Honestly, Numan of Rangers, if he ever came to MLS would be a perfect fit for us. We have no true left back, and the last player who could play that position was Perez. Would a backline of: Numan----Jolley---Petke----Akwari work well? I honestly think it would. Just the presence alone of Numan on the left should be enough to take pressure off of Jolley and Petke. Akwari also seems to be more defensively adept then Ziade, which would make this a much more adept defense.
Our defensive problems are much deeper than OZ's almost bizarre insistence on letting Chrono make a mockery of the left back position. Neither Petke nor Jolley know how to play a more "zone-like" defense in a back 4. They are both used to being man-markers in a back 3 and have been confused all year. I remember one particular game against Colorado where the Rapids played a 4-6-0 against us with no true forwards. Different midfielders took turns making runs forward into the attack. Jolley and Petke spent the whole game lost and confused yelling at our own midfield players for not picking up these players. They didn't seem to realize that THEY had to pickup those Rapids midfielders because our midfield was overwhelmed. The didn't have any strikers to man-mark so they didn't know how to adjust to their attack. We also lack leadership in the back. I don't know if Numan would fix this. And unless Numan is on free transfer AND willing to play here for peanuts, forget about it. Post-contraction MLS is too broke for anything else.
I really think Jolley would be best suited in a defensive midfield position....he's been running forward way too much when he's in the central d role....with him playing behind either Williams or Davis , Jolley could have the best of both worlds and not have to worry about covering the box anymore. His addition to central midfield would push teams out wide and force them to play down the wings, which is a good thing, especially if Chrono is dumbed to the bench or another team.
Well...the point about the zone defense is something I'm well aware of. However, the fact that Numan has been involved in the World Cup, and in general with big teams should mean that he has the presence that would tighten up the defense. Chronopoulos in my mind was a liability because he just didn't play any defense. People would walk by him, which would result in both petke and jolley having to shift over. They had to cover much more ground then they should have.
Wow, eyes bleeding, brain hurting..... A defensive midfielder should be able to hold onto the ball well and distribute with quick sharp passes to spark the counterattack. As good as Jolley is, he is not comfortable with the ball at his feet, even Chrono who played some solid balls out of the back would be a better fit in that slot, not Jolley.
Can't agree with this. Unless by "solid balls out of the back" you mean "directly to the other team". Chrono probably led the team in unforced turnovers in all the games he played in. I don't think I ever saw Chrono win a 50/50 ball either, something which a DM should be able to do. Jolley is not ideal at DM, but he's head and shoulders above Chrono. Hopefully Chrono will be traded in the offseason and we can bring in an experienced Defensive Mid (like maybe Joe Enochs) who can round out our midfield better. Of course, if OZ is still here this is all meaningless.
Midfield Midfield Midfield Get a dynamite midfield and the existing offense and defense will do quite well. FA, discovery picks and any trades should focus on a dramatic midfield upgrade.
Well, I don't claim to know what goes through Jolley's mind in a game, but it looks to me like his going forward was an act of desperation -when he felt the midfield or forwards weren't doing the job - like late in the game when we were losing. If we had a competent midfield and some less erratic strikers, I doubt if he would have ventured so far forward.
Bingo. The defense stayed back, meaning that only six players were committed to the attack, and this let teams move in transition on us. This is why, in addition to getting a true right wing, we should be looking to move heaven and earth to add some wing backs with pace who like to enter the attack. We could look to European options like Greg Vanney and Frankie Hejduk or here in MLS to Diego Gutierrez, Ezra Hendrickson and even Joey Franchino. We don't need central defenders, we need some solid balls skills along the wings of the backline.
I think that if Numan joined the Metros he'd play centrally, possibly Dmid. As for Jolley, he's a good player and I think sometimes underestimated. Petke had a bad year, but should rebound next season. Likely those two will be separated, either by pushing Jolley wide, into Dmid, or running a 3 man back line with an organizing SI in between them. -Tron