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tkmedia · 3 years
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U.S. coach Matarazzo opens up on Bundesliga journey
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4:21 AM ETESPN's lead Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae provides a weekly column with an inside view of the German game. This week, Derek has an exclusive one-on-one interview with VfB Stuttgart manager Pellegrino Matarazzo.As he embarks on his second Bundesliga season as a head coach, Matarazzo is making fans, particularly in his country of birth, the USA, sit up and take notice. The son of Italian immigrants, raised in New Jersey, educated at Columbia University, Matarazzo is now working at the highest level of the game in a country where football truly matters. He wanted to play football in Europe and was prepared to do it the hard way, starting in the German lower divisions at Eintracht Bad Kreuznach. Matarazzo's rise to prominence is down to his own commitment to hard work and an ability to quickly immerse himself in a new culture.Timing is of course everything, and Stuttgart find themselves top of the pile after a 5-1 victory over Greuther Furth. I'm commentating on their match for the Bundesliga world feed on Friday when Matarazzo and his team travel to RB Leipzig to face another American coach in Jesse Marsch (2:20 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+, US only). Ahead of that match, here's my conversation with Matarazzo.- ESPN+ viewers' guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.) - Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)ESPN: Pellegrino, I was doing an event with Jurgen Klinsmann a few months ago and brought your name up as an American coach in the Bundesliga. He chuckled and said yes, sometimes we forget that Pellegrino is actually American and not German. Do you take that as a compliment?Matarazzo: I don't take it as a compliment, or a criticism, I take it as it is. I think the fact that I didn't play in the professional leagues in the States, that I came over after college to Europe, to play ball. I think people forget I'm American also because I have an Italian first and last name, growing up with an Italian background in the States. I think there are several reasons for it. Like I said, no compliments accepted and no criticism.ESPN: You come across almost as a citizen of the world, and somebody who's very focused on the job you're doing rather than representing one nationality or another.Matarazzo: Absolutely. When I was in the States, people used to call me "the Italian," and when I was in Italy, they called me "the American." Now, I'm "the Italian American." So I'm pretty much just focused on who I am and what I'm doing at the moment. Of course, I have family back in the States and friends and I follow what's going on. So there's still a connection there. But where I belong? That's a good question.ESPN: Even though you've been in Germany for a long time and have a German family, I know you try to go back to New Jersey once a year. Were you able to do it this year?Matarazzo: During my playing days -- I played nine years -- I tried to squeeze out every day possible. If the break was three weeks, I would be there for three weeks minus one day. So I was there as often as I could be. And since meeting my wife and my son was born, it's been less, but I try to get back at least once a year. But with corona, it has been difficult with the flights being closed up. The last time I saw my family had been, they were over here for a cup game against Leverkusen. That was a year and a half ago. But fortunately, I've now had some guests arriving with my dad, my brothers coming in and two of my best friends from the States here for the first Bundesliga match.Derek Rae, ESPN's TV voice of the Bundesliga, brings us his weekly columns on why Germany, its language and its football are part of his identity. ESPN: That's great. I know that corona has changed so many things. How have things changed for you as an American coaching a Bundesliga team and those games being available in the U.S. on ESPN+? Has it become clear to you that there's a bigger audience for what you're doing?Matarazzo: Well, you know, we're having this interview. So that's different. I sense family and friends just congratulating me more often. I sense the interest, but I'm very focused on what I'm doing here. So I don't often follow the newspapers or the internet. I follow what the U.S. national team is doing. I do sense the interest growing in who I am, but like I said, I just keep my head down. I'm just working through things here.ESPN: Those of us who work in the Bundesliga are always telling the wider audience about your story. As an American by upbringing, you've been a trailblazer. But there's now another American coach in the Bundesliga, admittedly from a very different path. You did it very much the hard way, some would say. Jesse Marsch has arrived in Leipzig and you're going to see him on matchday 2. Do you know him? Have you met him? Have you had any conversations with him so far?Matarazzo: We've met when he was assistant at Leipzig. We spoke for several minutes after the game. So we've had contact one or two times. And of course, I'm excited to see him again