We should be giving our stars a similar look - JJ bagged 9 as a tired striker, and Insigne/Berna scored similar numbers in far fewer games. Just these 3 players propel us above the 49 we bagged last year (top half of the league, btw), and Osorio pushes us past 60 probably. That puts us at a top 5 offense.
Now if we don't have a bottom 3 defense and the league's worst goalkeeping, that's a playoff team.
i agree, cucho scored 8 goals in his first 8, then 1 goal in his final 8 games. performance levels for insigne and berna were similar imo. their first 8-10 games they were dominant (even though not fully fit first couple), then levels dropped in final games.
this is why im ok with diomande as a striker tho, we should be putting everything into tightening up our defence. if we can do that we can be a top 3 team with the level of offensive output we have (especially with VV addition too).
As long as it's a "tired" drop in performance and not a "Richard Eckersely-no-longer-as-competitive-as-the-premier-league" type drop in performance.
He was well above league standard, because his workrate was still premier league level. By year two, without the advantage of rigid tactical discipline and higher workrates, he was exposed as athletically and technically middling.
(Keep in mind that though he was Man Utd's reserve player of the year 18 months before joining us, he only left them -- they offered him a new deal and expected him to make the first team -- because he thought he was already for PL first team football at Burnley... where he promptly got injured, lost his place and never regained it.)
There are a lot of top European players whom I suspect benefit from a well-rounded game, not just being technically and/or athletically brilliant. I tend to think Insigne and Bernie are both the latter as well, so hopefully there's no decline.
Diomande will be down to heart, probably. If his heart is still in it, he'll do well. I think we're past the point where most strikers are crocked by 33.
Even if he lost a gear speed wise, he's strong and has good feet.
Be nice to see if Jesus Jimenez can work out positioning with the Italians.
I did get the sense they were both trying to do a lot themselves; it wasn't just a lack of connection or different style. JJ didn't see nearly as much of the ball in the box because for the most part they didn't look for him.
JJ is just not great in the air or clearing space for himself around the box IMO. He’s great in transition or slipping a defender to get in behind, however.
I just think teams know what our plan is and unless we’re playing with a lead and they have to attack, plan A is always pack the box to leave no room to operate and then murder us on the counter.
The other piece is we got murdered on the counter because our fullbacks AND Mavinga would be too far up and we would be expecting Salcedo to live on Salcedo Island and defend sometimes 3v1. With Hedges, I think we'll both be more responsible and playing a bit of a lower line so hopefully the counter can be mitigated more effectively, because with our attack, we just need responsible players to be back and mark properly.
To me problem A in this equation is the absence of a capable bulldog in midfield that snuffs out the counter. CB’s were both exposed way too quickly and getting pulled all over the place. I agree with you on the fullbacks being high up but sometimes that’s tactical and where the mids are expected to fill in.
mainly tho we had bad cbs. better defenders will be positioned better and just...better.
mavinga always had an issue with being drawn out of position, and o'neill and macnaughton were always meant to be 3rd/ 4th choice.
reminds me of yesterday when leeds had their new CB signing make his debut and we put in our best defensive performance of the season, a clean sheet, 0.2 xga, 0 shots on target for other team. before that been leaking goals.
sometimes what looks like tactical holes can just be bad players.
I agree the CB quality needs to be better but these guys were frequently left exposed by unbalance midfield play. Any CB who is left trying to do too many things at once will feel disorganized. We let attackers barrel head-on towards the backline too often. That has to stop.
i noticed how high TFC's backline was the first three or four games- it was insanely high- and could easily see the through ball counter over the top- nothing the players could do about it- it took another 5 games to get the line adjusted so it wouldnt be so high- but I had question when I first saw how high the coach had the team back-line pressing.
hopefully TFC is now focused on possession rather then high press.
Llorente can't play on the left and Cooper is too inconsistent. Wober was brilliant. Brentford didn't really get a sniff.
It may be an apt comparison. It's sort of hard to tell. I tend to think our central defenders struggled more than they should because the midfield could be easily bypassed. O'Neill was consistent and well-respected in Seattle. Mavinga declined as well. The midfielders were always high, even when someone was the defacto number 6, and they're all terrible in the air and average on the tackle.
A number 6 instead of three number eights would make me more confident. I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
Yeah, you're missing the point entirely with that comment.
I wasn't comparing his skill to theirs, I was making the point that plenty of top-level players have declined rapidly in the face of playing at a lower level, because their heart isn't in it.
See also Rafael Marquez, who was absolute horseshit at New York but still had several good playing years in Mexico after he left.
He went to the Red Bulls after being a starter at Barcelona. Didn't stop him from losing his interest and he even admitted after he left he didn't like playing in MLS.
Last edited by jloome; 01-23-2023 at 04:10 PM.
I'mma say it!!!
many of our problems were errant passes getting intercepted in the final third by players who would be in position if they had better football IQ and made better passes. I'm looking at YOU, Jayden Nelson! But this problem extended to our inexperienced fullbacks.
https://twitter.com/tombogert/status...25273952010240
huge.
NYCFC bringing in a goalkeeper who has been a solid backup for years.
their GK Luis Barraza player in some games last year and was decent. doubt they'd bring in another GK is SJ was staying.
https://twitter.com/tombogert/status...25273952010240
bogert says he expects him to sign for us.
Anderlecht are paying their current starter, whom they intend to sell, $1.6 million per season.
If they thought he was their best option, they'd offer that sort of money. But the problem there is age and likelihood they'll see him as a stopgap, until they can get a younger, sellable starter.
So if they offered him more than us, it would likely be a one-year-plus-option sort of deal. And that likely wouldn't work for SJ.
So while I don't expect them to offer more than us or entice him, they typically would. He's just not in that 'typical' profile for them of a sellable future asset, so I suspect it's stop-gap.
Bogert works for MLS (freelance, but that's who pays his bills, and everyone at mlssoccer.com) So yeah, he's usually right. He's reporting specifially what he's allowed to report.
Also, do you even read what other people post before you start defending the club? Because I was agreeing he's probably coming here, just that "money" isn't the reason. Anderlecht's wage bill is substantially higher than ours.
He just doesn't fit there except as an emergency signing, which seems unlikely to appeal to a 33-year-old with a family.
I've always said it's purely unacceptable for them not to have the vast majority of signings made before Feb 5 when 2nd camp starts.
I'd like for it to be done earlier but as long as ready by then will be fine.
Big couple weeks ahead
We still have a month until game one. If they announced SJ this week (assuming NYFC's two new keepers make it clear he's turned them down), we'd really be a left back and a second starting centre half from at least competitive. Still need depth and a DM, ideally.
I think we're all nervous as shit after four years of Ali Curtis fallout, like a form of football PTSD.
Curtis is only the latest in a line of TFC management inducers of PTSD - Preki was name checked today & I seem to recall Johnston, Winter & Shortpants are all in this thread somewhere too.
Yeah, one doesn’t have scars from supporting “the worst team in the world” for nothing. And we, in many incompetent ways, were even worse than that: for longer than Kouvermans (bless his direct Dutch soul) knew. But for some time it’s been very different. Even if there have been some major screw ups it’s much better than it once was, and at least the will to do well is there and often leads to something good.
If they don't find the LB they want before the season starts, I wonder if we start with Richie over there and JMR on the other side. I'm thinking in the case of not getting a transfer certificate in time or waiting for a free transfer to be possible.