Parks smile power is charging but will need more juice before it can effect games. Our band of death stare gangsters are ready to rumble though.
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MLS - March 4 - Chicago (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
I love Keaton Parks.Parks smile power is charging but will need more juice before it can effect games. Our band of death stare gangers are ready to rumble though.
I think you're right about Haak, the issue is primarily his positioning. I think he's gotten better in terms of winning and holding the ball, fighting off opponent, seeing and making the pass. But I saw it several times during the game, he was not where he needed to be and we either lost possession or allowed opponent to progress the ball into dangerous spots.
I've noticed he also has a tendency to clog up space when a teammate is under pressure. Instead of providing an outlet he runs over to help out. Admirable instinct, but then he gets too close and brings in another defender and jams things up.
I called it a lateral move back when it happened. I knew it was a horrible move at a horrible time for his (albeit faint) World Cup hopes.
I knew he wanted to go to Europe, and the club has made it a point to try to accommodate players, so I may not have criticized the club all that much over the loan. I'm sure it wasn't their first choice, but it was better than other offers and better than holding onto an unhappy player.
I'm not trying to use hindsight to judge anything about the loan, I was simply responding to mgarbowski who recalled that this forum was generally happy about the loan. My point is that I, and I'm also vaguely remembering others, were not thrilled with the loan.
Cushing also has games to win. Right now we’ve taken 1 point from 6. He can’t afford to let Talles try and figure it out over 20-25 games.
And the evidence is showing Talles really has no interest in being the 9 as part of a rigid formation. We’re not Man City of last year with a fluid front three. Nick plays with wingers and midfielders and a 9. Talles drifting to the left every time down the field takes the space of your LW.
doyle seems to agree with my, and others', take on talles...
As one who was OK with the experiment, I think it's pretty clear from the last two matches that it's not really working.
Still I think it's probably worth one shot with a first-choice roster starting. Talles was drifting back a lot this time because he wasn't getting any service. I want to see what it looks like with Santi in for a full 45-60 minutes.
And whether it works or not, we still need at least one more decent striker.
My overall impression of the match is that the team played pretty well and occasionally REALLY well. Jasson was unlucky on his post (granted that goes both ways) and that ball that sent Gaby in behind the d was just beautiful. The breakdown on the set piece gave me a Mata Flashback but despite our lack of excitement, this team has more (and more deserved) confidence on the ball than most other MLS squads (shoot me if I had to endure RBNJ weekly). And Let's not fly off the handle on Haak too hard. He is #3 depth at that slot so probably will be limited in minutes and no matter how dumb the foul, the goal came from bad coverage, not from a particularly great FK.
I think the team may take another couple of matches to gel. The bigger long-term question is going to be whether the other teams around us will have improved more. (Columbus, and Miami, in particular, and Toronto if it ever gets its shit together).
I was neutral on the Sands loan. At this point I'm just happy to have him back (which we wouldn't, had we sold him outright). It's entirely possible that they loaned him instead of selling for just this reason. He looked even more assertive and that looks like a byproduct of having gotten away form his NYC comfort zone, but we def could have used him last year.
At this point I can see us top 3 East or out of the playoffs. Too early to tell either way.
I'm no longer worried about our fullbacks or Barraza. I AM going to lay down a marker, though:
If we miss the playoffs it may well have more to do with lacking Maxi's special sauce than anything else. I love Santi but he's not exactly a like for like replacement. Maxi's ability to hold onto the ball and wait for the exact right moment to release an attacker (or reset) have not been replaced. Santi is more impatient and direct. I'm hoping Santi-Gaby-Talles-Keaton can build a new model to offset this vacancy.
i don't think the talles experiment will end after just 2 games. i think we'll have at least 5 or 6 games before they call it quits but there's a good chance they don't call it quits at all.
I don't think thiago is particularly good as a #9 either. He's got pace, but we rarely take advantage of it because it's just not really our style. I would prefer to see otoole or jasson (otoole would be my choice) playing a false 9 to distract the CBs and combine with the wingers. At least until we can find ourselves an actual 9.
as you said, i think we need some more time for things to fall into place. santi and sands need to get back to match fitness. cufre and ilenic are still learning the style and chemistry with the squad. same goes for pellegrini and barraza. I think we have a good squad but we need some more depth pieces, a true #9 and a dmid depending on what morales's status is. i worry he's going to spend a lot of time injured, but we'll see.
if we sure up our set piece defenses and get more organized, we'll be harder to beat. think we lost some aggression and do or die defensive attitude w/o callens. need that intensity back from someone on the back line.
The experiment never should have started in the first place. The Job of the team should be to win not to fit square pegs in round holes hoping it will boost someone's transfer value.
I don’t even think it’s an experiment. The club, coach and the players know Talles isn’t a striker. It was/is an attempt at a bandaid until they find a proper striker. I don’t like that, as it bothers me that they can’t start the season with a proper roster. The fact that this is MLS where the beginning of season isn’t critical keeps me at just bothered rather than angry. And if they fill the role well in the near term or early summer I may forgive them!
it is easy for us to say "we just need to win". but the club may have thought making talles a #9 was the best long term as a business. whether or not it pans out, it is what it is (obviously it's not going well). This could also be a case of whether or not Cushing can make Talles a #9 in combination with whether Talles wants to be a #9. We all know that sometimes how a player performs comes down to the coach. Some coaches and get through to a player and bring out their best and some just can't.
I think we can all agree Ronny was a great man manager and was able to draw out the best in our guys. Can Nick do the same? I think that remains to be seen. But I think this type of talent is important when trying to convert a player to a different position.
I think this is definitely a "try to convert Talles" effort vs a bandaid until we get a #9. If it were simply a bandaid, why not just play Thiago at the #9 and keep Talles on the wing where he's his best?
Because Thiago has one tool, speed and is utilized as a winger. They thought Talles could be slightly more effective as a striker, but know that’s not a permanent fix. True story.
I think this is it. We had to tread water last year until we could resolve the pending contract questions and clarify the financial picture. My guess is we're treading water now until the guy we want becomes available.
and yet - 2 games in a row, cushing has opted to push talles to the wing and play thiago up the middle.
Exactly. Talles is not a striker and they all know it. And he can’t even make it through a game in a position which he doesn’t have the tools to play.
