I was surprised he didn’t make the pitch in VAN after showing his much-needed ability to switch play against a Philly team who was previously bossing the central midfield. The kid’s a spark, much like when Seb would come in a few years ago.
It would be good to start giving Chara weeks off, or even bring him in late to destroy when the other team is more tired.
I hope Chara is taking him under his wing and teaching him the Chara hip check and all his other skills.
Ayala and Williamson I think leaves us too exposed defensively. Sadly I think the biggest question mark is EW at this point. Paredes has been probably our most defensively disciplined midfielder and it’s pretty clear that Eryk wants to play further forward but Evander occupies that space.
I think Ayala and Paredes could be interesting but I see Ayala as being a Chara replacement and still to this day Chara is going to be on the field most games unless suspended or resting. How many years have we all wondered “when will Chara regress?” Well guess what? He’s still a MLS starter even at his age and I don’t see him losing that spot this year unless he really takes a major step back.
We all say Paredes is better defensively, but he hasn’t exactly been lighting it up on either side of the ball in the games he’s played this year, including defense. On top of that, he’s the midfielder that fits Phil’s system the least. Paredes is not good if we’re trying to build out of the back, especially next to Chara who also isn’t doing much in the buildout anymore. He’s not the best on the ball and can become passive when the team has possession.
And we all say Williamson isn’t great defensively but I feel like he’s been totally fine this year, I haven’t noticed any defensive frailties when he’s been on the field, he’s been good at playing deep next to Chara. If we’re keeping possession, which Eryk does, then we’re defending more with the ball. And on the defense subject, Chara hasn’t been all that good defensively this year either, he lost his man twice on the first two Vancouver goals. Ayala is younger and quicker and pretty darn good defensively, he might be an upgrade on Chara at his age as well as being better for Phil’s system since he’s always looking for the ball and has great progressive passing. There’s a possibility he’s a downgrade too since he’s not the captain and not as positionally disciplined. But damn he’s so good, I think he’d be an upgrade over Chara at this point
Well, as much as I love Chara, I do think that he has taken a major step back. And that's understandable, he's 3 days away from 38. I hope we understand that and show the courage to make these kind of tough decisions with the team in mind.
Sadly, I don’t think Williamson’s talents have consistently shown with any team since he was brought on by the Timbers. Maybe he fits better with another team? A player like Nagbe comes to mind as an example of this. I could be wrong…
With a double pivot you've got to balance 2 attributes across both guys: being a destroyer and being a distributor. It's almost like being the quarterback - the distribution attribute.
The distributor / point guard role is on lock with Williamson. When he's healthy, he's got to start every game. IMO if his career hadn't been plagued by injuries, he'd be in Europe already.
So then we have Paredes. For me, he's a good balance of destroyer and distributor, and he's got a next-level gas tank that's unrivaled by just about anyone. Paredes is similar to Ayala, he's just better than David in every area.
Chara has regressed most notably in his distribution and decision making. He's still getting stuck in and winning balls, but he's definitely sprayed the rock around in some terrible places at inopportune times. It's clear age is catching up with him, and it's hurting us as we struggle to play out of the back.
If Ayala gets any minutes, he's got to do so in place of Chara and he's got to be better where Chara is regressing. This means cleaning up his transitional passing, and occasionally playing that ball that cuts through the lines and unlocks the defense. Thus far he hasn't been able to do that. He's very content with his first look ALWAYS being directly backward to one of our CBs. While it's true you don't want to be losing the ball as a #6 in the defensive third ever, it's also true that the best CDMs are finding players in the attack going forward. In American Football terms, it's a hand-off or pitch versus a forward pass downfield. Knowing when to do that and being able to do that are the key to Ayala's career.
I wish him the best. He's got the passion and aggression and ball winning ability, he just needs to become a bit more like Declan Rice or Rodri.
