Findley, Beckerman, Sturgis, Wingert, Mantilla, Morales, Espindola, Rimando…There is a good core of players here. They play well together, they’re young, they’re talented. Who are the other 3 pieces of RSL’s starting lineup? Who are the players who will push them to play beyond themselves? 3 Defenders, 3 Midfielders, and a striker. In my mind, This means Kreis should be on a quest for at least 1 defender, 1 midfielder, and 1 striker who can start for this club. The result will be a starting eleven which could do some damage this year. He has 4 international slots to use, and 4 roster spots to hit 28. That plus a good draft would put RSL in a position to seriously analyze the players they are carrying on their roster. Having to make hard choices about the potential of young talented players and seasoned veterans who might not be up to the curve is an enviable position which if Kreis plays his cards right, he could be in this year. Much has been said about the laundry-list of players released by RSL this November. Crowd favorites Watson and Jimenez were among the casualties, which ruffled a few feathers. I thought I’d take a few minutes to look at
A back line of:
Forko—–Mantilla——Sturgis——Wingert
Mantilla and Sturgis are clearly our two strongest choices for center. Mantilla will play a natural sweeper, and Sturgis is a tenacious defender with good speed and vision. He is certainly my first choice to play a stopper role with the players we have. Wingert is a strong outside left back, and can play the right. Forko is stronger on the left, but not as strong as Wingert. This line would do in a pinch, but a few things worry me. 1. I would rather have a better starting outside back than Forko; 2. That that leaves us with Kirby, Kotschau and Besagno and Lancos as our remaining defenders…4 central players.Kirby was actually surprisingly good in the playing time he had. He wasn’t flashy, but had good positioning and read the game well, while minimizing mistakes. He looked nervous as all get out, but played remarkably well. Lancos and Kotschau both had a couple of games last year where they looked good. Specifically, Lancos had a really solid game at right back in game 3 of the RMC. On the other hand, both had some absolutely putrid outings this year. Perhaps not so monumentally bad as Stewarts early outings, but bad enough to leave the taste of serious doubt in my mind. Both are seriously under pace, and either one in the line-up make me nervous. Besagno has pace, but NO outside technique. I like his ability in the air, and I saw him play very well in 2007. He’s actually my second choice at central defense for when Sturgis has U-23 commitments. We clearly need another experienced option at outside right back.
Midfield is a strange kettle of fish for RSL. Beckerman is a force, but Kreis can’t seem to give him a defined role, preferring to let him rove offensively and defensively. A healthy Morales is an unknown commodity, but an unhealthy Morales was a substantial unifying force in the center. I have to hope that healthy he’ll be able to do substantially more. The use of Espindola on the outside is something I think has great promise. He has the foot-skill to accommodate what isn’t blazing speed. He is a steadying influence in that he plays good posession ball, has decent crosses, though prefers to slot passes behind the retreating defense. Talley…when he decides he is going to control the game, he can…he’s an emotional player who carried the team during several games in 2006, but seemed uncomfortable and ineffective in Kreis’ new midfield strategy…if that’s an apt description. I really liked how dangerous Atiba Harris looked in his one outing at outside midfield(Chivas 8/26). It seems like the ideal place to play him, though Kreis and I apparently differ on this point as well. Outside of that, we’ve got Andy, who can be a God, or a total hindrance to the flow of play depending on how he plays on that day. We have Kenny Cutler, who may or may not recover well from his season ending injury. Outside of that, we’ve got a bunch of forwards who might be able to play there. I would like to see us pick up a solid outside midfielder…but I’d also like Kreis to make a concerted effort to determine how he wants to play his midfield. Whenever I look at this batch, I say…yes, we’ve got some talented players who can play midfield, but I don’t think we have the right batch for a 4-5-1 unless Kreis wants to rethink how RSL plays it. Either way, it seems to me that we are forward heavy and midfield shy. I would like to see us pick up 2-3 midfielders.
At forward…
Esky, Sisy, Kyle Brown, and Findley…Plus Harris and Espindola, depending on how you see the roster. Sisy and Findley are a promising pair, but neither is lighting up the league right now. Esky had a wretched season in 2007, hard to imagine your veteran striker being less productive and still staying employed. I can remember seeing combinations with most of these players together last year and never saw the chemistry. I like the idea of playing Sisy and Findley together, but let’s face facts…RSL NEEDS an effective striker most of all. We can’t go through another season with this anemic attack without some substantial upgrades in play on defense and in the midfield.
Well, there you have it, I’ll do some work on looking at draft picks soon. Until then, weather the storm.
-Heretic
December 3, 2007
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