The Michael Bradley thread

[notthesun]

The longer Bradley plays DM, the less I like him there. He's still a good player but he tries to force too much from too deep a position. he hasn't accepted that it's just an anchor role.

Having said that, it's too limiting for him anyway. he shouldn't be at the tip or the anchor, he should be one of the two two-way mids. Just because it isn't where he's traditionally been doesn't mean it doesn't play into his skillset; he passes well, most of the time, he tackles well, most of the time, he dribbles out of trouble, most of the time; he's not a specialist, he's just a really good all-rounder.

Yeah, I've been increasingly thinking something like this over the past few weeks.

He's kind of too expensive to be playing DM. Not really because of the money itself, but because given the money we're spending on him, we should be trying to maximize his value. I think he's been a pretty good DM this year, but at the end of the day we're still paying a guy 6.5 million dollars to make tackles and play long balls.

Bradley has too many good offensive qualities to be nailed at DM. I've been saving the highlights of every TFC game to my hard drive for a long time now for easy access, and I was going through some from last year, and I was a bit surprised to see how much Bradley was involved in the games we won. I think a lot of people have forgotten how dynamic he can be in a box-to-box role. He killed us many times last year because he'd get caught up the field when we had no actual DM to cover, and our back line was garbage. But he was often really, really good at linking up in our build-up play, making driving runs, and delivering killer passes. For example:

His goal vs. New England
This game vs. Montreal where he was involved in every single chance we created
1st and 3rd goal vs. Orlando
Both goals in the 2-1 win vs. Montreal

I could go on. He was our 2nd most dangerous player last year in terms of xG+xA. Those numbers have tanked for him this year, no surprise given his new role. It's too much of a waste of his ability. With our back line now, and when playing an anchored DM, we could use him as a box-to-box player without constantly worrying about getting caught on the counter.

As far as who plays DM then, I'd be a little wary of playing Cheyrou there against counter-attack heavy teams. But with him likely leaving/retiring after this season, I don't see why Johnson couldn't play there. He has the work rate and defensive ability to be really effective. Sure, we'd lose a little passing range and he wouldn't be able to contribute offensively, but given the choice I'd rather have Bradley further forward than Johnson.

[MightyDM]

Yeah, I've been increasingly thinking something like this over the past few weeks.

He's kind of too expensive to be playing DM. Not really because of the money itself, but because given the money we're spending on him, we should be trying to maximize his value. I think he's been a pretty good DM this year, but at the end of the day we're still paying a guy 6.5 million dollars to make tackles and play long balls.

Bradley has too many good offensive qualities to be nailed at DM. I've been saving the highlights of every TFC game to my hard drive for a long time now for easy access, and I was going through some from last year, and I was a bit surprised to see how much Bradley was involved in the games we won. I think a lot of people have forgotten how dynamic he can be in a box-to-box role. He killed us many times last year because he'd get caught up the field when we had no actual DM to cover, and our back line was garbage. But he was often really, really good at linking up in our build-up play, making driving runs, and delivering killer passes. For example:

His goal vs. New England
This game vs. Montreal where he was involved in every single chance we created
1st and 3rd goal vs. Orlando
Both goals in the 2-1 win vs. Montreal

I could go on. He was our 2nd most dangerous player last year in terms of xG+xA. Those numbers have tanked for him this year, no surprise given his new role. It's too much of a waste of his ability. With our back line now, and when playing an anchored DM, we could use him as a box-to-box player without constantly worrying about getting caught on the counter.

As far as who plays DM then, I'd be a little wary of playing Cheyrou there against counter-attack heavy teams. But with him likely leaving/retiring after this season, I don't see why Johnson couldn't play there. He has the work rate and defensive ability to be really effective. Sure, we'd lose a little passing range and he wouldn't be able to contribute offensively, but given the choice I'd rather have Bradley further forward than Johnson.

those highlights are excellent. Its a shame that the diamond prevents Bradley from contributing more. Maybe a change of formation?

also interesting to see Giovinco's and Altidores touch in those videos - much better than against montreal on sunday. Rust? Rain? And Osorio looked very good in a lot of those highlights too.

[C.Ronaldo]

Yeah, I've been increasingly thinking something like this over the past few weeks.

He's kind of too expensive to be playing DM. Not really because of the money itself, but because given the money we're spending on him, we should be trying to maximize his value. I think he's been a pretty good DM this year, but at the end of the day we're still paying a guy 6.5 million dollars to make tackles and play long balls.

Bradley has too many good offensive qualities to be nailed at DM. I've been saving the highlights of every TFC game to my hard drive for a long time now for easy access, and I was going through some from last year, and I was a bit surprised to see how much Bradley was involved in the games we won. I think a lot of people have forgotten how dynamic he can be in a box-to-box role. He killed us many times last year because he'd get caught up the field when we had no actual DM to cover, and our back line was garbage. But he was often really, really good at linking up in our build-up play, making driving runs, and delivering killer passes. For example:

His goal vs. New England
This game vs. Montreal where he was involved in every single chance we created
1st and 3rd goal vs. Orlando
Both goals in the 2-1 win vs. Montreal

I could go on. He was our 2nd most dangerous player last year in terms of xG+xA. Those numbers have tanked for him this year, no surprise given his new role. It's too much of a waste of his ability. With our back line now, and when playing an anchored DM, we could use him as a box-to-box player without constantly worrying about getting caught on the counter.

As far as who plays DM then, I'd be a little wary of playing Cheyrou there against counter-attack heavy teams. But with him likely leaving/retiring after this season, I don't see why Johnson couldn't play there. He has the work rate and defensive ability to be really effective. Sure, we'd lose a little passing range and he wouldn't be able to contribute offensively, but given the choice I'd rather have Bradley further forward than Johnson.

get rid of johnson and get another cheyrou when he retires. a version of cheyrou is exactly what we need, but healthy and a few years younger