The DeGuzman has landed, and there’s five games to go.
Here’s the problem with trying to analyze Major League Soccer. Toronto FC could easily miss the playoffs. They’re on the outside looking in, with tough road games coming right up in Los Angeles and Chicago. But if they do sneak in, they could also get hot for three weeks and win it all.
When both those statements are true anyway, who the heck cares if they keep playing a slow, grounded Nick Garcia in the centre of defence against teams that know how to cross the ball high?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
So let’s at least continue to delude ourselves that the best team with the best strategy wins up here, and take an honest poke at figuring out where to play Julian DeGuzman.
In Spain, he was a superb defensive midfielder. In Toronto, he jumps to the head of a queue that already includes Carl Robinson, Amado Guevara, Sam Cronin, Amadou Sanyang and Adrian Serioux, were he ever allowed to play his natural position.
The joke in the “It’s Called Football” studio on Monday was that Toronto will be playing a 1-8-1 formation the rest of the way.
They won’t, of course, but they could. Practically everyone on the roster is a natural mid. And striker Chad Barrett – who isn’t – seems to play most effectively mucking out on the wings, far from the enemy area. No one needs him to be there, of course, but that’s Life With Chad (a zany new sit-com, debuting this fall).
TFC’s best formation – consistently – is a 4-5-1. Two defensive midfielders, a rover in the middle, and two on the sides who can push forward, shifting easily into a 4-3-3. Attacking fullbacks on either side (Jim Brennan left, Marvell Wynne right) keep the ball moving forward, where Chad Barrett can easily … oh, right. He’s mucking out on the wings, far from the enemy area. No one needs him to be there, of course, but that’s Life With Chad (a zany new sit-com, debuting this fall).
So let’s put DeGuzman at the back. Carl Robinson’s battling various injuries, so it seems an effortless fit. Put Cronin beside him, and turn Guevara loose in the middle. Dwayne DeRosario pushing high on the left, with the gorgeous, goalless feet of Pablo Vitti on the right.
Drop Barrett and give Ali Gerba look at striker. Yeah, he’s a bit chunky, but he’s not afraid to shoot at an open net. (Life With Chad, zany new etcetera.)
This is a team that can push forward all day. If they can keep it on the carpet and make darting runs off the ball, that should create chances – and reduce the number of open headers enemy target men sail over Garcia for.
But DeGuzman has another string on his bow. For the Canadian national team, he plays a more forward, attacking role. Does it very well, too. Dude can shoot!
So let’s bench Vitti and slip DeGuzman up in some combination with DeRo and Guevara. How’s that for a three-man set-up unit in MLS? Robinson, if he’s healthy, works very effectively with Cronin at the back. Sanyang’s not really ready yet, but he has been getting looks.
Of course, there’s an argument for putting both Barrett and Gerba up front, in a 4-4-2. But Toronto has a chronic and famous shortage of effective wingers. Cronin has shown well on the right occasionally, and Brennan can always get crosses in from the left, but that’s not much and that’s about it.
We’d likely be looking at a diamond midfield, with Cronin or Robinson back, Guevara or DeGuzman forward, and DeRo and whoever’s left down the sides. But this isolates and slows the back four, ends overlap possibilities on the sides, and leaves three talented attacking mids tripping over each other trying to feed two struggling strikers. (Ali Gerba guests on Life With Chad!)
It doesn’t flow. 4-5-1 gives you options. 4-4-2 gives the other guys a roadmap and a red carpet to the TFC net.
This is all speculative, of course, because if hated ex-TFC quit-jockey Jeff Cunningham can lead FC Bouncy Castle to a 6-3 win at LandyBeckhamCakes United, just how much good are tactics and preparation in the world’s most bafflingly random soccer league?
Well, Beckham and Donovan are Julian DeGuzman’s problem this week. I’m sure we’ll all be staying up late Saturday night to see how this all plays out. Honestly, it’s getting so no one knows what it takes to win in this league. You just don’t want to get caught in the wrong formation if you lose.
(And stay tuned, for an all-new episode of Life With Chad, right after the game!)
Onward!