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I was only able to watch until about65 minutes or so, but for that period Bradley ran the show. We dominated from shortly after Priso’s card to the second goal, despite 10 men, and he had a lot to do with that. Lots to be puzzled about. Ching so high up. No penalty for us. Their penalty. But for a good part of the game we showed heart desire and skill. Not bleak.
Good coach but not showing enough as a GM yet. He looks like he had his hands full as a (youth) coach… I hope he can pay proper attention to summer window acquisitions. I wouldn’t mind some sort of competent assistant GM hire to help him out. Manning should not be a GM of any sort.Quote:
Originally Posted by portu
So true.Quote:
Originally Posted by jloome
Between that game and Seattle winning the CCL, what a sickening night :facepalm:
wow we are lucky Cincy isn't that great, they couldn't link up more than a few passes otherwise the score could have been pretty rough. I still cannot get over why Bono is playing, his distribution is just atrocious, 42% pass completion last night and 56% for the year...compared to Westberg's 75% in the 3 seasons he played. Someone mentioned it in a previous post or podcast I was listening to and it makes so much sense. If you're the opposition why not just take your chance at shots from far, crosses and pressing the defence to pass back to him because chances are pretty high he will give it right back and they can re-set and start their attack again. (well if Salcedo doesn't give them a corner kick that is).
Had Priso stayed on the field I think the extra man would have had a big impact as we were controlling the game after he went off for a decent portion and pressing for the goal. Hopefully he will learn from this though..
I don’t think anyone who watches avidly is trying to say that Bradley isn’t still playing at a high level. Bradley does many things very well. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that he fits the team anymore. The problem is that although he’s great defensively, he’s not good enough to be the DM anymore. He also has some talent going forward, but certainly not enough to fill a role there. Seems like the only place he’s really well suited to now is as a #8, except that he’s too slow for that role on this team. But for me the biggest thing is that he seems to have lost his ability to have ‘bite’ for a whole game, instead he drifts in and out, moment to moment. Just like Mavinga. How is that workable in a team setup that depends on getting the most out of each position? Seems to me that the player that does fit the mould is Osorio. He should be our captain now, he’s certainly playing like he is.Quote:
Originally Posted by MightyDM
What is bleak is that Curtis and Manning have put us in a hole that takes time to crawl out of makes it necessary to keep guys like Bradley and Bono in the starting 11, every game, no matter what.
I still believe Bradley could be a serviceable 6, he's just always felt he was beyond that to his own detriment. It's shoehorning him in as a play maker (which he never had the ability to be) or, at his age, as someone high pressing that's killing him. If both Bradleys could come back to reality on his ability I think he could still be someone who could do a job on this team. Lots of players play the number 6 role well long after their legs go, look at Busquets, and Bradleys skills have always suited that role well
Maybe my idea of what a good DM looks like is jaded but my issue with Bradley (as much as I’d admit he wasn’t the problem last game) is that he can’t cover ground nearly as well as he used to. Also not helping our cause, he’s paired with two less athletic midfielders.
I watch what happens when Poz gets the ball. The other team immediately rushes up to press to avoid him having the ability to turn and face the attacking half. They force him sideways or backwards as often as they can.
Watch what happens when the playmaker on the opposing team gets the ball in the same position. We’re simply not able to apply pressure consistently. Bradley if he’s isolated will stand off the man to avoid getting beaten for pace. The other guys aren’t too much better. We try to compensate by forcing guys into traps and then pressing as a group in places but it doesn’t always work.
And I know people are complaining about the flanks and the black line but it’s all related. If a passer can sit in the midfield and look around for options without feeling pestered, it makes your role as a defender that much harder.
It is regrettable that we couldn’t see Priso for a game. With his mobility, lots of these questions get answered; not sure how it happens but he needs to be beside Bradley while still keeping Oso and Poz in the field. Solves many problems.
I think disciplined, smart positioning can make up for alot though. If Bradley conserved his energy, stayed in his half and focused on defensive disciple I *think* some of those issues would go away. And he has other skills that work well in this position, like off the ball movement and always being an outlet to be passed too which takes alot of pressure off the defenceQuote:
Originally Posted by ag futbol
If their was a true leader in defence, it might work with Bradley. Unfortunately, there’s no one even close to being able to fill that role. Seems like the only time we’ve ever had that was with Moor.Quote:
Originally Posted by JoesphNdo
I agree with this , I think we can all see that Michael is not the player he once was , but what confuses me is why the supposedly great coach we just hired is not doing anything about his son’s positioningQuote:
Originally Posted by JoesphNdo
I suspect triage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Section 223
He's got so much to work on and fix with the younger guys that the older guys get too little attention. Instead of spending the vast majority of time guiding field coaches to handle units, he's out there teaching the twenty year olds
This makes a lot of sense and since this year is mostly a wash, might as well do what we should have done last year and teach these kids how to play properly. Let the vets do whatever since most will probably be gone or bench options at best next year.Quote:
Originally Posted by jloome
Not sure I fully buy into that when it comes to Michael Bradley. Bobs made comments comparing him too, I think, Xabi Alonso and talks about his play making and getting him forward. I think it's a case of a legitimate complete blind spot when it comes to what his son is and isn't good at. I think Michael's playing exactly as both Bradleys want him too, positionally.Quote:
Originally Posted by jloome
I do think that line of thinking applies to alot of the other issues we're seeing this season, though
It's the best risk-reward balance. Plus, Insigne could end out having a Vasquez/SebaQuote:
Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud
type impact.
