New Line-Up!
------------------Cesar------------------
--Bloom----Richter---Henry-------Morrow
----------Bekker-------Hall----------
--Jackson-------Bradley--------Rey
------------Gilberto--------------------
Bench: DeRo, Bendick, Issey, Weeds, Morgan, Agboss
Now that Caldwell is confirmed out, I don't think we can consider starting Bekker. Yes he appeared to be an upgrade over Hall when subbed in against RSL but they were taking their foot off the gas a little and Bekker would be too much of a liability defensively. Now if Bradley doesn't start, then maybe you have to go with Bekker and Hall but if Bradley plays, no way I choose Bekker over Hall for the other CM spot.
I also wouldn't be totally shocked if Nelson tries to squeeze Orr in at CB to replace Caldwell.
My take:
------------------Cesar------------------
--Bloom----Orr---Henry-------Morrow
----------Bradley-------Hall----------
--Jackson-------DeRo--------Rey
------------Gilberto--------------------
Bench: Bekker, Bendick, Issey, Weeds, Morgan, Richter
Sadly, it's about a 3-4 person team.Originally Posted by OgtheDim
The injuries that surprise and concern me would be the one to Osorio. He's young and this would be the second time in 2 seasons that he has suffered an injury that is significant and forces him to miss games. I feel for him and his career.
Defoe? That's about as expected as the sun rising. Any complaints about that are like buying a car "as is" and then complaining that it breaks down. Defoe was a move to sell tickets primarily and ideally improve the team competitively when he plays. The thing is he was hurt earlier this year (hamstring), hurt in 2010 (hamstring) and hurt when he signed (hamstring). The fact that 2 games into the season he is down again (hamstring) shouldn't surprise or shock anyone.
The merits of signing an injured player at the league max budget charge in a league that provides no relief for in the event of the expected injury has to be questioned from a team performance perspective.
We essentially gave up Urutti for Defoe. Success? Defoe has more goals and sold more tickets. Urutti will likely play more games over a longer period and may or may not equal Defoe's tallies. I'll tell you what though, you can't score from the Press box.
I'd way rather have Defoe.
^ Defoe may have been the right call.
However, if he sits in the Pressbox more than he plays and takes his budget charge up there with him, I'd suggest that it wasn't.
I'd wager that even if Defoe sits out half the games, or becomes a high powered option off the bench instead of a starter, he'll still score more goals than Urruti. I've been watching the Portland games, and Urruti is definitely a pest for the defense, and gets himself in great positions but he's not in the same class when it comes to finishing ability.
The injury to Dike was clearly a major blow. The management can be faulted I guess for getting a player with a recent major injury. But I think if he were here, we could weather more easily Defoe missing a half dozen or so starts. In fact plan on his taking breaks.
-------------Cesar----------------
Bloom---Henry---Morrow (or Agboss)---Morgan (or Morrow)
---------------Bradley--------------------------------
Jackson/Rey-----------------------------Rey/Jackson
--------------Bekker-------------------------
----------Gilberto---Dero----------------
This is my lineup for the game. I think we will go with 4-4-2 diamond shape formation.
I hope Nelsen was watching US-Mexico game and saw how Bradley played. Hopefully we get DM soon so Bradley can play more advanced role.
Last edited by TFC07; 04-03-2014 at 09:40 AM.
This kills me.
Losing Laba kills me.
That's what I mean. I know you were being ironic, but it cuts too deep still.
On a second thought:
Move Jackson in the middle and start Issey on the wing while move Bradley more advance in the midfield so we don't have to start Bekker.
Gilberto is going to need to start finding the back of the goal.
time to give wiedman a chance, or cut him from the team.
on thing he can do is finish ( on an mls level).........bradley and dero can supply him with service. gilberto can take heat off of him.
losing Dike is porbably the biggest blow right now. Dero must be on bench to back up the forwards, and this is compounded by lack of winger depth.
