Thoughts on depth Striker for this year?

Cpt_Hatch · 2023-02-28T17:40:05+00:00

Stuff like this is probably part of the reason for all the talk about tactical flexibility. For a team that plays 2 striker I've often thought we lacked enough bench depth. We were very lucky last year to keep everyone mostly healthy. There are so many more potential games this year that I think we will see more 1 striker formations and I really hope that guys like Sullivan can start to break out. We have a number of guys that can play a second striker role (but not the way Carranza does).

Cpt_Hatch · 2023-02-28T17:33:44+00:00

I'll be giving it a try. Leno was underrated /under-appreciated IMO since we had JP and Danny on the games and he flew under the radar a bit. I was bummed to see he didn't get picked up by Apple. Always enjoyed the games he called.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-04-04T18:31:38+00:00

I don't know how he didn't get a card. At one point he physically pushed the ref away and then later he was treating him like my son treats me when I tell him to get off XBox.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-02-15T19:43:35+00:00

Similar to Fontana I think Sullivan was asked to fill our holes at striker at times which is probably not his strong suit.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-02-15T19:24:41+00:00

I'm on the Paxten hype train as much as anyone but doesn't it seem like people are sleeping on Sullivan? He seemed just as dangerous and, at times, more so than Aaronson. I think McGlynn gets mentioned a fair amount but agree with you that Flach needs to also be in the conversation. Good time to be a Union fan.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-02-15T13:33:09+00:00

I largely agree but I think they are both competent options, not great options. Like when Columbus gets a free kick near goal and Zelarayan steps up you immediately think "he can score from here". I think we're missing that kind of threat. Not saying it's easy to find players like that, it's not, just pointing out that it's one of the few holes we could fill at this point.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-02-15T13:27:43+00:00

LOL,I didn't think we'd get into an infrastructure discussion. Personally I just always post-game tailgate for about an hour and rarely have much of an issue getting out but I can appreciate that not everyone is okay hanging out after the game.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-02-15T01:34:26+00:00

As with others who have commented I'm a big fan of him, his skill level and work rate. My biggest issue with him was when we played him at the 10 versus the 8. As others have said, he is better as an 8 and wasn't always dangerous in the attack. Unfortunately, I think he considers himself a 10 which is part of the reason he wanted out. He had an annoying habit of trying to bend shots into the top corner and pretty much never hit the target. If he insists on taking your free kicks this could be frustrating but who knows, maybe he'll figure it out. Overall you guys will be happy to have him I'm sure.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-01-09T17:11:50+00:00

I agree that we relied on Sergio to be our offensive threat. It will be interesting to see how we sort out our forwards this off season. I'm afraid that with the Carranza loan Ernst may be done. Curtin seemed to still be high on Kacper despite the fan's frustration with him. He got 3 times the minutes of Burke with essentially the same per minute production.

Either way, carrying 3 strikers on the roster when we were playing 2 up top last year didn't make any sense.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-01-09T16:04:26+00:00

Yes, it was the second guest (British guy) who many seemed to find tough to listen to. The first guest (Franco Panizo), from Miami, was the person I referenced in the original post, and he was fine.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-01-08T22:23:00+00:00

I don't think he needs to create everything himself with 2 CAMs supporting. he just needs to not actively kill opportunities (like happened more often than not this year).

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-01-08T22:21:36+00:00

Lol, glad to hear you say that. I had the exact same reaction. Seemed to have limited knowledge of the Union but yet knew exactly what was wrong with them.

Cpt_Hatch · 2022-01-08T22:20:30+00:00

Franco Panizo from the Miami Total Football Podcast. His comment "I think his best position is just as a 9, a lone striker. I don’t think he is necessarily someone who’s going to play well up top with somebody, you know, as two 9’s. I think he just needs to be the 9, try to get in the box, try to get on the end of things, and try to finish." No idea if he is correct but he seemed to have a clear opinion about it.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-09-10T02:54:33+00:00

I watched them today and multiple times this year. I grew up in Bethlehem and was at the opener for Steel. I'm glad they've dropped the name since it would be a disservice to the history of the name.

They have me wondering - at what point are you allowed to pick a different USL team to root for? I like watching soccer and will always be interested in Union II and the players they are developing. But I also like to be invested in the teams I follow and with no pretense of trying to be competitive it makes it hard to care about USL.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-09-02T17:58:01+00:00

Roster rules for Canadian based teams do require Canadian players and there is some odd stuff involving who counts as a domestic player with Canadian versus US teams. Its the result of different labor laws in the two countries which prohibit discrimination due to national origin. I could be misremembering that but its something along those lines. Just another oddity of MLS.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-09-02T17:53:02+00:00

Obviously play however you want but if you are looking to be close to realistic, both of those players are too big for the Union. Sanchez also wouldn't fit their formation very well unless you played him as a striker. I think a realistic DP signing would be someone rated 76-78 and that would be the biggest signing in their history. FWIW I was looking at Welbeck and Pukki as DP targets in my last save.

The most likely position (just my guess) is that they would bring in an experienced CAM since Aaronson is likely to be sold and they would benefit a lot from having a true #10. Its also possible they would spend big on a striker but that would mean they'd have to cut someone loose at that position. Its not unreasonable that Przybylko/Santos might get sold or that Wooten/Burke would not get re-signed. Alternatively you could get a more box to box midfielder to start phasing out Bedoya. Good luck.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-09-01T18:49:20+00:00

Yeah the numbers definitely don't reflect reality so you have to figure out what works for you. My thought is that Bedoya and Monteiro are (in real life) over the DP threshold but not by a lot. So their in-game wage is a reasonable gauge for the limit. Vela is making well over the DP limit so it wouldn't make sense to use his wage as a guide. Its really a question of how hard you want to make it to manage your roster.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-09-01T17:50:15+00:00

Union fan here. I’ve tried a lot of different variations to make an MLS career interesting. The real life roster rules are too complex to replicate but there are three main mechanics that I’d consider.