and just congratulate him for what a great job he's been doing. Certainly the paths are different paths. I don't know if I would call myself a trailblazer as I'm not the first. Joe Enochs comes to mind who also played in Germany. I think it's definitely a path someone can take: play overseas, stay for a while, pretty much just work your ass off and sacrifice everything that meant anything to you in the world and get to where you can. I think it's definitely a possibility. But paths are different and I'm excited to see Jesse at the game.ESPN: And I'm sure you will have an interesting chat. What's been interesting to me is that the coverage of Jesse has been quite different. And he has been spoken in the German press as somebody who's very American in his ways. He's very open with the players, he doesn't come from the traditional German school. What's your way of dealing with your players? Is it more the German way after so many years in this culture?Matarazzo: I'd like to think I have the best mix of all cultures. There are definitely strengths in the direct German culture that I like a lot and adapt to my style. I also think the optimism and the positive energy, the American culture is also within me. I try to bring that to the team and always search for strengths, see strengths, use strengths, to work together as a unit. Yeah, I think there's a good mix going on right now, at least that's the feeling that I have.ESPN: Jurgen Klopp once said if the setup at a club is all wrong, as a coach, you have no chance. The setup in Stuttgart with CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger and sporting director Sven Mislintat has been widely praised. Do you feel lucky that, having walked through the door there, you're working in a positive environment as opposed to having to worry about what's going on behind the scenes as some coaches might?Matarazzo: I don't know if I would call it luck or a decision. That was pretty much the first conversation we had. It's not just making a decision, it's me as well. This wasn't the first option I had to work as a head coach. At the time it was a second-division offer, which I had previously declined.Before Jesse Marsch took over RB Leipzig, Pellegrino Matarazzo was the original trailblazing American coach in the Bundesliga. Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty ImagesFor me, it's very important that the group works and that there's a very good energy, there's constructive criticism. The level of communication also within the leadership group has to be productive. And that was part of my decision for VfB Stuttgart. Not just the amazing history and culture behind the club, and the fan base that it has, but also the people I'm working with. So that was the first step. I think as much as luck, it was also a decision that was made to be able to work with such great guys like Thomas, Sven and Markus .ESPN: Fans are always interested in how this works, day to day in the Bundesliga. Mislintat is an expert in squad building and that normally is his territory, but as we know, the German language has a great word for striking such a balance: mitspracherecht -- the right to have a say, or input. How much input do you have?Matarazzo: Yeah, it's definitely a working relationship. I don't think it makes sense for Sven to transfer or sign any players that I'm not happy with. So I'm always involved in every decision that's made. I'm aware of the players from the very beginnings of interest. I look at the players and I give my feedback. At the end of the day, it's his decision to press the green button, whether or not we sign the player or not. But I'm very involved in all the discussions.ESPN: Mislintat recently told Kicker magazine that, having transferred Nicolas Gonzalez and Gregor Kobel and taken in more than €38 million, Stuttgart now no longer need to move on anyone else in this window. Does that give you a more settled feel about the squad?Matarazzo: Sure, I think the sooner the roster's set, the sooner you stabilise. That's the general feeling. But I'm always focused on the players on the field at that moment. So I work with each player and the squads until the moment where someone leaves or somebody comes in. So I don't worry too much, I don't speculate much. So I assume things will not change much 'til the end of the transfer window. But if they do, then they do. And I adjust, we adjust. I don't unsettle easily, I stay focused. But of course, the sooner the roster is set, the more you can plan.ESPN: Stuttgart were great to watch last season and are off to a flyer this time around. We're using a few German words, but I think sometimes they convey the situation better than the words that exist in English. Tell me about the importance of umschaltmomente (transitional moments) -- in your way of thinking.Matarazzo: Of course, it goes without saying that they're very important. Moments where space opens, where there's disorder. I think in the first half of last season we scored many goals on transitional moments, pressing high up and scoring quick goals, but towards the end, we had less. It has to do with who you have on the pitch, who's performing or where are their strengths. So it depends on the players you have and how they work together as a unit.2 RelatedWe're not just about