IF, and it's a BIG IF, Altidore plays like he did today all season, Seba and Altidore both have 20+ goal seasons.
IF, and it's a BIG IF, Altidore plays like he did today all season, Seba and Altidore both have 20+ goal seasons.
I believe from the style of play he chose and his lack of work rate off the ball offensively that his confidence had been shattered by being repeatedly coached to believe he could only be effective in a system catered to one style.Originally Posted by Detroit_TFC
This was effective for two seasons in Holland (where the defending can be notoriously weak) and then he was told to play two different roles by Di Canio and Poyet, neither playing to his strengths.
He played last season like he was no longer sure what to do without being directed (sometimes by a rotten coach). Maybe the sports psychologist and the off-the-ball movement (he was running behind the defenders all day) indicates TFC is working hard to fulfill his potential. If so, he can be a monster player.
I think his confidence was somewhat shot. He was oversized because he'd been told by Poyet he'd never be anything but a hold-up player, and he'd gone through a terrible run there.
This could be a huge year for him.
he also played pretty much the entire season injured. I think this we're gonna see big things from Altidore this season.
I have to disagree. The sample size may be small but he's only played centrally 3 times last season. I suggest that you go rewatch the last RB game as an example. That was the game we had our 3 DPs out and our attacking four was Morgan, Gomez, Delgado and Oso. Even with that lineup, he ran the show and all attacks went through him. Defensively he bullied their deep lying playmaker Felipe and in possession, he stretched the play consistently to both Morgan (who was an out-and-out winger) and Delgado who worked more centrally and that allowed us to create a decent amount of chances. This was against an almost full strength RB team fighting for the Support's Shield. This was obviously one game but he had shown good consistency and progression in the latter part of the season. Previously, he played wide in a flat 4-4-2, he still excelled as a faux 10. He did typical no. 10 stuff like this...
https://youtu.be/Xfpxl6oaNnY?t=22s
He also shows good balance and to create space through his movement. If he can sort out his finishing, the potential is there.
https://youtu.be/RId6SikSsao
When I think of Bradley at 10, he's someone that needs space in front of him. Although he has excellent vision, he lacks the guile and balance needed to play the role.
When I think of Bradley, he's the quintessential shuttler where you can get the best out of him because he's highly athletic, good in possession and has a tremendous engine. The bonus is that he'll stretch the play from a deeper position, something he's known to do. I just don't see Oso as a long term shuttler. He did okay but he can't cover the same amount of ground.
The consensus that Bradley plays best when he's arriving late into the box is I think kind of outdated, and slightly besides the point in the context of our team. He's excelled at the AM position for both us and the USMNT when he has a lot of guys making runs around him and he has free reign when his team is in possession to drop off into midfield and dictate play, or play higher closer to his forward(s) and make the requisite runs to open up space to either create room for them or put himself in the proper position to play the final ball through for a chance on goal. Playing Bradley in that spot can have its drawbacks occasionally, and they can pile up very quickly when things aren't going right. If the game isn't being played at his pace and the guys around him aren't doing the requisite running to create space for both him and and othesr to run into he can he can start to over-complicate things - showing for the ball too often, taking a touch too many or forcing a ball that isn't there because he doesn't want to continue to recycle possession.
Playing Bradley and Osorio at the positions they had last year in the diamond still gives us more out of those two than the reversal would offer.
Last edited by PopePouri; 02-01-2016 at 01:11 AM.
Another scrimmage tonight, here's the projected line up from Devang
Projected Starting XI: Irwin; Morrow, Moor, Perquis, Beitashour; Delgado, Cheyrou, Chapman; Gomez, Hamilton, Giovinco.
4-3-3, interesting. Maybe we work on that as a backup formation when we're missing guys in the middle, as I still see us primarily playing some kind of 4 man midfield variant.
Maybe a 4231 and a 433 as the main formations?
interesting formation. Wish these games were live streamed.
They used a 4-3-3 the last game.