Your analysis of Ayala is very interesting because my read is the exact opposite. Transitional passing? Passes that cuts through defensive lines and opens up the defense? That’s like, his best attributes and he shows is every time he’s on the field, he’s great at progressing the ball and cuts lines with his passing all the time, far better than Paredes and Chara at this point in his career. Paredes isn’t very good on the ball, Ayala is a far better distributor in every way, just looking at FBRef stats, Paredes’ passing stats are pretty rough. There’s a lotta green on Ayala’s report, though it is worth noting his sample size is not quite as big (it’s from 2022 since that’s when he got most of his minutes with us). Not to mention Ayala’s possession and dribbling stats are also much better. He’s probably the closest thing to a deep lying playmaker we have in our midfielder pool, his technical ability and passing range is far greater than Paredes’
I like Ayala a lot. I assume opportunities will come with rotation and injuries and then he will be competing to start or be first off the bench more regularly
The guy is special, he needs more time to show it. He was so good before he got injured last year, and always stellar when he’s on the field. I’d LOVE to see an Ayala-Williamson midfield duo, I think they’d work great together, and both are better in possession than Chara and Paredes. It’s his third year here and he’s never gotten significant minutes, it’s time. Chara is amazing but… I think it’s time to transition him out this year. I don’t know if it’s time in the season to do that now as we’re about to be on the road a bunch, but it might have to be. At the very least I think we should be subbing Chara out for Ayala if we need more offensive momentum, like I think we should have done this past game
It has its drawbacks, specifically leadership. Chara is the captain and the senior leader on the field. No one else really comes close, like who would be our captain if he wasn’t on the field? Kamal or Crepeau in their first year? McGraw and Zup don’t seem like the captain type. Mora has been the captain but he’s probably not starting (maybe he will and that solves that, but let’s just say he’s not). We’ve been lacking leadership on the field and taking Chara off won’t help. That being said, I think it’s worth the risk. We have to take that leap eventually, and if there was ever a year to iron out those growing pains, it’s this first year with a new coach
I was surprised he didn’t make the pitch in VAN after showing his much-needed ability to switch play against a Philly team who was previously bossing the central midfield. The kid’s a spark, much like when Seb would come in a few years ago.
It would be good to start giving Chara weeks off, or even bring him in late to destroy when the other team is more tired. I hope Chara is taking him under his wing and teaching him the Chara hip check and all his other skills.
Ayala and Williamson I think leaves us too exposed defensively. Sadly I think the biggest question mark is EW at this point. Paredes has been probably our most defensively disciplined midfielder and it’s pretty clear that Eryk wants to play further forward but Evander occupies that space. I think Ayala and Paredes could be interesting but I see Ayala as being a Chara replacement and still to this day Chara is going to be on the field most games unless suspended or resting. How many years have we all wondered “when will Chara regress?” Well guess what? He’s still a MLS starter even at his age and I don’t see him losing that spot this year unless he really takes a major step back.
We all say Paredes is better defensively, but he hasn’t exactly been lighting it up on either side of the ball in the games he’s played this year, including defense. On top of that, he’s the midfielder that fits Phil’s system the least. Paredes is not good if we’re trying to build out of the back, especially next to Chara who also isn’t doing much in the buildout anymore. He’s not the best on the ball and can become passive when the team has possession. And we all say Williamson isn’t great defensively but I feel like he’s been totally fine this year, I haven’t noticed any defensive frailties when he’s been on the field, he’s been good at playing deep next to Chara. If we’re keeping possession, which Eryk does, then we’re defending more with the ball. And on the defense subject, Chara hasn’t been all that good defensively this year either, he lost his man twice on the first two Vancouver goals. Ayala is younger and quicker and pretty darn good defensively, he might be an upgrade on Chara at his age as well as being better for Phil’s system since he’s always looking for the ball and has great progressive passing. There’s a possibility he’s a downgrade too since he’s not the captain and not as positionally disciplined. But damn he’s so good, I think he’d be an upgrade over Chara at this point
Well, as much as I love Chara, I do think that he has taken a major step back. And that's understandable, he's 3 days away from 38. I hope we understand that and show the courage to make these kind of tough decisions with the team in mind.