transitioning, we're also about creative, constructive buildup using easily flexible structures to create problems for the opponent. And then defending also in different heights. You know, there are games where we press very high and games where we sit very deep and counter. For me, it's also a lot about being flexible and solution oriented. So what does the opponent do and where are they vulnerable? Then to use these points of vulnerability that coincide with our strengths to hurt them. So that's my way of thinking, and try to, like I said, create patterns and structures that means we can always pull something out of the box that works on gameday.ESPN: Sasa Kalajdzic and Borna Sosa received plaudits for scoring and setting up goals last season, but I noticed in the recent cup win, you singled out a less heralded player for praise: Atakan Karazor. A good sign and a positive step that many in the squad are contributing?Matarazzo: I think the media signals out players that score goals and have assists, but I've always seen value in every player that's on the field and on the roster. To me it's important to see the the human being, see the individual, see their strengths and foster their strengths and bring them out on the field. So I see Ata doing a great job and just having such a big impact on the game, then I mentioned it, I strengthened him, and then you continue to work forward with him. So I think we always had that. The question is, if that's the next step, that's going to be the next step that the media decides to pick up. But I always think it's important to single out the players that have done a lot of good work behind the scenes.ESPN: I remember when no one really knew what Kalajdzic's best position was. Now he's a fully fledged international striker who scored 16 goals last season. What has been the key to his success?Matarazzo: Sasa is a very talented individual, who's not only very dangerous in the box, but knows when and where to make runs. As you know, he has great size and a great, great heading game, but he's also a creative player, and technical player that can also help buildup and create chances for other players. I think if you see our goal in preseason against Liverpool, it's a perfect example where he sets up, puts the ball through to Borna Sosa and then gets back in the box and works a give-and-go with Philipp Forster and creates that goal almost single-handedly. So he's not just about scoring goals. He has learned to use his technique and his eye to help other players shine. He's a very complete player.ESPN: As a club you've had to work through corona issues in the buildup to the season. How challenging has that been?Matarazzo: I mean, we've gotten used to the process and to the testing, and a lot of the players are also vaccinated now. So it's less regulations. I think we're most influenced when players test positive. We've had three players recently but there's of course an effect not just on the three but also on the team and the feeling that you have within the squad. But these things have happened not just to our club but to other clubs, that we've learned to deal with. Take it day by day and always adjust to the current situation. And it's been difficult, but we're getting through it.ESPN: As an applied mathematics graduate from an esteemed university, Columbia University in New York, how well does that prepare you for the world of high-level football coaching? What are the areas of convergence?Matarazzo: My structure of thought and logic is something I've taken with me throughout the years. I think when we start talking about data and data models, it's no problem for me to work with our data scientists on a good level basis. So I think there are definitely points where it's been an advantage. But I'm not a nerd behind the scenes looking after every game at all the numbers. And it's kind of funny, I see myself more leaning towards the human being and what he's feeling. But like I said, based on similar thought structure that I used to have when I was studying at school.Pellegrino Matarazzo's Stuttgart sit atop the Bundesliga table after the opening weekend of fixtures. Andreas Gora/picture alliance via Getty ImagesESPN: Following on from that, I studied German when I was very young, always my favourite subject, and my old German teacher used to tell me that anybody who was exceptional at mathematics had a very good chance with the German language because of the intricacies of the grammar. And you know all about that having gone from not knowing a word of German to speaking it magnificently. Any tie-in there, as far as you're concerned, between mathematics and German?Matarazzo: It's a good question. The language is very intricate, and very, very mechanical. And I think a language where you can really, truly express deep thought, which is fantastic. I'm very, very happy, very grateful that I've been able to learn this language. And I did learn it relatively quickly, I think. So maybe there's a tie there, but I'm not certain.ESPN: I imagine your wife has helped a bit on that front too?Matarazzo: Sure. When I met my wife, I had been here for a year and a half and was already speaking German. But then we started, even though she could speak English, we decided to speak German together and then it