2015 Offseason Megathread

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Tom in Fairfield CT said:
I believe the challenge is to get 3 dps, mix and poku on the field together. Feels like leaving some cards in the deck otherwise.
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My friend, I think you just summed up a big reason Kreis was fire. He couldn't figure it out.

I like that we are trying to fit existing pieces into this lineup, but we really need to factor in a new RW/RM and I can't for the life of me see Lamps in a winger position.
 


Villa plays as a LW. Shelton plays as a RW. Poku plays as a False 9 and links play between Diskerud and Lampard. Diskerud and Lampard play the roles of Vidal at Juve. Pirlo plays deep. Diskerud and the LB cover for Villa. Shelton and Iraola cover for Lampard.
 
A few things I've been thinking while reading all the formations:

1. Mix costs way too much to be a substitute. With the $$$ of the cap that you are paying him, he needs to be a major contributor. That means he needs to play in the middle of the field.
2. Pirlo can play as a DM as long as he has two box-to-box runners on either side of him. I can see Mix as one of them. I can't see Lampard as one. Imagine another $6MM man, Michael Bradley, playing the other box-to-box role. The only guy I could see from the existing roster to do that would be Tommy Mac. A nice FA mid would work (cough Anibal Godoy cough).
3. If you aren't going to play Pirlo as a DM because he can't run, why not give him the keys and turn him into a Riquelme 2.0 and play him higher up the field? I mean he can drop the ball anywhere he wants. The "traditional" #10 has been on its way out because the position has become more athletic, but maybe it might work.
3. A 4-3-3- with Mix-Pirlo-Lampard would be amazing in possession and going forward, but cover your eyes if they turn it over or have to defend. Yikes.
4. Where are Wingert or Grabavoy in these formations? Or should I pencil them in for Chicago...
 
canchon said:
1. Mix costs way too much to be a substitute. With the $$$ of the cap that you are paying him, he needs to be a major contributor. That means he needs to play in the middle of the field.
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Lampard has one more year here. Pirlo will miss 6 weeks next year. Both will likely miss more for rest or injury next season. While I agree that it seems like he earns too much to be a substitute, I think it would be too short-sighted to either force him into a sub-optimal lineup next year or get rid of him. If we do get rid of him, we better get something amazing in return.

2. Pirlo can play as a DM as long as he has two box-to-box runners on either side of him. I can see Mix as one of them. I can't see Lampard as one. Imagine another $6MM man, Michael Bradley, playing the other box-to-box role. The only guy I could see from the existing roster to do that would be Tommy Mac. A nice FA mid would work (cough Anibal Godoy cough).
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There's the problem - Mix makes too much to be on the bench, and so does Lampard. Depth is not a bad thing, it only looks bad because we depth in some spots and no quality starters in others.

3. If you aren't going to play Pirlo as a DM because he can't run, why not give him the keys and turn him into a Riquelme 2.0 and play him higher up the field? I mean he can drop the ball anywhere he wants. The "traditional" #10 has been on its way out because the position has become more athletic, but maybe it might work.
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Seems like a drastic and risky change to move one of the best registas to ever play to a new position at age 36 when he's perfectly capable to remain a regista. I'd rather accept his limitations and build around it (i.e. find a great DM) than get overly experimental.

3. A 4-3-3- with Mix-Pirlo-Lampard would be amazing in possession and going forward, but cover your eyes if they turn it over or have to defend. Yikes.
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Agreed. The key to every plausible formation is to bench one of Poku-Mix-Pirlo-Lampard and bring in a great DM to play behind the other three.
 
sbrylski said:
Seems like a drastic and risky change to move one of the best registas to ever play to a new position at age 36 when he's perfectly capable to remain a regista. I'd rather accept his limitations and build around it (i.e. find a great DM) than get overly experimental.
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As far as I can remember Pirlo has always been sitting right above the CBs either in the diamond/4-3-3/3-5-2 and not with a DM behind him or next to him (as in 4-2-3-1). Maybe he played in a flat "2" line with Gattuso way back. Are you thinking of a DM to sit beside Pirlo or if the DM is behind him, where does Pirlo fit in?
 
This is the thing about playing a natural "6" next to Pirlo - Pirlo really isn't going to get up the field. He's the most unique player I have ever seen. He can kill you offensively from deep in his own midfield. Conversely, he can kill you defensively from deep in his own midfield.

Like it or not, Pirlo is here to stay and you need to build your formation around him. He is what he is - at 16, 26 and 36. This is what he is right now. You need two guys who can work next to him. Play Mix on one side and someone else on the other like they did in Juve. If you don't think Mix can play alongside Pirlo like Vidal did - you didn't watch him bust his ass all year flying up and down the wing. Let him do the same, but from Central Midfield.

Now - who do you play next to him? A more natural fit would be Lampard. But maybe McNamara can do it. I don't think he's an intelligent player. Maybe, long term, Poku is that player.