If we don't get any other starting options in the July window, I expect Manning will flee to a
lateral corporate safe position elsewhere. By next season, front office failures on basics like a complete first team will become untenable.
Year 1 pricing...why can't we be great?....ok we are not there yet. Still have the PTSD though. Never quite goes away does it.
I know lots of people who had it really bad recently, and lots really mild. Of course I don't assume that anyone on TFC would get a serious case. However we see with COVID and especially long symptoms it's often a crapshoot. Sure, younger & fitter have a better chance overall. But just look at Phonzie (myocarditis after a mild case of COVID) and lots of other athletes or young healthy people who had some serious symptoms despite being vaccinated.Quote:
Originally Posted by MightyDM
But I really didn't want to get into that at all here. Even if someone wants to consider it like an extremely contagious flu that affects a few players badly: that means Salcedo having it could lead to a couple of players missing one or two games, even just to avoid the outbreak getting bigger. When a team is already as thin as TFC that's a huge issue.
Hopefully they can nip it in the bud and it doesn't spread beyond Salcedo.
Does anybody have stats on how many goals we've scored on the huge number of free kicks that Bradley has taken over the years? It seems like a very low number.Quote:
Originally Posted by ag futbol
I think MB could still have a role to play. Chung looked decent in many other games. Same goes for most of the other players who didn't look great yesterday. I'm reminded of something jloome mentioned often in the last season -- maybe even longer that that. It seems like there's a fair bit of arrogance, paired with cluelessness.
Like the team should know that they had a makeshift D yesterday, with the (nominally) 3rd- and 4th-string CBs playing, and no natural FBs (at least not at MLS level). They should know they have a fairly slow midfielder in MB, and an overall make-shift team with lots of missing parts. So why the hell does everyone pull forward so far, even when we were only down by one? Why does Chung continue running all over the place after getting burned? Why is Bradley almost at the opposing penalty area, with nobody covering behind him at DM, when it already looks like he is gassed? Is there really nobody who can put in a better freekick than MB? Why have we not figured out some fairly safe ways for Bono to distribute the ball, w/o expecting too much from his abilities, and w/o him hoofing it? Plus the jogging we often see from the younger players who should be proving themselves. Maybe that's not arrogance, but it certainly looks like it.
Excellent idea! That’s what needs to be doneQuote:
Originally Posted by gracos
Good for you
what I did was cancel my season seats
i will go to single games in July.
but that’s it. I will not support this either
I'm glad I found the right attitude towards TFC right now. My brain is so fried these days, I have to budget my mental energy. I decided to walk home 6km from work yesterday like I do most days; left a bit late and forgot about the TFC game for a while. My wife called that she wanted to meet me partway and we decided to hike some more and check out the cherry blossoms. By that time I had remembered the TFC game but said fuck it, this is more important. (The old me would never have done that.). Made it home to turn on the TFC game for the 2nd half. (Why the fuck doesn't TSN Live let you start an in-progress game from the start, like DAZN does???) Didn't get worked up about Chung's screw-up or anything.
Thinking long-term, this team has had and still seems to have problems. Look at Seattle in comparison. The long-term does concern me a bit; I still find a way to care about that. But short-term it's just not worth it. Have some beers and laugh a little. Be pleasantly surprised when they have a good game. Place wagers on MB's freekicks not leading to goals. Wait and see who they bring in with Insigne.
Cheers, I'm out!
caldwell is a total shill for tfc and mlsQuote:
Originally Posted by Thomas
everything that grifter says is completely scripted
https://malcolmgladwell.bulletin.com...r-open-bordersQuote:
Originally Posted by jloome
When I was a kid, baseball was the summer sport. But I was signed up to soccer because my dad was Eastern European (Hungarian), it was a part of our culture.Quote:
Originally Posted by los sonadores
Simple answer to all your concerns is that the coach is not doing his job or or thinks he is but really is not good at doing his job, sadly we were all so happy when TFC signed Bob BradleyQuote:
Originally Posted by Auzzy
Yeh, we've seen crappy coaches...Armas last year, for example
Fine with BB
e.g. JJ comes off on Wednesday - BB stops him as he comes off & talks with him for a minute as he comes off - not sure what but you could tell both left that knowing what was going on & in agreement.
BB is a builder & we won't see most of it.
Frankly, given our roster construction, we should be getting blown out.
Too many people forget this.Quote:
Originally Posted by OgtheDim
Yeah overall I'm happy with Bob, it's two big worries so far - complete blindspot on his son and seems to want to play a certain formation regardless of it suiting the players he has or not. But, overall, he's been okay and pedigree wise we aren't going to get anyone better
Well, a few weeks ago you said coaches don't matter....Quote:
Originally Posted by Section 223
I'm convinced he's prepping for when we have additions, including Insigne. This is the system he wants them to play, and rather than amend it to make up for current shortcomings, he's effectively teaching our backups how to come in and be effective, rather than just languishing on the bench.Quote:
Originally Posted by JoesphNdo
It's a case of pain now for a deeper, more effective roster later.