I'd prioritize defense even more heavilyOriginally Posted by Yohan
1. RB
2. Vet CB
3. DM
4. Wings
5. Seba backup
6. GK
Bendik is serviceable and we could win with him there. I's rate him mid-table MLS ranking keeper which is fine enough for now. An improvement would be a luxury IMO.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Me neither as long as Konopka doesn't see the field. Bendik may be average but Konopka is abysmal. Give Roberts a go maybe.
Threads merged.
Feel free to look for the poll.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
No one thinks he is the best keeper in MLS. I think stats would reflect that.
Feel free to correct me if there's those out there that do think he's better than his stats and he's the number one keeper in MLS.
This seems like a simplification of what ails our team. Concentrating on a keeper usually is. Or the coach FTM...
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Thread was merged. I still want your Bendik opinions guys. Link to POLL: http://www.poll-maker.com/poll285786xcC2386a3-11
As I said in the previous thread...Thread was merged
Sometimes keepers, like any player, need a shakeup...
We've lost 3-games in-a-row and conceded 7-goals - I have no problem with Vanney putting in Roberts to shake things up.
BUT, based on Vanney's complete inept ability to in-game adjust and secure crucial road points - I'm not holding my breath.
Carts.
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
Konopka isn't a starter. He's a slightly worse version of Bendik.
There is no need to bench Bendik now and create a shit storm that would make the Bradley takes over as captain thing look like a mild disagreement.
This is a discussion for towards the end of the season and for 2016.
Exactly Bendik is the best we got and should be starting every game. It's not Bendiks fault he's got a different back four in front of him every game.
Until we see some stability in the back were always going to be conceding goals. Hopefully Bloom can step in and show Vanney he's the best guy for the RB position. That's our big hole that once it's filled should allow our defensive unit to play more to there strengths.
How soon we forget.
Adjustments made in Vancouver and RSL won praise in here. Couldn't adjust much when down Morrow unjustly in Columbus. Made a mistake in keeping Crevalle on too long in Chicago.
Pretty par for the course for a manager in MLS actually.
Well said. Good to keep track of it. I'm sure the flip of this is that Creavalle was getting his chance to prove and fell short. If we saw Vanney ignore it and started him anyway for a full 90 and struggling next against Dallas then...
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
We can't panic - but we can't do nothing either...
Sometimes shakeups are needed - and by starting a different keeper often its to rattle the cage of the rest of the 11, not just the keeper himself...
Let's face it, Vanney is the KING of DO NOTHING DIFFERENT. The lads bust their ass to equalize in the 88th minute in Salt Lake, and instead of flooding the backend and midfield for the restart, we have 3-up-top and concede in 40-seconds, so they chances if him changing anything is just a hair above nil...
BUT, a shakeup isn't always a bad thing. I don't know who I'd go for, Roberts or Knopka as I don't watch training everyday - but I would do something. Keeping the ball out of our net is a team game - and we all know keeper is the loneliest position on the pitch. Changing it up for a match should light a fire under the rest of the squad to say "your defensive play simply isn't good enough!"...
I'd rather have a Manager & Club that sees the value in every point, and works & adjusts to try and secure each and every one. Consistency is excellent, but not at then expense of accountability.
EARN THE SHIRT - every game! And know that you're not just earning your own, but the 10-men on the pitch with you.
Carts.
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
RSL????? Wowzers!!!! Certainly not from me...
Wrong thread, but would love to know how people thought that after we equalized having 3-men in our 18-yard box vs 4-attackers / plus 3 attackers high up the pitch is the proper adjustment after equalizing...
Easy to make an adjustment during the 15mins at the half - tough to do it on the fly...
I also blame the captain for not just taking the reigns and barking out orders himself if it didn't come from the sidelines - that's where we miss Caldwell the most - he'd take the reigns and get everyone focused immediately...
Anyways, BACK ON TOPIC. I really LIKE Bendik as a keeper - I think the shakeup needs to be made to get the rest of the lads tails up. We can't switch out the entire 11, so doing a position such as keeper is a statement...
Is it fair? Not always. But I'd rather be proactive and kick some ass now, then 10-games from now if things "don't just turn around" on their own. That's all...
Poorly said. I never praised him for a second. For the reason above.
Last edited by Carts; 04-06-2015 at 09:54 AM.
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
My comment was on Vanney adjusting in Vancouver and Creavalle getting more time than we all wanted that last game.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Fair enough criticism of my wording, Carts. I stand corrected.
You are consistent in your critiques.
Positioning on set pieces and crosses are his fault though. You dont set up a wall to cover half the net then take a first step behind your wall exposing the entire side of the net you are responsible to cover.
