Steve Zakuani Injury Forces Lineup Shift

I think Toronto’s D has a glass jaw and Fucito was smack it a good one, but I’d rather he come in around the 60th min or so since this is his first game back. We do NOT want him to get injured again. Without Zak, we will certainly need all the goals he can give us this season.

I don’t know how much Fernandez has played on the left, but hopefully some. I’d like to see him there this coming week. I’m not sure who would be better in the long run. It’s interesting to hear that Fucito played the left in college – I didn’t know that. That certainly makes him a front runner for the position.

I doubt Montano starts, but I’d be surprised to not see him in the 18 with some kind of regularity now.

I feel better about our left wing options. No one can replace Zakuani, but I feel a little less lost right now. Thanks S@H!

No offense to Fernandez, but slotting him in at LM would simply bring too much of a tactics change for our offense that just seemed to be putting it in gear. With Fucito, sure you lose some skill, but because he plays similar to Zakuani it won’t force us to change our tactics as much. Plus Fucito has shown he can score when he is in the game, something we really need. Back to the Fernandez point, I feel as if our offense would struggle in the short term to benefit in the long term. I don’t know if we can afford to keep losing results early in the year..

but I’ve been a bit mystified why he hasn’t necessary been in the mix the past two games. I know he was injured and out for a spell, but was available the past two games. His not coming in isn’t so much a concern as the lack of any mention from Sigi as an option.

Anyway, I like him out there if he’s fit and in form (I’m assuming he is). Fernandez would likely be my second choice, but I DO wonder how much Montano might grow if he was given this opportunity.

I think right now he is the best option. Also I think he has good chemistry with the rest of the front line especially with montero and rosales.

I don’t want to risk fucito’s health right now. Id rather him get 100 percent before starting.

Id also like to see montano get a chance off the bench. I think he might be the most like for like as zakuani

Sadly, this isn’t going to be a short term replacement, so Sigi shouldn’t just slot in the most Zakuani-like player and keep the status quo. There isn’t a replacement for Zakuani’s skills in the MLS and certainly not on our roster. We will have to see a new Sounders style and I think it should include our best players with a slightly different tactic. For me, that means El Flaco on the left and fewer long balls.

If we’re running on the assumption that the rest of the Midfield and Forward slots will be Olonso (CDM), Evans (CM), Rosales (RM), Montero (WF), and White (TF), then who would work best with those?

Olonso, Evans, and Montero are the constants. White adds an additional elemant of speed at the TF role that Jaqua and Nkufo did not provide. Rosales at RM adds an attacking mentality and ability that the team received from Zakuani, though via passing and technical ability rather than speed and technique.

That being the case, it’s not clear to me that the team needs to start speed at LM as it has upgraded the speed at TF and quickness at RM (it seems like Rosales can always get seperation).

I see two priorities for how to build the starting XI:
Start the 11 players in the best form who fit into the team’s scheme
Reward performance in training and matches with continued starts and playing time

For the first, the forward and midfield roles would go to White, Montero, Rosales, Evans, Olonso, and Fernandez. Friberg has been off form the last few matches and Fucito, Estrada, and the rest have not had an opportunity to prove their ability in MLS games this year (and the reserve/Open Cup/CCL runs haven’t started in earnest yet to give them those opportunities).
For the second, I assume that Sigi and his staff who see the players train everyday are in the best position to judge their success in training. It could be that Fucito is match fit and training well, but without that knowledge, I voted for Fernandez based on his recent play.

I see how the speed of Zak would make Fucito seem like a natural choice. But one of the things Zak does is play an inverted winger role, so a left footed player would not really be able to cut in like Zak does to take shots, but instead might provide better crosses. If we wanted a Zak like performance wouldn’t we want to play Fucito on the right and then Rosales on the right? That would give us two inverted winger options and get Fucito into more natural scoring positions if we were to use him.

There are a lot of different options to look at. Certainly Fernandez, who came into the match and played in the wide position. Friberg played there when Steve couldn’t play in the game in New York. That’s another possibility. Lamar Neagle has done well in the reserve games; he’s somebody else who can play wide. Michael Tetteh is probably a better wide midfielder than he is a left back. He’s a possibility. Miguel Montano is somebody who can play there and needs to be sharper at practice on a daily basis to get himself in there. Those are our guys and we can always alter a little bit the way we play."

It seems to me that Montaño, and not Fucito, is probably the most like-for-like replacement for Zakuani that we have on the roster at the moment — not that he is on the same level talent-wise, but he does have some of the same characteristics. Particularly given his performance against Vancouver in the preseason Cascadia tourney, I see him as bringing both the 1-on-1 attacking mentality which we’re losing with Zakuani being out and the spark which people were complaining that we lacked after the Zakuani injury.

Hopefully Montaño seizes the opportunity here and does what he needs to do in order to get back into the 18. Flaco would be a good example for him to follow here.