From the line-ups last game:
To me, the location of the semi-colons are important. They seemed to be playing a 4-5-1 in the first half and a 4-3-3 in the second.1st Half Lineup: Roberts; Bloom, Zavaleta, Williams, Morgan; Endoh, Delgado, Mannella, Osorio, Edwards; Hamilton.
2nd Half Lineup: Bono; Lovitz, Thomas, Taintor, Mannella; Chapman, Uccello, James; Babouli, Hamilton, Madison.
I don't imagine seeing the starters today, especially against another college team. These games are to test out the trialists, draft picks, and TFCII callups. Some of these guys won't be making the trip to Florida. I don't expect to see any starters until they play against the USL side or LAG. The real work integrating the starters with the new tactics and formations in a game environment will happen in the second half of the preseason.
Still, the starters are working to get up to full fitness as well. That's about 80% of what preseason consists of for the strongest 18; getting everybody not named Michael Bradley match fit. They will probably only play 45 minutes though.
This doesn't really line up with the passing data we have on Osorio. He completes more passes than the average player and his passes are more often forward looking than other players with the same passing percentage.
But agreed in general with your point - AM probably not his thing on this team. He's doing well as a LM in a narrow midfield - wouldn't be eager to mess with that.
Nothing you say here contradicts my statement. Osorio rarely if ever looks to play the ball in behind defenders. If you're open, Osorio's gonna play it to your feet. He's very good at that. The metrics that indicate how effective his passing was at putting pressure on opposing defenses aren't very good. He lags significantly behind the league's best play-makers because he's not the type of player to be putting teams under pressure with his movement, but especially his passing. I don't know why People want a 10# who is too conservative to try less than 10 through balls last season. He never, ever shoots either.
Being good at not giving up the ball is not in and of itself a skill that inherently means you are a play maker. A ton of other shit goes into that role, things which Bradley does and Osorio does not. That's not to say Osorio didn't have an excellent season, where he really impressed me at times and has me very excited for his future. It's just not his game to be the main play-maker in any team.
The first need is for a proper DM. If you are right, we have to play DM-BtoB-AM. How do they make that work?
He hasn't been the same since the tackle with Will Johnson - Johnson seemed to recover faster than Bloom.
And I don't buy the conditioning stuff about Nelsen.. Its possible he worked the players too hard, but surely that's a dead horse by now?
I agree with this. Assign someone the DM responsibility to cover for Bradley and let him run the show.
I agree with you about Oso but surely to get the best out of the team we have to build to Bradleys strengths and defend his weakness?
gotta be at least two up front (jozy and Gio) so 4-1-3-2
I don't think Bloom was injured in that tackle. A groin issue in the off-season is what I remember beginning his long layoff.
And the fact that the squad essentially staged a revolt during a playoff run just to signal to Bez how badly Nelsen needed to go is pretty telling. The club has made a point of showing everyone how they aremaking up for how poor our standard of training was during Nelsen. I think it freaked out Bez when he found out he bad it really was.
Big opportunity for Endoh to show if he has what it takes to be a first teamer.
Morgan is an interesting choice.
Gives a good chance to see if Morgan can provide linkup with Giovinco out wide.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/694345004127420416
It's been too long.
Again, this is naked eye vs. stats. I'll take the stats.
Easy actually.
Endoh/Oso/Delgado
Bradley - Johnson
Cheyrou
A double shuttler formation works best to compensate for Cheyrou's lack of speed, and conveniently we have two of the best shuttlers in the league.
Why shouldn't we talk about how piss poor the training and conditioning was under Nelsen if we're discussing the way the team collapsed that year and why certain players' form dipped dramatically?
Giovinco can play the left side of a 4-3-3
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/694359983744417792
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/694361010614857730
Sign him up!
Putting a good foot forward in his effort to earn a first team contract, but do not want to get to too excited with it being a game against a college team.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/694364594068848640
TFC with the victory, yeah, good to see lots of the kids getting their goals.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
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