Medina is just too one footed I think. I mean lots of players are but he unless he can get the ball on his left he's absolutely useless. Last week he was okay as the team weren't as familiar with him. Once they figure it out, they just force him on his right foot and there's nothing he can do when he's out wide. I think he looks better in the middle as it's a little harder to force him off his left so he usually has a pass he can make. I think Harrison was a bit of the same at first but he worked hard on driving to the byline and putting a cross in. Even if it's not the most effective it keeps defenders honest. Medina is just too predictable.
Home - February 26 - San Carlos - CCL (Postmatch)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
It was a fun match to watch. Again the competition was poor, but over the two legs we dominated as we should have. I feel like we are in good shape to start the season.
This is such a nice problem. We should never be ill-rested through our spine with so many guys good to go without breaking continuity or having to change our style so much. I think we have the best regular starting spine in the league, and the quality of depth makes it unquestionable.
Davo15
Registered
He might have a bit of weight on him but he'd still score 20 goals on us or any other decent MLS team easily IMO.
I think this is what makes Mitrita a ineffective DP spot as well. Last night he had a great chance with the left and he pulled back to try and get it on his right. How many times does he dribble left and try to switch right but by that time the defense has set up and he ends up dribbling into a wall or has to pass it backwards.
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I'm not advocating playing a season there. I was thinking about if we'd actually outdraw the Red Bulls there in a shared stadium. I think we actually could.
Agree to a point with Mitrita, but I think he's an overall better athlete who can still dribble by players and make something happen. Mitrita attempts a move five times and something good might happen once, but you only need once for a goal. Medina just totally stops the play and waits to pass back to tinnerholm once he's put on his weak foot.
I don't want to be too negative as overall I thought we played well and controlled the game which is exactly what we needed. It's just every time the ball went to Medina the attacks seemed to stall.
I think we can all agree both Mitri and Medina have been working a lot harder on their defensive track backs this year than they were this time last year. That in and of itself is refreshing to see.
Both need to improve on the ball and in their attacking ability. Mitri isn't quite his end of season form last year and seems very trigger shy, which is unlike what we saw last year. I mean, he's got a good right foot, why isn't he using it? Even if it does get blocked, I'd like to see him at least try. A deflection or through the legs can always happen and from my angle last night, I saw he had at least 3 opportunities to rip one from his usual distance outside the box, but chose to pass it off instead.
Medina on the other hand, you can tell he's got SO much potential. Like others have said, he needs to improve his physical prowess. He's not as athletic as other players but he's clearly got technical ability. I think ever since he got injured in his first season, he's been terrified of it happening again. That's probably the main reason he shies away from contact. It seems like forever ago since we saw Medina be a good player, but he was a beast when he first came to the club. Then he got injured and was out for awhile and never really came back. Hopefully, with Ronny continuing to have faith in him and giving him playing time, it will give him confidence and allow him to evolve into the DP he was meant to be. So far, his effort alone has shown me that he's working on it. I'm willing to give him time to get there. Hell, we gave Mitri all of last season to warm up. I think it's fair to give that to Medina too since he barely played last year. Besides, Mitri isn't looking so hot right now either.
Both need to improve on the ball and in their attacking ability. Mitri isn't quite his end of season form last year and seems very trigger shy, which is unlike what we saw last year. I mean, he's got a good right foot, why isn't he using it? Even if it does get blocked, I'd like to see him at least try. A deflection or through the legs can always happen and from my angle last night, I saw he had at least 3 opportunities to rip one from his usual distance outside the box, but chose to pass it off instead.
Medina on the other hand, you can tell he's got SO much potential. Like others have said, he needs to improve his physical prowess. He's not as athletic as other players but he's clearly got technical ability. I think ever since he got injured in his first season, he's been terrified of it happening again. That's probably the main reason he shies away from contact. It seems like forever ago since we saw Medina be a good player, but he was a beast when he first came to the club. Then he got injured and was out for awhile and never really came back. Hopefully, with Ronny continuing to have faith in him and giving him playing time, it will give him confidence and allow him to evolve into the DP he was meant to be. So far, his effort alone has shown me that he's working on it. I'm willing to give him time to get there. Hell, we gave Mitri all of last season to warm up. I think it's fair to give that to Medina too since he barely played last year. Besides, Mitri isn't looking so hot right now either.