Agreed. He should start be spending less time on the deck.
Ok pessimism setting in....must resist....must not let it back into my TFC experience....damn too late.
We are unlucky. I wanted a win at Columbus more than RSL. Now looks like we will have a weaker lineup vs Columbus. Hopefully they can pull out a competitive game at least. Maybe Weedman can put a goal in for us in C-Bus again. Who knows...
I don't dispute that Defoe is at a different point in his career. Urutti has upside but how much? Who knows. Defoe has accomplishments but how much longer can he play at that level? Really impossible to gauge at this point in time. Defoe, when healthy, is the better player now IMO.
There are a lot of variables over these 4 years with Defoe:
- how many games can he play?
- in those games he plays, is he 100%?
- after injury and birthdays, does he recover to the same point as he is now?
The other issue with Defoe is the opportunity cost to sign him. I compared him with Urutti but in the world of DPs, there could have been a number of other Strikers that they were chasing. Was Defoe and all that he brings (tickets vs health) the best use of the budget space? We'd better hope so.
Sounds a lot like Koevermans 2.0 to me in terms of ultimate impact on the team's finish in the table.
If Defoe's hamstring really did tighten up before the rsl game, I'm pissed that Nelsen put him in the starting 11 for a game which we were always destined to lose.
Apparently it is difficult to tell Defoe to not play.
More importantly, no manager goes into a game feeling destined to lose - do that and you should quit.
I remember that one well. FML what a shitshow this team has been.
I dont know guys. Most people are saying to give dero the start. After seeing him come in against DC and look rather slow, like slow motion compared to others, I think the Weids should get the start along side gilberto and then one of them gets subbed off for dero. Im not convinced dero can go 60min+ and be effective. I think around 30min game time is what would be best for him.
We should never start Wiedeman. Change the formation, change the players but make the most of the team you have at your disposal and put the best 11 you have out there. I'm cool with subbing in Dero, but use a better midfielder or defender as opposed to a lesser striker.
If the best players we have line up in something non 442 so be it. Better than fielding someone with no impact on the game.
Agreed, Dero has looked like a old guy out there. Too slow, no pep at all.
Columbus will be another battle, we need energy and fight out of all 11 guys.
This is why Id say start weids. One of his most memorable games was in a downpour scoring the winning goal against cocklumbus.
He will want to prove that he can work some magic again. I think him and gilberto would link up well also.
I know Columbus <spit> is 3-0 but I really feel their talent is a mile wide but an inch deep. If Bradley, Rey and Jackson can lock down the midfield, and I know they have the talent to do so, then I think we should be able keep Columbus <spit> from advancing too far and even to see some nice feeds to Gilberto. We know Gilberto has a decent shot so now's the opportunity for him to show us what he can do.
Yes we remember that 'RAIN' match, one of the best matches last year we could be proud of.
If our memory is correct, didn't the 'weedman' came off the bench to score that BIG goal?
http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2013...to-fc/1433334/
Last year's match at Columbus (2-0 loss).
A. You'll notice that TFC was coming into Columbus after a 3-0 defeat to RSL in their previous match. Odd eh?
B. Even without Defoe, Osorio, Caldwell, Laba, and possibly Henry.... are we really worse off than last year coming into this match?
I'd say that the following players are improvements: Gilberto + DeRo + Jackson + Bradley + Morrow + Cesar + Issey. Hell throw in Rey as he's more seasoned to this league at this time than he was last year.
There's no reason this team shouldn't compete for at least a draw. Losing to Higuain and company should it happen isn't the end of the world either.. we all know how important home field advantage is in this league. This should be an interesting match to say the least.
I forget the exact circumstances, but I remember Mo Johnston signing about 12 defensive midfielders and no wingers or strikers despite our lack of offence. Anything Mo did in a given week could probably go up here. He really was making it up every day he was on the job.
2-0 TFC book it.
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