We have multiple positions issues unresolved -- and MIchael Bradley's is one of them

At some point we need to concede that a no. 8 who is young and vital and just out of Roma can be a no. 6 in MLS.... but the same guy three years later cannot.

We need a proper wrecker in midfield. Bradley has always been a rounded player; he scored 18 goals in a season once in Eredivisie as an eighteen or 19-year old. He's good at cutting off lanes. But he's shit at marking and he cant catch up when caught high.

He should be playing higher up the pitch and we need a wrecker. We also need a tricky winger, someone who can beat at least a couple of guys wide to set up a cross or overlap; and we need a number 10, which I assume is Pozuela.

It would entirely depend on the formation Vanney chooses to play IMO. If you play a 4-3-3 yes Bradley should be paired with Osorio and get a Laba type DM. if you change to a 4-2-3-1 no I disagree in changing Bradley’s position you pair him with a impact tam level ‘wrecker’ and you have a three of osorio, pouzelo and a pacey tam level RM. this way you give Bradley cover, he can distribute and your front 3 can counter or in possession Bradley moves up along with your FB to over load sides. Keeping possession and depending on who is playing at CF you can have played in the on the ground or keep it wide and whip in a cross.

The team and the formation need to evolve and it all depends on the philosophy of the FO. I would love for them and Vanney switch to a 4-2-3-1. By next year at this time we potentially could have 2 new DPs with Bradley as a tam level player. With a younger more mobile striker and maybe another DP midfielder and Bradley on a tam deal. This management team gets their shot, by what happens over the next 2 transfer windows.

It’s an interesting time to be a supporter of this club. We have experienced extreme lows and unbelievable highs. Like all things the team we had from 2015-2018had run it’s course, but the bar that has been set for what TFC should be striving for.

BTW great thread

I really want to see a 4-2-3-1 I just think it offers so much flexibility with that 3. They can all interchange and offer different sort of looks and angles to the attack, whilst still being necessarily close to defend.

Bono; Morrow, Mavinga, Ciman/Moor, Auro; Bradley, TAM DM; Osorio, Pozuelo, Menendez; Altidore would be a good line up imo

TAM DM, with a DP DM...what a waste.

Bradley needs to take a pay cut down to TAM level because he's looking extra ordinary

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Originally Posted by jloome

At some point we need to concede that a no. 8 who is young and vital and just out of Roma can be a no. 6 in MLS.... but the same guy three years later cannot.

We need a proper wrecker in midfield. Bradley has always been a rounded player; he scored 18 goals in a season once in Eredivisie as an eighteen or 19-year old. He's good at cutting off lanes. But he's shit at marking and he cant catch up when caught high.

He should be playing higher up the pitch and we need a wrecker. We also need a tricky winger, someone who can beat at least a couple of guys wide to set up a cross or overlap; and we need a number 10, which I assume is Pozuela.

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Agreed Poz alone doesn't solve the issues.

With respect to Bradley, i thought the positioning of the midfielders in game one was atrocious, as was the wide forwards. That 4-3-3 has to become more of a 4-5-1 when defending but Morrow and Dorsey came nowhere near tracking back enough to make it work. Delgado and Osorio were miles away from Bradley who was left alone on an island. I think Bradley can still play as a defensive midfielder but you can't just leave him alone and expect him to single handedly shut down every attack. End of this contract he's now a TAM player in my mind.

My to do list:
1. Hurry up and get at least one forward (and probably 2 or 3 in total). Management has completely blown this, we've known we needed a wide forward for the last 12 months and have yet to sign one. You could probably get Yamil Asad in about 5 minutes. That would do.
2. Tactically adjust. Stop pushing your fullbacks into midfield, they aren't good enough to recover defensively, aren't that great offensively, and their CB partners are stretched. If you are going to insist on doing this this, you need to take a major adjustments to the roster.
3. Find more team speed. This squad is simply too damn slow. It's painfully obvious.
4. Think about how we are going to find goals. Poz alone will not fix our problems. We lost Gio and Vazquez, we're now replacing just one of those positions. There has to be more to this.

I disagree, sort of.

Bradley cannot be a box to box guy, agree. His wheels aren’t there. Which is one of the reasons I don’t understand Vanney's 4-3-3 idea...

But he can still mark/tackle, as long as he knows his role, and doesn’t start running around.

I dont see him him as an elite player going forward, and we have PozoOso for that.

