Do we still need more proof that Youri belongs in the middle? We can't attack. We cantrol the ball. We are rarely dangerous or clever. And we don't score (1 earned goal from the run of play in 3 games is not stellar.) 3 games 3 unimpressive perfomances. Just curious, are you guys that were claiming the Youri should play up-top still on board with this scheme?
He is a midfielder. It's a little crowded there, but he has to be feeding and running off the forwards. Henderson is useless and Amado is tentative, at this point. We need a forward and a winger. Make Amado happy or he will drag down the production. They said there are two SI slots. We should be looking for those two positions.
I think he's just too old to be running up and down the field as a midfielder. We'll probably get more out of him if we let him sit up top and orchestrate what attacks actually reach the attacking third of the field.
Without him in the midfield, I think we've seen how many attacks actually reach the attacking third of the field, unforunately.
Sure, I agree that the Metr- er, Red Bull attack is not very impressive. But I'd rather have him up top to help capitalize on the few chances we have rather than wear him out in the midfield to the point of ineffectiveness. That would be even worse, in my opinion. I prefer something of a withdrawn striker position for him - something that gets him a little bit more involved in the midfield offensively while allowing him to slack defensively.
Youri listed as MF but a attacking MF. The problem of current team has nothing to do with Youri being a MF or striker, Youri is Youri, he has world class vision and ball skill, but at his age we should not expect him to run like a 20 yrs old. If this thread is to dicuss Youri's position then I think we should discuss why with 2 best attacking MF in MLS (Youri and Amado) we failed to score. The problems are: -Lack of wing play... -Lack of partnership between strikers, how many times have we seen EB by himself up front without help and looked like crippled? IF Mo J wants to show us he is the right choice, 3 draws on the row is not acceptable. 3 draws on the row means the coach does not see the problem and did nothing to improve it. He has to fix these obvious problems quickly!
As other people have pointed out, Youri is not going to get around the middle of the field and make all the tackles of a regular midfielder these days, and nor is he going to be playing on the shoulder of the last defender. The answer to the question in this thread's title is 'neither - he's a forward!'. If anything he should have a free role linking the midfield and strikeforce.