Carlos Ruiz scored his first goal for the Union in today’s 1–1 draw with Ergotelis.
The goal came in the 27th minute and was assisted by Justin Mapp and Kyle Nakazawa.
Ergotelis tied from a penalty kick in the 88th minute after Stefani Miglioranzi was red carded for a foul in the box.
The first and second half lineups as listed on the Ergotelis website were:
FIRST HALF
Mondragon, Califf, Carroll, Harvey, Mapp, Miglioranzi, Mwanga, Nakazawa, Ruiz, Torres, Valdes
SECOND HALF
Agorsor, Farfan M., MacMath, Mclnerney, Okugo, Pfeffer, Richter, Farfan G., Keon , Houapeu. (This is only ten players, presumably because of Miglioranzi’s red card in the 88th minute?)
It is unclear if Le Toux, Williams, Gonzalez, Noone, or Zimmerman (not to mention Orozco Fiscal—sigh) saw any time.
The “Keon” listed on the Ergotelis site and in the photo below is midfielder Keon Daniels, one of the “unnamed trialists” unofficially identified by the greater Philadelphia blog community and its readers.
Interestingly, Ergotelis manager Nikos Karageorgiou is quoted as saying, “We exchange views and probably some players.”
——–Mondragon———-
Valdes—-Califf—-Harvey
—Carroll—Miglioranzi–
Mapp—-Nakazawa—-Torres
—-Ruiz——-Mwanga—–
3-2-3-2?
3-1-4-2?
Guess my big question here is about 3 defenders in that starting group. Did somebody (Carroll?) sink back or did we legitimately have a 3 man backline?
Eli and I have been trading emails talking about the same thing!
Harvey can’t play in a 3 man backline. Fact.
What an absurb statement. Of course he can. You’re just looking for flashyness (like Williams who is still unproven defensively) which Harvey is short on.
I’m actually not looking for flashiness at all. In fact, the point of playing 3 in the back is to have 3 stay at home defenders with approximately zero flashiness. What I’m looking for is more physicality and strenght. Look at Liverpool’s 3 man backline. Its 3 big bodies. Ideally for a 3 man lineup, you’d have Califf centering Valdes and MOF (if he still exists). 3 good sized bodies and the outside two can distribute well. With two relatively small holding CMs you need more bodies in the back if you’re going to take away a defender and Harvey’s distribution is so suspect that you’d be creating a giant black hole on that side of the pitch. That’s what I meant.
Looks like they started out with a 3-5-2, kinda like what Liverpool is doing under Dalglish.
The team followed-up saying Migz did not, in fact, receive a red card.
Interesting point Eli. I guess I’m just defensive about Harvey since I feel like many people don’t know how to evaluate defense. Clearly you’re not one of them.