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Canadians in MLS (2013 Season)


mulliganl

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Osorio played well but unfortunately for him his teammates weren't anticipating some of his passes late in the 1st half and not making the right runs (they probably aren't used to someone with creative vision to who actually releases the ball almost immediately instead of hanging on to it for 5 minutes deciding what to do) - resulting is Osorio getting "punished" for it. It was actually the subbing off of Bostock for Justin Braun that turned the tide in favour of TFC on the day.

I agree that the substitution was harsh as he didn't had a bad game. My feeling is that he was subbed because Silva is more attacking minded. If TFC were leading at HT, I think he would have played some minutes in the second half.

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April 5

-Dejan Jakovic played 90 minutes in DC's 1-0 loss to SKC. He was issued a yellow early in the second half. Kyle Porter didn't make it off the bench.

April 6

-Will Johnson played 90 minutes in Portland's 2-0 home win over Houston.

-Russell Teibert started and played 68 minutes in Vancouver's 1-1 draw with San Jose.

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Nice

On the other side, Attakora who was man of the match in his only chance this year isn't even on the bench?

Injured.

I didn't hear it, but apparently Nigel Reo-Coker was gushing with praise for RT post match. I thought the former was holding a little more than he would with Koffie. Not sure I like that, but Russell did create some things offensively in the first half and seemed to have some good chemistry with Daigo.

He was very lively and got him self involved a lot with the game. My only gripe was his horrible first touches early on the in the game. That surprised me a little because his touch seemed strong before. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just pre-match jitters because he did improve as the game went on.

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He was very lively and got him self involved a lot with the game. My only gripe was his horrible first touches early on the in the game. That surprised me a little because his touch seemed strong before. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just pre-match jitters because he did improve as the game went on.

He and Hurtado both had very poor first touches. Jitters? Could be. RT with his first start and Hurtado playing back at his college home field in front of friends and family. Both seemed to try and do too much. Teibert tried the flick and chase to beat his man too much. San Jose started putting 2 players on him (a compliment in its own right) and then just kept taking the ball. 1 on 1 that move works so he needs more situational awareness.

NRC said that all the young players did very well and had earned their chance. He also said to keep the jersey they need to continue working hard off the field.

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He and Hurtado both had very poor first touches. Jitters? Could be. RT with his first start and Hurtado playing back at his college home field in front of friends and family. Both seemed to try and do too much. Teibert tried the flick and chase to beat his man too much. San Jose started putting 2 players on him (a compliment in its own right) and then just kept taking the ball. 1 on 1 that move works so he needs more situational awareness.

NRC said that all the young players did very well and had earned their chance. He also said to keep the jersey they need to continue working hard off the field.

Yeah, Hurtado's first touch wasn't great either. His main problem though was how predictable he was. Whenever he was near the touchline, Hurtado basically telegraphed to the full back how he was going to try and beat him on the outside. He came out on the wrong end of all those one on one battles.

Teibert also had one more problem, how he would rarely take players on 1 v 1 situations. There were moments in the second half where he had space on the flanks to turn the jets on but opted to make a back pass. He had this problem before and it still persists unfortunately.

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All in time. The announcers were talking about the 1 year program that the Caps had put Russell on to get him ready for his shot at first team action. He seems to have got a lot of it right and the rest will require some more work. He played good and will continue to get better. The Caps put their residency graduates through extra training above and beyond what the other reserve players get to get them ready. They have a serious interest in making sure they are ready when the opportunity comes along.

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2013/01/hpp

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For those that didn't watch the game or aren't aware, the Whitecaps have been using Teibert centrally this year instead of out wide, where he has played in the past. I was initially somewhat skeptical about this, but having seen him there in a few of the reserve team games, the experiment is growing on me.

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Why is Russell keeping his place?!? The goal mistake aside he was horrible and Eckerseley was out of place on the left, not his fault he just didn't have the right boot to swing balls in when he got to the byline.

I can answer that. Bostock is the reason. Eckersley is a defender with too much tendency to move forward, so strategically, playing him and Bostock on the same side was causing a lot of defensive lapses. Morgan can't switch to right side easily. Russell can't switch to left easily. So they decided to put Eckersley on the left, as the only guy that probably could. Now, since Eckersley isn't as comfortable on the left, they thought they'd kill two birds with one stone.

Russell would be more likely to stay at home on the right, covering for Bostock's obvious defensive incompetence. Meanwhile, the reigns are on Eckersley on the left, because he is much less likely to try to take the ball up himself on his less comfortable side.

Is it working for TFC? No. It was a dumb idea. There's an old adage. You make the formations to match your players, you don't choose players to match your formations. This would be solved more easily to a formation switch, to something like a 4-2-3-1.

Think like this.

Earnshaw

Lambe---------Ephraim---------Bostock

-----Dunfield/Osorio-------Hall---------

Morgan----Califf----O'Dea----Eckersley

So it uses the exact same players (plug whoever you want in there), but gives them different responsibilities. In 4-4-1-1 Bostock is the man responsible to cover for Eckersley if he gallops up the right hand side. In 4-2-3-1 it is Hall that has the responsibility...it's hard to do this without a pen and board, but picture Bostock's pin moving more central, Ephraim moving left more, and Lambe either setting up to switch the play, or dropping back for more defensive coverage.

This formation allows for the fullbacks to play up a bit more. Which Ecks AND Morgan are good at doing, while having GOOD defensive players fill the holes they would leave (rather than Lambe and Bostock having that responsibility).

