Exactly right, although Lee gets one more window to right the ship. If he blows it ...
And that would really suck because the next person in the chair would have to unwind all this stuff. That's at least two more windows and the extremely crappy possibility of staggering into our stadium as mid-table cannon fodder rather than contenders.
Anyway, the thing about Malachi is his pace (full disclosure: I'm a pace addict). There's obviously a lot of room for development in his game, but one thing he can do which no one else seems to manage consistently is beat defenders to the by-line for the cutback pass. That threat alone is worth the price of admission; at the very least, he pulls defenders around and opens up space in the box.
I was hoping Trapito would be the guy to supply that threat while Malachi was out, but he only does it occasionally. He's just as likely to pass back when confronted than try and beat his man and take off to the end line. Or cut inside into traffic and lose possession. It's pretty frustrating to watch, because I think he can do it. He just doesn't do it.
(If I didn't know better, I'd say Ojeda thinks like a No. 10 rather than an attacking winger. But that's another matter.)
To be fair, though, some of these issues might have something to do with Maxi's lack of speed. We can't cycle the ball through space and be sure he'll get there first. In fact, more likely than not, he won't. So, passes must be direct to be secure.
It's okay, mostly, when Keaton is out there, but when Parks comes out (for whatever reason) the attack grinds to a halt. The hinge is gone. Defenses get to fall back, set up, move in unison and either block shots or force lousy ones because none of our attackers get an open look. It's all point to point — very, very predictable.
To be doubly fair, if Maxi had, say, Jack Harrison to work with on the wing,
that could be a different story. And if we had a dynamic, ruthless DP No. 10 and Maxi could come off the bench against tired legs rather than carry 90 minutes every match, that would be a different story, too.
