Also the article suggests a formation change to fit him into the squad. Lol, nope.
NYCFC Players Wanted Thread
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Also the article suggests a formation change to fit him into the squad. Lol, nope.
http://www.espnfc.com/soccer-transf...elona-or-in-us-china-man-citys-ferran-soriano
City Chief Soriano says Messi will either retire at Barcelona, or in MLS, or China.
City Chief Soriano says Messi will either retire at Barcelona, or in MLS, or China.
But still, if it's between him and Ucubed being next man up, who would you choose? I'd venture he's still more athletic and has more pace than the latter. Sure would be nice if he were there to play today with Maxi out, as he could easily slot into Maxi's attacking role in a 4-3-3, especially with Ring and Herrera. But I bet he'd be just fine with Ring or Herrera and anyone else, similar in effectiveness to how Maxi can pull it off, even if stylistically it would be different.
He could also play as an 8, especially if we're talking about one of Ring/Herrera plus Maxi out there.
The coup d'etat that would make us unstoppable in attack and allow us to possess at will and score almost as often, especially in the tight spaces of YS, you could play a 3-4-2-1 and would have 3 guys to rotate (Maxi, Jack, Iniesta) into the dual 10 roles. Jack could play RM when he wasn't the right half of the dual 10s. You have Wallace and Matarrita as starter and cover on the left (take your pick, really, but Wallace seems to be the starter, as he works harder and is more durable).
So if you signed him, then you really would be looking at the only remaining areas that could reasonably be solidified as CB and a Wide Right man with defensive chops.
To me, this isn't about making the best 11 better (though it would if we went 3-4-2-1), this signing would be about making us a really good team, not just a really good best 11. Because as we well know, how often do we actually get to play that best 11?
I've lived through a Premier League season and half of an MLS season where performance backs up the idea that both clubs I support were the best in their respective leagues when fielding their best 11. But neither were able to string that together for very long. When the team lacks the depth to sub like-for-like or change tactics to suit players who are still top quality in some way (neither team, of now, has either of those options, as the squad players/subs just aren't standouts at anything), you end up paying for it with choppy, hopeful performances where you rely on working hard and hoping to push your marginal advantages over the line. Marginal advantages don't lead to championships, as seasons are too short for them to become evident, so anything other than significant advantages leaves you behind the leaders.
ETA:
I would typically agree, but I think you're under-rating the dominant attacking force we would be with the ability to trot out a 3-4-2-1, as I described above.
I'm coming around to the 3-4-2-1 and think it may be the dominant / pervasive formation in a year or two. And I love the idea of a fit, hungry Iniesta as one of two 10s. But with our current squad construction, this exacerbates our lack of quality and depth in the RB / RWB position and at CB, while also marginalizing quality players (playing Jack too deep, or not playing one of Mata or Wallace).
Adding Iniesta just worsens the logjam at AM and gives us less cap money to play with to strengthen the positions we're already weak at. I take your point about the need for depth and the disparity between the ranking of our best 11 vs. best 22, but ideally that depth comes from HGPs or young, speculative and probably Central or South American loans and acquisitions. Not expensive, proven players like Maxi or Iniesta.
I like the idea of paying for goals. I'd rather rely on up and comers in wide/defensive roles.
My feeling is it's not my money, so if they want to spend it, I'm all in on Iniesta. He's not 35. He's 33 and was still a lock starter at Barca. Not only that, they were a far better team when he was in the squad.
If we can replicate the Herrera model, there's no reason not to have an Iniesta type to go along with those players.
Fair. Maybe it's not good for the debate to conflate the 3-4-2-1 vs. 4-3-3 discussion with the Iniesta vs. someone-else discussion.
WRT the former, I think we need a near overhaul to make it work for us. A couple of new, quality CBs and RBs. Harrison in the center plus Pirlo to leave. Maybe Wallace can be our depth at CAM.
I'd be cautiously optimistic on Iniesta. Did you see him against Macedonia in the WCQ? Dude looked bored. Also he's a secondary assist kinda guy, so he's likely to be under-utilized in MLS, as Pirlo is. Your point about paying for goals encapsulates the problem with paying for build up players in MLS in a weakest link sport. Also injuries.
Not to mention, we need to start planning for life after Villa...
Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope. We are using City's resources in an underground lab to research ways to make Villa the first immortal DP in MLS.
For real, I know Villa has improved since he's been here. But it literally can't go on for forever.
To me, that's why I'm good with trying a 3-4-2-1 as part of our regular tactics. We need to look at potential replacements, and working in a guy in a 9.5 role next year might be our best bet.
Unless Aguero is already locked down to come over after the next premier league season. In which case, I'll just go on not worrying about it.
Actually, that's my new narrative. I'll never worry about what we'll do at NYCFC AV at this point.
You think NYCFC will be about a 3-4-2-1 in the future?? Interesting setup, never really thought about that kind of formation before, at least with NYCFC.
A tidbit to pick your brain,
Midas Mulligan , who do you think is still on the team in 2 years, and still making an impact??
You think NYCFC will be about a 3-4-2-1 in the future?? Interesting setup, never really thought about that kind of formation before, at least with NYCFC.
A tidbit to pick your brain,
3-4-2-1 is more commonly used than you'd think.
I'd like to see us go back th WM formation.
A tidbit to pick your brain,
Without factoring into unknown contract lengths, I would say odds of still being on the team in 2019 are about as follows:
Matarrita - 50% - Wants to play in Europe, but isn't necessarily destroying the competition here
Chanot - 75% - He's here because his wife works at the UN. They might stay.
Callens - 75% - Should be a pretty solid MLSer for a number of years
Herrera - 33% - He's probably bigger than MLS
Ring - 70% - I don't buy the speculation he is going to bolt back to Europe first chance. He chose to come here, didn't he?
Wallace - 75% - As long as he's performing, I think we'll keep him around at reasonable salary levels
Harrison - 66% - I think there's a decent chance he sticks around as long as we hope he does, but that's not guaranteed
Villa - 95% - 2019 could be his farewell tour. Unless he drops off in a big way, he's got the DP spot as long as he wants it.
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Correct, I think they did a one-year extension of his original three year deal. Nonetheless, I think he is still around in 2019 if he is performing anything close to this well a year from now.
Should add that the odds Herrera is still here in 2 years are probably closer to 5%, unfortunately. He wants Europe and Europe wants him. We might get one more year out of him on loan, but my guess is that City will send him elsewhere.
I think the key factor there is the salary cap. As long as players like Herrera, Harrison or Ring aren't given the DP status, and with that a big payrise, they will eventually want to play i.e. in England, where even in the second tier the salaries are much higher than in the MLS. They might enjoy their stay so far, but given the chance to get ten times more than what they get now would be tempting to anyone.
While Chanot's wife isn't working for the UN, I'm pretty sure she's working for the Mission, and those contracts usually last 5 years, FWIW.
Teams in Europe we're interested in Villa, Lampard, and Pirlo. It's about what the player wants
Maybe Pep is trying to convince Iniesta to come to New York.
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