2015 Offseason Megathread
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From the webpage of Major League Soccer: 2015 Year In Review
http://www.mlssoccer.com/year-review/2015/new-york-city-fc?autoplay=true
Not an unfair analysis at all.......
http://www.mlssoccer.com/year-review/2015/new-york-city-fc?autoplay=true
Not an unfair analysis at all.......
Did the analyst actually watch the games? Like for real?
Likely read EoS and HRB
The analysis reads exactly like the consensus of the forums. Villa is not at his best as a lone forward. Lampard and Pirlo both have to play as central mids. Neither is much use on defense. This requires a CDM. Which forces Villa to play as a lone forward. Mix had a lost season. Villa was still our best player. Poku is our most promising. Probably the closest he comes to controversial is calling Saunders the Unsung Hero, since he was very popular with the fans (ie not unsung) and our consensus would be nice stopper, but poor overall keeper skills, especially distribution.
I really think this is a solvable issue. Either a 4-3-1-2, 4-2-2-2, or 4-3-3 can fit any three of Pirlo, Lampard, Mix, and Poku, and maybe even all four, while giving Villa a striker partner. Kreis just was lost out there and played a conservative and ill-fitting 4-2-3-1 because it's the only formation he knew well other than the 4-4-2 diamond.
I prefer the 4-3-1-2 because it packs more bodies into the midfield.
I believe a 5-3-2 could be a multitude of things. If we were to utilize it, I would imagine more like the below with wingbacks. The midfielders could potentially move around a bit, and I definitely think the pieces laid out below would be different in some places (we would most definitely need another CB).
I agree with this. The only question is who gives you the best cover defensively.
Villa-Poku-Shelton
Frank-Pirlo-Mix
You have concerns about the left side of defense but probably put Frank and Poku in the best spots offensively.
Villa-Mullins-Frank
Poku-Pirlo-Mix
Left side D just got a little better. But not sure Poku is on his best side.
Villa-Mullins-Frank
Mix-Pirlo-Poku
Now right side of D might be the weak side. Remains to be seen how Mix plays on the left. But Poku switching field to Villa would be a thing of beauty.
Bottom line, our offense with any of these lineups could be highly potent. Put our TAM into 2 solid CBs and I'm happy with any of the above.
NYdoesitEZ
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Saunders is the antithesis of Manuel Neuer: has no foot skills and therefore can't kick the balls or distribute correctly. He is not confident (he is aware of his weakness) and always nervous (watch his facial expression and body language) and therefore he is never relaxed. His lack of confidence makes him hesitate to throw/kick balls to his players fast to help launch a counter-attack (i don't recall a single time he decided to distribute the ball right away to go for a counter-attack). His lack of confidence also makes him hesitate too much on the timing of coming out to block (sometimes I think he changes his mind half way out). what he has is some blocking and stopping skills/reflex (he is solid in that regard). otherwise he is just not a well-rounded goalie any club needs to accomplish the kind of achievement we aspire to have. So we really need a much better goalie and make Saunders our back-up goalie, if we want to go to the next level.
NYdoesitEZ
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where is Poku?I believe a 5-3-2 could be a multitude of things. If we were to utilize it, I would imagine more like the below with wingbacks. The midfielders could potentially move around a bit, and I definitely think the pieces laid out below would be different in some places (we would most definitely need another CB).
Right. Switch Shelton to Poku is my guess.
Agreed. I know its not widely thought that Poku could play there, but I definitely think he has what it takes to play as a target striker up top.
NYdoesitEZ
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Poku can play many positions including defensive ones. I suspect CAM is still his best positions. he can dribble and shoot, would like to see some more creative passing from him.
I agree. He could play holding mid, attacking mid, or striker, but he needs to be in the middle of the pitch. I like him best at CAM, because he can do a little of everything from there.
Play a 4-3-1-2 (or 4-3-3 if you want to call Poku a false 9) with a tight holding midfield to really pack the midfield and slow down attacks through the middle. The pressure in this formation is on the fullbacks to cover wide defensively and provide width offensively at the same time, but with Poku being so physical, our strikers can easily drift wide as well and let Poku press up to the centerbacks at times.
