Wheels wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:39 pm
Get your best 6 on the field. That's it. Positions are meaningless in the modern game. Midfielders need to dodge against LSMs. With pick-and-roll being so prevalent now, midfielders have poles switched on them all the time. If they can't dodge against poles, they can't play. Few teams play true-way middies anymore, so even if a converted attackman gets caught back on defense, he'll run off when the SSDM covering him runs off. As for Bernhardt and Fairman really being midfielders who just play attack because they did in high school, we will have to agree to disagree.
OSU now follows the "get the 6 best on the field," too. Jasinski is an attackman playing midfield (he's quite small, too). Buckley and Bugliosi are attackmen playing midfield. Jackson Reid is listed as midfielder, but he's an attackman. Tre Leclaire ran through the box last season as a midfielder. OSU's pairs offense doesn't differentiate between attack and midfield.
it's all how you use your best 6. If Hopkins' best 6 include 5 attackmen, then the offense needs to fit that personnel. If not, you have square pegs. That was my entire point, and why if Petro stays, I won't be surprised to see a new OC come to Homewood next year. As for recruiting, you'd think the lack of "true midfielders" would be a recruiting selling point. Come to Hopkins...we need midfielders so badly that we're forced to run a bunch of attack at midfield.
I played midfield in college. The game has changed, though, since then.
that must've been some time ago, as in the 80s teams played with lsm's and ssdm's. there was specialization then.
i agree with your point about being able to dodge everybody, not sure if it's in response to someone else.
you said "lots of teams" that haven't struggled like hopkins... i don't agree that lots of successful teams have one midfielder, out of 20, getting significant enough time to take > a shot+/- per game.
and no, don't see that as a selling point about what the coaches may look for in P.T.
call me crazy, but i still think there's plenty of room in today's game for guys who can run by their guy up top, shoot on the run, shoot from distance, play in the hole when called upon, get a loosie, come on the field to help clear the ball and then play in an offense, etc..
anyway, offense hasn't been their primary problem. the other end largely has been. i see hopkins is 53rd in defensive goals per game. and that's not all on attackmen getting caught on d. though by the by, they're also 53rd in ground balls. not sure it's all related (winky emoji).