just kind of exploded in one direction. That was definitely a big help to learn the language when I met my wife.ESPN: You worked at TSG Hoffenheim under Julian Nagelsmann. Am I right in thinking that the family home is still in the Kraichgau area?Matarazzo: That is the case. We lived in Nuremberg for 11 years. My wife and son stayed there another extra two years while I was at Hoffenheim, and then I moved them over to Kraichgau in August of 2019. Because it was time for us to be together again, and then four months later, Stuttgart came along.So now I have an apartment here in Stuttgart, my wife and my son are still in Kraichgau. It's only an hour and 15 driving distance, so it's easy to see each other on weekends, and maybe once during the week. I think it's important not to take my son out of school on a regular basis. So when he moved into high school, we decided that was the time to move from Nuremberg to Kraichgau to let him finish up school there unless something happens internationally, but that's not my plan. My plan is VfB Stuttgart and this distance is manageable.ESPN: American fans might wonder, could you see yourself in the USA again one day? Is it something that you ever think about?Matarazzo: It would definitely be a transition. First and foremost because of soccer language. I think I would need at least a few weeks to readjust. My aunts and uncles complain that when I speak English, I speak with a German accent. I'd have to eliminate my accent to be able to work there again. And with the States, I'm not closing any doors, but if I made the move back then it would definitely have to be close to the family. So, New York area. So we'll see. I'm very focused on what I'm doing now. And I'm very happy to be here with Stuttgart. Everything else is just kind of not something you can plan. Read the full article
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gadgetsrevv · 5 years
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Sergino Dest could be U.S. Soccer’s ‘Next Big Thing’ but even if he’s not, he’s proof of progress
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Gregg Berhalter speaks highly of new USMNT first team members Sergino Dest and Paxton Pomykal, after naming his 26-player squad for upcoming friendlies.
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Gregg Berhalter previews USMNT vs. Mexico and how Josh Sargent used missing out on the Gold Cup as a positive.
The list of American soccer’s Next Big Things extends back further than you might think, at least all the way to Steve Snow.
Uh, who?
Snow was the Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year in 1988. In suburban Chicago, he scored a goal in 49 consecutive high school games and earned a place on the 1989 U.S. Under-20 World Cup team. Snow scored five goals in seven qualification games and then another three more at the tournament in Saudi Arabia, where the U.S. came in fourth, still their best-ever U20 finish. After attending Indiana University for a year, he turned pro in 1990 and signed Belgian outfit Standard Liege.
— Borden: Pulisic isn not your wonder boy anymore — Carlisle: Way too early look at USMNT for 2022 — Schoenfeld: Former phenom Adu is not giving up just yet
How good was Snow? Former USMNT midfielder Chris Henderson told MLSSoccer.com in 2014 that, “From 1985-1989, he was the best forward in the country. He was the best goalscorer I’ve ever played with.” However, Snow soon struggled with injuries and had a falling out with U.S. Soccer at the 1992 Olympics. He was benched for the tournament-opening 2-1 loss to Italy, and told reporters after the game, “This team cannot play at all without me. This team wouldn’t be here without me.” He played and scored in both of the side’s remaining group games, but never made another appearance for the full national team. After a couple years of professional indoor soccer, Snow was out of the sport completely by 1995.
This, of course, is a cycle that American soccer fans are by now all too familiar with. There’s a savior identified at a young age. Then there’s a brief period of initial senior-level excitement. Then the impossible expectations are never met, for one reason or another. And then the cycle starts over again, and the U.S. men’s national team remains in the same spot it’s been in for the last 30 years: somewhere between, say, the 15th and 40th best team in the world.
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Could 18-year-old full-back Sergino Dest be U.S. Soccer’s ‘Next Big Thing?’
John O’Brien, Freddy Adu, Juan Agudelo, Bobby Convey, Santino Quaranta, Julian Green, etc. — there’s a starting XI and a full bench worth of prospects who failed to live up to the hype. But the reality is that most youth prospects globally don’t become high-level professional players, and a microscopic sliver of them go on to become what one might consider “world class”. Case and point, in 2007, World Soccer magazine published a list of the 50 most exciting teenagers on the planet. On the cover were Giovani dos Santos, who’s currently playing in Liga MX with Club America, Alexandre Pato, who’s back in Brazil with Sao Paulo after two years in China, and Anderson, who once played for Man United but now plays for Adana Demirspor, a club in the Turkish second division.
