Originally Posted by
OgtheDim
In 2015, Sebastian Giovinco arrived, along with Jozy Altidore & those 2, along with Bradley, changed the mindset of this team. We were not going to settle. We were going to win.
The key to that team winning was getting the ball into the creative players & watching them do their magic - Bradley moving the ball around the back, Seba taking it on & Jozy finishing when Seba didn't. And a LOT of that creative work & heavy lifting & shooting was done by Seba
2015 Seba 22 goals 15 assists
2016 17 goals 14 assists
2017 16 goals 6 assists
2018 13 goals 8 assists
At one point, they brought in Vasquez & he was able to provide that technical ability.
And when you've got Seba & Victor & Jozy, you just give them the ball. Heck, Seba demanded it. And so this team got used to just that. When you have the ball out wide, look for Seba or Jozy. When you have the ball near the box, look for Seba or Jozy. When you have the ball ANYWHERE, look for Victor or Seba or Jozy. And God help the player that did not feed Seba.
The only guy that seemed willing to break into this triumverate of "give them the ball" was Osorio. The rest of them never gave themselves the chance, never were given the chance & never did take the opportunities to take a shot, to make that run, to receive that pass if they did a run. Only Osorio showed a willingness to do those things. We saw games where NOBODY ran, nobody tried a shot, nobody tried a pass because Seba & VV wasn't there. Sure, guys didn't trust people not named Seba, Victor, Jozy or Osorio to get a pass but that didn't matter because those 4 were around & they would figure out a way.
And then we come to preseason 2019.
I still maintain that the brain trust thought through November & December while doing their planning that the team were going to keep both Seba & Victor. So, you go into spring training thinking, "Hey, we don't need to work on shooting or creating chances or taking risks or playing the ball to runners other then the creatives because...they are going to be there."
And then
BOOM
Victor is injured & has an opportunity so he's gone
then a couple of weeks later near the end of training camp for the CCL
BOOM BOOM
Seba wants to talk, his demands are too high for the team, he has an offer & he goes.
Suddenly this team has lost 2 guys that ALL of them, from the President on down, thought were going to be around to carry that load of being that creative on the pitch.
QUICK
Sign Jozy
QUICK
Get another creative in
But wait....Jozy needs service.
And Pozuelo needs somebody to make some runs.
So a team that for years had no width, had no speed, had guile only in a few & used the brute strength of Jozy & the artistry of VV & Seba with the occasional addition of Osorio....now that team had to find a way to attack. Unfortunately, we had the false dawn of the NYC game where everybody thought Pozuelo was going to murder this league all season on his own - turns out that was just NYC giving him space - something nobody has done since. But, that false dawn allowed the rest of the team not named Osorio to say "oh, he's the new Seba - just feed Poz". Now thankfully there is one guy out there not doing this but as much as I like DeLeon, he can only do so much. So we end up with a "feed the Poz" machine couple with a "lets get it up there & just stop" approach.
This
THIS is on the coach
You simply can NOT let a team do this. Now, Vanney has said time & time again "We are not moving the ball quick enough. Not making the runs. Not making the passes." At some point though, its HIS responsibility to yell at them enough to get it through their noggins that they all have to try to play with pace, to make the passes, to try. I get it, the preseason time to make this adjustment didn't happen.
BUT, its time that somebody told them that they HAVE TO BEGIN TO TRUST PEOPLE NOT NAMED JOZY OR OSORIO OR POZUELO WITH GETTING A PASS. (the funny thing is Pozuelo trusts others and when players decide to make those runs, he gives them the ball - just not enough of them making those runs)
Vanney has to get a consistant attacking system in place for this team. He didn't have to do one before but he has to now.
And as much as people, including me, say we are not good enough due to our defence, and its true - our defence is slow, reactive, does not think as defenders & the rest of the team not named Bradley seems to have given up on trying to defend - the biggest issue with the coach is not the defence - its the lack of a systemic approach to attack that actually tries something when the ball is not in the hands of the few technical players.
Sure, a wide attacking player might help in this regard. But its still not get Bradley & Fraser & Chapman & Delgado to try a ball into a forward or to take a shot from distance.
If Vanney is going to stay next season (and that only happens if we somehow manage to make the playoffs), he HAS to fix this. He should fix it now, but I think the players have too many excuses in their heads about outside things to not see what is going on on the pitch.
Edit:
And you know what, we actually DID that versus SKC. And versus San Jose. So its not like this team can't do it. It just need to get it through their thick skulls that they can do that ALL GAME LONG & in every game.