as much as i would like the Timbers to go with 3 midfielders to help shield the defense better in transition, #10s do work well in the MLS. Having Santi as your 10 does mean a step back in the attack but he does track back better. And that would open up the right wing spot.
Neville won’t change to a 3 at the back system. With a roster that had MLS level DCL, DC, and DCR, he barely kicked the tires on playing with 3 at the back. He did work on keeping one of the wingbacks back when in possession.
Bringing in Sabovic and running a three man midfield and with three DCs behind them (and then playing Jona and Santi behind Mora) would seem to be the easiest way to mold this roster to a formation…. but Neville likes the 4-2-3-1.
I really don't want the Timbers to look for the next "Timber for Life". I want the Timbers to look for the next Evander - a guy who wants to be here for 4-5 years and who will give the Timbers the best 4-5 years he can give them, and then give some other team his less productive but still solid years (See Nagbe, D). The number of Diego Charas in the game these days is very few, and as an organizational/roster building philosophy, trying to find the next one is a very bad idea.
And Phil Neville needs to stop with the whole "Evander is like a son to me" BS. That's not why Evander is here (this isn't a family, it's a sports team), and the attempts at emotional manipulation by Phil in order to get Evander to...obey? Stick around? Feel bad? I'm not even sure what the point of that is, but it is definitely pretty gross.
The Timbers should be mercenary about trying to find the next Evander, not the next folk hero. If those turn out to be the same person, that's a wonderful coincidence, but it should not be the goal.
as much as i would like the Timbers to go with 3 midfielders to help shield the defense better in transition, #10s do work well in the MLS. Having Santi as your 10 does mean a step back in the attack but he does track back better. And that would open up the right wing spot.
Neville won’t change to a 3 at the back system. With a roster that had MLS level DCL, DC, and DCR, he barely kicked the tires on playing with 3 at the back. He did work on keeping one of the wingbacks back when in possession.
Bringing in Sabovic and running a three man midfield and with three DCs behind them (and then playing Jona and Santi behind Mora) would seem to be the easiest way to mold this roster to a formation…. but Neville likes the 4-2-3-1.
I really don't want the Timbers to look for the next "Timber for Life". I want the Timbers to look for the next Evander - a guy who wants to be here for 4-5 years and who will give the Timbers the best 4-5 years he can give them, and then give some other team his less productive but still solid years (See Nagbe, D). The number of Diego Charas in the game these days is very few, and as an organizational/roster building philosophy, trying to find the next one is a very bad idea.
And Phil Neville needs to stop with the whole "Evander is like a son to me" BS. That's not why Evander is here (this isn't a family, it's a sports team), and the attempts at emotional manipulation by Phil in order to get Evander to...obey? Stick around? Feel bad? I'm not even sure what the point of that is, but it is definitely pretty gross.
The Timbers should be mercenary about trying to find the next Evander, not the next folk hero. If those turn out to be the same person, that's a wonderful coincidence, but it should not be the goal.