What happened to Mike this year?? Seems like a ghost of his old self on the field. Very sad to see him lose it so quickly. Maybe we should just play him out wide in a three back formation like we used in the past. A central defender he is not.
No kidding. Everybody but OZ recognized that fact 2 and a half months ago. Petke is a very limited, but very good player. Playing a particular role in a particular formation, he is All-Star calibre, but OZ has a fetish with square pegs and round holes. JMac
Petke was able to achieve "star" status right from the get go because he came to a bad team. Now that the talent of the team has more or less become equal to or better than his Petke has been shown to be nothing more than an adequate defender. On the Revs second goal last night he certainly looked about as mobile as the brick wall his commercial portrays him as.
bukie2k, I disagree. Petke is a limited defender. When he's played in a 3-back set, he's been a dominant marking back. Before this season, the only time he played in a 4-4-2 for us was his 1st season, where he played wide, thus masking mistakes that become glaringly obvious at centerback in a 4-4-2. Petke struggled this season for 2 big reasons: 1: He wasn't able to adjust to the new responsibilities of being a central back in a 4-4-2. He was used to getting an assigned player, and marking that guy. That was his job. Now he was being asked to organize, and have better positioning skills, as well as cover for the Wingbacks when they ventured upfield. That leads directly to... Problem 2: As if that wasn't enough of a problem for him, Petke and Jolley were playing with 2 poor wingbacks. Ziadie, and especially Chrono, aren't defenders. Ziadie may eventually grow into one, but Chrono was just horrible. That left Petke and Jolley stranded numerous times trying to cover for more than one guy. Petke wasn't overtaken by the skill level of the team, he's just a limited, simple defender. He is a great marking back, and if the new coach returns him to that role, I doubt there will be many complaints about Petke. JMac
Right on Jacen. Petke was not playing to his strength and wasn't good enough to be on of two defenders on a team with no central midfield.