His positioning and distribution is sorely lacking. Thats not on the defence.
These games are really tough, b/c the lads are really working their tails off out there, playing much better at times - but letting these events kill the points...
And agreed, his position after setting up the wall was totally incorrect - no question... He didn't have confidence in the wall doing it's job...
But my biggest beef with that play is that nobody on the pitch noticed & reacted when Chicago was obviously going to touch the ball past the wall (after they read the setup) and charged. You might not get to the ball, but you rush the shot... Although I say the "captain" should take charge of this - I think it falls on the leader of the back-4 just as much...
Was it because of the 10-men situation? Definitely.
But Bendik, Bradley, or one of the back-4 should have identified the Number-1 risk to the goal - that being after a small touch there was a clean look on goal from 28-yards out...
If Chicago can pick out a perfect dead ball chip onto a charging header into a crowded box and score - well good on them. But TFC needed to identify and remove the number-1, direct risk, to goal...
Biggest thing now, LEARN FROM IT! We made two mistakes on the play (Bendik positioning & not reading the play) if we don't make those said mistakes again - we're moving onward & upward! That is something Vanney needs to hammer home during video this week...
Carts...
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
Stillo from Parma?
no way he sits bendik...he is one of the vanneys pets along with findley and creavalle.
Last edited by reggie; 04-06-2015 at 02:55 PM.
Yup, there was a Swiss player, named Frei. Wonder if we could get a guy like that.
Frei is not much better than Bendik, if at all. we used to yell at Frei for making the same mistakes Bendik makes
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
From MLS.Soccer:
2014 (Seattle): Frei appeared and started in all 34 regular season matches, playing for a full 3,060 minutes. Frei ranked sixth in MLS with 99 saves and third with nine shutouts. His 20 wins set a league record in the postshootout era. In his club debut, Frei recorded a shutout in the season opener versus Sporting Kansas City (March 8). Frei recorded his career-high 10th win at Chicago Fire (June 7). He made a season-high five saves at Montreal (March 23). In the U.S. Open Cup, Frei went 300 minutes with one shutout. During the MLS Cup Playoffs, Frei started all games, posting a 1-1-2 record with one shutout. Frei was a nominee for MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
Bendik is fine. GK is pretty fungible at this level.
Cesar didn't look special when he was here to my eye, he needed to be in a better league for his bigger skill set to matter.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Man, I wish Bendik was our problem.
2014 Seattle Sounders: 50 Goals Against
2014 Toronto FC: 54 Goals Against
*shrug*
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
You must be an uber fan if you think that stat is relevant. Goals for? Western division superiority? Twenty wins versus....how many? Was it six?
stats don't tell the whole story, but it does tell something of the story
of course Seattle Sounders blasted their opposition with goals to win their games to Supporter's Shield.
Sounders back four consisted of Yedlin-Marshall-Scott/Traore-Gonzalez, with Alonso anchoring as DM. That's a pretty solid lineup by MLS standards. Yet Sounders leaked 50 goals. Frei made a lot of spectacular saves. But he also made his share of blunders too.
you can win a lot of games when you can score something close to 2 goals a game, even if your GK is merely ok. LA and RSL who came in 2nd and 3rd had 37 and 39 goals against. What you'd expect more in line with a good team with solid GK.
Last edited by Yohan; 04-06-2015 at 07:17 PM.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Only MLS GK I ever saw make a difference was Brad Guzan, and he wasn't here for long.
I remember watching a NY-Chivas game where he robbed Angel something like 6 times in 15 minutes.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
If we keep this up we'll concede a lot more than 54 this year.
Moderator
Agreed. Frankly, I think Bendik has pretty good quality in the parts of his game that matter at the MLS level Terrible distribution, but way more errant passes and screw-ups at this level anyway.
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
When I first started watching MLS back in the early 2000's, it seemed like 1 out of 4 passes by midfielders or defenders were so bad they went out for throw ins - it was like one bad pass every 45 seconds. Killed games and made the matches unpleasant to watch.
Now, with the possession and transition games MLS plays, there are only about 3 awful passes like that a game.
However, the amount of keeper kicks that go wayward is still really high. I get nobody in MLS invests in keepers, but the distribution capability is really really low still. If the cap ever goes up significantly, keeper and LB and RB skill bases should increase.
BTW, there's some speculation online that Chicago should spend DP type money/allocation to keep Shawn Johnson and DCU should use a full DP slot to keep Bill Hamid from going to Europe. I don't think either of them is all that good but apparently European scouts (or the player's agents) do. In the grand scheme of things, no keeper is worth that much of your overall player cap.
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