Game vs. Jamaica

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Comments like that show how ignorant you are of even basic soccer strategy. Friend is a finisher like many strikers. If you want him to score you have to play to his strengths and give him crosses into the box from the corner. Most good teams have strikers who are of a certain quality and the team plays to their strengths. We do not try or are unable to do this. Strikers who can create a chance and score on it by themselves are not that common and I have not seen any Canadian player who can do this on a consistent or even occasional basis. If Friend was unable to score at a high level he would not be scoring in the 1st Bundesliga. If he is going to be successful for us we need to play a system that is similar to that employed by BM which is that the midfield brings the ball into the attacking zone on the wings and plays it in. Our midfield mostly lost the ball well before the box in the middle of the pitch to the defensive midfielders.

If I am so ignorant as you say, why do you bother giving me all these explanations. It seems to me your opinions just contradict themselves. But to each his own. You can have your Friend for all I care.

[Grizzly]

You are right, I shouldn't bother.

[Cheeta]

quote:Originally posted by The Ref

If the only way that Friend can score is for him being served the ball on a silver platter, I pass. Great scorers do it by themselves. We don't need half players. I am glad he is gone.

Eh?

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Eh?

But I am at a total loss as to why there there is any issue with point that Ref raised.

[marktci]

quote:Originally posted by The Ref

If the only way that Friend can score is for him being served the ball on a silver platter, I pass. Great scorers do it by themselves. We don't need half players. I am glad he is gone.

So we should get rid of one of our few players playing regularly in a top league because he is not a great scorer? We should get rid of a half-player when we have a bunch of quarter-players?

We don't have the depth of talent to be that choosy.

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

But I am at a total loss as to why there there is any issue with point that Ref raised.

I am at a total loss about this comment, it really makes me wonder about your evaluations of players. The percentage of strikers who score on their own is very small. Most strikers are finishers meaning they need to be fed the ball at some time. This is particularly true for target strikers like Friend. That doesn't make them half players it makes them players who play a certain role in the team like most of the players on a team. If the ball is not being crossed into the box laterally we are not using Friend in a way he can be successful. He certainly doesn't need to be served the ball on a silver platter, watch some of his BM goals and you will see that he fights a lot for the ball. But he does need to be getting balls sent to him in or near the box and that is what happens at BM and what didn't happen in the WCQ. Jan Koller was a similar player and in many ways less skilled than Friend but scored a lot of goals both at a club and international level. Would we refuse Koller play for us in his prime because he was a half player? According to the ref we should.

[BearcatSA]

For this match, I wouldn't mind seeing Serioux pushed into central midfield, keeping the McKenna/Hainault combo together at CB. I think the lack of a good defensive mid presence has hurt us. For instance, on the Costly long range strike, the Honduran received his pass and had far too much time to tee up his shot because both Harmse and Hutchinson were unable to close down the original pass to him and then were caught out as Costly dribbled towards our goal. We need a guy in there who has some offensive nous to go with his destroyer capabalities and I think Serioux's the man for the job.

Trying Ledgerwood on the right of midfield is another option.