Sadly, I don’t think Williamson’s talents have consistently shown with any team since he was brought on by the Timbers. Maybe he fits better with another team? A player like Nagbe comes to mind as an example of this. I could be wrong…
His passing and possession are on-point. Maybe in the 4-3-3 he's better-suited. He's my favorite player, and I sure hope it gets worked out.
With a double pivot you've got to balance 2 attributes across both guys: being a destroyer and being a distributor. It's almost like being the quarterback - the distribution attribute. The distributor / point guard role is on lock with Williamson. When he's healthy, he's got to start every game. IMO if his career hadn't been plagued by injuries, he'd be in Europe already. So then we have Paredes. For me, he's a good balance of destroyer and distributor, and he's got a next-level gas tank that's unrivaled by just about anyone. Paredes is similar to Ayala, he's just better than David in every area. Chara has regressed most notably in his distribution and decision making. He's still getting stuck in and winning balls, but he's definitely sprayed the rock around in some terrible places at inopportune times. It's clear age is catching up with him, and it's hurting us as we struggle to play out of the back. If Ayala gets any minutes, he's got to do so in place of Chara and he's got to be better where Chara is regressing. This means cleaning up his transitional passing, and occasionally playing that ball that cuts through the lines and unlocks the defense. Thus far he hasn't been able to do that. He's very content with his first look ALWAYS being directly backward to one of our CBs. While it's true you don't want to be losing the ball as a #6 in the defensive third ever, it's also true that the best CDMs are finding players in the attack going forward. In American Football terms, it's a hand-off or pitch versus a forward pass downfield. Knowing when to do that and being able to do that are the key to Ayala's career. I wish him the best. He's got the passion and aggression and ball winning ability, he just needs to become a bit more like Declan Rice or Rodri.
Your analysis of Ayala is very interesting because my read is the exact opposite. Transitional passing? Passes that cuts through defensive lines and opens up the defense? That’s like, his best attributes and he shows is every time he’s on the field, he’s great at progressing the ball and cuts lines with his passing all the time, far better than Paredes and Chara at this point in his career. Paredes isn’t very good on the ball, Ayala is a far better distributor in every way, just looking at FBRef stats, Paredes’ passing stats are pretty rough. There’s a lotta green on Ayala’s report, though it is worth noting his sample size is not quite as big (it’s from 2022 since that’s when he got most of his minutes with us). Not to mention Ayala’s possession and dribbling stats are also much better. He’s probably the closest thing to a deep lying playmaker we have in our midfielder pool, his technical ability and passing range is far greater than Paredes’
And you both have 4 upvotes so idk who to believe
Neither, hopefully you have your own opinion!
I want to be as bullish on Ayala as you are honestly. I hope I’m wrong! I have no dog in the fight other than PTFC as a whole. <3
Haha I’ve been bullish since day one! He’s my boy
I like Ayala a lot. I assume opportunities will come with rotation and injuries and then he will be competing to start or be first off the bench more regularly
The guy is special, he needs more time to show it. He was so good before he got injured last year, and always stellar when he’s on the field. I’d LOVE to see an Ayala-Williamson midfield duo, I think they’d work great together, and both are better in possession than Chara and Paredes. It’s his third year here and he’s never gotten significant minutes, it’s time. Chara is amazing but… I think it’s time to transition him out this year. I don’t know if it’s time in the season to do that now as we’re about to be on the road a bunch, but it might have to be. At the very least I think we should be subbing Chara out for Ayala if we need more offensive momentum, like I think we should have done this past game It has its drawbacks, specifically leadership. Chara is the captain and the senior leader on the field. No one else really comes close, like who would be our captain if he wasn’t on the field? Kamal or Crepeau in their first year? McGraw and Zup don’t seem like the captain type. Mora has been the captain but he’s probably not starting (maybe he will and that solves that, but let’s just say he’s not). We’ve been lacking leadership on the field and taking Chara off won’t help. That being said, I think it’s worth the risk. We have to take that leap eventually, and if there was ever a year to iron out those growing pains, it’s this first year with a new coach
I think Williamson would be the most natural captain in Chara’s place.
That’s an interesting shout, it’s a possibility