It shows that Nelsen is trying to plug his players into a rigid formation, and making them get in line with that formation. If anything, make the 4-4-1-1 play more like the 4-2-3-1. Call it whatever you want, you KNOW that Lambe and Bostock play up further, so you KNOW that it ends up being more like 4-2-3-1 anyways, right? So just call it what it is, and assign the responsibilities according to that! Don't play a less superior player (Russell) and make a player like Ecks play out of his style to suit the goal.

LET Dunfield and Hall drop and cover. Hall has experience at RB anyways. Let him move back there if Ecks gallops up the pitch. Keep Ecks on the right, and bring Morgan or whoever back in on the left. I understand that Bostock is weaker, but with Hall over there with the coach telling him to cover hard on the right side, that is diminished a little bit.

By the way, this is also why Hall keeps getting starts. It shows Nelsen DOES recognize this. To take Hall out, and put say, Bekker in a more central role would be to really weaken the right side defensively.

It's important to try and understand why coaches do things the way they do.

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Oh by the way...another solution to that scenario which is obvious (before you all point it out to me) is to take Bostock out. I think they might try that. they needed Silva healthy first. And when they do, expect to see something like this (if Dunfield is healthy, if not, you might see Hall a touch out of position at LCM. I think Nelsen doesn't trust Morgan defensively yet, and I doubt he'd play Bekker or Osorio at LCM while Morgan is at LB.

With Bostock out or lineup and Dunfield healthy.

------------Earnshaw-------------

------------Ephraim--------------

Silva---Dunfield---Bekker/Osorio---Lambe

Morgan---Califf---O'Dea---Eckersley

Also without Bostock but if Dunfield's knee keeps him out.

------------Earnshaw-------------

------------Ephraim--------------

Silva---Hall---Bekker/Osorio---Lambe

Morgan---Califf---O'Dea---Eckersley

Bostock in the lineup forces him to use a more defensive player at RCM. So either keep Bostock who is offensive, or lose him for Lambe or another who is less creative over there, but lose that offensive touch at RCM as well.

Again, that's losing only Bostock. If Bostock wasn't so damn right footed, and could use his left just a LITTLE better, you'd keep both offensive touches and lose Ephraim and put Bostock central. If it were me, that's what I would try, and keep the best of both worlds.

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For those that didn't watch the game or aren't aware, the Whitecaps have been using Teibert centrally this year instead of out wide, where he has played in the past. I was initially somewhat skeptical about this, but having seen him there in a few of the reserve team games, the experiment is growing on me.

I fully support the idea of Tiebert as a central attacking midfielder. He has quickness and agility but doesn't have the pace of Hurtado or Manneh. He does show flashes of creativity though, and I would love to see him get minutes here this year. I guess he would be backup to Daigo and/or Camilo, but I think he has a future in that role, which is good for CMNT!

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Teibert had turnoveritis against UVic too. I think part of it is his adjusting to playing centrally, where he's closed down more quickly, at a higher level.

Of course, the guy he replaced, Gershon Koffie, has had turnoveritis for two full seasons (which isn't to say Koffie isn't a lovely player in other ways).

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Yeah, Hurtado's first touch wasn't great either. His main problem though was how predictable he was. Whenever he was near the touchline, Hurtado basically telegraphed to the full back how he was going to try and beat him on the outside. He came out on the wrong end of all those one on one battles.

Teibert also had one more problem, how he would rarely take players on 1 v 1 situations. There were moments in the second half where he had space on the flanks to turn the jets on but opted to make a back pass. He had this problem before and it still persists unfortunately.

RT doesn't have jets. Which is one reason he's moved to the centre.

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Osorio played well but unfortunately for him his teammates weren't anticipating some of his passes late in the 1st half and not making the right runs (they probably aren't used to someone with creative vision to who actually releases the ball almost immediately instead of hanging on to it for 5 minutes deciding what to do) - resulting is Osorio getting "punished" for it.

I watched that stretch again from the 37th minute on (where Osorio got caught in possession in midfield) and I thought that the giveaways were on him, not on the wrong runs or lack of anticipation from his teammates. There was one very late (45th minute) where he mis-hit the pass and it went right to the Dallas midfielder. We'll have to agree to disagree.

That said, I still think the much bigger problem with TFC's build up play/service creation lies with the guys playing in front of him and Hall.

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I fully support the idea of Tiebert as a central attacking midfielder. He has quickness and agility but doesn't have the pace of Hurtado or Manneh. He does show flashes of creativity though, and I would love to see him get minutes here this year. I guess he would be backup to Daigo and/or Camilo, but I think he has a future in that role, which is good for CMNT!

Here is an article on Teibert and his move to midfield:

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Teibert+reinventing+himself/8218991/story.html

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Looks like Dunfield is out for TFC for another 3-4 weeks, which will likely drop TFC's Canuck playing time percentages quite a bit and raise the possibility of TFC's run of playing at least one Canuck in every match might come to an end at some point during that period. Although Richard Eckersley is doubtful after injuring himself celebrating last week so Morgan might get the start tomorrow. Dunfield's injury should also provide more opportunities for Bekker & Osorio.

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Morgan plays an eventful 85 minutes for TFC in a 1-1 draw - assists on TFC's goal but then gets sent off with a second yellow on a highly questionable call. Philadelphia ties the match in injury time with TFC a man short. Osorio plays the final 20 minutes of the match, Bekker remains on the bench yet again.

With Morgan suspended & Dunfield & Welshman injured, its likely TFC won't have any Canuck starters next week, though Osorio seems to pick up minutes every week.

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