Because they operate as inverted wingbacks and clog the center of the field generally.
Away - 09/16 Colorado
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Because they operate as inverted wingbacks and clog the center of the field generally.
I definitely find offense every time we play TM. The team, not so much.
I just can't agree with this. Sweat gets allowed space because he's not as dangerous. I'm a little surprised so many people agree with it. Is Ben far better technically than I would have expected? Yes. But for me, it's not really close in the attributes you mention.
I actually see Ben getting trapped in the sidelines a bit. Go back and watch Mata and Wallace together on that side. It's been a while, so everyone may need a little reminder of how we were killing people down that side earlier. Probably also not an accident that Jack's numbers fell off from the torrid pace of those times.
I tend to agree with Midas that when you remove the Wallace/Mata partnership there are plays we're simply not seeing anymore, like the fast overlap runs toward the left corner for a cross. Sweat simply does not overlap and stretch the field. However, because of our style of play, which doesn't have a tall, strong striker to muscle defenders out and win such crosses, and rather relies on intricate short passing through the middle, I think Sweat's slower style, and his tendency to dribble inside, may fit better. One thing for sure, he's been worth 3x of his salary, and whenever his contract is due we'll have to pay more to keep him. He's raised eyebrows for a minimum salary guy, much more than Norris for example.
Then again, Mata's been out for so long that maybe our "style" of play down the left side has evolved to fit Sweat better out of necessity and not by choice, and we'll be happy to see the team play faster on that side whenever Mata's back and fit.
What about the times we saw Mata playing Villa in or carrying the ball through the middle at pace?
Mata is a very good MLS player. Sweat is a very good player to have on your MLS team.
Eta: all of those combos where Villa/Wallace would hold it up and have the other plus Mata blistering toward the box are something I miss a lot. We were playing some really intricate, beautiful and exciting attacks down the left early on.
I think we miss that horribly, and I think Jack misses it most. He rarely ever gets to pick up the ball with yards and yards of space in front of him anymore.
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When did Sweat get this rep of being a good defender? First people are suggesting he's capable of playing CB in a three man backline and now he's a considerably better defender than Mata? I'll give you that Mata is a talented attacker and at best a a serviceable defender but I'd argue Sweat is about the same. Sweat shows minimal interest in his defensive responsibilities and consistently gets beat in 1v1 situations. I think the only reason people think Sweat is a good defender is because he's fortunate to have spent his entire time playing next to Callens who has the speed and the skills the bail him out consistently. I'd like to see Mata next to a fully settled in Callens for a few games before we start thinking Sweat is a superior defender.
On the plus side many of the improvements we see this year are a direct result of having the solidified highly functional CB pairing we all spent the first 2 years wishing for. Even better it appears with Brilliant we even have a very talented backup.
On the plus side many of the improvements we see this year are a direct result of having the solidified highly functional CB pairing we all spent the first 2 years wishing for. Even better it appears with Brilliant we even have a very talented backup.
The Mata/Wallace partnership was significant early in the season. We're a better team when they are on the field together.
That being said, Ben Sweat has solidified himself as a starting XI player in MLS. Maybe he's not the guy we want for 34 matches, but he's saved our behinds this season. He starts for other teams in this league.
That being said, Ben Sweat has solidified himself as a starting XI player in MLS. Maybe he's not the guy we want for 34 matches, but he's saved our behinds this season. He starts for other teams in this league.
sweat is less of a defensive liability than mata. but as i said yesterday there is no way in hell sweat is a better dribbler or offensive threat. hes been given so much space as midas said but isn't very productive with it. how many chances has he had at the top of the box to rip one on target but ended up botching it?
he may just fit in our system slightly better for now that he's sort of in form and overperforming.
he may just fit in our system slightly better for now that he's sort of in form and overperforming.
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didnt Mata lead the league in tackles last season?
All fair points. Maybe one of the reasons I think Ben should continue his playing time was offered up in the Portland thread that the consistency of our back line tends to lead to better results, and I'm not sure adding Mata into the mix after being out for basically the entire season will pay off immediately. That said, there's no knowing how good our back line could have been had we remained healthy. That's probably worth 6-8 points in the long run, and we're lucky we've had some of the backups we have.
A few, I think. But I also think our fans have a tendency to over-value our subs relative to other guys among the top handful (top-half maybe?) of teams.
I used to think that also and then Bruce Arena put Tommy McNamara on the 40 Man Provisional Roster for the Gold Cup
He also has Richie Williams as an assistant and Graham Zusi starting at RB in critical matches. I think the international game has passed Bruce by, but there's another thread for that.
I think this is a very fair point. I'm not a big Sweat fan, and would much rather have Mata in there. But considering where we are at the moment, the current chemistry that is had on the field with Sweat, and Mata's fitness, I think he may be able to provide more value coming on as a 60' sub or so.
Where are we on injuries right now anyway? Who are we getting back this week, and do we really think we can get back to our Best XI by the end of the regular season (40 days from now)?
I posted the below a week ago. Largely still applies even though the "Saturday" in question is now this weekend in Colorado.
Camargo - our for season
Matarrita - toward end of season
Chanot - toward end of season
Lopez - early October
White - early October
Villa - maybe back Saturday
Ring - maybe back Saturday
I guess we can add:
Herrera - maybe back Saturday
I posted the below a week ago. Largely still applies even though the "Saturday" in question is now this weekend in Colorado.
Camargo - our for season
Matarrita - toward end of season
Chanot - toward end of season
Lopez - early October
White - early October
Villa - maybe back Saturday
Ring - maybe back Saturday
I guess we can add:
Herrera - maybe back Saturday
Heck, let's update that list and get a little more specific. I've put the latest info I could find in parentheses. If anyone has more updated info, let me know.
- Camargo - out for season
- Matarrita - sometime in October (3-4 months from June 30; recently told a forum member he was 2 weeks away)
- Chanot - early-to-mid October (6-8 weeks from surgery on August 21, which is Oct 2-16)
- White - may be back for Chicago at end of month (4 weeks from August 29)
- Lopez - may be back for Houston in 2 weeks (3-4 weeks from August 29)
- Herrera - may be back Saturday vs. Colorado (was considered "day-to-day" this past weekend)
- Villa - may be back Saturday vs. Colorado (was questionable against Portland)
- Ring - may be back Saturday vs. Colorado (was questionable against Portland)
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Mata is supposedly two weeks away. Not quite sure if that means two weeks away from playing , or two weeks away from full training.
Lopez and White should both only be a week or two away. Both were given a 4 week timeline from the derby, which would be next weekend.
Herrera is an interesting one, because despite being listed as "day to day" a lot of the reporters covering NYCFC have talked about that being a possible hernia and that he could be out a while
'And ummm there was another guy people are wondering about but he's slipping my mind right now, yup update on Mata, Ring and White that should pretty much cover it" - Araos
To be fair, that was a tweet from before the Portland game, and an earlier tweet had already said Villa and Herrera were out for the game
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