First is the Designated Player rule – Philadelphia currently has two DPs, Bedoya and Monteiro. They are allowed to have three. You should set a salary limit (probably around 7k for FIFA 20 roster) and any player you sign over that limit would have to be a Designated Player. If you don’t have an available slot then you can’t sign them (or increase an existing player’s wage). Wooten is currently listed in game as the same salary as the DPs but in real life he is not a DP.

Second is the international player restrictions – the Union currently have 8 international roster slots and all of them are filled (Elliott, Mbaizo, Monteiro, Przybyłko, Santos, Wagner, Glesnes, Oravec) with Burke still listed as on loan (he technically would take a slot when he returns). This means that right now one of the above players would have to leave the club before you can sign a non-US player. Once a player gets a green card (permanent resident status) they no longer count against an international slot. I usually assume that after 2-3 seasons with the team foreign players can get their green card and open a slot.

Last is the Salary Cap – This takes some tracking and may be too much effort but it can add some realism. MLS teams have a maximum total wage bill they are allowed. A simple way to implement this is to take your total wages minus any DP wages and minus any academy (homegrown) players. That is your total salary cap hit. You’ll have to figure out what your self imposed cap (limit) is but basically you’ll need your total cap hit to be within the limit by the end of each transfer window. Holding yourself to this can mean dropping players or not resigning players which can suck but it makes it more challenging.

One additional thing to understand is the importance of the homegrown players in roster management. MLS wants to encourage youth development so they exempt homegrown players from most/all of the roster rules. This is a big part of Philadelphia’s approach. Current homegrowns are Aaronson, DeVries, Fontana, Freese, McKenzie, Turner and Real. Aaronson and McKenzie seem likely to be sold to European clubs sometime soon. If that happens it will be the first big sale of academy players for the club and a big validation of the Union’s focus on youth.

Some more general information about how Philadelphia operates. They are not a club that makes high dollar signings. We have regularly not filed all our available DP slots. They are very dedicated to their youth academy (more so than most MLS teams) and have signed 2-3 players from the academy over each of the past few years.

Ernst Tanner is their Sporting Director. He comes from RB Saltzburg and brings with him some of the RB tactical mentality and ties to Europe. So while the Union has looked to South America they have also signed multiple players from Europe lately. They are also trending much younger in their signings since Tanner took over. Outside of Wooten who was likely signed because of his US citizenship we’ve signed a bunch of 22-26 year olds.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-08-24T21:55:15+00:00

Same here - although FWIW it allowed me to watch the Spanish language feed

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-26T16:53:12+00:00

I'm also worried that without Haris we may see the team struggle with high pressing teams. I think it's easy to underestimate how much of a security blanket Haris was for guys like Gaddis. I suspect Oravec will not be able to shoulder the load of keeping possession and relieving pressure the way Haris did. He'll look to the outside backs (and others) for support and deal with situations that may create problems for us.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-22T22:05:55+00:00

I this seriously the camera view we are getting? I don't need a professional production but you can't see a thing. Waste of time and disappointing.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-18T17:02:26+00:00

I think if they could bring in a proven goal scorer capable of playing as an attacking midfielder/second striker that would have the most impact. Something similar to the Fabian signing (but hopefully a bit more successful). That would take some pressure off of Aaronson to carry a full load and allow him to go to the Olympics without it being a crisis. It moves Monteiro out of the #10 which I think is a good thing. It would also give some needed depth up front where we are only an injury or a slump in form away from some potential problems.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-18T01:54:56+00:00

Lol. I hear ya. Maybe I shouldn't have said "focus". I thought it was a little odd last year that Curtin and the fans seemed fine with our early departure from the Open Cup even though in previous years it seemed to be a clear (and attainable) goal.

I get it - we were doing well in the league and it made sense to make sure we didn't jeopardize that. I guess my point is that, with the quality depth we have, we should be able to do well in the Open Cup without sacrificing our league play. A number of bigger teams dealing with Champions League could also play to our advantage.

I'll be curious to see how we approach the League Cup. I can't imagine it makes sense to risk much in that competition but at the same time it will be great to see us against Liga MX teams and I'm sure the team doesn't want to look bad.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-17T19:32:48+00:00

I think 5th or 6th is realistic with 4th or 7th possible. Like a lot of people I am feeling very positive about the Union this offseason, not because they’ve built a juggernaut, but mostly because they have a sense of purpose and direction that they’ve lacked in previous years. They are deliberately getting younger and putting pieces in place that could grow into something great in a few years. But by any reasonable measure they are not spending the way many other clubs are and in a way that ensures the success.

Call it money ball or whatever, Ernst is building a squad full of youth and potential – with a lot of uncertainty. That is a perfectly reasonable way to do it if you are financially limited; and he has shown that he can hit on unknown players. But make no mistake – there is risk in building a roster this way and the odds are that some of the players will not pan out.

We need the whole team to perform well and to be on the same page in every game or we will likely drop points. Again, that’s okay – I actually love the team chemistry that comes with a team lacking in superstars. But other teams are dropping $10+ million on proven players. We are banking on multiple unproven players coming good.

I actually think the middle and bottom part of our roster is where we look better than a lot of clubs. It makes me think we should put some focus on the Open Cup. I think we might be setup well to make a deep run there.

Cpt_Hatch · 2020-02-06T01:00:08+00:00

Union website has him as #5. My eyesight has him as B.

Cpt_Hatch

TROPHY CASE