[LINEUP-4-3-3]smith, bravo, kamara, davy, zusi, rocastle, harrington, besler, collin, myers, jimmy[/LINEUP-4-3-3] I'd like to see this tried out one time when all are available. We brought in a DP striker. Lets put him in position to put the ball on frame.
who is? i think he's as creative as any on our team. nobody in our midfield seems to be able to do anything when pressured, so that's a wash. i'm not advocating for stojcev to get more time, i just don't see how he's any worse than what's replaced him... and he's certainly not as bad as vividox's hyperbole two posts up.
A creative mind certainly, he does see the passes and can thread a pass through ... but that is kind of all he can do, and then only when he has time to line things up, test the wind, and ask the caddy to remove the flag. The execution isn't really there and without the tackling and defensive side he just doesn't cut it for me. I'd much rather have Zusi, Rocastle, Arnaud, Sassano ahead of him the queue for any center midfield spot.
Looks like PV read this thread and took my formation. And he's playing Stocjev, no less. That being said, I have very little expectation for this match.
Certainly, I'm just excited to see him out there with another chance. If he plays poorly I'll be the first to admit he shouldn't play anymore.
What are the chances that Vermes sticks with the 4-2-3-1 for at least a little while after tonight's impressive performance and outcome? Or when Bravo, Smith, and others return to the lineup, will he stubbornly insist on immediately going back to the 4-3-3?
I thought he played ok. He had a couple of dumb plays, but he also had some nice passes and won some balls. He had a great pass to Davy that led to the corner where we scored the second goal. But that second yellow was beyond stupid. And he seemed to be lost/uncomfortable for significant portions of the game. It's way too early to write him off already though. He'll get better the more he adjusts. It's not like he was awful. Also...we've scored 15 goals in the 7 games he's started
4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3 is just a matter of how far up the wings generally play. It's really a matter of being more defensive or offensive. I suspect we'll play 4-2-1-3 at home and 4-2-3-1 at home, which makes perfect sense since teams are expected to attack at home and defend on the road, esp. in this league.
This is mainly true. We also played with 5 true midfielders today and they played with a 2-way mentality. Even though we got dominated in possession %, it did seem like we were able to possess the ball fairly well and build some attacks with passing through the midfield. The "wingers" didn't seem too caught up on making forward runs as much as much as they checked back to the ball and played it short. It will be interesting to see what happens when Smith and Bravo are healthy.
If PV wasnt so god damn stubborn and learned that the 4-3-3 wasnt working about 2 months ago, we might be in a completely different place in the table right now. My biggest gripe about Vermes is his unwillingness to adjust when things arent working and today's result just confirmed that he has cost us a lot of time and points by not being flexible.
The formation wasn't really that different. The difference was that there was a commitment to possession, and that they were actually taking advantage of having an extra midfielder.
As was stated in the post right below yours, the formation wasn't really that different. It was the tactics of the formation that changed.
But the bottom line is, no matter what formation was being used, PV stuck to his long ball over the mids strategy until yesterday. I read in this forum that some were saying that we didn't have the talent to control the ball through the midfield and pass under pressure. Well, I think that yesterday's result seems to partially disprove that theory. Either way, the combination of a different formation and ball possession completely changed the effectiveness and the results. Now, will PV stay with this strategy for a while, or go back? I guess we will find out on Friday.
Agree on all points. As Buzz Killington pointed out, it was more of a tactical adjustment than a complete formation change, but it was important and it worked. If Smith and Bravo (and Kamara) can adopt the same "2-way mentality," we may really be on to something. We got dominated in possession % for the game as a whole because, ahead by 3 and down a man, we (rightly) bunkered and simply cleared the ball at every opportunity for a large chunk of the second half. IIIRC, we actually had something like 57% of the possession in the first half.
Ok that makes a lot more sense with what I remember happening. The post-game possession stats were kind of jarring, didn't realize it shifted that much after the 3 goal lead and the red. Hopefully we keep the same mind-set, and hopefully the forwards do adopt the 2-way mentality. With the speed on the wings, we can have a helluva counter attack with this formation when there are openings, and good possession when the situation calls for it.
I think Bravo already does do the '2-way' bit pretty well. There were a few times that he came back to make great challenges vs. Chicago. Kamara had shown last season that he's willing to track back as well but I think was well under 100% against Chicago. Smith, on the other hand, has never really showed me too much interest in being a presence on the defensive end. It's not that he doesn't do anything (in fact, he helped create a goal last year with his pressing) but comparatively he doesn't put a great amount of work in on the defensive end. Which is fine, with me, as he is not only fast enough but skilled enough to get a ball over the top, bring it down and create a good chance on goal, so him being there forces the opposition to respect that ability. And honestly, if you compare it to the FCD game, Stocjev didn't look interested in playing defense at all, unless it involved getting a yellow card. (Feels like I'm piling it on against him, but it was a pretty horrific game in my opinion)
Bravo is a horrible tackler -- he might stop play but at the expense of yellow cards. He'll wind up suspended half the year ....
I'm glad to see that this is completely in the rear-view mirror, regardless of the next two games. I think we have a good base established and I want to see us build upon it. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/14/3208347/things-are-looking-up-financially.html
You definitely cannot can Vermes after the turnaround. However, I still have doubts about him as a long-term solution as manager. He still has an iffy record acquiring players and his game management decisions baffle me more than not. With that said, I have to give credit where credit is due. What I want to see from here is that he has learned from past mistakes and can improve his player acquisitions. He has found some real gems such as Neilsen and Collin but there is a list a mile long of players that havent panned out and while he doesnt have a crystal ball, a lot of those players had a history of those things. If we could stop acquiring players that have a long history of injuries and players that have bounced around to 50 different teams, it would be nice. I think we have a solid core but I am not sure Jeferson is the answer as a CAM. I would really like to get a true #10 to provide service to our solid group of forwards.