i say let him play with the II squad more. if he can't put up decent numbers with the II squad, he's not going to do it with the first team. that's what the II squad is for. just like with bakrar, if he's not going to run in behind and he's not going to hold up the ball, then he's of no use to use at the #9. Especially if he's unwilling to press as hard as bakrar does, which may be his only redeeming quality.
martinez + Jones and another winger is our best attacking front line. maybe put santi up there with maxi in the midfield. that's a scary good attack.
I understand this, and it's a reasonable argument. But I should point out, of his six goals, Martinez has only scored twice as a starter: a solid shot from 14 yards at 34' against Inter, and an arguably flukey point blank left-footed shot at 2' at the Union before anyone had settled in.
His other four goals have been at home, three of them in short order very late against a shattered Quakes side. Half of his goals have been in added time.
And I like Alonso, a lot. He's a valuable piece. In fact, I was one of the people wondering where the heck he was during the early phase of the season, when things were so bleak, and we were so toothless. I'm glad we have him, and he's had some good stretches on the wing.
But I don't think he's the guy to carry us with a double-digit scoring, big minute season at striker. His last three starts, he managed five shots. Two were on target and he scored one goal. He was subbed off in all three, at 68' (one shot, off target), 66' (two shots, both on target and one goal) and 55' (two shots, none on target, although he did get an assist).
His first start was his best: he played 84 minutes and scored once on three shots (just the goal was on target). His next start was another 55-minute run. He took four shots, none were on target, and then he was subbed off.
That just doesn't read danger man to me.
One other thing is a concern: against Nashville, there were something like four or five occasions in the first 30 minutes when one of our guys was shouldered down to the floor. We need a physical presence at center-forward, someone who can't be pushed around so easily, who can body up in the cement mixer and get some shots off and draw penalties. Not to mention, run the central channel and open up space for Malachi and Wolf and Alonso and Julian.
Physicality shouldn't be underrated. For all his flawed dribbling and occasional clumsiness, Gabe Segal was effective at times because he was so strong and couldn't be swatted aside in the area. Jovan is even stronger, much more skilled, much more athletic and a genuine threat. What he lacks is experience. The only way for him to get it is to play, and at the senior level.
That's not to say he's going to suddenly start raining goals. Not even Taty did that, at least for a while. But man, by the books we took 15 shots last match and none of them were on target.
Zero. Even when he wasn't scoring, Taty was shooting and getting enough of them on target to scare the living poop out of the opposition.
If we get something even approximating that again, with the kinds of players we have on the wings now, we're going to be a handful. That's where I want us to get.
