So I've seen a lot of debate recently about how this team responds to Cahill as a second striker vs. Cahill as a midfielder. To try and get further clarity on where he works best, I took a look back at last year's fantastic run from mid August thru Oct form (so after BWP joined the fold). I think we all agree that was the best football we've seen from this club in recent memory
I have to say...it's pretty fucking clear where Cahill belongs. Last year we were nothing short of dominant in games where he started as a second striker and Peguy played that trequartista role (or they interchanged). I'm starting to shift blame from the roster itself to the coaching staff after viewing these stats....
8/10 @ clb (0-2 L): DNP
8/17 vs. PHL (0-0): CM
8/25 @ CUSA (2-3 L): CM
8/31 vs. Scum (2-1 W): M/F (4-4-1-1, Cahill as the second striker)
9/8 @ HOU (4-1 W): Did not play
9/14 vs. TFC (2-0 W): Did not play
9/22: vs. FCD (1-0 W): CM
9/28 @ Seattle (1-1): M/F (formation 4-4-1-1)
10/5 vs. NE (2-2): CM
10/20 @ HOU (3-0 W): M/F (formation 4-4-1-1, Cahill as second striker with Peguy as trequartista)
10/27: vs. CHI (5-2 W): M/F (same as Houston)
Cahill as second striker: 3-0-1, we scored 11 goals and conceded 4....a whopping +7 GD
Cahill as midfielder: 1-1-2: GD (0), 5 scored, 5 against)
Cahill DNP: 2-1-0, GD +3
I don't think it's a coincidence that our record is 5-6-9 this year and we've spent a large portion of it either forcing Cahill to play the CM position or playing without him at all due to injury/international call up. When I look at this team and when it looked most deadly last season, we had Peguy as the trequartista and a forward tandem of Cahill and Henry. BWP was brought in for spells and it seemed to work to our advantage.
I understand that people love BWP's goal scoring prowess. But, if this comes at the expense of poor midfield play and leaking goals...why not try something a bit different? Go back to the formation that worked last year, just throw Alexander out left. We're not getting the results as it stands currently. What's the harm in putting Cahill up top for 60 minutes and bringing BWP as a super sub and dropping Cahill back into the midfield for the final 30 minutes if Peguy is gassed?