I also think we need to help Villa up top. Or play him wide. Or play him behind someone else.
 
canchon said:
As far as I can remember Pirlo has always been sitting right above the CBs either in the diamond/4-3-3/3-5-2 and not with a DM behind him or next to him (as in 4-2-3-1). Maybe he played in a flat "2" line with Gattuso way back. Are you thinking of a DM to sit beside Pirlo or if the DM is behind him, where does Pirlo fit in?
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The Italian National Team in last year's World Cup played with De Rossi next to and behind Pirlo. (Not that they had success, beating only England, but anyway.)

In fact, in their game against England, they played Pirlo in the middle with De Rossi behind him and Marchisio and Verratti protecting on either side.

I don't care where Pirlo fits on a drawing of the field. It's about function. Need a DM out there, or CM's that alternate the DM role while the other goes forward.
 
ktdNYCFC said:
Agreed that Mix has been "misused," but our current roster makes it really tough to use him correctly. Like everyone has said, he is best in central midfield. I think he'd make a great box-to-box 6 or a really good 10, but our roster doesn't allow him to play a pure version of either. Lampard has the 10 spot, and Pirlo sitting back in front of the defense makes a box-to-box 6 hard to pull off as well, especially when he isn't the best on defense and we want to run a second ST with Villa.

Id like to see us keep our more promising young guys like Mix and Poku until Lamps and Pirlo are gone. I'm hoping to one day see a strong back 4 and a diamond midfield with a scrappy, d-minded Mix as a box-to-box 6 and Poku as the 10, two good wide-mids and Mullins/Shelton up top with Villa. The fact is we signed 2 older superstars (who really can't be benched) who force JK to play Mix out of position.
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This post is about as right as it gets around here - right as rain for sure.

The issue is that our core consists of 6-7 central midfielders and Villa. We have too many central midfielders and need guys who can play on the wing and in back. I expect to see us send out a central mid or two in exchange for wingers or defenders, and I won't be surprised if one of our young core is part of who leaves. I am talking about Mix, Poku or TMac. I love all 3 of those guys, and I hope we have them stay and build around them. However, at least 1-2 of them are coming off the bench for all of next season as things stand, and I can see the calculus to get rid of one to gain a solid CB or winger.
 
By the way, it is to Mix's credit that he's been played out of position nearly all year. We have a logjam of CMs, and he is the most versatile of the group. That's why he's gotten so much time out wide, where he doesn't belong but can still help the team.
 
So, here are a couple of ideas based on our current roster. The weaknesses are apparent. We have a definite need to get 1-2 more quality CBs and a legitimate bomber at LB.

In this first lineup, our glut of CMs means Poku is pushed up to striker. Not his best spot, but one he can manage well. There is a weakness with TMac as one of the midfielders supporting Pirlo. Not his best role.

NYCFC-formation-tactics.png


Another option is to move Lampard back from an attacking role into one where he moves more box-to-box, which frees up Poku to take the CAM position. The problem here is that Lampard no longer has the athleticism to cover all that ground and probably lacks the defensive skills to support Pirlo.

NYCFC-formation-tactics.png


The real solution probably involves getting that defensive minded mid to play on the other side of Pirlo and leaving Frank at the top of the diamond. This means that Mix, Poku, TMac and Mullins get more time on the bench than anyone would like, but it would only be for one more season.
 
Tom in Fairfield CT said:
I believe the challenge is to get 3 dps, mix and poku on the field together. Feels like leaving some cards in the deck otherwise.
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I have a lot of mixed feelings about Kreis and whether he should have been fired, but the one thing I cannot get over is that Poku played sub-1000 minutes this year despite never being hurt (as far as we knew). Perhaps he really wasn't fit at the beginning of the year and certainly, as Tom notes, there isn't an obvious tactical solution with the roster now, but the guy was unequivocally one of the best players on the team this year. When you aren't consistently winning anyway, you have to find ways to get your best players opportunities.
 
I started this thread with the question - is it too early to discuss the 2016 lineup? I think at this point the 2016 lineup actually begs questions about the 2017 lineup. Here's why.

I believe Tom in Fairfield CT sbrylski and several others have pointed out we have only one season left of Lampard. Isn't 2017 also a CFG option on Pirlo?

So instead of thinking about the trade possibilities for young talent like Mix. Think of how much a talented coach could develop a player like Mix by using Pirlo as a teacher for him. And think of what Poku could learn from Lampard, again, with proper tutelage.

Now imagine after that development the following in 2017:

---------------Villa-------DP2--------------
--------------------Poku--------------------
--TMac------------------------------DP3--
----------------------Mix-------------------
--Upgrade---G John----Mena---AI/Allen-
------------------Upgrade-------------------

That's a really exciting fairly young team. I think Poku, TMac, Mix, Mena and Allen all have a lot of upside potential. Add to that a DP strike partner and a DP winger. Give any kind of upgrade to LB. We've got a lot of future talent. I don't think we need to make LOTS of changes this year. With #kreisout we already know that we will see dramatically reduced time for AJ, Grab and Wingert. Let the roster settle a little bit. Don't trade away the young talent.
 
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