Braz and Lombardo

[Juby]

Maybe I'm missing something but why isn't braz starting D? I know brennan can be a decent defenders but since they got rid of Serioux (biggest TFC mistake in my opinion, I mean his last season at houston was probably part of Johnston's reasoning on getting brenny, robinson, welsh and dichio meaning that players from Coca Cola Champs league even the relegated (millwall) are somewhat ahead of MLS and what did johnston do, sell the friggin palette(serioux) he's trying to recreate) shouldn't they have to play brennan as a Defensive mid just to make a solid formation?

As far as Lombardo goes though, I know he's young but I'd be willing to bet he'll start netting well if he even gets a few sub ins.

[VPjr]

Braz is not playing because, IMO, he can't play at this level. too slow.

Lombardo will get playing time at some point this season. Count on it. He's played well for the reserves. He is one of the Canadians they must be counting on to develop into a steady senior roster player.

[Juby]

I was one of the few people who wasn't impressed by him at the last gold cup but I think he's more then proved himself by being a key component of our good form from the last year. If he can perform adequetly against Spain, US and Austria (my memory's a little hazy but he played all these games right?) I think he can handle MLS quite easily.

[Gian-Luca]

Braz has been deemed by Johnston to not be in game shape yet. Or at least that's what we heard a week ago.

[Joe Keeper]

I still dont think that Mo has the formation right yet. I would rather see a 4-4-2 played with Brennan on the left, and Dichio and Lombardo up top.

Dichio as the target man and Lombardo as the finisher... just a thought.

[marktci]

I'm quite happy with the way things are at the back.

We all wanted Brennan to play left mid, but Welsh is doing just fine. He and Goldthwaite were linking up well and, by all rights, Welsh should have the first goal ever for TFC. Similarly, Goldthwaite and Marvell Wynne look great holding down the left and right back slots.

While Jimmy is out of position at central defender, he and Boyens didn't look too bad on Saturday (their first match together). Jimmy will calm things down and, who knows, the move may even extend his career. We lose his pace, but we have Wynne, Goldy, and Welsh. Right mid is a concern for me, but getting O'Brien back should help the midfield overall.

Edit: Re: Lombardo. He should at least see spot duty, the first striker off the bench.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by marktci

We all wanted Brennan to play left mid, but Welsh is doing just fine.

Interesting. I though that Welsh played poorly on saturday. Made poor decisons and every good build up or scoring chance would loose its steam the minute that Welsh touched the ball.

Regarding Braz. I too am confused as to why he is not getting playing time. Sounds like he is in Moe's dog house for some reason ( disciplinary or otherwise)

[marktci]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

Interesting. I though that Welsh played poorly on saturday. Made poor decisons and every good build up or scoring chance would loose its steam the minute that Welsh touched the ball.

Off the top of my head I can think of two plays where this wasn't the case. He won the early free kick (off Conrad) that should have been at least a chance (but Robinson put it over everyone). And in the second half, hustled down the touchline to put in a too-deep cross for Dichio. Maybe could have held it up, but he had a big man steaming toward the goal and just hit a poor cross.

I freely admit to having a soft spot for Welsh, but I think he's done enough to merit staying in the side.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Braz played poorly in Charleston and has not been a factor since. He will find it very difficult to dislodge Marvell Wynne now and may well be a candidate for the waiver draft if/when other Canadian players become available. Reda and Pozniak are in a similar position in finding it difficult to make the step up from USL-D1 and Scandanavian level soccer to MLS. Lombardo has Dichio, Eskandarian, Buddle and Ibrahim ahead of him on the depth chart and is probably seen as one for the future right now. Welsh was better than he was in New England but still has a lot to prove. If another MLS standard centre half gets signed then he will be struggling to make the starting lineup because of Brennan. Goldthwaite might be the one to sit in that scenario as well though.

[Winnipeg Fury]

Mo's comments on the CBC after the last match. Does not sound promising for Reda:

Marco Reda saw action in the middle of defence earlier in the season but Johnston said the Canadian "is still not ready yet for the pace of the game here in MLS."

[The Beaver]

Lombardo up front would be great, but not at the expense of TFC's best player so far, Eskandarian. Unless, Esky plays in behind Dichio and Lombardo as the attacking midfielder, I'd be reticent of taking him off.

Welsh is okay, but Brennan on the left would be a massive improvement. Welsh has very few ideas, doesn't get stuck in, and seems intimidated. I suspect Brennan will get a chance out left once Mo finds somebody to play centre back with Boyens. (At least this is what I seriously hope.)

