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McSoccer

Member Since 08 Nov 2014
Offline Last Active Today, 04:20 AM

#1302309 Marsch goes

Posted by McSoccer on 04 June 2017 - 11:42 AM

Disagree on Masrch's inflexibility. We saw that in his in-game management earlier this season, and he usually tries things for a couple of games and moves on (remember how many late game tactics we tried last year to try to get the right mix??). This isn't AV with the Rangers who has tunnel vision and only does the same thing over and over. 

 

For me the issues so far are as follows. First, we've gotten extremely unlucky in terms of goals (we are like 7 or 8 below our xG statistics). Second, we give up too many penalties and I believe we've given up the most in the league (if there is anything I fault Jesse on, it is the lack of CB depth). Third, our set piece defense has been very poor this year unlike the past two years (Jesse mentioned this as well). What is funny about the last two is that the left side of the defense in Long and Kemar is arguably the best in the league, and our right fullback play hasn't been bad either. The Long CB pairing is where we've struggled a lot this year.  

 

But are we really already talking about moving on from Jesse after arguably the best back to back seasons in franchise history?? I think Jesse will keep on adjusting until he recalibrates the team accordingly. 

Marsch has tried formation changes, but he still pretty much relies solely on the high press to generate offense.   He's never implemented anything to help break down an opposing team that is just going to bunker.  He never chooses a Starting XI based on how the game is going to play out.  Like, why is Muyl, our best defensive winger, on the bench against Patti, one of the top offensive wingers in the league?

 

When I say he's inflexible, I'm talking about his ideas to generate offense and his squad selection.




#1302241 Metro - Montreal Game Thread

Posted by McSoccer on 02 June 2017 - 09:07 PM

Point on the doll to where Grella touched you.

He touched me in the playoffs.

Professionals rarely take themselves off the field. That's on the coach.

Point is, being hurt is not an excuse.


#1302238 Metro - Montreal Game Thread

Posted by McSoccer on 02 June 2017 - 08:33 PM

Grella was also playing through an injury for the second half of the year.

Even worse. Get the fuck off the field if you can't play.


#1302235 Metro - Montreal Game Thread

Posted by McSoccer on 02 June 2017 - 04:58 PM

Grella being back and healthy seems to have changed some things.  He may not be the best player in the world, but the team seems to play better when he's on the field and healthy.

Maybe you should watch playoffs against Montreal again. You know when Montreal clogged the middle and dared Grella & Muyl to do anything.  And they didn't. In fact Grella was so bad in Game 1 Marsch did something he hardly ever does, started (gasp) Veron in Game 2.


#1302208 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 01 June 2017 - 01:17 PM

 

That's because for most of 2016 the excuse for his underwhelming play was that he was a striker and not a winger, pointing to the preseason where that 4-2-2-2 worked well with Veron. So fair or not, he's gonna be under the lens any time he plays striker.

There's a difference between being a lone striker and a striker in a partnership.  Ask BWP.

 

Veron has performed well as a lone striker (LA match, CCL), but has struggled when partnered with a another striker (the entire team has struggled when we've played with two up top).  He's also performed well as a winger (DC match, playoffs).  Throw out the the SKC match (4-2-2-2) and the last two regular season matches in which he's played over 40 minutes he has scored in.  Add in the playoffs in 2016 & 2017, where he has significantly less minutes than Grella, he has an assist and won a penalty.  I'm not saying that's a ton in the playoffs, but compared to Grella, Muyl, and even Sacha it probably puts him right behind BWP as our best player in the last two post seasons.  That may say more about the other guys...

 

I don't think he works as a CAM or as a second forward, because he doesn't read the game or play off his teammates all that great.  But as a winger he can freelance more or as a lone striker he doesn't have to work in conjunction with another forward, he's been ok.




#1302196 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 01 June 2017 - 10:56 AM

Muyl was a project, and added value with his work rate on the high press.  

 

I've been an persistently optimistic Veron defender, but I've run out of optimism.    Be it a language issue, inability to adapt to inferior teammates, whatever, it's just not working here for him.   Skill and effort are there, but sometimes its just not a fit between a player and the team.

Tend to agree with this line of thinking.