Home vs Tigres. March 10-12. No idea on stadium yet but put some money on RBA.
Might be as early as Tomorrow but i assume it will be next week
In the first leg, our dual 8s got all up in Medina and Mitri halfspace. This also made us very vulnerable on the counter. I think two major things happened that made this game different and I was pleased with how we adjusted.
1) San Carlos adapted. They didn't press as high, which meant that the build up that Dummy described so well (https://theoutfield.org/2020/02/26/lets-talk-about-the-salida-lavolpiana/) wasn't as effective, because Sands wasn't able to drop and create overloads and space for the CBs to run into.
2) Dropping deep also closed the halfspace channels to Mitri and Medina.
In response to this, Maxi and Ring at times dropped deep to form a rotating double pivot (triple pivot) and move the ball forward after some initial difficulty and long ball. At times they both became the double pivot and Sands rotated to carry the ball forward. It was really interesting to watch and I'm liking the small tactical tweaks Deila has been making so far.
Whether because of this double pivot or because of a preset tactical plan, or because Maxi is a little fuckin genius, we controlled San Carlos's counter attacks much more effectively than in the first leg.
Taty had one of his overly egoic / self-conscious games and it will be interesting if Deila can get what Dome got out of him.
Game lost its shape when Maxi left, which is disturbingly familiar. Callens looked pretty good at LB but it was hard to see whether we adjusted to accommodate him, since we couldn't hold the ball in midfield. It was too difficult to separate signal from noise. And a big part of that was Medina's shift to the center.
Re: Medina - I'm done waiting for him to find some fighting spirit:
1) San Carlos adapted. They didn't press as high, which meant that the build up that Dummy described so well (https://theoutfield.org/2020/02/26/lets-talk-about-the-salida-lavolpiana/) wasn't as effective, because Sands wasn't able to drop and create overloads and space for the CBs to run into.
2) Dropping deep also closed the halfspace channels to Mitri and Medina.
In response to this, Maxi and Ring at times dropped deep to form a rotating double pivot (triple pivot) and move the ball forward after some initial difficulty and long ball. At times they both became the double pivot and Sands rotated to carry the ball forward. It was really interesting to watch and I'm liking the small tactical tweaks Deila has been making so far.
Whether because of this double pivot or because of a preset tactical plan, or because Maxi is a little fuckin genius, we controlled San Carlos's counter attacks much more effectively than in the first leg.
Taty had one of his overly egoic / self-conscious games and it will be interesting if Deila can get what Dome got out of him.
Game lost its shape when Maxi left, which is disturbingly familiar. Callens looked pretty good at LB but it was hard to see whether we adjusted to accommodate him, since we couldn't hold the ball in midfield. It was too difficult to separate signal from noise. And a big part of that was Medina's shift to the center.
Re: Medina - I'm done waiting for him to find some fighting spirit:
Revfugee
Registered
His failed rabona early on was the mirror image of his successful one last week. And that flopping was not working.
I believe that Medina has great natural skill which translated well to his excelling as an under. However, he is missing the key ingredients to excel as a grown-up, namely grit, strength, balance, drive, etc. Some players get past those deficiencies because their skill level makes up for that. Medina is not that level of good, so he will wilt in most cases. Put him up against inferior talent, like in a cup game, he may shine. He may look pretty against a bad defense. He probably plays well in training. However, he's not going to shine in MLS. And he certainly doesn't show the full package to entice a European buyer. If he were a cheap depth player, he would be fine. But he's not.
i don't disagree with your points. i just wonder if his injury suffered in the first season had anything to do with it. bad injuries can get in your head, pro or not. and psychologically, there is a fear there that it could happen again. he may not be tough enough to overcome that and that comes from his lack of fight and grit as you pointed out.
i sincerely hope that under ronny, he can find that grit and fight. but if he doesn't, then off loading him and bringing in a quality DP is what we truly need. At this point, we'll need to seriously consider bringing in someone who can play in the midfield as Maxi is getting older and we'll need a quality backup so we don't lose our shape and creativity when he's off the field.
My 2020 season prognostication is that Taty will up his 1 Rabona per game (RPG) average to 1.5 RPG.
are we putting his flops at around 10.44 FPG?
