2018 Roster Discussion

[Midas Mulligan]

Maybe Gotham Gator is still working on the nickname. I wait with bated breath. I believe in GG.

Thanks for saving me the effort of being snarky about this. I believe in Gotham Gator believing in his nicknames.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Considering the difficulty Lewis seemed to have getting minutes last year, I don't expect him to suddenly win the job over Wallace.

But isn't Medina the LW?

He plays either side, but I think we can expect him on the right more than left, as that is the majority of his past experience. And he appeared to be more goal dangerous from there.

 

[dummyrun]

He plays either side, but I think we can expect him on the right more than left, as that is the majority of his past experience. And he appeared to be more goal dangerous from there.

I agree we should want him on the right, but he played most of his minutes at Libertad (and his first scrimmage at NYCFC) on the left. Here are a couple good writeups from folks who watched a lot of him in South America:

https://www.nycfc.com/es/post/2018/01/01/welcomejesus-tim-vickery-medina

https://www.esdfanalysis.com/player-analysis/jesus-medina/

How do I tag Seven?

 

[Midas Mulligan]

I agree we should want him on the right, but he played most of his minutes at Libertad (and his first scrimmage at NYCFC) on the left. Here are a couple good writeups from folks who watched a lot of him in South America:

https://www.nycfc.com/es/post/2018/01/01/welcomejesus-tim-vickery-medina

https://www.esdfanalysis.com/player-analysis/jesus-medina/

How do I tag Seven?

I should have said majority of his highlights. Sorry.

 

[mgarbowski]

Type @ foll

How do I tag Seven?

Type @ followed immediately by username.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Type @ foll

Type @ followed immediately by username.

David Villa .

Damnit. Still not signed up I see .

 

[Gotham Gator]

You left our backup CB Hountondji off the 18?

Oh shit! Yes I did.

New bench: Rodfather, JLew, Scrooge, Sands, SAS, Giraffe, Stuver

 

[Gotham Gator]

Maybe Gotham Gator is still working on the nickname. I wait with bated breath. I believe in GG.

Thank you for your faith. These are very much a work in progress given the roster turnover. All recommendations appreciated. Together, maybe we can get back to the mediocrity to which we’ve become accustomed.

 

[adam]

Oh shit! Yes I did.

New bench: Rodfather, JLew, Scrooge, Sands, SAS, Giraffe, Stuver

So you’d leave off Tajouri & sweat. And of course Tummy.

I’ll start by saying we haven’t even seen these guys play an actual preseason match. But we’re all agreeing 2 players who started a number of matches last season are not even on our 18 when we work it out.

 

[Seven]

Oh shit! Yes I did.

New bench: Rodfather, JLew, Scrooge, Sands, SAS, Giraffe, Stuver

Aren't Ofori and Sands kinda backing up the same position? I wonder if Sweat would beat out Sands to make the 18

 

[adam]

Aren't Ofori and Sands kinda backing up the same position? I wonder if Sweat would beat out Sands to make the 18

I'm thinking we'll see players who can cover multiple positions make the bench more often than others:

Wallace LW/LB
Sands CDM/CB
Sweat LB/CB
Lewis LW/RW
Berget CF/RW
Ofori CM?/M

Not sure who else is that flexible position wise.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Aren't Ofori and Sands kinda backing up the same position? I wonder if Sweat would beat out Sands to make the 18

I think that's entirely possible. It's a tough call on the last couple of bench spots. Both of those guys can play CB and another position. You could even have them both and not Abdul-Salaam. It's going to change a lot from game to game, I would expect.

 

[413Blue]

I'm optimistic on JLew, but damn he gets waaay overrated on this site. Why?
Reminds me of the Poku days.

 

[adam]

I'm optimistic on JLew, but damn he gets waaay overrated on this site. Why?
Reminds me of the Poku days.

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Poku was athletically gifted without any Soccer IQ and no stamina. I also always thought he was played out of position in the midfield and should have been left alone up top as a hold up player and poacher.

Jlew has shown he can play the wing the way PV wants, and his pace (when he got a chance) would move the momentum in our teams favor. I don't think he's a 20 goal scorer or future USMNT stalwart, but he made us faster and more dynamic than Shelton or Tmac (And even Wallace). Hence why I called for him more often last season. We'll see how he compares to these new signings.

 

[Kangaroo Jack]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Poku was athletically gifted without any Soccer IQ and no stamina. I also always thought he was played out of position in the midfield and should have been left alone up top as a hold up player and poacher.

Jlew has shown he can play the wing the way PV wants, and his pace (when he got a chance) would move the momentum in our teams favor. I don't think he's a 20 goal scorer or future USMNT stalwart, but he made us faster and more dynamic than Shelton or Tmac (And even Wallace). Hence why I called for him more often last season. We'll see how he compares to these new signings.

has it been proven though? hes played how many minutes for us total? and if hes really playing the way PV wants why is PV not giving him more minutes?

 

[adam]

has it been proven though? hes played how many minutes for us total? and if hes really playing the way PV wants why is PV not giving him more minutes?

I laughed at first, but now in hindsight, I'm a believer in the pump up Khiry's value theory. Or at least one last shot before he's tossed aside.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. Poku was athletically gifted without any Soccer IQ and no stamina. I also always thought he was played out of position in the midfield and should have been left alone up top as a hold up player and poacher.

Jlew has shown he can play the wing the way PV wants, and his pace (when he got a chance) would move the momentum in our teams favor. I don't think he's a 20 goal scorer or future USMNT stalwart, but he made us faster and more dynamic than Shelton or Tmac (And even Wallace). Hence why I called for him more often last season. We'll see how he compares to these new signings.

Yeah, but think about the playing time JLew got last year versus the initial sample size of Poku's playing time.

We eventually all saw why he wasn't consistently starting and whatnot. But there were many instances our first year and a half where Poku was very productive and we were all calling for more of him.

I'm optimistic on JLew, but I do think he is getting a bit too much hype at the moment.

 

[dummyrun]

Yeah, but think about the playing time JLew got last year versus the initial sample size of Poku's playing time.

We eventually all saw why he wasn't consistently starting and whatnot. But there were many instances our first year and a half where Poku was very productive and we were all calling for more of him.

I'm optimistic on JLew, but I do think he is getting a bit too much hype at the moment.

I like Lewis and am rooting for him to win the LW spot but you're right that we haven't seen enough yet to justify the hype.

Here's how his per 96 advanced stats last season stack up to Harrison and Wallace:

Harrison: xG 0.21, KP 1.4, xA 0.17, xG+xA 0.38
Wallace: xG 0.38, KP 1.34, xA 0.14, xG+xA 0.52
Lewis: xG 0.26, KP 1.01, xA 0.09, xG+xA 0.35

 

[adam]

I like Lewis and am rooting for him to win the LW spot but you're right that we haven't seen enough yet to justify the hype.

Here's how his per 96 advanced stats last season stack up to Harrison and Wallace:

Harrison: xG 0.21, KP 1.4, xA 0.17, xG+xA 0.38
Wallace: xG 0.38, KP 1.34, xA 0.14, xG+xA 0.52
Lewis: xG 0.26, KP 1.01, xA 0.09, xG+xA 0.35

I'd like to see Wallace's split stats. First half of the season, vs second half of the season. He was off the charts those first 10 games or so, then tailed off dramatically.

 

[Schwallacus]

I'd like to see Wallace's split stats. First half of the season, vs second half of the season. He was off the charts those first 10 games or so, then tailed off dramatically.

Or his numbers with Mata vs. without, I have a feeling the Costa Rican connection was night and day vs. Wallace with Sweat.