But VV plays more deep where as Pozuelo’s sweet pot is either in the pocket behind the striker or drifting over or where Pozuelo operates. To me this doesn’t look like the most natural tandem but maybe that changes over time.Originally Posted by Auzzy
Sorry. But at least we got attention to Endoh...My wife doesn't get my sarcasm either.
I hope they can work it out - they are both fabulous and we are lucky to have them. But adding Soteldo when we need a starting quality CB and a MLS quality backup striker is a bit like Tottenham adding Jamie Vardy - they already have a worldie striker and thats not what they need to win.
Change oso for endoh
Lawrence for morrow
Richie for auro
The real pozuelo for the imposter tonight
Jozy for Dwyer
This team is really good
Or have brought in someone of the caliber of Zimmerman and someone like Cavallini (sorry but he’s not Jozy level) instead of Soteldo. He is fantastic but diminishes Pozeulo. And it would have been about the same money.
Normally, bad play after half time I blame the coach. But the incredible shambles off a simple long ball isn’t Perez, it’s Omar, Mavinga and Bono.
Also Oso is a replacement for Bradley and Poz. He will replace Endoh but in a well designed team not sure you’d have Bradley Delgado Oso Priso Poz Soteldo who are all midfielders and thrive on possession. At least five of them should be on the field at once. How do you accommodate that and protect Omar?
So the reason Poz was garbage tonight was because Soltedlo was fantastic??
Poz doesn’t look fit and there are valid reasons for that. But they cannot both have the ball all the time. So in a way, yes. If you say “didn’t see much of Poz but lots of Jefe,” it’s because their roles are so similar and Poz cannot be effective when Jefe is on his game.
Omar really can't start anymore. He's done.
Need for Singh and Mavinga to start building their partnership.
My point is that the team is badly constructed. It was also badly coached, but now that there appears to be competence in coaching (the jury is out of course about whether it is more than that) we can look at the roster. Basically, you don’t absolutely need Poz and Soteldo and you also don’t absolutely need Bradley Oso and Poz. But you do absolutely need a number one CB and arguably a backup striker.
in next 1/2 years the players on way out:
bradley
altidore
gonzalez
morrow
mullins
westberg
players that should be:
dwyer
gallardo
bono
there is and will be a huge rebuilding job to be done, and we need a GM who is proven to be competent to do it.
huge worries ahead if ali curtis is the one tasked with rebuilding this squad.
Last edited by leedsandTFC; 07-21-2021 at 10:31 PM.
I've seen Vazquez play pretty high for the Galaxy. In highlights, I also saw Poz play pretty deep in Belgium. (Not all the time, but at least sometimes.) With TFC, think of one of them as a 2nd striker, the other as the attacking midfielder, and they can switch off. Makes it harder for the opposing team to mark one of them out of the game (and/or it creates more space for Jozy).
One change that needs to happen is that Pozuelo needs to dribble less, especially when he's not 100% fit. Poz is an excellent passer and should stick to that most of the time. Before Soteldo, Poz sometimes didn't see an option and felt he needed to do it all -- dribble and pass. But against a high-pressure team like NYRB, it doesn't work, they would often pressure Poz with 3 guys and strip the ball from him more than half of the time in that case.
We were far too dependent on Pozuelo last year. We needed another creative player. Osorio is quite good, but can't really take on players or dribble well enough. And Pozuelo's dribbling is rarely needed with Soteldo here.
For stretches tonight, players were interacting well (not just Poz & Soteldo), supporting each other, getting open, and moving the ball quickly and well. That's how you can attack a pressing team like NYRB: get them chasing shadows. But at other times, players were ball watching on offence, not getting in position to allow a pass, and leaving people like Poz, Endoh or Delgado alone on an island.
Our issue is we have too much deadweight on the team. Getting Soteldo shouldn't prevent us from getting a decent backup striker or another good CB. We wasted the one transaction on Dwyer; there are better strikers than him available around the world for a decent price. It's also been clear for at least 1 1/2 years that we need another good CB; they could have gotten something done by now.