 

But Veron isn't as bad in the high press as people think.  Small sample size. but between Muyl, Grella, & Veron, Veron played the least amount of minutes on the wing and yet was the only one of the three to generate a scoring chance from high pressing (the PK he won in Game 2).

 

And I know a lot of people will point at the SKC game from this season and say there was his chance.  A lot of those same people will say the 4-2-2-2 sucks.  We give everyone else a pass in that formation, but not Veron.




#1302162 2017 Open Cup

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 07:32 PM

https://www.si.com/p...ichmond-kickers
 
Great story about an amateur side in the third round. Currently up 1-0 vs the PDL Chicago side. If they win, they will play DC Scum.
 
Stache donated $500 to help these guys get out to the game.

What the USOC is about.


#1302158 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 05:31 PM

I never understood why he didn't give Veron more RBII games coming back from injury to get him up to speed.

At the start of 2016 it was because we were so bad.  I'm really not trying to defend Veron, but Marsch's handling of him has been poor.  He rushed him back in early 2016 because we were shit and Veron's injury came back.  Then he couldn't find Veron minutes coming down the stretch of the regular season, even after our best winger, Royer was out with a knock, and then went to him in desperation in the Montreal series when his boys, Grella & Muyl, shit the bed.  Veron has not been great, but neither has Jesse in regards to integrating him.




#1302154 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 05:18 PM

As many alluded to, the reason we have to move on from Veron is (whether or not you think he has gotten a fair shot, and/or is good enough is irrelevant), that our coach does not trust him after two years.  Same guy who threw Royer in this season, Muyl last year, gave Gulbrandsen some appearances, does not trust Veron. 

With that being the case you need to get the coach someone he is comfortable playing.  

Which is why I don't understand Marsch keeping him here this season.  He didn't give Veron any chances down the regular season stretch, starting Grella and Muyl every game after Royer went down.  And then went to him out of desperation in the playoffs.  Sucks for Veron that Damari missed that chance in Game 1 and Sacha didn't get convert the PK in Game 2.  If either happened, people may have looked back at what Veron did in the playoffs differently.




#1302146 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 04:39 PM

He has missed a lot of games through injury, and has never produced in a significant way when he has played.
So, it's not just "people saying".
If he was a standout, wouldn't we have seen it by now, even in limited minutes as an impact sub?

Not saying a lot, but he was our best offensive player in the Montreal series.  And his minutes last season were mostly late game subs.  He scored in both the LA and DC matches last season, which were the only two he played significant minutes.  And right back to the bench after both games.  He's not a DP, but he has not been given the time on the pitch that guys like Grella have.




#1302140 The never-ending Veron discussion

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 04:20 PM

I keep seeing people say that Veron is injury prone and he keeps getting injured. Am I missing something here? He was injured at the start of 2016, was rushed back and got hurt in his first game back. Then missed almost 2 months and that was it for 2016. He came back didn't get hurt again for the rest of the year. In 2017 he got hurt in the CCL game, took a long time to get back but knock on wood he's been fine. So where did this narrative of him continuously getting hurt come from? How and why am I seeing people say that he comes back for a few games then gets reinjured? That's literally never happened. But that seems to be a thing surrounding Veron and people in this fan base. Narratives and storylines have been created with basically nothing to support it. It's really odd. 

 

I also keep hearing people say that he's had chances. That's perhaps the most interesting thing, because I often wonder what are these chances people talk about. Since he came here in 2015 he has yet to start 2 games in a row. In fact, he's yet to play more than 60 minutes two games in a row. A real "chance" would be to give him a run of games. He's an expensive investment and this is MLS. You start your DPs. It's really that simple. What's funny is people are quick to say, "you have to earn that spot". Well, he did, but he got hurt. What other DP on this team would not get their spot back immediately after coming back from injury when they're healthy enough? We've had countless players this year, big players at that like Kljestan, play terribly. Yet where are people saying he's worthless and needs to go? If he got hurt and came back, he'd plug right back into the starting XI the moment he was healthy enough to. But, Veron, who is a DP, **crickets**. Grella was out for a while too with an injury that's literally not going to get better. It's a bone deformity, so at best he'll just be able to manage the paint. But you better believe Grella is already back getting significant minutes and starts again. Again, it's really odd. 


