Playmaking options less Javi and Luis; formations and strategy

I apologize for the unannounced hiatus, all, but these long(ish) breaks and my relative apathy toward international matches (friendlies, mostly) left me a little bit sapped. After that rather insipid match we put up with, I'm sure you understand. Anyhow, I'm back. Let's talk, shall we? What is there?

Turns out, there's quite a bit. Luis Gil took to injury (poor kid — I do hope he recovers quickly!), leaving us in a situation where we're left to wonder who will be starting on June 16 in the tip of the diamond. Let's go over that first, shall we?

My first thought was Ned Grabavoy, who has at times shifted into that spot when Luis comes off — although that's in a more flat attacking midfield three ahead of a defensive midfielder. It's an interesting look for us, but it does mean our shape changes and sometimes, we're not ready to deal with that. It depends a bit on the personnel around him, I think. So while it's a possibility, I think his defensive responsibility means he's more likely to end up staying further back in the diamond.

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Let's have a sidebar, shall we? I find it entirely inconvenient, but I'm toying with the idea of not calling the Johnson-Grabavoy spots in the diamond the "wide spots" — precisely because they're not particularly wide. I mean, they're wider than, say, the defensive spot, but the attacking spot will generally take up wider positions on the pitch. Perhaps I'll continue with "box-to-box," given the responsibilities those players have to go forward and come back. As long as we're clear on that, let's continue.

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Sebastian Velasquez is my second choice. It should come as no surprise, as I've stated often that I'm a fan of the kid, and I think he's got real potential to make waves in the league. Could he make it somewhere bigger? Probably. Almost definitely. (In case you're reading this, Sebastian, you're more than welcome to stay here forever. Please?) At any rate, having seen him in that spot in some reserves action and during training, he looks incredibly bright there. His propensity to run at defenders is used to its full extent, and he's got the trickery to keep the ball when he does it. Still, I'm not sure he's quite got the vision Javi does (who does, really? Relatively few in the world, and even fewer in the league).

Here's where I'd like to have a third choice, but I don't much. Could Will Johnson do a job there? Certainly. He's smart in the pass and effective going forward. However, you lose his bite, which makes him a dangerous player in the box-to-box spots. It's not something we can really do without. What about Jonny Steele? If he can calm down his long passing, perhaps so. Maybe he can unleash a few crafty chips, spring Espindola and Saborio, do work in that way.

So, sure, we've got options for that spot — but could there be other formation options that might prove effective? This is a touchy question. It's fairly agreed that the diamond midfield serves us very well, particularly against more mundane 4-4-2 sides — between-the-lines play and what — but in a pinch, a switch might help. Perhaps a 4-3-3, with Jonny Steele as a right-sided winger, Fabian Espindola as a left-sided winger and Alvaro Saborio as the target forward, with Will Johnson, Ned Grabavoy, and Kyle Beckerman in a rotating midfield trio? Perhaps. We lose something without a playmaker, but we gain something in having rotation and pushing the lines a bit more.

I guess it's all a moot point: If we didn't switch to a 4-3-3 when things looked at their dimmest last season — although Jason has said he considered it — we certainly won't be switching now, when we're doing very well in the league. Jason, to his credit, isn't a tinkerer. (Or is it tinker? Does that just refer to the craft?) Scratch that: Jason doesn't tinker. (There.) He doesn't switch things up unnecessarily, he doesn't rotate for its own sake, and he certainly sticks to his guns. I like it about him. It's a valuable thing to have in a manager. It's easy to switch things up when they go wrong, and it's hard to keep things the same when things aren't going right. Time and time again, he's been proven right. I have no complaints.

I mean, there are two schools of thought, really. The first is that you should stick to a general strategy in formation and tactics when dealing with matches. This side is where Jason falls — the focus is on the team itself and not on the team responding to something. The second is that you should adjust based on your opponent. I'm not a fan of reactive play like this. There are, of course, other options — Pep Guardiola at Barcelona notably shifted his side tactically when needed but had a magnificent record. Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, too. But others, like Arsene Wenger at Arsenal (and here I refer more to the 2003-2004 undefeated Arsenal team) tend to stick to a single formation a bit more.

At any rate, there's all that. I don't have too much more to say (shocker of shockers!) so I'll leave things be for a bit. 'Til tomorrow!