2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread
- Thread starter LionNYC
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It's only one game, but if Shore keeps this up, he's going to force some tough decisions. Does Haak take Risa’s spot at center back so Shore can start alongside Keaton?
I know this sounds crazy, but could Shore actually push Keaton out? Keaton excels in advanced analytics, particularly with progressive passing, but he's not a ball-winner—he primarily contains on defense, and his tackle attempts are consistently low. Meanwhile, Haak and Shore seem more aggressive in charging into the box on offense—something Pascal has explicitly said he wants more of.
Against Orlando, Shore attempted eight tackles and won seven, while Keaton attempted just four and won two. If the coaching staff views Haak as a midfielder and Shore continues to emerge, there's a real chance Keaton could be the one on the outside looking in.
I know this sounds crazy, but could Shore actually push Keaton out? Keaton excels in advanced analytics, particularly with progressive passing, but he's not a ball-winner—he primarily contains on defense, and his tackle attempts are consistently low. Meanwhile, Haak and Shore seem more aggressive in charging into the box on offense—something Pascal has explicitly said he wants more of.
Against Orlando, Shore attempted eight tackles and won seven, while Keaton attempted just four and won two. If the coaching staff views Haak as a midfielder and Shore continues to emerge, there's a real chance Keaton could be the one on the outside looking in.
Revfugee
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If Shore keeps this up they will bubble wrap him by June and sell him to Europe at the winter window next year.
Brooklyn Blue
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The key phrase is "it's only one game."
Shore looked good. As much as I appreciate Sands, it was nice to have one of the deeper midfielders make runs forward off and on the ball.
I doubt he replaces Parks long term. First, Parks has been *much* better this year. In all three games he has moved the ball well - back to his strengths and not the diluted version of himself that he was last year. After three games, I believe that Parks and Ilenic are the two most improved players under Jansen.
Second, size. As good as he was yesterday, Shore is small - 5'8" and 135 pounds or so (per the NYCFC site). I am sure he will bulk up as he gets older and trains with the first team, but having both he and Maxi in the middle leaves the team significantly undersized. It might not show against Orlando, but against Jersey or Philly - bigger and more physical teams - having Parks (or Perea) out there will make a difference.
He deserved MOTM, but he still will need time.
ezbeezy214
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No. To be a possession based team as Pascal wants, There’s simply no one better at progressing the ball and recycling possession. Especially around middle attacking third. No one really can replicate that on the roster anyway.
His defense is always underrated. As he’s a big body to get a cross over and covers a lot of ground. His tackle set up the first goal.
Maybe Keaton does things defensively that don't show up in the stat lines but going off tackle stats he's consistently low in both tackle attempts and tackles won. He had the same amount of tackle attempts (4) and wins (2) as Maxi last night. Keaton is excellent at defensive positioning, he gets in front of the ball and contains but he will avoid contact and not try to win the ball more times than not. I wouldn't call being in the 45th percentile for tackles and 7th percentile for interceptions of all midfielders (including CAMs) underrated defensively.
ezbeezy214
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That’s not his role, and I’m happy we have Haak/Perea beside him. Still, we are finally an assertive ball progressive team again and he’s the focal point of that. When he covers late runs or there are spells when the opposition has us under pressure, his size is helpful and ball retention are helpful. Best defense is a good offense.
For what it’s worth, if those percentiles are really the last 365 days, that’s mostly “bad” Keaton under Cushing. It really shows how elite he is. The only reason he is still here is because of back to back blood clots which is really scary. When his time is done here, I think he’s a best XI all time NYCFC player and we take him for granted a bit rn.
For what it’s worth, if those percentiles are really the last 365 days, that’s mostly “bad” Keaton under Cushing. It really shows how elite he is. The only reason he is still here is because of back to back blood clots which is really scary. When his time is done here, I think he’s a best XI all time NYCFC player and we take him for granted a bit rn.
considering how many crappy fouls and yellow cards Keaton gets when he does try to tackle, I'm happy with him containing and letting players who know how to properly tackle do it. hah not to mention, the more tackles you make, the higher chance you will get injured. Best to keep Keaton healthy when his primary role is to progress the ball.
