{"id":31855,"date":"2015-02-20T23:33:36","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T04:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=31855"},"modified":"2015-02-20T23:44:17","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T04:44:17","slug":"a-mix-match-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=31855","title":{"rendered":"A Mix & Match Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: New England Revolution<\/p><\/div>\n

Generally speaking, coaches don\u2019t enjoy changing their lineup. Consistency, it is said, is the key to success. But with a wealth of talent at his disposal, Jay Heaps is\u00a0anxious to cast aside\u00a0that axiom this year.<\/p>\n

For the first time during his coaching tenure, the\u00a0Heaps finds himself with a variety of formidable options in the midfield and up top \u2013 and he isn\u2019t about to let any of them go to waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re further along than just having the 11 players that are going to play,\u201d Heaps said in a teleconference with the media on Friday. \u201cWe look at our team now and we like the advantages we can gain on a per-game basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most notable example of the Revolution\u2019s riches is up top, where Juan Agudelo and Charlie Davies have both excelled as lone strikers in the preferred 4-3-3. While the issue of who\u2019ll start up top has been the center of debate for much of the preseason, Heaps doesn\u2019t see it as a positional battle.<\/p>\n

Instead, Heaps believes that whoever gets the nod will be based upon what each player brings to each individual matchup. Both players can play on the right, as can Teal Bunbury, who made a smooth transition from striker to winger last year. Add newcomer Sean Okoli to the mix, and there’s yet another option Heaps can use up top if the occasion calls for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll depend upon what striker might be best against a certain defense,\u201d Heaps said, \u201cand what player\u2019s much better in a certain environment or a certain matchup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Heaps has stuck with the 4-3-3 for the better part of the past two seasons, he didn\u2019t rule out the possibility of fielding a two-forward tandem that features both Agudelo and Davies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be game-by-game,\u201d Heaps said. \u201cWhatever\u2019s best for the team, and whatever we think is going to be our best advantage is how we\u2019re going to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up top isn\u2019t the only area where Heaps has a surplus of options, of course. With a midfield that includes three players who\u2019ve suited up for the U.S., a pair of grizzled veterans, and a slew of talented youngsters, it\u2019s easy to see why he isn\u2019t about to etch his preferred XI in stone.<\/p>\n

One of the players who stands to benefit from that mindset is Diego Fagundez, whose minutes waned down the stretch due to his defensive form. But with Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen both nursing injuries, the 20-year-old winger is getting an extended look as a central attacking midfielder this winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when Diego has that freedom and he\u2019s playing with someone that he can play off of, he\u2019s really good at any of those positions,\u201d Heaps said.<\/p>\n

While the backline may boast a greater degree of certainty given the number of veterans at the ready, Heaps was quick to point out that, aside from the central pairing of Andrew Farrell and Jose Goncalves, there\u2019s plenty of competition at right fullback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of opportunities at the outside back position,\u201d Heaps said. \u201cDarrius (Barnes) is versatile enough to play both sides and Jeremy Hall has done well in his time at that position as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that with eight open roster spots, that competition is only going to intensify across the pitch. And given the view Heaps has adopted in interchanging positions and players, that\u2019ll suit the coaching staff just fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s going to be some fluidity in terms of how we approach teams,\u201d Heaps said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be based upon where we think we can gain an advantage, and where we think we\u2019re at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a surplus of talent in the middle and up top, Jay Heaps isn’t going to carve his first XI in stone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[891,115,49,235,888,892],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Jay-1.png?fit=600%2C415","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31855"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31855"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31862,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31855\/revisions\/31862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}