Ante----Selowane Hristo---Dema -----Nowak Beas------Jesse Boca--Curtin--CJ Zach That kind of translates into: Ante---Selowane -----Hristo Beas----Dema -----Nowak -----Jesse Boca-------CJ -----Curtin ------Zach Any thoughts? Sorry, I had to use a "-" because I don't know how to make spaces stick. I Gray could play instead of Selowane, it doesn't really matter. The key is the midfield. And with this lineup Beas definitely has to run back and cover, like in the WC. Hopefully he's got the wheels to do it. I don't really like him in a defending role, but maybe if he's got to pick and choose his moments to go forward, he'll attack with more authority. Also, Jesse has to be Armas, Nowak has to be at least 2002 pre-injury Nowak, and Hristo just has to push people around.
Ante - Selolwane (when do we get a nickname for this guy?) Hristo - Gray Nowak Jesse - Run DMB Boca - Curtain - CJ Thornton I have really wanted to see Kovalenko put it together, but sad to say, I'm ready to give Gray a try. No matter what he's done to get into the dog house. I think the D will play better on sunday, and I'd like to see as much offensive firepower out there to generate several goals. I'd like to see them start clicking, and sticking the ball into the net. Build some confidence going into a tough away match in NE. When we get a big enough lead, perhaps we can rest the old fellas and get some of the other shaky players in there with less pressure.
---------razov -------------kovalenko beasley----nowak----walsh ------marsch boca--brown--curtin--gray ----------thronton stoitchkov, dipsy, perez, and/or vaudreuil as the possible subs. i mean who else is available?
Hmm. Wishful thinking. The Fire averaged under 2 goals a game at home this season, even though they scored 3 once and 5 on two occasions. Adin Brown's GAA in the last 7 matches is .42. In those seven matches, Revs opponents have an average of 4.4 shots on goal *per game.* In their last 4 matches the Revs have allowed a *total* of 12 shots on goal. Good luck at the Postage Stamp on Sunday. Methinks you'll need it, no matter what line-up Bradley uses. A bad time and place to run into a hot D.
All I know is vaudeiull and walsh must sit for us to have a chance and dipsey must start and produce. I would also like to see gray and stoitchkov out there.
Well, here's what we know so far: 1. The defense didn't play that badly. They lost Twellman once, but you almost have to concede that. So no changes there. 2. Perez on the left side of the midfield is a good move, because it initiates the battle with Ralston further away from the goal. However, if Hristo comes in for him again, pushing DMB into that slot, Beaz has to be able to adapt to the role change better than he did last night. Which leads to... 3. The offense needs to be more balanced. This makes me think we need another right-footed player up top, rather than the Razov-Beasley combo. Maybe Beasley on the right side of midfield (he's done it before), with Kovalenko at forward? Other right-footed options are Dipsy and Gray, but I don't see either of them demanding the ball on that side. Just playing well in the position isn't enough at this point. Marsch is right-footed as well, so if he can add some more offense to his defensive responsibilities and jawing at the ref, that could work, too. 4. Vaud is getting a raw deal from you guys. The problem here is that neither he, Walsh, nor Kelly Gray can go the full ninety minutes in that second d-mid slot. We're reduced to relying on rookies and old guys. Maybe Vaud still starts, but bring the kid in this time. Yes, it makes us more susceptible to the counterattack, but if you need goals, you have to start throwing things at the wall to see what sticks at this point. Or bring Hristo on for whoever starts and switch to a 3-4-3 at that point. Just thinking out loud. Later, COZ
The sad fact is that we lack a right side midfielder who can do anything besides collect a great pass in the offensive third and turn around and serve it back to CJ. And what's all this blind faith in Dipsy? Has he even made a decent touch in the ten or 15 minutes he's played so far? Our posession game on Thursday was superb, but maddening. A shot over the bar or a cross grabbed easily by the keeper after 25 fantastic passes is so frustrating...
It's not out of the question that the defense has that cross covered, you know. On the other hand, I fully recognize that it's nothing a healthy Sergi Daniv or Evan Whitfield couldn't fix, but there's no use crying over torn ligaments. Later, COZ
uhh... I like Sergei and all.. same with Evan, but be serious here.I understand youre trying a blatent attempt to get your name out like Quigley .But your comments have become just as silly as some of his.Daniv and Whitfield are plugs, not legitimate right sided players for us, even before injuries it was pretty damn obvious.putting your thumb over the crack in the damn doesnt fix the problem.And the problem is ,Bradley has been doing that with the right side since he moved Kosa off the wings.The right side has been a nagging Fire problem since the begining, it has IMO become a joke.. similar to the Bears and their eternal quest for a QB.Unfortunatley , Players like Evan and Jesse who have no real business playing that role regularly at the D1 level, but are still quality Pro-Utility players have taken all the criticisms.When the problem truley rests on the Bossman and management for not actively persueing a quality winger to spur our oh so potent attack.Using wanny's "bend dont break" philosophy with the right side has not been effective.Its time ... that means RIGHT NOW PW AND BB... to go out and get us a quality winger.One who will be a spark for the "O" Using our two DB system there is little reason for a defensive orientated player in that role.
Last year, Evan Whitfield was in the top half of the league's right-sided players. And before he got hurt (hurt in Dallas, in 2000) Sergi Daniv was one of the top right mids in the league, too. He was a Fire killer. Aside from Ben Olsen (when healthy), Chris Henderson and Ezra Hendrickson, really, right-flank is a void in the league. It's been a void on the U.S. national team for that matter. Name the quality right-flank players in MLS. Ian Russell. Petter Villegas. Joselito Vaca (plays there, though out of position, for Dallas). Not an easy question.
