RT told to model game after Will Johnson

[nolando]

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/soccer/Whitecaps+Russell+Teibert+word+from+coach+Martin+Rennie+then/8262726/story.html

Rennie’s words, Teibert said, were difficult to hear at the time. They stung. But the 20-year-old from Niagara Falls, Ont., embraced the constructive criticism.

“It was a conversation we needed to have to know what direction we needed to go in,” said Teibert, who’s poised to start his third straight MLS game Saturday at FC Dallas (5:30 p.m., CITY TV, TEAM 1410).

Among other things, Rennie told Teibert to model his game after a player Teibert now can call a fellow Canadian international: Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson.

[Soju]

Not great for the MNT, since we have a glut of central mids and **** all good natural wing players.

[madmonte]

Not great for the MNT, since we have a glut of central mids and **** all good natural wing players.

Yeah but Teibert's hard work to become a feasible option IS great news. Hopefully the progress continues!

[jpg75]

Not great for the MNT, since we have a glut of central mids and **** all good natural wing players.

Do we though? The only central mids i'd rely on in 3 years time would be Johnson and Hutch. Too many old guys and too many not-quite-there young guys. Besides, we've got a guy like Ricketts who is probably better on the wing and a couple of young players who might turn out well like REB and Porter.

[Keegan]

I wonder what aspects of Will's play specifically? Both are good set piece takers, both cover a lot of ground... I guess Teibert could become a better tackler and more aggressive but I think he's better technically and has the potential to surpass Will.

[tmcmurph]

A glut of CMs? Canada? Now? You're kidding, right? And even if we did then depth is a great thing. Yea we could use help on the wings (and other positions) but I don't see us as having a glut at any position.

Modeling your game after Will. Nice to see we have benchmarks for young players to study. Way to go Will.

[The Beaver]

yeah, maybe we have several decent options at CM, but how many of those are actually ATTACKING midfielders. Hutch isn't even really a natural attacking player. I'd consider three in the middle, with Russell attacking, Hutch box-to-box, and Will destroying. Out wide left: Simpson if he recovers well enough. Right: I don't really know. Simeon? DeRo? REB (someday?)

If JDG still has gas in the tank, then you could push Johnson wide right, but I think he is a better ball-winner than a winger.

[masster]

Remember that Russell is only 20, so he will be in the same generation and could be playing in the same national team midefield as Alderson and Piette if they continue to develop. Plus, if necessary, RT could make the trasition back to the wing a lot easier than Jackson or Ricketts.

[jpg75]

Remember that Russell is only 20, so he will be in the same generation and could be playing in the same national team midefield as Alderson and Piette if they continue to develop.

By that point (2020 SF round) Hutch will be 37 and Johnson will be 33 so we'll need new CM's to come through anyways.

[canucklefan]

Not great for the MNT, since we have a glut of central mids and **** all good natural wing players.

I share your concerns but so far Teibert played his own football as an attacking midfielder, which is good news.

[Soju]

A glut of CMs? Canada? Now? You're kidding, right?

When in the history of the Canuckian national team have we had this kind of depth in the middle of the park?

DeRosario

Hutch

Johnson

JDG

Bernier

Dunfield

Bekker

Pacheco

Piette

Meet the wingers (not strikers/central mids thrown out wide for giggles).

Simpson

Issey

[ag futbol]

I think the sad truth is a little more simplistic: we need more guys who can establish themselves as professional footballers, period.

[Soju]

^Very true in the long-term, but looking ahead to the Gold Cup, I'm scared homie.

We've seen the result of using unnatural wide players for Canada; they can't time overlapping runs, can't cross effectively and rarely win their 1v1s. This is clearly an important role in the international game, as more teams pack the middle and the ensuing congestion requires more creativity on the wings.

Our weakness in this position, along with our lack of finishing, is where Concacrap rivals on our tier have the edge.

Anyway, good for Russell Teibert I'm very happy he's getting playing time.

[Obinna]

I am happy that RT is getting playing time period. I like the idea of playing him as a CAM. Regarding the wings I look to REB and Porter, especially the latter as he is getting pretty good minutes so far this year. If he can maintain this level of game time and start contributing more to DCU attack, that will give us depth on the wings moving forward. I would certainly pick both Porter and Tiebert for our GC squad.

[tmcmurph]

I'd be happy if Russell could start to shoot like Will. Glaring deficiency in his game right now. In Dallas he wasn't playing a central mid role so he was not as noticeable but his miss (way way over the bar) was noticeable. He needs to work on that a lot. In time I'm hoping he'll be our WJ.