Canizales also looks spooked and timid. MLS is much like the Coca Cola Championship; fast paced and rugged. (Sort of like the NHL, actually.) Hume would do well, but no sense his coming back to Canada at this point.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Winnipeg Fury

Mo's comments on the CBC after the last match. Does not sound promising for Reda:

Marco Reda saw action in the middle of defence earlier in the season but Johnston said the Canadian "is still not ready yet for the pace of the game here in MLS."

Interesting. But, to me, not entirely surprising. In the two or three years when the Lynx were moderately competitive, the backline with the likes of Pozniak, Reda and Seroux combined with Theo Zagar held their own. They also had, what I now believe, was a very good coach in Peter Pinizotto. But, I never thought, nor did I get this sense from anyone else who followed the team, that these were players who individually could make a difference on their own. Thats why we were all very surprised in hearing of Millwall's interest in Seroux. I think that Zagar was the biggest difference and he was the player whose loss was most noticed when he left for Rochester and was never the same player again. Peter favoured what I believe was a static postitional style that didn't make anyone look bad and thus took advantage of the kind of team that he had and what the Hartrells could afford. It was the right strategy for the USL. Namely, save for the odd Atiba Hutchison, JB Nussum, Aristodemo( in earlier years) and Budalich, there was never anyone who would catch your attention with their technical skills.

This is where I saw the big differnece between a player like Braz ( who figured more prominantly on the national teams as a youth compared to the others)versus, say , Pozniak or Seroux. Braz ( from what I saw of him) likes to come forward more as a back and in todays professional soccer, that is critical to have on a team. Being able to contribute on both ends of the pitch IMO is what distinguishes a first division player from a second division player. Its also a reason why IMO, stepping from USL to MLS is not a sure thing.

It is with this in mind, where I have differred with many here on this board on the relative merits of the Scandinavian leagues for developing canadian international talent for Canada. namely, the way these USL players went there and settled in with relative ease and little adaptation, raised a bit of a red flag in my mind. Some might counter with the example of Kevin Harmse, but I would bet that if you were to take him away from the LA galaxy and put him with a new team like Toronto, he would be in the same boat.

[Juby]

personally i think Serioux friggin awesome but you still make some good points

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Braz was definitely getting forward in Charleston like an overlapping fullback in a British 442 much more so than Pozniak on the other wing. The problem was he didn't have the pace required to get back as quickly as Marvell Wynne can when possession suddenly and unexpectedly changes. I think the key thing though was that he also wasn't able or willing to take the ball from Sutton who wound up launching it long way too much and along with Pozniak and especially Asante couldn't make the quick one and two touch passes under pressure that are required to build the play up slowly from the back as teams need to when the weather gets warmer in MLS.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

In the two or three years when the Lynx were moderately competitive, the backline with the likes of Pozniak, Reda and Seroux combined with Theo Zagar held their own.

This is where I saw the big differnece between a player like Braz ( who figured more prominantly on the national teams as a youth compared to the others)versus, say , Pozniak or Seroux.

Your memory is a bit faulty on the Pozniak front. He played left mid for the Lynx (Vincello would play left back, with Reda & often Mattachione in the middle & Serioux at right back) and he featured more prominently than Braz did on youth national teams (though Braz was hampered by injuries & missed the 2001 WYC qualifiers & finals, Pozniak was used consistently and would have continued to have been if Braz was healthy - we would have got Braz instead of Bernard Oussa).

Having seen Pozniak play quite a bit over the years & now having had a chance to watch Goldthwaite & Wynne play, I don't anticipate that either Pozniak or Braz will be able to supplant those two as first-choice starters at those positions. In the case of Braz I don't think he is necessarily suited to a right back in 4-4-2, but should be playing a more central position. He doesn't have the speed for right back (especially in comparison to Wynne). In the case of Pozniak, I'm not sure I ever saw him as being a star or regular starter in the MLS, but a useful player that can fill in for any number of positions. I expect that to be the case once he finally is in game shape & given a chance to play, which hasn't happened yet.

[Juby]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

In the case of Braz I don't think he is necessarily suited to a right back in 4-4-2, but should be playing a more central position. He doesn't have the speed for right back (especially in comparison to Wynne).

This was something that was confusing me as this thread progressed, just seeing him play, even as a right back I always just thought of him as a CB in his play so when I originally posted this I meant to imply why isn't he a CB.