Just tell him to stay at home and play DM/sweeper in a 4-2-3-1 or similar

I think we need to find an understudy for Morrow. I like him in a 4 2 3 1 but not as an inverted back in a 4 3 3. He fully deserves a chance to show he can bounce back after last season but at his age we should have a contingency plan. Ash is fine as a back up but would not want him as the first choice

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Originally Posted by jloome

At some point we need to concede that a no. 8 who is young and vital and just out of Roma can be a no. 6 in MLS.... but the same guy three years later cannot.

We need a proper wrecker in midfield. Bradley has always been a rounded player; he scored 18 goals in a season once in Eredivisie as an eighteen or 19-year old. He's good at cutting off lanes. But he's shit at marking and he cant catch up when caught high.

He should be playing higher up the pitch and we need a wrecker. We also need a tricky winger, someone who can beat at least a couple of guys wide to set up a cross or overlap; and we need a number 10, which I assume is Pozuela.

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Have to disagree with you on this point. If not for Bradley's incredible tracking back against Columbus in the eastern conference final, we never win MLS cup.

I think most of us would agree that our team is not suited for a 4-3-3. We do not have the dynamic wingers at the moment nor does the team have the speed in order to play it.

In order for this team to be successful this year, we need to find a way maximize MB in our midfield. Personally, I think right now it's going to be very hard for the team to even get the players to properly play a 4-2-3-1. My main concern with a back 4 with this team is how Vanney is driven by having our wing backs play high, leaving our CBs isolated. It's true having two DMs would help but I'm not a big fan of having our CBs having to be drawn wide to cover the wide areas, then having our DMs drop into the backline to cover them. If the other midfielders do not track back, it'll leave a gap in the midfield. This also may hurt our attack as our striker may be more isolated if teams start to expose this. If Vanney adjusts and makes our LB and RB play more defensive, I think it has more potential. I think Bradley will do well in a 4-2-3-1, giving him support in the defensive role. I'm just not convinced we even have the right wingers for the "attacking" midfield 3 to help create and score goals.

The shame is the team is forced to goto a 1 striker formation now, making our midfield having to be more attacking / creative. Without the signing of Poz, it's going to be very difficult for this team to create goals. This hurts as I feel the the team is built more for playing a 3-5-2, but we don't have a suitable striker partner for Jozy.

It seems like this entire off season they wanted to move to a 4-3-3, so for the life of me I don't understand why we didn't start bringing in the players to help us play that system earlier.

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Originally Posted by jasper

Have to disagree with you on this point. If not for Bradley's incredible tracking back against Columbus in the eastern conference final, we never win MLS cup.

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He was the league's best defensive midfielder in 2016 and 2017, the question is if he's still that player or if he's regressed.

It's tempting to say he's regressed after our awful season last year, and it's not like I haven't seen some concerning things myself. But I dunno, it still feels premature to be making sweeping statements on where he's at now. I can see him having another mediocre season but I don't think it would be some huge surprise if he really impressed either.

We shouldn't forget either that in 2014 and 2015 we played Bradley in a box-to-box role with incredible license to go forward. He was mostly an offensive player for us then. He slotted back into the #6 role by 2016 as Vanney sorted out the team and it became clear we needed a solid defensive presence ahead of the back line. It's a role that is not too difficult to continue performing at a high level in your later years as long as you have the smarts and enough support from your other midfielders. To that end I may lean more towards leaving Bradley as a #6 and looking at an upgrade that would push Delgado to the bench.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We should reassess this in the summer. The good thing is Bradley is the type of character who will not be put off by playing out his contract, as opposed to Jozy or Seba if he had stayed.

I think the team went into the season thinking it was going to play a more flat 4-4-2 along with the diamond & the 3-5-2. That's the only way to use Seba.

Seba gone? VV gone? OK, so no need to keep 2 up front. Vanney goes to another plan he had in his mind for years but couldn't implement- Man City style 4-3-3 which is really a 2-3-4-1. In that scheme, Bradley is the DM of the 3 between Morrow & Auro. Might work but needs a TAM left winger & DeLeon to have a decent season.

Based on reports, the team knows it needs help on the left & has a TAM LW in mind if Poz comes or DP LW if Poz doesn't.

YAY all focus back on the General now that our 2 biggest additions left and our unhealthiest DP isn't ready.

What year is it?

Fuck midseason upgrades. I want to win now.

I will be as pissed as you people were last year for the glorious CCL run affecting the regular season.

Cue Miracle Tuesday.

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Originally Posted by Fort York Redcoat

YAY all focus back on the General now that our 2 biggest additions left and our unhealthiest DP isn't ready.

What year is it?

Fuck midseason upgrades. I want to win now.

I will be as pissed as you people were last year for the glorious CCL run affecting the regular season.

Cue Miracle Tuesday.

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I'm voting this as the best post i've read here in a while.
I 100% agree with everything.