Unfortunately, I missed the 1st 10 minutes of the RSL game. Was there any mention of Gilberto and why he wasn't playing? I see his name was on the list of subs. Is he now considered a backup to Michael Bradley? That midfield is getting awfully deep. Guevara, Gaven, Youri, Bradley, Lisi, Magee, Gilberto, Ward and Corcoran. Assuming that SGR continues his current rate of no success, wouldn't it be worth considering moving Gaven up to a forward slot? The kid does seem to have an eye for the goal and is weak in tracking back. That would open up our midfield to; Magee Youri Guevara Gilberto Bradley Another idea would be to move Youri up top with Gaven, giving us, Magee Guevara Bradley Gilberto Lisi The 2nd one I think is our best option. I think that we need to put our best XI on the field regardless of position. I find it hard to believe that Gilberto is not in the top XI.
if your going to play youri then he needs to be played just behind the front two, he's simply not fit or strong enough to play in the centre of the midfield or as a striker. The 4-3-1-2 formation is made for him really, with a big striker to win flick on's and to hold the ball up for your attacking midfielder (youri) and the other striker.
John Wolyniek is probably our biggest striker -- tallest, anyway, not counting Eddie Gaven. We do have players to fit your suggestion. The question is, where will Bradley position Youri once he is fit to play?
as i said previously i dont think youri can still play as an out and out striker, he may well do though as i have no real idea of the standard of the MLS to be honest. he could probably still play a standard central midfield role if he has extremely active players around him to assist. but without seeing most of your players play its hard to give a proper opinion. the one thing with youri is that basically he is a luxury, the rest of the players will have to carry him for 85 minutes but if he sets up (you call it assists?) or scores a goal or 2 per game then its worth it. you just have to make sure you have the formation to allow him to do his stuff but not to the detrement of the rest of the team. it is the same with Paul Merson at Walsall (you heard of him?), our main problem has been fitting our best player into our team. hope you dont mind me giving my ideas!
I appreciate the comments on Youri, but what happened to Gilberto? The team fluorished with his addition last season and showed a marked decline after his season ending injury. His defense was formidable and he has ability with the ball, which cannot be said of most DM's. Quite honestly, I am amazed that his absence from the lineup can happen without a word from Coach Bradley or MFO. To restate, Michael Bradley seemingly played well in that game of windball. If he beat out Gilberto for the position, I think it rates some news considering Metro got rid of Ricardo Clark and this kid is only 17. It's hard to be a Metro fan when it is almost impossible to find out any news about the team.
sorry NYfutbol fan, looking at your original post I did go off the topic a little didnt I! I always liked ricardo clark personally, always thought it was a strange decision to let him go.
Can just see Bob and his wife in bed Friday nightm the night before the opening game.. "Honey, when is little Mikey going to play on your team?? " Don't know Dear, we have a lot of talented offensive players. We have Lisi, Gaven, Amado, Gilberto, .... "All right, once again, why is little Mikey not playing?" Dear, why don't you do what you used to do years ago when we first met?? "What, I aint doing that that until Mikey starts and is a regular on your team!!!" Dear, I was going to surprise you as Mikey is our new starting right midfielder. All right, here I come.........gulp.
I liked Rico but he didn't have a great touch on the ball. It is rare that you see a combination of a great ball winner with a good touch. I'm not so sure (from watching one sloppy game) that MB will be a better ball winner than Rico. I can say with confidence, that MB looks to have a better touch on the ball especially while carrying the ball. Time will tell. By the way, going off topic is just fine. I'm glad that you gave your YD insights. It will be interesting to see how Coach Bradley can get something positive out of this group. If anything, the Metros have been very successful at lowering expectations for this team. Meanwhile, YD has been very busy. He rang the bell at the opening of the NY Stock Exchange this morning and he was hanging out with NY Knicks after their basketball game.