The Official Matthew Hoppe thread

IIRC we had 3 against Nashville and they were taken by Monteiro, Jebo, and Yueill one apiece. I don't remember which one was the worst, but none on frame I don't think. Agree that Espinoza or Trauco would be the best options. I don't know if I've seen Trauco take a free kick but he's scary good with long distance volleys. He even hit one with his right foot earlier in the season that was on frame IIRC, from like 25 yards.

 

Hoppe at outside mid... the goals are nice but he doesn't offer as much as Cowell during the run of play. It's like playing wondo or atiba Harris at wing. He could be a second striker next to jebo in a 442 or 352 maybe but not a winger in a 433/451.

 

352 is the answer, I believe.

 

There's also the "old-fashioned" 4-4-2 as another way to get Hoppe in front of the goal w/o taking Cade off. We lose a player in midfield, but Jebo is practically a midfielder anyway the way he drops deep to build the attack. And in a way it's a more attacking setup than 3-5-2 because your can push up both fullbacks. Essentially you have a max of 8 attacking players vs. 7 for a 3-5-2. And I still think it's Gruezo who has to come off if we're going to start playing a more attacking style and going for wins instead of playing not to lose and trying to back into them.

 

I'm not sure Hoppe should be starting quite yet given the current makeup of the team. We saw how effectiveness can vanish with Kikanovic already and it's just as possible that Hoppe got a bit of fortune in these last couple games. I'm not trying to downplay his contributions thus far, only saying that the team does also need effective substitutes. Kikanovic has proved not to be that, so if you start Hoppe along with the existing starters, you have no one to bring on later in games.

If he remains effective as a sub, then you re-examine his role and how many minutes he should be getting. I just wouldn't be too hasty with it, is all.

 

Hoppe scored in his only start. He’s scored twice in three appearances. Cade can come off the bench. Or Benji or Richmond.

 

Yeah, and although his first goal was mostly right place - right time, there's something to be said for that (cough...Wondo). And his 2nd goal was a good individual effort. But more than that, I like what I'm seeing from his movement in the box, which seems to be better than Jebo's, and not sure, but I think he is comfortable shooting with either foot and is willing to turn either way. And he's played some nice passes as well - generally his passing looks good.

I'm probably overly up on Hoppe after being overly down on him after that awful sub appearance where he lost the ball 3 or 4 times in a row. But since then he's either looked OK or very good, so I'm gonna run with that until I see otherwise.

 

His skill set is rather narrow and that’s not a problem if you play him to his strengths. Run him between the posts and let him scramble after every rebound. He’s a poacher so don’t push him too far away from goal and expect success. He will pounce on any chance he gets.

 

Yeah, I'm just not yet convinced yet on the options that put him in at CF. They come at a cost. You wind up sacrificing something.

1) We could do a 4-4-2 but we lose a player in midfield and may struggle more with our buildup and defense in midfield.

2) Replace Jebo with Hoppe. I think we're too reliant on Jebo, again for the buildup, so we'd lose something there.

3) 3-5-2 with Hoppe and Jebo. This relegates Espinoza to the winger role and Akapo to the bench, and puts Espinoza further from goal when he is the guy that we should probably most want in front of the goal with the ball.

4) christhebassplayer suggested 3-5-2 with Jebo and Hoppe up top and Espinoza at CAM which is a good idea, but a lot of change for a few games left. I'm not sure Espinoza has played a central role in his life. Maybe...but not with the Quakes I don't think other than a minutes as a forward in a 3-5-2 this year.

So my inclination is to continue to play Hoppe at wide forward - far from ideal, but nothing is ideal, and don't expect him to play it like Cade. Have him pinch in a lot of more and have a FB like Marie behind him who can provide some width on that side. And don't let him get isolated out there w/o an outlet. He's not going to drive the defender into the box like Cade does.

 

We're not going to make the playoffs without risking something. Status quo is not working.

 

Yes and I’m suggesting dropping Gruezo for the NiMY midfield - Niko, Monteiro, and Yueill, and Hoppe at wide forward. We were all over RSL and Nashville with NiMY, and Hoppe has looked dangerous enough that we should be starting him even if not in the ideal position.

 

I do like Niko over Gruezo. The latter is the ‘safe’ choice when you’re going into a game hoping for a 0-0 draw. Dom would’ve loved him…

 

Yeah, and that's the thing. I think we have to get beyond trying to back into 0-0 draws or extremely lucky 1-0 wins on the road. It very rarely works, so let's try something else.

 

Interesting thread…

Remember when Hoppe’s agent kept spreading fake transfer rumors about him instead of finding Hoppe a proper club that would help with his development?

Crazy how picking the wrong agent can have a massive negative impact in a player’s career. https://t.co/jn8hSj4ed2

— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) November 1, 2023

 

For some reason I was thinking that our Hoppe loan was just to the end of the season but it’s 12 months. So he’ll be with the team at least for most of next season. Akinola was a “til end of 2023 season loan” so he becomes Toronto’s problem again.

Kind of on the fence about Hoppe. His execution in the box is pretty good. But he doesn’t really fit Luchi’s preferred 4-3-3. He doesn’t work well outside and he’s not really a 9 either. Towards the end of the season Luchi went to a 4-4-2 to accommodate him. Do we want to change our system for this guy or switch back and forth between 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 for him? And if we sign an attack minded CAM what does our midfield look like in the 4-4-2? CAM and Gruezo and no 8? CAM and Yueill and we sit our DP #6? I’d rather we continue with focus on new left side attacker and CAM and consider Hoppe to be depth, either at the 9 or as a need-a-goal 2nd forward sub when we might temporarily switch to 4-4-2.

 

The "fact" that Bayern want to pay $20 million for a player that's doesn't fit into San Jose Earthquakes' plans shows how far MLS has come.

 

Twitter by "Joshua N.":
"Matthew Hoppe returned to Middlesbrough from loan at the San Jose Earthquakes with an INJURY. This put off the #MLS side from exercising their option to buy the striker Middlesbrough manger Carrick has chosen to HALT registration of Hoppe in the first team squad for now."

 

So they’re saying we broke him?

 

It's what we do.

I don't know the ethics involved in doing such a thing but I wonder if there is some kind of chicanery going on at Middlesbrough to try to duck out of his contract. Hoppe started our last game and I don't recall him going out due to injury, though he was evenutally subbed for Cade.

 

Good Job SJ

 

Or maybe Middlesbrough doesn't give a crap about Hoppe, which is why they sent him on loans to Hibernian and San Jose, where he failed to impress at both, and now they're not going to bother registering him with the first team squad because they don't want him around, and Hoppe's agent has to come up with some excuse to explain that?

Or maybe Hoppe injured himself committing the "bad foul" that led to his yellow card right before he was replaced by Cowell in his final game for the Quakes?



Either way, who cares??

Look at this guy's track record outside of one game for Schalke, and tell me why anyone still cares about this clown?

 

I just saw on the TSS Discord that Hoppe has signed with Wrexham.
I had to come back to this thread to try to remember how he plays, in the little time we saw him…

 

Well glad to hear that he's got a gig. Seems like a good guy. Wrexham is 3rd / 4th division English football though, right?

 

That seems like a good level for Hoppe to dominate