Just wondering what people thought of him from the 30 minutes he played against Crapids... Favor Kipre over Stewart? How soon will he start? Or will he be another one of our overseas acquisitions that end quickly? First of all, I liked his willingness to attack. He was heading up the sidelines a lot more than Stewart. Also, his athleticism as a whole was good. Good speed and jumping. I do believe Kipre will start in due time. Gotta have time to get acquainted with the team. Hopefully, he can become a stronghold for our so far underacheiving D-Line. Now Everyone Else, Please Elaborate/Criticize.
I am hoping that he gets the start this week over stewart. He has had over a week to practice and get used to the team, plus 30 minutes or so of game time last week. From what I saw, he will be an easy improvement over Stewart. He has the speed we need on the outside, as well as the mentality. He showed some good things decision wise and I hope they play him more so he can get used to the teams style and contribute much better than stewart can out on the wing.
Yeah... I think both Lancos and Kipre have what it takes to replace Stewart on the outside - although I still think Stewart is a solid central defender. He and Torres are a very good pair in the middle. Suddenly you have some interesting stuff in defense... looking at each position: RB - Kipre/Lancos/Stewart CB - Pope/Torres/Stewart/Besagno LB - Forko/Torres DM - Talley/Cutler/Besagno/Lancos I'd be interested in seeing how some of these combinations could do together. It would be nice to see a really strong D-mid emerge to challenge Talley. Personally, I think the D-mid is one of the top 2 positions on the field (along with A-mid)... if you have strength there, the backline gets time and protection, the attack can be more aggressive (particularly if the d-mid knows how to speed up the defense-to-offense transition).
It would be great if we could actually play with a single d-mid and have him be effective, but even Shalrie would look bad as a single d-mid in RSL's system. How effective a d-mid can be is tactically limited by how much space they have to cover. In RSL's system, with Klein playing wide and rarely giving inside defensive support, with Adu playing next to no defense at all, with Ballouchi all over the place, and with our back four playing too deep because they expect to be beaten for pace, Talley has to cover acres of space by himself...which is impossible even if he were a great athlete...which he is not. He's a 30-something who lets himself go a bit too much in the offseason. Even with the addition of a true d-mid to play along-side Talley, RSL is still going to have nightmares because of the aforementioned issues with outside mids and backs. Now, if JK decides to push the backs up another 10-15 yards and forces Ballouchi into a more defensive role, Talley will have the opportunity to win some balls earlier and maybe spring our forwards. I think JK will make some tactical changes and then decide whether the problems in the mid are personnel or system related.
I think Kipre will get the nod over Stewart. He has far superior pace and athleticism. If he was 6 inches taller he wouldn't be playing in the MLS. I would like to see Besagno get a shot to play D-mid for a game and let Talley rest because he really hasnt done much this season do to the fact that he has to chase every midfielder all over the place. Besagno brings speed, athleticism, strength, and a tough attitude that we need. Lets use the first pick in the 04 draft to our advantage soooooooon.
Stewart did the best he could to play a position he is not cut out for. It was not for Stewart's lack of effort. Hopefully, JK will correct Ellinger's mistake by playing Lancos and Kipre and having Stewart re-tune his game to CB in the reserve league. Nothing is more disheartening than being unsuccessful while playing out of position.
Great point. It's hard to imagine being called out every week to be replaced when you're busting your gut filling in at a position that you aren't equiped for. I think we have to remember that up to this point no one else on the team has stepped up to take the position. If Lancos were a slam dunk upgrade, I think he would have shown that in practice by now. As for Kipre, the one thing I can say the guys speed and athleticism is impressive. As soon as he took the pitch, his speed became obvious right away.
Even with the slips Kipre did enough to secure the starting job IMO. He may be raw but you cannot deny his speed and athleticism. We finally have someone who appears to be a perfect fit on the wing. Their is not a player on the team that can even challenge Kipre for the job because we have no other def wingers. I'm tired of seeing players forced into roles that do not suit their play. RSL has payed dearly for not recognizing the value in having players in their true positions. 3-5-2 would allow for a two man defensive midfield and would finally give Lancos or Besagno an opportunity. We would win more balls before the attack pushes to the door step and actually take some pressure off the back line.
You are making the HUGE assumption that we would win more balls with a 5 man midfield than with the current 4. Our history so far this year has not born out your theory. To play with a 5 man mid, you would need to take out at least one of Klein or Adu, because at least 1 of your outside mids needs to be a lock-down defensive type, otherwise you are toothless again...and toothless with 3 back is much worse than toothless in the mid with 4 back.
I don't believe a 3 man backline always equals less defense though. If we played the 3-5-2 with the right personel our defense could easily become stronger than what we have with four. A backline of Forko/Torres-Pope-Kipre, though they'd have more responsbility, is stronger than Forko-Pope-Stewart-Torres with Stewart acting as a virtual hole. Then with the 3-5-2 you could have Nick and Talley as your D-mids creating an oppurtunity to improve Offense and Defense if assignments are followed well.
Yeah...I'm still not sure I would trust: Nik - Talley Forko - Pope - Kipre I don't know if Talley's really up for being The Man as d-mid, and I don't know if Nik is good enough to be the second d-mid. Is that what Nik pretty much is now? So our d-mids are Talley, Besagno, and Lancos, right?