Ah sorry i forgot to add in the vital part he plays in the lineup
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Lamps playing in a 35-degree game coming off of a calf injury? I don't think PV is that silly minded.
I think he plays Martinez with Bravo next to Pirlo. This gives him maximum flexibility to adjust Bravo back to CB or keep him in CDM depending on how the game plays. And as Dan says ...
I've always preferred the 4-man backline, and think we should go back to it, even at home. We can still use the narrow pitch to our advantage by allowing the fullbacks to play offensive, effectively shifting to a 2-man backline in defense, and it also helps keep our wingers focused on the attack and allows them to cut inside with the fullbacks keeping the width.
In the midfield, start with Mix and Mac on a pulley, and have Bravo available to be a defensive midfielder sub for Mac if we have a lead. (Lampard starting for Mac only if we must.)
The 4-3-3 worked great in the opener against the same team. The only reason I can think of for why we switched out of it is that Vieira is trying to prepare a formation for Lampard's return. I'd rather we play our best formation and dial down Lampard's minutes instead.
And yes, I realize Hernandez is more likely to play than Mena and Saunders is more likely to play than Johansen. But this is a preferred lineup, not projected.
In the midfield, start with Mix and Mac on a pulley, and have Bravo available to be a defensive midfielder sub for Mac if we have a lead. (Lampard starting for Mac only if we must.)
The 4-3-3 worked great in the opener against the same team. The only reason I can think of for why we switched out of it is that Vieira is trying to prepare a formation for Lampard's return. I'd rather we play our best formation and dial down Lampard's minutes instead.
And yes, I realize Hernandez is more likely to play than Mena and Saunders is more likely to play than Johansen. But this is a preferred lineup, not projected.
Bravo is really the guy who makes the W-M work. He can shift back to the back line to make it a full 4-man defense, or move up and be a solid CM. He's one of our better players, and I expect PV will do what it takes to keep him on the pitch.
Could you throw Bravo in as a CB then, like he did towards the end of the last game?
Also: Mata practiced today, in what looked like full participation.
I don't disagree that Bravo is individually a good player and plays his role well, but I think the WM makes our fullbacks worse because they have less freedom, possibly our centerback because errors are magnified when solo, our wingers worse because they need to track back further and can't cut inside as much because nobody else is keeping the width, and therefore Villa worse because he's up top and all alone in the middle.
I think when you strip away the intrigue of playing an exotic formation, you realize it's exotic for a reason. I think it's odd that we are playing two fullbacks in a three-man backline instead of three centerbacks. It's also atypical to only have one striker when your wingers are tracking back so much. Usually it's a 5-3-2 or a 3-5-2.
That's my lineup too.I've always preferred the 4-man backline, and think we should go back to it, even at home. We can still use the narrow pitch to our advantage by allowing the fullbacks to play offensive, effectively shifting to a 2-man backline in defense, and it also helps keep our wingers focused on the attack and allows them to cut inside with the fullbacks keeping the width.
In the midfield, start with Mix and Mac on a pulley, and have Bravo available to be a defensive midfielder sub for Mac if we have a lead. (Lampard starting for Mac only if we must.)
The 4-3-3 worked great in the opener against the same team. The only reason I can think of for why we switched out of it is that Vieira is trying to prepare a formation for Lampard's return. I'd rather we play our best formation and dial down Lampard's minutes instead.
And yes, I realize Hernandez is more likely to play than Mena and Saunders is more likely to play than Johansen. But this is a preferred lineup, not projected.
“He is in the final stage of his recovery. We will see if he can be ready for this game. He’s still not full go but later this week we can talk about his status. He is recovering very well. We will see day by day how he performs and see if he can be ready for this game.”
I'd be shocked if he didn't play after reading that.
Logistically speaking, I'm sure there's at least a half dozen factors that go into schedule making that I'm totally unaware of. With that being said, why would they schedule NYCFC - Chicago for a Sunday nighter? It can't be because of tv ratings, can it?
Our match should have been the early 4:00 PM start and the Houston home game the 7:00 PM start.
Our match should have been the early 4:00 PM start and the Houston home game the 7:00 PM start.
I was thinking and wondering nearly identical thoughts earlier today.* My best guess is this. It is TV, but not necessarily ratings. I bet Unimas, ESPN, and Fox get a maximum number of games with each team. Fox took this game; ESPN is choosing other games. The ESPN games, as best as I can remember, is always the earliest game on Sunday. I don't think they can just switch the times without switching the networks and Fox wanted this game, not ESPN.
* By the way, you're brilliant.
* By the way, you're brilliant.
You may have nailed it. I'm almost positive that's the deal MLB has with ESPN (teams can only be shown X amount of times per season).
I always thought of myself as the Materrita type....oh, wait.
So far, we seem to be coming into this game with good injury news (knock wood). Lampard is probably out, Harrison still needs to sit a minimum of two more games, and Brandt is rehabbing. Other than those three, everyone else looks to be available.
For Chicago, David Accam is questionable - he missed the last two games, but has been training this week. Sean Johnson has been hurt and not available, but Lampson has been starting in goal this year anyway.
With everyone available, my guess is that we stick with the 3-2-2-3 that we've been running at home. It gets Bravo on the pitch to cover for Pirlo. I think we see Shelton on one wing and either Taylor or Mendoza on the other. The back line would be Hey Matarrita!, Hernandez and A.I. Usual suspects everywhere else. Depending on how the game is going, I would look for Poku, Mullins, Lopez, another CB or Ballouchy off the bench.
One question. Do we see Villa out wide left again? Do we start that way? or switch to it?
For Chicago, David Accam is questionable - he missed the last two games, but has been training this week. Sean Johnson has been hurt and not available, but Lampson has been starting in goal this year anyway.
With everyone available, my guess is that we stick with the 3-2-2-3 that we've been running at home. It gets Bravo on the pitch to cover for Pirlo. I think we see Shelton on one wing and either Taylor or Mendoza on the other. The back line would be Hey Matarrita!, Hernandez and A.I. Usual suspects everywhere else. Depending on how the game is going, I would look for Poku, Mullins, Lopez, another CB or Ballouchy off the bench.
One question. Do we see Villa out wide left again? Do we start that way? or switch to it?
Hot take: I don't like Mendoza. Sure he may be better than Shelton right now, but I don't think he will be a top player for us.
He needs to be willing to pass the ball and play touch and go instead of trying to take on all comers. For any fans of the Premier League, he reminds me of Andros Townsend, fast but not a good finisher.
I may be wrong, given that he scored the most goals in the ISL last year but I also don't know the quality of those goals or the defending in that league so I'm sticking to it. In short, he's a one trick pony and defenses will wise up to it soon enough.
Then we'll need to play him on the left so he can cut in onto his stronger foot and proceed to blow it over the bar. This Spurs fan was more than happy to see the back of Andros...
If he gets crosses in, instead of trying for crazy shots, he can be very useful to Villa, picking up lots of assists like Pedro did at Barcelona. If he doesn't learn to do that then guard your chicken buckets because those shots will go everywhere.
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