Dunfield And Guzman

[Jack]

I still don't get the hate for Dunfield. I'm not sure what people are expecting from our 3rd string DM who is in over his head. In the absence of any sense of pride or responsibility from JDG, this is what we have. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the CMNT, Spanish League, Designated Player who is not delivering at big bucks. Or rather, is only delivering when the mood strikes. I would like to see Stinson given some more action. Dunfield should really only be playing late in games and in games against inferior opponents (like NCAA teams or something ).

[Waggy]

Yup. Tho I agree JDG looks way better with Frings out there. JDG can definitely still play, Id be happy to have him back next year. At an average MLS salary. A DP needs to make the players around them better. JDG has never shown an ability to do that. And that was never really his game to begin with. Dunfield is a more than servicable depth guy. Remember hes only been playing so much due to injuries.

[Canary10]

First off, I agree with everyone that JDG is too expensive, and Oldtimer is probably right that he's played himself off the team for next year.

That aside, I think we have this tendency in modern football to label midfielders either as attacking midfielders or defensive midfielders. JDG is neither one of those. He's more of the old style box to box midfielder. He is not a good defensive midfielder. He's too small, gets muscled off the ball, and he can't tackle (although he is a dogged tackler and often wins balls the second time around). He also clearly doesn't score like an attacking mid would. What he does best is play as deep-lying playmaker. When he sits in behind the forwards and distributes the ball left and right he is very good. We've seen him do well keeping possession up front, distributing, and keeping pressure on opposing defences.

He is not being played this way right now. All the games I've seen, he's barely been distinguishable from a central defender. He should be playing higher up in that playmaking position where he's good. The reason he's good with Frings is that Frings is a good tackler and does the defensive midfielder stuff well, allowing JDG to play his real role. That's my view anyway.

[Richard]

Yup. Tho I agree JDG looks way better with Frings out there. JDG can definitely still play, Id be happy to have him back next year. At an average MLS salary. A DP needs to make the players around them better. JDG has never shown an ability to do that. And that was never really his game to begin with. Dunfield is a more than servicable depth guy. Remember hes only been playing so much due to injuries.

My prediction is he retires at the end of this year, no way he plays for a club making 250k his ego is not going to handle going from 1.7-1.9 million a year.