“Everyone has their own progress,” USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter told the media on Monday, ahead of the team’s upcoming friendlies against Mexico and Uruguay. “The speed in which they continue to progress is unpredictable.”
The goal for any national soccer federation is to simply create more top-level talent, and the way to do that isn’t to hope for one player to appear and suddenly change a country’s fortunes. Rather, it’s to build an environment where there isn’t just one top prospect in a generation, but 10, so when seven of them don’t pan out, you’re still left with three more. In other words, the more raffle tickets you have, the better your chances of winning.
The U.S. still isn’t close to reaching the kind of talent production seen in France or now England, but things have slowly started to change. Perhaps that’s why there’s an 18-year-old American starting for a team that made the Champions League semifinals last year, and it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.
Sergino Dest was born in Almere, Netherlands in 2000. He initially played for a local club before joining Dutch giants Ajax in 2012. After six seasons in what might be Europe’s premier talent-development factory, Dest was promoted to the Amsterdam club’s second team, Jong Ajax, last year. He made 17 appearances in the Dutch second division and then went on to star for the U.S. at this past summer’s U20 World Cup. Come August, he was starting for Ajax, as they overcame Cypriot power APOEL, 2-0, in Champions League qualification playoff-round. And this week he earned his first USMNT call-up.
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Sergino Dest has broken into the starting XI at Ajax and now must decide between playing internationally for the U.S. or Holland.
“For him, he got his opportunity, he seized his opportunity, and now he’s a starter for Ajax, a semifinalist in the Champions League,” Berhalter said. “That’s an unbelievable story. You can never tell when it happens, who it’s gonna happen to, but Sergino’s in a good moment now, and we wanna capitalize on that.”
Dest, whose mother is Dutch and whose father was an American serviceman stationed in the Netherlands, has all the outlines of a top-tier modern full-back. He’s rangy enough to get up and down the sideline without throwing a team’s defensive structure out of whack, but he’s also comfortable coming infield and functioning from more traditional midfield positions — whether it’s progressing the ball up the field, maintaining possession, or play-making around the opponent’s goal.
He’s got the kind of slick, 360-degree range of movement that’s rare among players who spend most of their minutes cramped up against the sideline. It’s only a couple games, but the youngster completed 90 percent of his passes and won a higher percentage of 50-50 duels than any other full-back during UCL qualification. In the final match against APOEL, a 2-0 home win, he created two chances, in addition to completing a higher percentage of his passes and winning a higher percentage of duels than any other player on the field. Not bad for an 18-year-old.
Ajax were then drawn into a Champions League group with two other Americans: Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, and Lille’s Timothy Weah. Another, Tyler Adams, will also participate in the competition with RB Leipzig. Not one of those players is old enough to buy a beer in the States yet, and they represent a growing trend within U.S. Soccer: there are more Americans playing in professional academies than ever before.
According to US Soccer, the 2017-through-2018 cycle of youth national team players featured around 50 international-based players called in for the U14 through U20 teams. For the 2018-19 cycle, that number jumped up to about 70.
“We have continued to expand our talent identification structure both domestically and abroad, with the goal of locating and developing the best players wherever they are,” said Earnie Stewart, U.S. Soccer’s sporting director. “The results of those efforts are reflected in the makeup of our youth national team rosters, and will ultimately benefit the senior team.”
At the 2009 U20 World Cup, 10 of the U.S.’s 21 players were either playing college soccer at the time or were associated with American clubs below the MLS level. Only three guys on that roster were playing for European teams at the time. Fast forward 10 years, and every player on this past summer’s team was either with an MLS side or a European club. In fact, more than half of that roster came from Europe. Thanks to globalized scouting networks at most top clubs and an increasing interest and investment in American players, just about every big club in Europe now has at least one American somewhere in its pipeline.