As others have mentioned, getting Osorio, Lawrence, and Richie back would really help. One issue I still see, with Poz and Soteldo we need a more mobile player in Bradley's position really soon. Maybe Osorio and Delgado together? I think they did well last year when Bradley was out.
Last edited by Auzzy; 07-21-2021 at 10:32 PM.
Soteldo looks incredible. We know what Poz can do. But the team didn’t absolutely need Soteldo the way it absolutely needs a CB and back up striker (BWP for example). We have too many midfielders with similar skills. One of Oso Poz MB or Marky needs to go is the reality, Even though I want them all to stay.
We are really missing the El Salvador legend Zavs right now
i was worried that mullinho didnt come in the 90th to save us from a loss.got to love those ties.other than yefe tfc were garbage tonight that 1st half was embarrassing
If ever there was a question of who the heartbeat of the team is, it was pretty clear tonight. The intro of Jozy changed the entire complexion of the game. The crowd was lifted, the team’s energy was lifted, and the opposition noticeably had something to worry about (which was a big factor in Priso being all alone for the goal) after bossing Dwyer around for an hour. Jozy is on the wrong side of 30 and often injured, but showed for the second game in a row his worth.
Basically, I think they need to trade Poz for a number one defender and a back up striker, or equivalent value. Maybe to Norwich or somewhere like that so we can applaud his effort and not play against him. The other choices are to move Oso or Marky. But that still leaves the team unbalanced with two players who need the ball all the time to thrive.
Yup. And the management of this team chose to ostracize him, when some other form of discipline would have sufficed. Like a fine. Or a one game suspension.
“Houston, we have a problem”
no we dont...we jus need better defenders,clear the old boys out our cb combo are the highest paid in the league
gonzo over paid
mavinga luv him over paid
bradley luv him a legend over paid
oso over paid
delgado over paid
and yes jozy luv him/legend over paid
After last year, we absolutely needed Soteldo. We can't expect Pozuelo to run the show 90 minutes of every game. Every single player you mentioned was totally overplayed & worn out last year, and occasionally injured as a result (and barely functional at some other times): Osorio, Pozuelo, Bradley, and Delgado. A major reason we collapsed in the playoffs; and frankly many games before that were tight, with lots of luck. And none of them have Soteldo's dribbling skill; we needed somebody who can take on players to make the team more dynamic.
We got Dwyer, so obviously getting Soteldo didn't prevent us from getting a backup striker. Curtis & Co. just got the wrong one. Looking around MLS, there are very decent backup strikers available for not too much money. I just don't know if Curtis can find them; Soteldo doesn't change that. And at the moment we already have one DP striker; getting a 2nd DP striker doesn't make sense right now. (They can do that when Jozy's contract is up.) Plus both Pozuelo and Soteldo can effectively play as backup or secondary strikers.
Getting a DP CB is also rare, and not really necessary.
On your list, Bradley is obviously the odd man out. He should not be playing 90 minutes of every game anymore, especially when all the others are available. I just don't know if any coach (and especially an unofficial interim like Perez) has the cojones to not play Bradley all the time. All these midfield positions are high wear & tear. Soteldo, Pozuelo, Osorio and Delgado should be playing; Bradley should be the first sub for those, or if one of the above is injured or needs a break for a game. (Long term, Bradley is too expensive as a backup.)
Looking at the salary list, we have far too much money tied up in guys like Bono, Gallardo, Gonzalez, Westberg and even DeLeon. (Westberg not on his own; but considering we also have Bono, they have far too much salary tied up in the GK position.) One or more of the above should have been bought out last offseason (if they were all still under contract; I can't remember). That would have freed up salary cap for a CB. Who knows, maybe they have somebody up their sleeve to sign as a CB in the summer windows (but I wouldn't hold my breath.) And maybe one of the above is traded during the window.
EDIT and concerning your later note: I thought that Osorio and Delgado did great as a tandem last year when Bradley was out.
Last edited by Auzzy; 07-22-2021 at 12:15 AM.
