The weird thing is I feel like we have really good starting defenders individually, but it doesn’t come together as a group. Bravo, Zuparic, McGraw, and Mosquera should be a really great backline in theory. Im curious what main factors are playing a part in it not coming together. Ivacic doesn’t seem to be a keeper to talk a lot to his d…
The weird thing is I feel like we have really good starting defenders individually, but it doesn’t come together as a group. Bravo, Zuparic, McGraw, and Mosquera should be a really great backline in theory. Im curious what main factors are playing a part in it not coming together. Ivacic doesn’t seem to be a keeper to talk a lot to his defense, but we really have no idea how much talking he does back there. McGraw feels like he’d be the main talker on the backline, though it’s only his first full season as a starter. It feels like we brought Liam in to be the guy to coach and organize the backline, but we haven’t seen that so far.
When we’re playing against the ball, Gio always has our wingers dropping super deep to defend ahead of our outside backs, which I think is good in some moments but leaves us disorganized a bit when our wingers aren’t there to defend. Our defensive organization as a whole has felt off for awhile now and I can’t quite put my finger on why. It just needs to be better
I think it starts with the keeper. Ivacic is a great shot stopper. I agree he doesn’t seem to communicate much and he is very hesitant off his line. I feel like the Timbers play a type of defense that excels with a mobile keeper. There is at least 1 or 2 balls a game that if he was more free from his line he would scoop up easily. I think his comfort level is where it is and for our defense really to gel and be at its best would require a more adventurous keeper.
I agree, there were several times on Saturday when I thought Ivacic could’ve easily come off his line to collect a ball. He could use to stand a bit further off his line and/or be more willing to come off it
I think its the communication that is lacking, followed by the wingback formation we use. If McGraw is really the leader in the back, he needs to do a better job of keeping the line organized. He is young, so he can really grow into that role but I don't think he is there yet. Also, the fact that both Bravo and Mosquera are used in the attack (a lot) can leave the defense in a rough spot when we need to track back. The reality is that this is a feature of what we do, not a failure. In my opinion, both Zuparic and McGraw need to get better, but I don't see that happening this year. McGraw has the potential, but I think Zuparic is what he is. Finally, we don't have the depth on this team. Losing Tuiloma was huge, as we now have to rely on Mabiala and Miller. Both are decent depth pieces, but I'm not super comfortable relying on them for any stretch of time. Besides, I like Miller as depth behind both Bravo and Mosqera and while he can backup all four spots on defense that isn't ideal.
McGraw having potential just shows how good he can be to me, because I think he’s already fantastic. Zuparic had also put in several really good shifts recently, him being who he is is alright with me. I don’t know if McGraw is the leader, just my guess based on personalities, but we really know nothing on how it works back there. I don’t know if there’s a language barrier there or not, each player on the backline and in goal comes from a different part of the world
I think the language thing is generally overstated by a lot of fans of a lot of teams. I mean, it's not like they're having an in-depth discussion of the nuances of Ulysses and its meaning for humanity back there (although that would be hilarious, and I want to have mics on players if that ever happens); there's a limited set of English words that are common on-pitch vernacular, like BALL and CLEAR and CARRY and a handful of others, that are used to communicate during a game.
As a professional soccer player, it doesn't take too much time to figure out what those are and what they mean, and even if English isn't your native language you can figure out that BACK means "someone's coming behind you" from context and repetition.
Yeah the easy instructions are pretty universal, but I think there are also times where more specific language is used, like communicating information on the tendencies of the attacking players and other stuff like that. I also think from a human aspect it’s probably easier to play with someone you’re more familiar with and feel comfortable talking to, but I’m sure the defense is a pretty tight group off the field and I’m definitely overstating this
The weird thing is I feel like we have really good starting defenders individually, but it doesn’t come together as a group. Bravo, Zuparic, McGraw, and Mosquera should be a really great backline in theory. Im curious what main factors are playing a part in it not coming together. Ivacic doesn’t seem to be a keeper to talk a lot to his defense, but we really have no idea how much talking he does back there. McGraw feels like he’d be the main talker on the backline, though it’s only his first full season as a starter. It feels like we brought Liam in to be the guy to coach and organize the backline, but we haven’t seen that so far.
When we’re playing against the ball, Gio always has our wingers dropping super deep to defend ahead of our outside backs, which I think is good in some moments but leaves us disorganized a bit when our wingers aren’t there to defend. Our defensive organization as a whole has felt off for awhile now and I can’t quite put my finger on why. It just needs to be better
I think it starts with the keeper. Ivacic is a great shot stopper. I agree he doesn’t seem to communicate much and he is very hesitant off his line. I feel like the Timbers play a type of defense that excels with a mobile keeper. There is at least 1 or 2 balls a game that if he was more free from his line he would scoop up easily. I think his comfort level is where it is and for our defense really to gel and be at its best would require a more adventurous keeper.
I agree, there were several times on Saturday when I thought Ivacic could’ve easily come off his line to collect a ball. He could use to stand a bit further off his line and/or be more willing to come off it
I think its the communication that is lacking, followed by the wingback formation we use. If McGraw is really the leader in the back, he needs to do a better job of keeping the line organized. He is young, so he can really grow into that role but I don't think he is there yet. Also, the fact that both Bravo and Mosquera are used in the attack (a lot) can leave the defense in a rough spot when we need to track back. The reality is that this is a feature of what we do, not a failure. In my opinion, both Zuparic and McGraw need to get better, but I don't see that happening this year. McGraw has the potential, but I think Zuparic is what he is. Finally, we don't have the depth on this team. Losing Tuiloma was huge, as we now have to rely on Mabiala and Miller. Both are decent depth pieces, but I'm not super comfortable relying on them for any stretch of time. Besides, I like Miller as depth behind both Bravo and Mosqera and while he can backup all four spots on defense that isn't ideal.
McGraw having potential just shows how good he can be to me, because I think he’s already fantastic. Zuparic had also put in several really good shifts recently, him being who he is is alright with me. I don’t know if McGraw is the leader, just my guess based on personalities, but we really know nothing on how it works back there. I don’t know if there’s a language barrier there or not, each player on the backline and in goal comes from a different part of the world
I think the language thing is generally overstated by a lot of fans of a lot of teams. I mean, it's not like they're having an in-depth discussion of the nuances of Ulysses and its meaning for humanity back there (although that would be hilarious, and I want to have mics on players if that ever happens); there's a limited set of English words that are common on-pitch vernacular, like BALL and CLEAR and CARRY and a handful of others, that are used to communicate during a game.
As a professional soccer player, it doesn't take too much time to figure out what those are and what they mean, and even if English isn't your native language you can figure out that BACK means "someone's coming behind you" from context and repetition.
Yeah the easy instructions are pretty universal, but I think there are also times where more specific language is used, like communicating information on the tendencies of the attacking players and other stuff like that. I also think from a human aspect it’s probably easier to play with someone you’re more familiar with and feel comfortable talking to, but I’m sure the defense is a pretty tight group off the field and I’m definitely overstating this