Stateside, every MLS club now has its own academy, and all but two of them (Minnesota and D.C. United) are free. One added side effect of MLS’s continued expansion is the growth of affordable, high-level training in a sport that has tended to weed out lower-income, non-white kids due to high participation costs or lack of a nearby club. The U.S. remains humongous and 24 MLS clubs aren’t close enough to cover it, but the current situation is better than the one where Clint Dempsey‘s parents had to completely rearrange their lives just so their son could get to and from practice.
On the most recent USMNT roster of 26 players, 10 spent time in an MLS academy and another 10 were at a European club before their 21st birthday. Tyler Adams, who isn’t on the current roster due to injury but is expected to be one of the team’s stars over the next decade, came up through the New York Red Bull academy and then signed with RB Leipzig when he was 19. Weston McKennie came up with FC Dallas and joined Schalke when he was 18. When healthy, both of them are already starters for two of the better clubs in the Bundesliga. While Christian Pulisic has shown enough to suggest that America’s Next Big Thing might finally actually become The Big Thing, he’s also going to be flanked by a collection of young talent that exists, in part, because of a developmental environment that never existed for a prior generation.
Whether that group actually includes Dest isn’t a sure thing yet. Although he’s represented the US at U17 and U20 levels, he is still eligible to play for the Netherlands. If he does end up representing the country in which he was born, that could end up being a big blow the USMNT. Long-term, though, the goal should be to finally get to the point where the future of a single player isn’t so closely tied with the future fortunes of the team. The numbers aren’t there yet, but they’re moving in the right direction.
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365footballorg-blog · 6 years
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Davies: New York Red Bulls finally look like Chris Armas' team in LAFC win
August 6, 201810:58AM EDT
In Sunday night’s first-ever matchup between the New York Red Bulls and LAFC, we saw a Red Bulls team return to their familiar style of play – and winning ways – by continuing to implement their high press, letting the opposing team have possession and capitalizing on turnovers and counterattacks.
Head coach Chris Armas finally looks confident in his ability to lead this team since Jesse Marsch’s departure for RB Leipzig, and it appears that confidence has translated to his players.
When a new coach comes in midseason, it’s vital for him or her to take control of the locker room. A new coach must gain respect from his players, if he doesn’t already have it. To do that, he needs to give clear instructions to the team, have a philosophy that the players buy into and have everyone understand clearly their role within the squad.
When the results come, it strengthens the coach’s case. However, Armas was previously RBNY’s first assistant. He already has a relationship with the players, and trust – he wouldn’t be the head coach if it were otherwise. Now he just needs to prove that he can deliver results as the man in charge.
As an assistant, you give your thoughts and input to help the head coach make the final decision. But in his new role, Armas is now the man tasked with making those decisions. He must decide the correct substitutions to make and when to make them, sometimes making on-the-fly tactical changes.
In-game management is not easy. In Sunday’s game, Armas did a great job of making those changes at the right time, with the right players. Alex Muyl was the first man on and provided a good spark off the bench. He was dynamic and added energy for his team when they needed it most. Derrick Etienne Jr. entered next and added quality and was lively. Then with his last sub, Armas brought in Connor Lade to lock the game down.
As the head coach, man management is one aspect that you can control. You have to be in tune with your players. I never understood when a coach didn’t take the time to know the players individually and figure out the best way to coach them. All players are different in how they get motivated. Figuring out each player’s mentality and what makes them tick is key to a successful season.
Playing at FC Sochaux in 2012, I experienced a coaching change in the last third of the season. The new coach that came in was from the club’s academy and stuck with the former coach’s formation, but used his relationship with the players that he had already developed from working with them in the youth system to his advantage.
This method saved the club from relegation. He gave the players confidence and purpose, which allowed them to capitalize on the opportunities being offered. The training sessions were detailed and competitive, making sure that everyone knew what was expected from them. He would constantly be holding conversations with the players so that everyone was on the same page. He stuck to the players that he knew best and his former players fought harder for him because of the faith he showed them.
Armas (center) with his squad | New York Red Bulls
However, at the start of the next season he attempted a completely new system, and changed the players drastically. They got relegated at the end of that campaign.
Armas has been experimenting with new formations and testing players in different positions in recent matches. Most noticeably, he has tinkered with Tyler Adams’ position (playing him at right wing) but he returned him to defensive midfield on Sunday.
It’s clear to me is that this is Adams’ best position. It allows him to focus on what he does well, which is covering ground, breaking up plays and finding the next best option. He isn’t asked to do too much in this role, which allows him to flourish with less pressure on being a playmaker.
In Sunday’s big showdown, the Red Bulls’ high press suffocated LAFC. Marsch built this team from the ground up and implemented these tactics, finding players that fit his system. Sticking to Marsch’s ideology is probably the only successful way they can play given the players that are available.
It’s not possible to play with two forwards, and this is not a team that is meant to keep possession — they would be just an average team without their pressing tactics. If they stick to what they know, they can be as dangerous as they’ve ever been heading into the home stretch of 2018.
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Davies: New York Red Bulls finally look like Chris Armas' team in LAFC win was originally published on 365 Football
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Wiebe: Presenting the All-Underrated Best XI, aka the Dom Badji All-Stars
USA Today Sports Images
April 4, 201811:10AM EDT
If you score your first professional hat trick and it isn’t plastered all over the front page of MLSsoccer.com, I think it’s fair to say you’re living your soccer life under the radar.
Consider this column a mea culpa to striker Dominique Badji, who deserved better after his three goals fueled the Colorado Rapids first win of the season, a 3-0 romp against the Philadelphia Union. By now, you know some guy named Zlatan stole the show in Week 5. In any other week, Badji would be the shoo-in MLS Player of the Week – you can guess how that turned out – and we’d all collectively be singing his praises.
Yet, as so many of you have pointed out to me on Twitter, relative crickets.
No more. I present to you my All-Underrated (and Overlooked) Best XI, also known as the Dom Badji All-Stars. You’ll undoubtedly be rankled by my picks and have suggestions of your own. Feel free to hash that out in the comments section or @ me.
GK: Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
It’s tough to find a starting ‘keeper who hasn’t had their turn in the spotlight, so we go to a relative unknown in the 23-year-old Turner, who signed with the Revs ahead of the 2016 season after going undrafted. Most figured it’d be either Cody Cropper (last year’s starter and US national team hopeful) or Brad Knighton (10-year veteran with 57 MLS starts) who won Brad Friedel’s trust. Instead, Turner’s got four starts, two wins, a massive penalty save and a hold on the job (for now).
LB: Ben Sweat (New York City FC)
I assumed Ronald Matarrita, a Costa Rican international finally healthy after a year out recovering from a broken foot, would be the starting left back on opening day for NYCFC. In assuming, I overlooked how good Sweat was in 2017 (25 starts, six assists), and how much Patrick Vieira valued a player who earned his place via trial and hasn’t let go of his starting spot. Sweat’s a two-way player, he’s comfortable in possession and he absolutely deserves more love.
CB: Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United)
Francisco Calvo | USA Today Sports Images
Not a troll job, I swear! In no way is this about the Loons captain calling for more respect for his squad. It’s about the fact that Calvo doesn’t get enough love for being one of the most versatile, physically gifted defenders in MLS. The Costa Rican was Top 10 among defenders in headed clearances and interceptions last year, one to forget for the Minnesota defense, and he’ll be the rock Adrian Heath continues to build around in 2018, most likely with a trip to Russia sandwiched in the middle of the year.
CB: Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls)
This was a toss-up between the Red Bulls man and NYCFC’s Alex Callens, who has near zero name recognition despite being arguably MLS’s best defender a year ago. Long’s career is basically defined by being overlooked and underrated. He was drafted in the second-round by the Timbers in 2014 and never played a minute for the first team. He moved to Seattle, same story. Long did play for Sounders 2, however, and the Red Bulls saw promised. After a year with RBII (USL Defender of the Year), he earned a move to the first-team contract and immediately became first-choice for Jesse Marsch.
RB: Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes)
Shout out to Real Salt Lake’sTony Beltran, who has been on this team for the better part of a decade. Nick Lima may be the next in the line of domestic outside backs that hold it down for years and never truly get the respect they deserve. Last season was a good start for the Quakes Homegrown (22 games played, 20 starts, two goals and an assist), and now it’s about consistency, longevity and helping San Jose become a regular playoff team again.
CM: Ilie (Sporting KC)
Callum is right.
So many holding midfielder across the world get no where near the amount of credit they deserve. If someone’s underrated, its usually a defensive midfielder.
— Callum Williams (@CalWilliamsComm) April 3, 2018
Ilie gets the nod here because I watch and talk about this league so much that the likes of Wil Trapp, Alex Ring, Diego Chara, Jeff Larentowicz and others I don’t have time to name generally feel properly appreciated in my book. They are very good and important to their team’s success, for various collective and individual reasons.
That leaves me with Ilie, who must be both the metronome and conscience in Sporting’s midfield. That’s not easy with Roger Espinoza and Felipe Gutierrez marauding ahead of you and the fullbacks pushing high. When you try to explain why Kansas City had the league’s best defense a year ago, you’d be wise to widen your scope beyond the backline and goalkeeper Tim Melia.
CM: Ibson (Minnesota United)
**Violins in the background** You can hate me now, but I won’t stop now…
I bet you didn’t know Ibson finished last season with the following stat line among his fellow MLS midfielders. All courtesy of Opta.
So Ibson and … a who’s who of MLS’s best midfielders. Since I am guessing you don’t know much of anything about the Minnesota midfielder unless you live in Minnesota, that makes him overlooked, for sure, and underrated, in my opinion.
AM: Federico Higuain (Columbus Crew SC)
Federico Higuain | USA Today Sports Images
Here are profiles for two Argentine No. 10s in MLS. Both played their first full MLS season in 2013. One is Higuain, and the other shall remain unnamed for now.
Player A: 12,574 minutes played (152 GP, 146 GS), 59 goals, 53 assists
Player B: 13,101 minutes played (154 GP, 149 GS), 50 goals, 51 assists
Player A has three MLS Best XIs, three All-Star appearances and an MVP award to his name. Player B has received none of those individual plaudits. Player A lost to Player B in MLS Cup 2015, a game that cemented Player B’s legacy.
Player A is Pipa, Columbus’ quiet genius. Player B is Portland’s Diego Valeri, near universally and rightfully revered. My point? With a few different bounces in 2015 and a little more national publicity, Higuain’s profile would be a lot different. He’s underrated, don’t @ me on this one.
WING: Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact)
This pick is more of a “Bradley Wright-Phillips Lack-of-Appreciation Team” selection than underrated or overlooked. Piatti is the name every single defender who visits the MLSsoccer.com studios mentions as the toughest 1v1 matchup in the league. He’s got back-to-back years of 17 goals and six assists. That’s best in show stuff, but I never hear his name mentioned among the league’s best players. He’s earned that recognition, and if Montreal make a run this year, it’ll largely be because their talisman willed them there.
WING: Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Alphonso Davies | USA Today Sports Images
Yeah, Davies has a hype train chugging along behind him already, and yet he’s still underrated and overlooked. If Davies was American, the whole country would be salivating at the combination of potential and production the 17-year-old wunderkind has already shown in his young career. He’d be the Next Great Hope, a player to help us forget about the disappointment of Russia 2018. But he’s not ours, and he’ll likely help our northern neighbors eventually reach the promised land along with a raft of other young players. Congrats to Canada and Vancouver. I am jealous. Davies is that good, and he’s just scratching the surface.
CF: Dominique Badji (Colorado Rapids)
Finally, our namesake finishes out the squad. Every single offseason, this one included, we talk about the Rapids needing a game-changing forward. Meanwhile, Badji’s just out here quietly producing. He bagged nine goals and six assists last year without a ton of help, six and four the year before and already has four goals in three games this season. Maybe Colorado doesn’t need more strikers. Maybe they need to feed the beast they already have. Congrats on the hatty, Dom!
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Wiebe: Presenting the All-Underrated Best XI, aka the Dom Badji All-Stars was originally published on 365 Football
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