Agreed, Shore was fine (complementary).
ZYanksRule
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I loved Jonny Shore's game, but he's likely to get exposed if he starts every game. Playing your full debut and playing every week at 17 years old are very different things. We can't -- and shouldn't -- rely on him for massive minutes this season. Do I feel comfortable with him coming in as a sub right now? Sure. But Perea gets that spot back as soon as he's ready, and I think Shore should also be behind Haak on the depth chart.
It's a fine line though, if we are going to play with a CAM and let Keaton have a pass on trying to win the ball because we need his passing that leaves us with one midfielder to win the ball back in transition. If we say winning the ball is not Keaton's role then we are essentially playing with 2 CAMs. I think it hurts us a lot more than we realize, especially last year in the games where Keaton was even more passive. So far Keaton's effort has been consistently good under Pascal but given how hot and cold he was last season who knows if it's a permanent shift.
I'm not trying to slight Keaton I'm just saying I could see Pascal trying to push him to chip in more on D if he wants to play a high-tempo counter press and Shore gives him options to say to Keaton you need to step it up or I'm going to start Shore and Haak next game.
All I'm saying is that I am OK with Keaton's current level of aggression to win the ball back. I wouldn't say he's a D-mid and I don't think he's a CAM, nor does he play as one. he says he's a box to box and in my opinion, his value lies mostly with his ball progression more than anything. If he can contain and delay counters so the team can retreat and get back in shape, that's more than sufficient. I think that's a valuable defensive skill that doesn't show up in stats all that much.
I don't think it's Keaton's tackling so much as him just being everywhere. I watched the game this morning, this time from the comfort of my warm living room, and it felt like every time a defender was there to intercept a pass in the box or to break up a play it was Keaton. Kind of surprised me a little to be honest but he just "somehow" found himself where the ball was, repeatedly. He just often seemed to be in just the right place, defensively. Don't need him to be a fierce tackler but he's pretty good at defending, and that's not even counting how he helps run the offense.
It's been a really notable change. And the team overall is flowing a lot more freely.
One of the things I noticed about Nick in training videos was how precise he was when instructing players. We only got glimpses of it on YouTube, but he was very detailed in the way he coached movement, like he was moving chess pieces around. He may have been too specific, stunting players by forcing them to think about where they should go and where they should be instead of preparing them to just go.
That might be the biggest change under Pascal. Instead of telling them to "break left, spin around, hop two times and then fill the space," he just tells them, "Fill the space" and leaves it up to the lads to get there.
He really was box-to-box yesterday, including being in the boxes. Really solid day from the Bird.
ASA uses a comprehensive defensive stat they call "Interrupting" to capture Tackles, Interceptions, Blocks, Clearances, Recoveries, and Contested Headers. Excluding CBs and FBs, Keaton leads the club both total and per game. Last year he was much poorer.
ezbeezy214
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Especially now that the 8’s have to cover so much for Maxi as well, it’s more impressive how much ground Keaton covers to make clearances and connect with Maxi in attack.
Well, if Jansen can unlock the old Keaton, that will be a big help to the team.
We have over $4 million in GAM sitting in the coffers. That leads the league.
MLS announces updated General Allocation Money (GAM) totals for all 30 MLS teams | Goal.com English Oman
The league continues to be more transparent with finances with the release of updated GAM totalswww.goal.com
Question about this. Not to undermine, just playing with data.
I think Keaton is the only midfielder, maybe only player outside of defenders to average 90 minutes per match through 3. Haak may also, but he played 45 as a CB against Miami and then 90 as CB vs Orlando.
Is your “per game” analysis per game or per 90?
I wonder about Shore’s, Haak’s (as a mid-fielder), Perea’s per 90 stats.
Again, this is more curiosity (and general preference for per 90 vs per game as a useful statistic) that it is any challenge to your general conclusion which sounds legit to me.
