Well actually, sitting at RFK, I did not think Adu had the run of things until late in the game when we were down two goals and committed everyone forward. He was out on the right wing most on the first half and had no affect on the game at all. I must admit that late in the game in the open field he was a real handful.
I agree we need a speedy forward (Like Eddie Johnson) who can take on defenders (Like JaimeMoreno). Cerritos is good technically but is a well known choker in front of the goal. Alejandro is working hard and making space for Ching but not getting many shots on goal for whatever reason. We have yet to see many quality shots (or goals) from the midfield either. The best option would be to move D-Ro up top and get someone like Guevara for attacking Mid but that would cost some money.
Adu was able to turn it on when necessary and get by us more or less at will. It might have been more evident in the second half, when they were less content to sit back and were going for the kill. But, my impression, and I watched the full game last night, was that Adu was having his way with us, and that includes the first half. They were simply playing a less risky game the first half. My Adu concern is basically a coaching one. Against Colorado, it was Noel who looked dangerous. Kinnear didn't seem to do much to specifically address that. Noel earned one goal by getting a close free kick. Saturday, Kinnear let Gray stay on Moreno for 50 or 60 (whenever he was subbed), and then never did seem to get Adu coralled. I can appreciate "letting them play", but I feel like certain matchups are killing us right now. You have to be willing to assign a shadow or yank an underperformer. On Cerritos, he earned his rep the other night. He had a few chances and they went right to Perkins (who, admittedly, played well). A nagging thought in the back of my head is that if he or Ching had converted late, then fate would probably have also let the United get a few of their blown chances, too. It could have been four or five to two or one, just as easily as two-nil. The game got that ragged at the end. I mentioned Cerritos in part because I was disappointed with Clark, and wondering who could play in his place. Clark never registered to me on the USMNT when he was with them for a bit, and I'd never noticed him on SJ, either. When I watched Saturday's game, I started wondering where he was, because he at best had a few little passes, a run or two, and then a mistimed tackle for a yellow. I was underwhelmed. I expected more. Serioux and Ching looked like internationals, energetic, involved, and effective; Clark looked like he was going through the motions. Actually, I think Serioux is probably a good defensive pair for DeRo in the center MF. I worry that Moreno and Ching are basically the same type of post forward player. They were able to play the ball to each other, yes, but that is what "holding" players can do. The question to me is whether Moreno has some latent, on-the-dribble/on-the-run abilities where he can finish a Ching pass. What I saw was a scrapper with skill who couldn't blow by his mark when he had the chance. Thus, the need for a speedy forward, and we can use Moreno as a poor-man's-Ching (that is, his understudy).
Regarding Adu "Adu's foray midway through the second half, cutting from the right side toward the top of the penalty area, didn't end until he was chopped down by defender Ryan Cochrane 23 yards from the net. On the ensuing free kick, Gomez sent a bending ball off a player in the defensive wall and past flat-footed goalkeeper Pat Onstad to all but finish the Dynamo (1-2)." 2-0 made the game very different than 1-0. Houston was halfway dangerous in the second half, although they converted nothing. We have this bad habit of chopping down players just outside the box who have been driving us nuts all afternoon/night. Fabrice Noel in game 1, Moreno and Adu in game 2. We lost on two free kicks, but they had everything to do with our inability to get certain guys under wraps.....
He'd need to learn to put in a good cross. So, I think he'll need actually quite a lot of learning and development time to be a good outside back instead of a just a passable one defensively. That said, if he did that, it might improve his chances with the Nats. There's a paucity of good outside backs in MLS and the Nats.
True, that's the one area where I'm uncertain of Clark's ability, and where he'd most likely need to improve. As a defender with pretty good speed and some ability to overlap and present some sort of offensive threat, he's fine. Dom played Rico at RB once or twice last year IIRC, and I predict before the season's over he'll wind up there again, with Serioux taking the d-mid spot.
Clark does seem to have the speed, and I'd assume the jumping ability, to play in the back. Why not 5 middies like DC? Play Clark with DeRo centrally, backed up by Serioux, with Mullan, Davis, and/or Barrett on the wings. 3 backs, 2 forwards. Our flat back 4 isn't really fully used anyway. Trim it down to 3, and rely on/expect the backs to do their job. Barrett, Mullan, and/or Davis as quasi-back-quasi-mids would be an improvement over the current wing backs. That would solve a lot of problems.
I think it's a reasonable idea...but, we've always gotten the impression that Kinnear would sooner rip off his fingernails one by one then deviate from 4-4-2.
Whatever Kinnear thinks, against two-forward teams, a 4-4-2 is a waste of backs. You have one back wandering out of line in search of a mark, or just taking up space holding position. You'd be better off with a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 so that you can employ the people on the field usefully, create some mismatches, and free up your wings. That being said, he thinks what he thinks, and we can't change that.
Yes, but in his system, the outside back, ie Gray or Barrett, are supposed to be an offensive option on just about every foray forward. One goes forward to unbalance the field, the other stays back and shifts inside a bit to help. So in essence it is a five midfielder offense.
I'd ask how often you actually see them go forward, or whether it amounts to more like an English flat-back-four, which is what I see every week. Gray's booming diagonal balls and general lankiness would make him an ideal old-school wing back in something like the English First or Second Division. Barrett's gone forward more than Gray, but they generally all sit back a lot and act like a line, passing the ball back and forth around the perimeter of pressure. When we do go forward from the wings, I see Mullan or his counterpart doing the running. That is to say, the M dominates the wing.
Well certainly in the first two games the outside backs functioned as I have described, but in the first half of the DC game, I think they performed much as you have described. I don't find that too surprising. On the road, we seem to play very defensively in the first half in the hope of stopping a score and then shift to a more offensive style to get the win. After DC got the goal, we did start to attack more on the wings; however, Davis was not match fit and seemed to pinch in and not widen the field in order to open up the middle for passes to the center mids and the attackers. I think we will get these things sorted out with DeRo back and with Davis returning to form and fitness.