You all realize that Quakes were tied for third best in the league in goals against, right? With either Francis or Stewart in almost every game, right? For me it's hard to see where is the evidence for crapitude on D. I'm not saying either one a high quality left backs, just that clearly you can defend adequately without that on your team. I'd much rather add some bench strength at CD, then outside back. I'm not confident that Koval or Silva are going to be the answer there. The Quakes are actually pretty set with the personnel they have at outside back, including the bench. Pelosi on the left and Cato on the right or left are none too shabby. In fact, Pelosi may have to compete for time on the field at the left back spot given what the Quakes have right now in the midfield.
We all like Jordan, but hope he took a salary cut and is serving as depth. How much of the season was he even available?
Yes, we still need to find a better starter at LB. I don't think that's what this signing is about. This is kinda like Ramiro's last season. We didn't pick up his contract, then we renegotiated a lower salary. His role was primarily as a leader and positive locker room influence. Now, if I remember, he wound up playing more than we expected because of injuries early in the season, but in terms of playing, that was his role. Backup. I imagine that JS is signed at a lower salary. He's there to provide leadership in the locker room. And he will be primarily insurance at LB and CB in case of a bad run of injuries or suspensions. That's all. Take a breath. We're not relying on him to get us into the playoffs.
If we don't sign someone, that would probably be the best solution. We've already got Godoy and Alashe in the middle and it keeps a talented young player on the field.
Exactly, though Dom seems pretty sincere in what he saying about Francis. I think he really appreciates how he improved over the year, and is giving him the chance to seize the moment and keep getting better. That's good coaching, even if he winds up being the backup.
I have to hope that Jordan is staying around as leadership for the club, and occasional spot duty as a sub. Look at the number of shots that Bings faced last season. There's your evidence. We didn't have a stout defense because our defenders were so good. We had a stout defense because Bings is great, and we defended in numbers. Hell Wondo and Jahn played defense for us. Alashe and other midfielders got back there and helped out. We had to shuffle a lot of guys on the backline last season: Jordan, Francis, Cato, Goodson, Muma, Marvel, Fatai, and that's just off the top of my head. Did JJK play on the backline for us last season? We need a bunch of new defenders for this season. Failing that, we're going to give up a lot of goal, no matter how good Bings is. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Did he re-sign or resign? I'm quite serious about that because this was the first post I saw and it made me think Stewart had quit.
You made my point, you just forgot to include this part of my post: Quakes were top 3 in defense last year with a good goalkeeper (shaky at the start, solid at the end of the season), a solid set of starters (at least 3 of 4) and a hodge podge of fill-ins. Do you think Bings is going to swoon this year? If not, how is next season going to be worse? Certainly either Muma or Clay could drop off quite a bit given their ages. But we were discussing left back. I do believe that Quakes should draft defenders, particularly this draft seems to be heavily loaded towards CDs. To fill in this year when Muma and/or Clay miss games, but moreso to prep for next year.
While their goals against looks good, 1) not sure how much of that to attribute to team defense / overall style of play vs. "back 4", and also 2) I would like to know where the Quakes defense sets its line relative to other MLS teams. I have a hunch that they set it pretty low due to lack of speed, especially at CB. That affects everything. The midfielders are too stretched out, they get gassed, they have a hard time working it through midfield, Quakes either lose possession or resort to long ball, etc. So we can't necessarily look at these things in isolation, as in low goals against means strong back 4, low goals for means ineffective forwards and attacking mids. How much did the back 4 influence, in an indirect way, the lack of scoring, and how much did the relative defensive posture of the midfield contribute to lack of goals against?
Looks like Stewart treated a couple of the kids to a sharks game.. https://www.instagram.com/p/BAV52MaRvem/
I think Bings is going to be great this coming season. I expect Muma to be a lot less than great. That's going to put extra pressure on all of our defenders, including our left back, whoever that is. Goodson was great last season, much to my surprise and immense relief. But he's getting old to be a starter, so any injury will take him out of the equation for a while. Right now, I'd start Francis over Stewart. I thought Stewart was passed it last season. So unless he has a remarkable come back, he shouldn't get very many minutes, if any. So this is my concern, all of our starting defenders (excepting Francis) are on the wrong side of 30. Marvell is in great shape and obviously takes care of himself, but should he get injured, it will take him longer to recover. And we've got no subs. There's Stewart, if he can play, Silva, a twenty-year old untried player, and then we're looking at playing guys out of position. I suppose that Pelosi could be our starting left back. But that still leaves us thin everywhere else on the backline. So again, I want us to bring in a bunch of young defenders and start molding them into the kind of players we want now, so that they can step in for our starters should they get injured or suspended. Do you really want Cato subbing for Marvell? Go Quakes!! - Mark
So you think Dom is going to approach the game differently this year. Saw what PT did and decided to play more forward? Yes, Dom sets his midfielders deeper than most. Unless he hires one of us, that ain't going to change.
Mark, I agree with almost everything you say. I posted in the draft thread that Dom should use every draft pick on young defenders and hope one or two stick. But I don't mind at all seeing Cato and Pelosi at right and left back respectively, if they need to be called upon. I am of the opinion that both of them may be better utilized at the outside back spots that midfield, especially since we got Dawkins, MPG, Shea, Innocent to fill the wing spots.
Well, then you agree with my post then. The Quakes low goals against is partly due to the team's tactics. We can't ascribe it simply to the back 4. There's a lot more to it than that. Similarly, for low goals for. That is not just a "forwards problem". Deep center backs, deep midfielders - that is all part of it. Regarding Dom "changing" I don't think he is a completely inflexible coach tactically. If he had a faster back 4 I'd be surprised if it wouldn't affect the tactics at all in terms of where they are setting their line on average - over the course of the season. And that of course affects the positions of the midfielders, etc. Let's face it: Muma is slow and getting a little tubbier and slower every year, Goodson is no spring chicken, and while he can move OK when he gets his long limbs moving, the "getting his long limbs moving" part takes a while. Stewart was getting slow before his injury, now I'd expect that he will just be plain slow. Heck, even Wynne who has a reputation for great recovery speed, is getting a little rickety. Watch how he moves around out there. He does have good speed once he gets going, but again, it's the "gets going" part that is a problem.
I wonder if I'm not too sentimental about some of our players? Maybe Cato would be better for us as a defender, and maybe as a spot sub at midfield. I know that Pelosi plays left back for the Nats, but it seems like a waste of his talents. Maybe not. I don't know. We'll see how the season pans out, but I think we still need at least a couple of more new players. go quakes!! - Mark
It seems to me both Cato and Frances have managed to get better every season. And what we have to hope for is this season the improvement is more a leap forward than a step forward. I think it could go either way with either of them.
I think that Francis is near the top of his potential. I think more highly of him as a defender and as a player than many here do, nevertheless, I think that he's not good enough to be a starter on a championship caliber team. Cato has room to grow. I think that if he gets more time, exclusively at one position, that he will show more improvement. I think shuttling him from one position to another maybe helps his thinking about soccer, but I think it might also mean that he doesn't get to focus on one position and what he might do at the position to get better. In any case, we're still short on defenders, especially if we think that Stewart and Muma are going to start for us. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Watching the Manchester City 1- Leicester City 3 game, the announcer just stated the last time Leicester City beat them was when Jordan Stewart scored a memorable goal against them at the City of Manchester Stadium in Leicester's 3–0 win in November 2003.
I was a fan of Stewart's.....seemed to be a fun guy to be around and had a positive outlook and great personality.....I wish him the best.......a few times when players would be marching out to the field fans (myself included) would shout encouragement to him and he always smiled and gave the fans a big thumbs up.....