A Question of Performance: Dunfield Edition
by CheekyMonkey on Jun 19, 2011 4:54 PM PDT
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I enjoyed watching the Whitecaps put together 90 minutes of good soccer yesterday and get their second win of the season. With luck they can bring some of the confidence and ability on their up coming road trip.
To a man the 'Caps played well both individually and as a team. Well... almost to a man. One player seemed a step behind the rest of the team and in the eightieth minute made a horrendous pass the almost led to a Union goal. Even I, the crappy player that I am know better than a flat pass along the back line. Particularly in late in a one goal game. The player who made that pass was Terry Dunfield; our sometime captain and our leading scorer in midfield. What has gone wrong with Dunfield?
As those of you who follow this site will know I have been a outspoken supporter of Dunfield. Mainly I like his grit and his passing/shooting ability through the center of the pitch. In the Whitecaps first few games these qualities were on display for all to see as Dunfield scored, made excellent passes, and won us the ball more often then not. In last couple of games, however, Dunfield has been a different player. He passes have been less accurate and he has flubled clearances deep in our end or made awful decisions with the ball like he did last night.
I can't figure out what the problem is. Yes, he has looked tired. But that shouldn't have an impact in multiple games. Is it just that the rest of the team has gotten better and left him behind? That doesn't seem too likely to me as better players should make everyone look better. What do you think?
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He’s certainly not been as good in recent games, but I’m willing to put that down to a combination of tiredness and “one of those things”.
It could be that the way that Soehn wants the team to play doesn’t suit him or that he is overthinking things to some extent but for the moment I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
by Russell Berrisford on Jun 20, 2011 12:43 PM PDT reply actions
The book is out?...
As a passing pylon he is pretty good, but my complaint is that he lacks any ability to shield the ball or beat another player with the ball at his feet. He is simply not strong or quick enough to be an effective central midfielder.
An offhand guess would be that early on in the season he was new to the rest of MLS, but now the book is out and it is a mighty easy read indeed. He is plodding and predictable, isn’t crafty enough to create space for himself and in the end, is easy to close down.
During the DIV 2 Games last year and the first few games or so of this year I had thought of him as a hard charging box to box midfielder. It has become clear (to me) that he needs to sit deep and make simple passes forward instead of running with the ball or having it on his foot in the final third.
I think the problem with Terry is that if paired with a dynamic box to box midfielder he would be a quiet and reliable hard tackling Makalele guy. When partnered with Koffie/Jed he asked to do too much with the ball and go forward, which makes him look poor at times.
On a side note, Teitur’s Offence created so many chances for a late man into the box and Terry, Wes and Dede put a lot of them 40 feet over the net, which turned some wins into ties and we know what happened because of that.
Durring the DIV 2 Games last year and the first 10 games or so of this year I had thought of him as a hard charging box to box midfielder. It has become clear he needs to be sitting deep and making simple passes forward instead of running with the ball or having it on his foot in the final third.
I think the problem with Terry is that if paired with a dynamic box to box midfielder he would be a quiet and reliable hard tackling Makalele guy. When partnered with Koffie/Jed he asked to do to much with the ball and go forward, which makes him look poor at times.
Tired legs
I think you can probably match the quality of his play with the tiredness of his legs. I’m trying to remember exactly the sequence of games, but a few games ago (before the Gold Cup) he was just crap, had a game off then came back very strong. Back from the Gold Cup (three games in short period), we shouldn’t expect much from him, but our midfield is too weak to not play him. A dilemma that I hope Soehn addresses soon. Right now I would rotate the three of Koffie, Brovsky and Dunfield to keep them all fresh.
Come over to the Whitecaps Offside page:
http://vancouver.theoffside.com/
by Brenton Offside on Jun 21, 2011 11:19 AM PDT reply actions
I think that is part of it. But I’m not too happy having to change our mid every other game because Dunfield is tired. Although, that may just be an aspect of MLS schedule congestion that I’m not used to.
"Kompromise, my friend, is the essence of diplomacy, and diplomacy is the kornerstone of love... sweeeeeet looooOOOve"
by CheekyMonkey on Jun 22, 2011 9:05 AM PDT up reply actions
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