Absolutely, Steve. Your breakdown is spot-on and those moments of falling back into comfort zones are painfully obvious to observe as a fan.
This team is making way too many mistakes on the ball, both technical and tactical. Honestly, with a coach from La Liga, I would have expected the passing to be much sharper by now. We saw these same issues last season and it's frustrating to see them persist.
As a FCD fan, I want to see some fire out there and some clear adjustments in order to start seeing positive results.
How much of the problem in the attacking cohesion and connectedness (is that a word?) is Ferreira? I like him, but he's not what you'd call flexible -- he does what Steve illustrates here and always has, drifting into spaces where he's comfortable, whether that helps or not (sometimes to an extreme, like last season playing as the 9 but showing up behind a fullback in his own half of the field in one game, to the fullback's surprise). He has a lot of ability at this level, but he's never shown much ability to adapt. It feels like the formation change was primarily about putting him in places where he's comfortable, but he has to evolve, too -- showing some willingness to make those near-post runs, for instance.
The passing issue, as mentioned, stands out, too. It was really apparent in the Montreal game, right out of the gate. One team moved the ball quickly, fluidly and accurately and one struggled to move the ball.
No arguments here with anything you said. Jesus is a talent, for sure -- but sometimes a player has to understand, it's always about fitting into the system, not the system fitting into you
How much of the decision to switch to the 3-back formation do you think was based on his makeup and how he prefers to play (as opposed to the broader need to generate more goals and whatever the club's plans were to sign a more traditional 9)?
Unrelated, but any thoughts about the signing of the CB from North Texas and his ability to help plug the big back-line holes the club has on the roster? It makes me really uneasy that the coaching staff apparently didn't believe they could play Gonzalez at all vs Red Bull.
The formation switch was about 1) generating more offense by pulling teams out of the low block everyone was using against Dallas and 2) better use of Ferreira. As for the CB situation, Nico thought NYRB was a particularly poor matchup for Omar
One other question. Are they unable or unwilling to counter attack? I seems like every possession is so ponderous, it allows the opponent plenty of time to regroup and organize. I guess Estévez brought that Spanish style of football with him, but it doesn't seem like FC Dallas has the delicate technical skill to break down a fully set defense. Thoughts?
I really think Nico WANTS more counter attack ... and bit more "direct" play once the defense has been drawn out. That was the entire idea behind 3-4-2-1. It's about balance, about understanding WHEN to be patient, and then when to see the gaps and opportunities to attack. Asier Illarramendi is a player who understands and SEES those gaps. And he has the quality to make the pass in those moments. Sometimes I think FCD players need a little more of that, a little re-balance to more "risk" and less "patience" just as you suggest
Absolutely, Steve. Your breakdown is spot-on and those moments of falling back into comfort zones are painfully obvious to observe as a fan.
This team is making way too many mistakes on the ball, both technical and tactical. Honestly, with a coach from La Liga, I would have expected the passing to be much sharper by now. We saw these same issues last season and it's frustrating to see them persist.
As a FCD fan, I want to see some fire out there and some clear adjustments in order to start seeing positive results.
How much of the problem in the attacking cohesion and connectedness (is that a word?) is Ferreira? I like him, but he's not what you'd call flexible -- he does what Steve illustrates here and always has, drifting into spaces where he's comfortable, whether that helps or not (sometimes to an extreme, like last season playing as the 9 but showing up behind a fullback in his own half of the field in one game, to the fullback's surprise). He has a lot of ability at this level, but he's never shown much ability to adapt. It feels like the formation change was primarily about putting him in places where he's comfortable, but he has to evolve, too -- showing some willingness to make those near-post runs, for instance.
The passing issue, as mentioned, stands out, too. It was really apparent in the Montreal game, right out of the gate. One team moved the ball quickly, fluidly and accurately and one struggled to move the ball.
No arguments here with anything you said. Jesus is a talent, for sure -- but sometimes a player has to understand, it's always about fitting into the system, not the system fitting into you
How much of the decision to switch to the 3-back formation do you think was based on his makeup and how he prefers to play (as opposed to the broader need to generate more goals and whatever the club's plans were to sign a more traditional 9)?
Unrelated, but any thoughts about the signing of the CB from North Texas and his ability to help plug the big back-line holes the club has on the roster? It makes me really uneasy that the coaching staff apparently didn't believe they could play Gonzalez at all vs Red Bull.
The formation switch was about 1) generating more offense by pulling teams out of the low block everyone was using against Dallas and 2) better use of Ferreira. As for the CB situation, Nico thought NYRB was a particularly poor matchup for Omar
One other question. Are they unable or unwilling to counter attack? I seems like every possession is so ponderous, it allows the opponent plenty of time to regroup and organize. I guess Estévez brought that Spanish style of football with him, but it doesn't seem like FC Dallas has the delicate technical skill to break down a fully set defense. Thoughts?
I really think Nico WANTS more counter attack ... and bit more "direct" play once the defense has been drawn out. That was the entire idea behind 3-4-2-1. It's about balance, about understanding WHEN to be patient, and then when to see the gaps and opportunities to attack. Asier Illarramendi is a player who understands and SEES those gaps. And he has the quality to make the pass in those moments. Sometimes I think FCD players need a little more of that, a little re-balance to more "risk" and less "patience" just as you suggest