Soteldo is fantastic and I am looking forward to seeing him grow as a Red. But if you wanted to improve last years team you start by adding quality at CB and shedding midfield. Not by adding someone who makes our best player (Poz) far less influential. I don’t even think that’s debatable so it makes me really wonder what was going On with TFC management.
Also, we don’t need our (debatable) soccer skills to tell us this. How do other teams score on us? They simply kick it to or over our defence. Look at today’s goal. Shambolic is generous. Ridiculous and unprofessional are closer to the mark.
Sorry you're not making any sense. I was thinking of spilling more ink on explaining but it's not worth it.
Uh, no.
There were games when Soteldo was the only DP & we looked like crud.
That and a heck of a lot of our goals are created through Poz passes.
Poz isn't going anywhere.
There has been all this commentary about Soteldo being a “hothead” but almost nothing said about the effing travesty that caused it. This is a guy who has seen every kind of conmebol dark art.
The faked head injuries are new and are wrecking the game. It is worse here than in South America, based on Yefe's reaction, and based on watching Copa, it's mostly because the refs down there apply discretion in rules like this, whatever the book says.
Twice late this caused serious scoring chances to be stolen from TFC. Both times Soteldo was in the clear in space.
It is the most unsportsmanlike thing I have seen in 30 years of watching football. This is going to explode into the game, and you will see on field fistfights soon. Soteldo's yellow is nothing compared to the fury that is coming somewhere.
As teams are doing this, the ref has to generally allow the team to finish the move there. It cannot be an automatic whistle, and the context matters. Road teams or underdogs under pressure protecting results should not get the benefit of the doubt.
(Plus ffs get the time wasting right Petrescu. Blowing the whistle with TFC in possession in the final third with at least two minutes wasted during extra time and not added was absolutely brutal in the context of what just happened. I hope Manning went nuts with the league office postgame over that)
This will make me not watch, I swear, if they don’t fix it.
Last edited by ensco; 07-22-2021 at 07:10 AM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
And there were matches this year before Soteldo played that we looked terrible with just Poz. Trading a great player for a CB when money will be freed up this offseason is the kind of things we did pre-2015. Knee jerk reactions and Poz for any MLS CB is overkill considering what we paid for transfer. It's ridiculous.
You want a solid MLS level CB; find a buyer for Bono & DeLeon. You could pick up a very good one for that money and that's basically money being wasted now.
Define solid MLS level CB, because I suspect the kind of CB we want is either going to Europe, in Europe, or require us to give up playing from the back.
Maybe we should take this to the roster thread but I don’t think you trade anyone just yet. That said, I’d share the opinion Solteldo + Poz looks like 1 + 1= 1.5 at the moment. Both want a lot of the ball and to be looked at as the dominant force within the offensive system.
This is not a VV Giovinco situation as some have referenced. VV required very little of the ball vs. Giovinco who needed it a lot. VV played more in the pockets or popped up in places around midfield while Giovinco very much preferred to play centrally and attack the goal. This is nothing like the dynamic we have here today.
And otherwise, roster needs work. Our CB situation is basically back to 2016. Gonzalez does not cut it and Mavinga looks like he needs someone to forcefully tell him what to do in order to avoid bone-head mistakes. On the striker front, I have very little confidence this feel-good story with Altidore continues. Anti Vaxer should have been moved by now.
Armas' system would have injured Jozy, maybe it was a blessing, hurried the firing and Jozy remained healthy (touch wood). I really wish we could have had journalists at his training sessions.
Jozy can manhandle defenders, and he cannot be left alone, too dangerous.
I agree that we were too left side centric, which is why I was saying put Shaff on as a distraction and just run down the right side, drawing defenders out (LOL). Having Jozy reduces the ability to overload on Sotledo and Poz. Defence still messy and we need to string some victories but after the shambolic first half, the game got fun.
100% agree. MLS refs are killing this league as a viewing spectacle. There was much in that game last night to hate (Well it was RBNY after all - horrible team and tactics) but the part that I hated most was Petrescu. Sadly, this is his normal level, he isn't fit to ref a Sunday league game, let alone a pro league.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote