January 15th, 2008 . 7:24 pm . By: Buzz Carrick

Day three is usually a day for silliness, and today while not as silly as some still has a bit of it.  By silliness I mean players playing in different spots than normal. Usually this is guys who have it made volunteering to play some odd position to fill out the side, guys who have not done well trying to salvage something, or guys that MLS coaches have asked to see in some new spot.

Game One: Predator PowerServe vs. adidas Trofeo

PowerServe in all green, Trofeo in all red.  PowerServe goes to a traditional 4-3-3 after two days in a 4-4-2.  Trofeo back to a diamond 4-4-2. 

I must say there is something odd going on with Cordeiro and Espinoza, because for the second time in two days when they both came on the field together the shape and formation went to crap.   They ended up in a 3-4-3 and it took about 5 minutes of so for the rest of the back to realize there wasn’t a left back and slide over to more of a 3 defensive set up.  I don’t want to blame either player cause it may be something the coach told them to do, but they sure didn’t communicate to the team.  I’d sure like to find someone who was in the locker room and can explain it.

For PowerServe Andrew Jacobson was schedule to play and did not.  No word on any injury.  Adrian Chevannes also did not play, likewise no word on injury.  For Trofeo Mat Allen was scheduled to be in net, but also DNP for unknown reasons.

PowerServe wins 1-0 on a goal by Forrest.

Predator PowerServe (Green)

First half.

Second half.

Trofeo (red)

First half.

Second half.

Game One Comments and Thoughts

In no particular order…

- Kevin Forrest was finally rewarded for all his hard work with a goal.  I still don’t think he has enough to separate from defenders.  He settled the inlet pass well and either Bolkan or Worthen didn’t close him down fast enough.  He had time to trap and turn for a nice shot.

- Cordeiro running really well today up on the wing, he takes on a couple people and does well. I still can’t explain his second half sub where he came on for the left back and instead played left wing and forced the team into a 3-4-3, was he supposed to do that?.  It may be that Espinoza was supposed to go to left back and just ignored the instructions and stayed at left mid.  Either way there was no left back and it took about 5 minutes for the other three defenders to slide over.

- Miller really wants to get forward on the wing.  I like the ideas but would like to see him get a little more result.

- Bolken looks strong when one on one defending, but makes a bad pass out on one or two occasions. 

- Kasiguran had a open chance in the box on a lead from Nyarko but did nothing with it.

- I finally see today why Ciaran O’Brien was signed when the play him deep today.  I was really impressed.  He reads the game well from back there and does a lot of ball winning with quickness and anticipation rather than crunching tackles.  He’s also very confident on the dribble and can turn and maintain possession as well as make nice long passes. Nice player.

 - Xavier Balc finally (metaphorically) shows up with quite a few class moments.   Almost every great Red chance goes through him and he springs player after player with his vision and passing.

- Interesting to watch Iro try and play wide.  He even tried to get forward and play some combinations.  None of them came off very well, but it was fun for a bit.

- Tumicz had two chances to score and didn’t convert either.  One he just flat missed on a terrific build by Balc and Espinoza, the other was a cross he didn’t quite get to but should have. If he had finished both it would have really helped his stock.

- Worthen is much better wide, he made two bad reads that put his team in real trouble while he was trying to play center back.

- Germanese made a run by Iro to get in a great cross while being fouled.  Running by Iro is impressive cause Andy ain’t slow, and getting the cross off while being fouled was also noteworthy.  Joe Germanese is officially my man crush player of this combine to follow in the footsteps of Rolfe, Helm, and Cunliffe.  Gosh dang do I like this kid.

- Espinoza played some good help D tracking way back at one point to save a goal.  Good effort there you don’t always get at the combine.

- What is Kulp doing playing a-mid in the second half?  Good Grief.

- Oh I see, it’s to let Sassano play right back.  I had gotten an email saying he was really a right back, although I’m fairly sure he played a lot of d-mid at Cal.  Anyway he’s better there than he was in the middle, but I still don’t think he’s MLS caliber.

- Grazier in the middle was again invisible except for one real nice switch he made and another moment when he tracked a run into his own box to stop a goal scoring chance.

- Horst shows a little quickness on a play over the top in the second half.  Good to see that.

- Zaher hit a really sweet cross in the second half, but the box was empty.  Nice crossing is great but you have to get your head up and see if there is anyone there for the cross.

- Roth did some very nice combination work with Balc in the second half.  He’s got a little something this Roth kid.

Game Two: adiTunit vs adiPure

It’s will all white for adiPure, a.k.a. clearly the best team here; adiTunit is in all yellow with the white socks.  adiPure stays in a flat 4-4-2; aidTunit is back in a 4-3-3, or what you might call a 4-2-3-1.

adiPure stamps their supremacy on the tourney, they were already the “champs,” but add a 4-0 first half dismantling and 4-1 final score line.  In the second half adiTunit has a much better go of it, even getting a goal back, although admittedly adiPure was probably not pushing as hard and adiTunit really wanted to reclaim some pride.  In fact it’s the first goal adiPure has given up in the tourney as they outscore every their opposition 9-1 over three games.

adiPure (white)

First half.

Second half.

adiTunit (Yellow)

First half.

Second half.

Game Two Comments and Thoughts

In no particular order…

- My tourney MVP is Peter Lowry.  He’s just terrific today and holds the entire midfield together.  Everyone around him plays better when he’s in there as he is constantly providing outlets and maintains possession.  He had the great assist in the first game, scored twice in the second, and was just all around impressive in today’s showing.

- Josten with two goals today.  He really doesn’t so all that much beyond play some D up high, but he’s active and opportunistic as hell.  His first goal is a pass into dangerous area from Hatzke that Josten receives back to goal.  He’s not closed down and turns for a goal just inside the post. His second goal (4th of the day) is a run across the box which is tracked by Sherard, Josten receives the ball makes a one touch and step move to get a sliver of space and shoots near post for a goal.  Sherard reaching for the ball goes down, holds his groin in pain, and is subbed out for the day.  Britner comes in for him.

- Second goal was from Eric Brunner who stepped up into midfield and intercepted a pass then carries 2/3s of the field unchecked and fires a low driven shot from about 22 yards for a goal.  Why did the defense not step to him?  That was the second impressive read and step up by Brunner in the half.  He was terrific today.

- Third goal was similar to the first.  Pierre-Louis receives the ball in the box and makes a nice trap and shoot.  He was poorly marked by Sherard. Yellow, at the demand of James, immediately changes up the back line with James moving inside next to Sherard and Owens going out side.

- As you can tell it was a brutal day for Sherard.  He wasn’t bad the first to days out wide, he just didn’t offer anything going forward.  Today as a center back he as down right awful.

- Yellow’s lone goal of the second half comes off a great cross by Brek Shea that goes to a crashing Zambrano who one touches it in for a goal.

- Someone must have told Hatzke to step it up a notch cause he’s better today.  He makes several nice inlet passes to checking forwards and played some solid D.  Being a lefty I now think someone may actually draft him late.

- Cisse works hard, but again I think I like him as a wide player better.  He should have scored on a cross from Dundjer and missed wide.  He’s just not clinical enough in front of goal for me to think he’s a pure striker.

- Britner made a nice tackle at one point early in his day, but he also made a couple bad plays later on.  One notably moment when Nimo got by him and he had to foul to stop the play.  He’s just to inconsistent for me.

- Leathers came back down to earth a bit today, maybe he’s tired cause his defending wasn’t as good.  On at least three occasions he blindly clears a ball up field and right to the opposition.  If you are turning blind to clear you gotta put the ball out.  It’s far to dangerous to leave it in play, at least it is at the MLS level.

- I actually thought Cameron was good today in the center of the park.  He showed me something in there… or so I thought until they took out Lowry and Cameron went back to normal.  I do like Cameron, just out wide.  When he has the space to run and operate I think he’s got a little something.  He just gets lost without the space.

- Stratford is a serviceable mid, but he just seems to let the game play him instead of the other way around.  I would like to see him do a little more with his moments.

- Sherron Manswell has a chance as a holding mid but not as a forward. He’s just not fast enough up top.  But he’s tackles hard and can pass fairly well in the midfield.  He’s also got decent touch in there.  Not as good as Jacobson, but worth a flyer I think.

Wrap Up

Combine Wrap up with player by player break down is coming tomorrow.

Categories: Features.

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