But going back to the "chances thing". Even when he has done well in his little chances he was rewarded by going back to the bench. It happened quite a few times last year. Last year he started against Portland. In that game, he created more statistical chances than literally the entire RBNY attack combined, 2 of those chances were spoon fed to I believe Grella and BWP. His reward was the bench the next game. Even that next game against Orlando he did come in as a late game sub and yet again created a few chances in that short time. His reward? The bench the next game and a pathetic 10 minute sub after that. Like 2 games later he was subbed in for BWP against LA where he scored and played VERY well that game. His reward, benched the next FOUR games, 3 of which he was a sub as a 90th minute time waster. His next start was against DCU where he again scored. His reward, benched and unused. He actually got an assist at one of the CCL games in between that period I believe. Again, his reward? Benched and late game sub for basically the rest of the regular season. Playoff time comes and he was the offensive spark late in that first leg. Was he perfect in those games he did well? No. But he's not Messi, far from it. Miles away from it. He's going to have bad moments, but ffs he had good to very good games and was always rewarded with the bench. 

This year he had that awful game against SKC along with the 10 other players but somehow he was singled out and thrown under the bus. He had a decent game in the short 7 minutes against Toronto. So for me, he's barely had real "chances" because he's yet to get a solid run of games, which is something I think literally every other MLS team would do for their investment in their DP. Yet, despite his few chances, even when he did have good moments and games he was consistently rewarded with the bench. Maybe it was that garbage unbeaten run that Jesse was blinded by that he didn't want to break. Maybe it's that he's not a great defending attacker (neither is Grella btw but that never stopped Grella from getting minutes). I don't know. I've been following this team since the old Giants stadium days and I've never been this miffed at the shit surrounding a player from both the team and fan perspectives. It's truly odd and at this point I'd be happy for him to leave. He deserves better. 

Agree with most of this, but you're overlooking the fact that Grella megged an old man once and is so good using his heel to kick a soccer ball.




#1302130 We need a #10 / We need to shoot more

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 03:28 PM

He's not scoring this year so far but the last two seasons he had 9 goals.  Just know regardless of who we bring in, they very likely are NOT going to surpass the numbers Sacha has put up here. 

 

Sacha has been everything anyone could hope for out of a number 10 for the last two seasons. 

We need more offense from our wingers.  The fact that Sacha is close to the league lead in chance creation, yet we're near the bottom in goals scored as a team, points to problem with our other attacking mids.




#1302117 Alexy Bosetti on trial

Posted by McSoccer on 31 May 2017 - 01:07 PM

On Seeing Red Daily today, Marsch said he sees Bosetti as a wide player...




#1302077 Metro - Montreal Game Thread

Posted by McSoccer on 30 May 2017 - 03:19 PM

If DP and long can't go just go with

----------BWP--Gulbrandsen------

Grella--Sacha----Royer

----Felipe---Davis

Lade Taxi Murillo

 

 

Marsch said today that Collin is doing great so that's a good thing.  Has a real chance to play this game.  Assuming Collin doesn't play in the Open Cup game, he would have 2 weeks in between this game and the next regular season game.  Thinking about it more, I'd probably lean towards Collin playing this game because if you hold him out until the Open Cup game, he probably wouldn't play the game only a few days later against Philly.  So thinking is play this game, sit in the Open Cup game, and play against Philly.  Right back probably the biggest question mark.  I'm no Zizzo fan, but the guy has been pretty good for us this season.  

 

----------BWP----------

Grella---Sacha---Royer

-----Felipe--Davis

Taxi Long Collin Murillo

This game screams for a Muyl start.  Have him get out there and harass Piatti for 90'.




#1302067 Alexy Bosetti on trial

Posted by McSoccer on 30 May 2017 - 01:43 PM

Last season: 0 minutes in Ligue 1. Played and scored in one Europa League game.
 
https://www.transfer.../spieler/212937

He was playing behind Balotelli and Plewa, both of whom played great this year. I think Giovinco had something like two games and zero goals his last season with Juventus (better league and better I know, but playing time can be deceiving when looking at Euro players from the Top 5 leagues).  Sometimes you stuck behind great players.