Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Total_TFC/status/1560239987328786433
Michele: Bro!
Mimmo: Bro!
Michele: Com'onnn you!
Mimmo: Nah, you!
Michele: Bro!... grazie a Dio... your here!
Mimmo: Bro!... I got you... tutto bene!
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Total_TFC/status/1560239987328786433
Michele: Bro!
Mimmo: Bro!
Michele: Com'onnn you!
Mimmo: Nah, you!
Michele: Bro!... grazie a Dio... your here!
Mimmo: Bro!... I got you... tutto bene!
Last edited by Mr. Inbetween; 08-18-2022 at 10:14 PM. Reason: Grammar
Even though it's not what los sonadores was getting at, I will say no, he wouldn't fit in as a #9 because he would instictively do exactly what JJ is doing wrong; dropping too deep and not being in the typical target #9 zone when the ball is coming in from both flanks. Poz needs the ball to go through the middle and if that's what we were going to do then we just wasted $25M on wide players.
Poz would be dropping back to the wings to pickup the ball - what Insigne & Bernadeschi do already.
At best, we would have keep Poz here for six months and after that he would have skipped town. Questionable how motivated he might have stayed under the circumstances.
It’s square-peg, round role type of stuff here.
You've hit on something very important. I've realized from my own past coaching experience that there are two types of highly talented players:
(1) "Left brained" talented players who think very logically but are super fast at that logic. They take direction well, analyze the game well, and can be played in different formations and strategies. They can even do decently playing a different position if they know the plays well enough. Osorio is a good example of this kind of player for TFC.
(2) "Right brained" talented instinctual players. These players don't do logic, instead they've developed a highly-honed "feel" for the game. They just know where to be at the right time to make plays happen. They are much less flexible, however, as they can't use logic well to over-ride their instincts, even though they might try.
Pozuelo is the second type of player. Very talented, but you build the system and the team around him if you want him. There's no way he bends into a false 9 to fit BB's system. That's where his frustration came from; he liked Toronto and wanted to play with talented players like Insigne but couldn't make himself fit the system. So this is why we are getting mixed messages of him both wanting to be here and be somewhere else.
MB by the way is a hybrid of these two types, which makes him a unique and interesting player that would be fun to work with.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 08-19-2022 at 10:26 AM.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
We still have this issue with Jesus. He's an inverted winger (outside forward for those of us over 50), not a number nine, which is why he drifts high and wide and is out of position to make runs.
But his interplay makes it worth seeing if he can adapt and stay central.
Ayo's also a converted winger.
I will give it to Ayo that he learned where to be as a 9 but he just doesn't look physically up to it yet. I agree with Jiminez. I think if he simplified his game and forced himself to stick to a zone or play off the shoulder of the last defender he would be doing himself a favor. At least until he gets in sync with what's happening now.
And what is it with Jozy and now Ayo as bigger, stronger type central forwards that can never win aerial battles?
I think all the above Pozuelo posts/observations are correct. In short, positionally speaking, he’s not at his best either as a 9 or a winger and Bradley doesn’t use a 10… so it’s no surprise he’s no longer here.
Ayo’s an interesting one in the sense that he was an effective winger for the US young Nats and Vanney converted him under the guidance of Jozy. He’s often, to me, not looked entirely comfortable in that role, still regularly has trouble holding up the ball, for example.
Let me clarify a couple things. I'm not talking about Poz long term fitting in, but rather short term for the second half of season and playoff push. Also too much focus is being put on him as a false 9 (which is plan B) and not in the midfield.
Since Pozuelo left we have had 9 games.
Nelson started 7 and Kaye 2.
Without comparing Kaye and Poz and people's preferences. Knowing Kaye was riding an injury when being signed. That's 7 games Poz could have and would have contributed more to results than Nelson. Not hating on Nelson at this moment to be clear.
This is a playoff push that didn't need to be so extremely difficult is my point.
Just a reminder that Poz leaving opened the door to Bernardeschi.....Salcedo told the team he needed to leave after Poz was all but gone. Not saying Bernardeschi wouldn't have signed without Poz going but it wouldn't have been so quick or the timing as good as it seems to have been.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
We got the ability to move towards Berenardeschi quicker.
Player acquirement is not linear a la Football Manager.
As in all talent recruitment for all organizations, there were a lot of 3 dimensional movements going on - I wouldn't call this chess as the pieces do not have movement restrictions that much & chess implies strategic rigour which life does not have to endure.
(I am a firm believer in the application of chaos theory to organizational structures -complex systems theory attempts to make this into a science but I prefer to just enjoy the chaos)
It should be noted that BB was asked the game before Poz left what was going on with Poz & BB went into a 5 minute discussion of how much they tried to get Poz to fit.
The idea that BB gave up on Poz is ludicrous. Like all things, there is a bit of grey involved in this. Poz does not fit BB's system - nor does it fit life with Insigne - he especially wouldn't fit life with Insigne, Bernadeschi & Domenic Crisicto doing his best impression of a playmaker who just happens to play LB (Criscito often ends games with the most passes on the team).