Mounsef Bakrar [Forward]
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
this is better than what i was thinking.. which was the waka waka waka kind
I'm not looking it up, I'm just assuming Bakrar is our first player to go 5 hole for both of his first two MLS goals.
Historic.
Historic.
Someday -- and I think someday very soon -- Bakrar is going to come good. In the meantime, I have to admit ... this is pretty funny.
Really good analysis from Oliver Strand here:
The very weaknesses he highlights are Jovan's strengths. (He's not as slow as he looks.) It may be time to give our young prospect some serious run and see what he can do.
www.hudsonriverblue.com
The very weaknesses he highlights are Jovan's strengths. (He's not as slow as he looks.) It may be time to give our young prospect some serious run and see what he can do.
Is it time to press pause on the Mounsef Experiment?
The New York City striker finished the night with zero goals — and zero shots on target.
www.hudsonriverblue.com
Really good analysis from Oliver Strand here:
The very weaknesses he highlights are Jovan's strengths. (He's not as slow as he looks.) It may be time to give our young prospect some serious run and see what he can do.
Is it time to press pause on the Mounsef Experiment?
The New York City striker finished the night with zero goals — and zero shots on target.
My vote is for Martinez, he's the only one who has shown he can consistently put the ball in the back of the net. Jovan's time has been much more limited but I wouldn't characterize any of his sub appearances as inspiring.
Martinez: 482 min, 18 shots, 6 goals
Bakrar: 1053 min, 42 shots, 1 goals
Jovan: 209 min, 4 shots, 0 goals
What has Jovan done in his time on the pitch to earn more minutes? Bakrar takes 3.6 shots per 90 minutes, and Jovan takes 1.7 shots per 90 minutes. Martinez, Jones, Ojeda, and even Fernandez have all used sub-appearances to push for more time by working hard to show their skills and impact the game. It seems like a bad precedent to give Jovan a starting spot on a roster where time is very competitive right now and there are several attackers fighting hard to earn their spots in the lineup.
I understand that view, and it's perfectly reasonable. And I know the numbers. But I'd argue the sample size is too small to really make a considered evaluation of Jovan, statistically speaking.
I'd also argue Martinez has been great as a sub, but not as imposing as a starter.
And imposing is what I'm looking for. We need a more physical presence at center-forward. Everyone knows they can clog the area and we'll shoot wide or flail at it in a rush and scuff it or just kick it into a defender's legs. Someone who can score in traffic is just the ticket.
Jovan showed a lot of promise before coming over, too. He had 10 goal contributions (8G, 2A) in just five starts and 637 minutes total at Red Star Belgrade. As a teenager. I'd love to see how he does if we give him a run of starts.
We definitely have to do something. Our GD is only +3 now and it's going to be really tight mid-table in the East. We need points, obviously, but we need goals as well. Even a couple could make all the difference if it comes to a tiebreaker. And if we climb back up the table, we want to be in the best position possible come time for playoff seeding.
My vote is get a veteran striker who’s actually decent to mentor Jovan and dump bakrar .
I'm sure we're looking. But we always have those three pesky criteria to contend with: available, affordable and willing. It's not so easy to fill a need as it is to identify it.
So, let's at least assume we have to work with what we have for the rest of the year. The only question is how best to do that.
The rest of the league regularly finds available, affordable and willing players for their positions of need. We struggle because we have the additional needless constraints of under 22 and someone CFG wants in the farm system.
Possibly. Every team has its own operating model. I'm not sure you've accurately described ours, and besides, we just revamped it (and suffered mightily during the transition). Looking at it from the outside it may indeed look like we're serving as a key piece of the farm system. But without inside knowledge, I personally am not willing to go there. In fact, to my mind, all the evidence points the other way.
But I'm not all that concerned with what other teams have done, or are doing, outside of how it affects our competitive dynamic. My only concern is our business. And we very much have filled our positions of need. Left-footed center back? Check. Elite goalkeeper? Check. Depth at every position? Check. A full load of promising young players at the Deuce? Check.
The one box we haven't checked is at striker, and the jury is still out on Jovan. So, let's give him a run and see what he can do.
I think Jovan has the highest ceiling, which is why I want to see more of him. He hasn't been terribly impressive in his few games this season, but I want to see him get more opportunities. Agree with the others who say Alonso is a super-sub off the bench. Give Jovan 60 minutes, then go to Alonso if it's not working. But I want to see Jovan get a run of games.
If Strand is correct that Bakrar lacks both the speed and strength to deal with MLS center backs, that is a massive scouting failure.
I don't agree at all that we should push Martinez into the late game sub role. Sure, he he had that late hat trick, against league-worst San Jose, who gave up another late hat trick their very next game because they suck and have neither skill nor depth nor apparently basic fitness to play 90 minutes on defense.* I still love and respect that Alonso did that but it is not something I expect to happen often. In his other 6 sub appearances he has only 1 goal. Meanwhile, he has only 5 starts, scored in 2 of them, and has 0.81 G+A/90 in those games. It's a small sample but I think he has earned more starts before we consign him to late game sub.
I'd like to see Jovan get more time, but not if he's not showing in training and not until we give Martinez more of a run as starter. Maybe in Leagues Cup.
* SJ has conceded a league worst 19 goals after minute 75, next worst is Toronto with 14. Only 4 other teams are even in double digits. You could exclude both hat tricks and San Jose would still have the second worst number of post 75' goals allowed.
I don't agree at all that we should push Martinez into the late game sub role. Sure, he he had that late hat trick, against league-worst San Jose, who gave up another late hat trick their very next game because they suck and have neither skill nor depth nor apparently basic fitness to play 90 minutes on defense.* I still love and respect that Alonso did that but it is not something I expect to happen often. In his other 6 sub appearances he has only 1 goal. Meanwhile, he has only 5 starts, scored in 2 of them, and has 0.81 G+A/90 in those games. It's a small sample but I think he has earned more starts before we consign him to late game sub.
I'd like to see Jovan get more time, but not if he's not showing in training and not until we give Martinez more of a run as starter. Maybe in Leagues Cup.
* SJ has conceded a league worst 19 goals after minute 75, next worst is Toronto with 14. Only 4 other teams are even in double digits. You could exclude both hat tricks and San Jose would still have the second worst number of post 75' goals allowed.
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If Nick wasn't playing any of the young guys I think I'd be more on board with saying Jovan should get more time. The fact that Nick is playing all of the young guys except Jovan tells me that he's not ready. In addition to his lackluster sub appearances Jovan also played full games for nycfc 2 in the open cup where he also didn't impress. The sample size isn't really that small at this point.
i agree. martinez has done enough to deserve some starts. neither bakrar nor jovan have.
bakrar has decent pace, but doesn't seem as fast as jones and martinez. physically, he gets knocked off the ball constantly and is unable to hold up play. if he can't hold up play well cause he's not physically strong and doesn't have a good touch, then he has to be able to run in behind and be an actual threat. if he's unable to do that against a majority of MLS defenders, then what else does he offer us? I don't get it.
I'm all for martinez getting the starting job. i like bakrar's work ethic, but just because you're running around the field constantly doesn't mean you're really doing something. Martinez does a good job pressing too and seems to be a much better finisher and better soccer IQ