You think a guy named DIPSY needs a nickname? As for lineup... the last time I saw us win decisively and look good for an entire match was when Hristo, Ante, Josh, and Kelly Gray were all on the field at once. That was a 5-1 victory over KC. I don't know what Kelly Gray did to piss off Bob, but Gray looked to be one of the most promising new players in the league at the beginning of the year. I'd rather have a D3 callup than another match with Billy Walsh in it. I find him to be utterly useless, and I've never seen anyone look so completely lost during a game. What is happening with Perez? He must have pissed off Bob as well... but he really seemed like he fit in really well when we first picked him up. Vaudreuil? Yeah, he's worth a first round pick in next season's draft. <-Sarcasm. The only thing I can't figure out in addition to why he was getting the start over ANY other defender is why the defenders who are playing seem to constantly leave him as the last man. I don't know what's going on with Zach... but, aside from some great saves, he's been pretty bad lately... both in clearances with his feet and positioning.
So do we go with a 3-5-2, or 4-4-2? I still like the three man back for our team, maybe it's just out of habit or something. But I think our three best defenders (Boca, Curtin & CJ) need to be out there. If we play with 4 backs, I think we're worse off than we are with 3. We put a slow defensive midfielder out of position, and that screws us up. Plus, we obviously have to play this game as if we're a goal down. Adding a 4th defender takes away from our attack (OK, so we haven't had an attack in weeks, but that's beside the point.) With Nowak back (not in form, but it's do or die now) I think we can compete with 5 in the middle. One and a half (two really) defensive midfielders because we don't have Armas. Beas on the left & Jesse on the right. I say one and a half because Beas needs to cover a lot of ground, and Jesse can sit back behind Nowak. Someone asked about the faith in Dipsy, and I have two thoughts. One, we haven't had a team that can succeed without him, so we might as well find out if we can succeed with him. Two, I said Grey (or is it Gray?) could play instead of him, but since Kelly is in Bob's shithouse I thought Dipsy might get the start instead. Someone else mentioned Dema as the second forward and that makes more sense especially if it's Kelly, not Dipsy. Then I say Ante and Dema as the two forwards, with Hristo & Kelly behind on the left & right respectively. Nowak in the middle of course. I think this is our best shot. I think Perez might be a better player than Kelly right now, but if he has to go in as a fourth defender I'd rather see Kelly up top. Because of DeMarcus' speed, it's almost as if we have 5 defensive players and 6 offensive. Just as an aside, I have no doubt the lineup will be significantly different that what I'm suggesting. I'm just musing, not actually trying to guess what Bob will do.
lineup The defense has been playing well but the offense is weak. To get more offense, I would like to see just three defenders. Why has Jim Curtain been playing in the middle? Because he is so tall, I can that he should be in the middle for all team photos. However, that is not a good reason for him to play the middle of the defense. The middle is where CJ belongs, he tends to stay at home and has the toughness and experience to cover up when the side defenders move upfield. I think that is Kelly's problem. He scored a few goals and got too enamored with scoring. I believe he got caught out of position too many times and let in more goals than he scored. Result, bench time. Personally, I'd like to see him back in the lineup. In my opinion, Perez landed in the dog house when he lost Ruiz (by about 20 yards) who scored the winning goal for Los Angelos as time was running out September 7th. Personally, I'd like to see Kovalenko land in Bradley's dog house. His yellow card in the September 7th game was even more inexcusable than Perez losing Ruiz at the end. He's been unproductive and a good benching might help him to lose the complacency he shows. One last thing, when is DeMarcus Beasley going to start making either himself or those around him look good? He seems to be playing to not get injured. I think he has been close to or below average since returning to from the World Cup. Just going through the motions until he can sign a lucrative contract overseas. He was much better when he was playing with the incentive to GET the contract. Now that it is nearly assured, barring injury, his motivation is shifted. Give us some goal scorers. Razov, Hristo, Nowak, Gray are the guys who have been able to find the back of the net. The others in the lineup must be willing to give it their all and the Fire could still win this Series and the Cup. Will Kovalenko and Beasley show up with their best game or just show up?
Re: lineup Now this I flat-out disagree with. I can see maybe having some beef with Curtin in the middle, but if you're going to replace him, Bocanegra is pretty clearly ahead of CJ on the depth chart. We've even seen Carlos push Iron Jim to the bench for that spot. You would really rate CJ ahead of him? Later, COZ
I recommend Bocanegro on the side where he can move upfield and use his skills more efficiently. Carlos would be wasted to a great extent by playing middle defense. I must admit, though, that I neglected his contribution in my post. He is a huge part of the Fire's MLS Cup pursuit. We need him to have a big playoff.
Fire's best lineup right now. Steve Ralston is a quality right side-flanker- and he led the league in assists. ----Razov----Dipsy--- ---Perez---Beasley---Nowak---Marsch---Kovalenko ---Bocanegra---Curtin---Brown 3-5-2 1. Put Dipsy up front with Razov- the kid will finish the losse balls in the 6 yard box. 2. Kovalenko is a perfectly FINE right-sided midfielder. Coach Bradley loves his fight. Dema and Beasley can provide service from the flanks. If Beasley plays up to all his hype... 3. The jury is still out on Whitfield and Daniv. They weren't game-breakers by any means at any time... 4. Keep Walsh and Vaudrueil on the bench. They are invisible out there. 5. My question is- will Hristo be a non-factor in the playoffs again this season? Will Nowak and Marsch finally show some creativity in their attack and control the midfield?
Re: Fire's best lineup right now. Beasley in Hristo's role & Perez in Beasley's. Works for me, although Hristo has to play.