i know the value of oso.but do we want to give a max tam to a 30 yr old who misses 10 games a year,and now has a head injury to boot
Ha! No, me after just about every game last year. They've played arrogantly since the Seba days, basically.
AS good as he's been for LA this year, Mark Delgado was repeatedly guilty of this shit last year, little one-touch dink passes without enough steam, no looks that aren't accurate, that kind of shit.
We are so careless in possession sometimes, and it just screams of arrogance, like Mavinga trying to laterally ping that ball to Shaffelburg and just skying it over him.
McNaughton in the game before he was pulled (Montreal?), holding the ball up and searching for second options, then trying to juke two pressing attackers. He did that several times later in the year.
I understand the need for confidence, but having a fucking cup of coffee in a league before you pull that shit.
The kids, in particular, gave up possession with ARROGANT passing, poor trapping and first touches. When I say arrogant passing, it was so common to see them one-touch misplayed passes that it was like watching someone my age play FIFA.
Jayden has HUUUUGE potential as a two-way midfielder, that's now obvious. Frankly, with his speed, ball control and closing ... I'd turn him into a defensive specialist first, then move him to two-way. He's not going to lose the skills and his defense is already okay but he offers nothing going forward and could use the adjustment time to pressure the ball very quickly when it hits our half.
But... he's fucking ARROGANT. He misplays simple passes constantly by trying to one-touch or dink them, he traps long balls in forcefully with the sole of his boot, a complete fucking no no as a "fundamental" of a first touch. His first step and acceleration are great, but he doesn't take the first obvious option, which given that his teammates are ALSO professionals is fucking stupid, as they're usually open.
He plays like he's playing FIFA in real life. The two-way responsibility made that harder and harder for him to do. Make him a DM for a while; he can improve his defending and learn to read the game properly. The further he is from the offensive zone right now, generally, the better.
I'd say Noble and Ayo both fall into this camp as well.
Thompson and Kerr both are occasionally overrun by speed and decisions, but both also show genuine flashes of responsible, sensible play AND creativity. I'd say the same is generally true of JMR. But the former three really need to shape the fuck up.
Our entire defense, at one point or another, played like it thought we were cup finalists. Chung, in his last major start for us, got caught high and beaten multiple times, apparently thinking lithe Brazilian wingers are lead-footed or something. O'Neill repeatedly made dangerous cross-box exit passes; they didn't generally hurt us but only because he got defensive help quickly.
Poz was a menace for the first third of the season... at both ends. He was our only danger man aside from Oso and Jimenez but in our end, his passing and tackling truly proved he's a number 10.
Even the Italians, with their ongoing effort to score Olimpicos off corners, sort of hit the "arrogant" trigger a few times.
The only guys who didn't were Oso, Michael (I mean, slow and occasionally surly I'll accept, but his workrate was insane), although he might qualify as arrogant just for thinking he can still play defense at 35, Jimenez and Bono. He just played arrogantly, even if he was humble about it. "I'm a professional fucking keeper with six years of experience but I think I'll just take my eye off a hard shot before I catch it." Jesus fucking Christ.
I think the "arrogance" convo has triggered me. I probably need to go have a cup of tea.
Last edited by jloome; 10-12-2022 at 11:57 AM.
Oso says he won't make any decisions until after the world cup and confirms it was post-concussion syndrome.
https://www.tsn.ca/jonathan-osorio-r...rome-1.1861367
I agree with pushing MB further up the field next season and removing his defensive responsibilities.
He is still one of our best passers in the final 3rd and statistically one of the best passers in the league. It's too much now for him to defend and be a box to box CM though.
Obviously they still need some reinforcements in midfield so someone can actually sub on for him or vice versa.
Last edited by SenorDingDong; 10-12-2022 at 12:33 PM.
I have to go against the grain here. I think he's a really, really poor offensive and creative passer and the stats on offensive output over a long sample with us (Goals, assists, key passes) back that up.
I think he's at his best, passing wise, opening space off the ball to receive it (he touches the ball more than anyone on the pitch by far, he's maybe the best player the league has ever seen at this) and when he limits himself to short, easy passes to our creative players to keep the moves going. I think his game falls to pieces when he tries to get creative and that's him at his absolute worst - trying to be something he's not
Yeah, Michael Bradley cant weight a through ball to save his life. Hes been slamming them over the end line for years to the point that I question as to whether he should even try. Anything in the final third besides a sideways pass.
I think we need to go out and find someone with a big engine that can cover the defensive part of the game. Bradley plays box-to-box (preferably off the bench) along with Kaye.
Agreed. And at least he isn't on set pieces anymore with the Italians here now. Hated seeing him waltz over to take corners and free kicks when he simply doesn't have the technical ability for it.
He really is poor offensively. He can't create and his lack of goals and assists over the years show it. And he isn't dictating tempo ala Toni Kroos or Luka Modric at Madrid or Kova at Chelsea. And it no way can he be now considered an attacking midfielder, ala Oso or Poz...he simply doesn't have the legs or technical ability.
He needs to be a sub next year, come on late to help close out games...scenarios like when we were up 2-1 late vs San Jose and inexplicably BB put on Acharra and Shaff to try and close out the game...and then we gave up the tieing goal.
coach Bob Bradley said he will talk with Domenico Criscito during the next few weeks as to whether hes committed to coming back
Dont like this quote from Buffery. WTF is going on?
Sounds like Criscito isn’t a fan to me
I want the over under on Bob getting fired next season. I think it’ll take less than 7 games.
Manning says the club is urgent but they’re still feebly inept and everyone is (finally) catching on. Manning will also be gone at the end of next season, probably a quiet ushering out the door as the season goes up on flames in July.
I like Criscito, he is really close with Insigne. That said, its not like he's a foundational piece here for the next few years, he was always here for the short term.
It's possible MLS's intensity is just taking a toll on his body. We shall see, would love to have him for next year. He is currently at Disney World with his kids as per his Instagram.
If hes not committed no point keeping him. I'm sure we could find other defenders from SerieA.
As long as Berna and Insigne are committed that's what counts.
Last edited by SenorDingDong; 10-12-2022 at 01:27 PM.
If Criscito were to be out, the offseason shopping list starts to get really long. Like, if we thought the Summer window was crazy/unprecedented, this window needs to completely eclipse that to field a contending team.
Easily:
2 GK
3 CB 2 Starters 1 Depth
2 LB Starter + depth
1 RB for depth
2-3 MF depending who stays/goes
1 ST...2 if you can move Jimenez
This is no simple task, and I have little confidence they make this all happen.
I'll hold off on judgement on some of these quotes until we get the videos or full quotes from articles. Kloke already deleted his tweet about MB returning for next year because it wasn't clear and reflective of what was said.
No jiminez, Bono, mavinga or westberg today
I wonder what will happen with Ayo. We are using (maybe wasting) a valuable roster spot on a player who scored twice this year and looked generally pretty bad.
https://twitter.com/benwright/status...QnFNRnDfw&s=19
Shaff confirmed leaving permanently in a surprise to nobody. I don't think he's incredible, but I do think cheap, home grown depth is a key to having a good squad in MLS
Bradley is under regular contract not a potential option . He wasn't on the MLSPA list of potential FA's who are out of contract or have options
https://mlsplayers.org/news/2023-free-agent-list-release
Per Eric Giocometti, video from today will be on toronto fc .com soonish.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/benwright/status/1580241443255640064
"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