I believe a 5-3-2 could be a multitude of things. If we were to utilize it, I would imagine more like the below with wingbacks. The midfielders could potentially move around a bit, and I definitely think the pieces laid out below would be different in some places (we would most definitely need another CB).
I like this. It's a decent alternative to adding a strong CDM or hoping Mix can fill that role. If we can get 3 strong CBs it would allow the wing backs to attack up the field, something Iraola seems well suited for. It's a bit conservative but it could function almost like a 3-5-2 when needed. We didn't have the CBs to try it last year but it would have been exciting to see this run with Anglino on the left wing. I agree with Rox that you could swap Poku for Shelton. Pirlo could sit deeper than the other two mids with defensive cover behind him:
I agree. He could play holding mid, attacking mid, or striker, but he needs to be in the middle of the pitch. I like him best at CAM, because he can do a little of everything from there.
Play a 4-3-1-2 (or 4-3-3 if you want to call Poku a false 9) with a tight holding midfield to really pack the midfield and slow down attacks through the middle. The pressure in this formation is on the fullbacks to cover wide defensively and provide width offensively at the same time, but with Poku being so physical, our strikers can easily drift wide as well and let Poku press up to the centerbacks at times.
I think this works too. Funny part is that this is the narrow diamond formation we were always told Kries preferred, yet we never saw this clearly logical version of it last year.
Is Neuer really the best comparison? We are in the MLS, not the Champions League. We need to compare ourselves to other MLS clubs. Portland and Columbus both made the MLS Cup with just ok keepers. So to say that we need a new goalie to take it up to the next level, is a little exaggeration.
Saunders is never going to be an elite keeper, but if we actually put defenders in front of him, Saunders is more than serviceable especially for his salary. Our cruddy defense gave up the most shots on goal in the entire league. We need defenders and wingers 10x more than a new goalie.
Kreis' diamond relies on a fluid and active four midfielders though. A true #10, two box-to-box guys, and a defensive midfielder with a distribution skills.
We probably had two box-to-box guys in Mix and Jacobson, but Lampard isn't a true #10, and Pirlo isn't a defensive mid, he's a deep lying playmaker. If things aren't calibrated perfectly, Kreis' diamond fails.
In a 4-3-1-2 (or 4-3-3), you can play with a less fluid midfield. Three holding guys, where one makes a run forward at a time (usually Lampard, sometimes Mix) while the other two hang back (usually Mix for defensive purposes and Pirlo because that's his style). It's a bit more static, something our older midfield should be able to handle.
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NYdoesitEZ
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you missed my point. I am using Nuer to illustrate where Saunders weakness are, not as the reason why he should be relegate to the back up goalie. so it is more than valid to use Neuer. Every goalie should aspire to be at like Neuer. i don't know why would want to limit everyone's potential by shying away from looking and comparing against Neuer, arguably the best right now in the world.
Further more, you are looking within MLS at the current level. I hope MLS will grow and become a top league one day...so i always would like to have that long-term outlook in my framework. a goalie can play his positions into 40s. Maybe with Saunders, at the current caliber level of MLS, with the rest of the NYCFC team improving, maybe, just maybe you can be a elite team in MLS (again at the current caliber). But is this really what you want to end your ambition? MLS needs to get much better for US soccer to be a mainstream entertainment for households here.
Secondly, I sure hope NYCFC one day will be at ManCity level, which is world elite. So it never hurts to demand more. To be honest, if I think MLS will stay stuck at the current quality level and NYCFC's ultimate goal is to eventually win MLS only (or be a constant top 4 contender), i would not be watching the game or support the club. I am here for the hope/potential for something that might be big 10 years down the road.
The bottom line is, we can and should have a better goalie. Using Neuer to illustrate Saunders shortcomings is totally valid (you use the best in the world to benchmark). Remember many fans here are more familiar with European soccer than MLS.
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