bad habits in off seasons.
I was playing some FIFA '14 last night (I'm late to update) and played with Malmo. Halsti had a 66 rating and played as a CB. I realize this post is meaningless.
Back when I played FM maybe like 2013 or so, Pontius always ended up starting as a striker for the US within months of starting the game.