Now that the news about Espindola’s return is final, how will he fit in? First of all, he should come in game-fit so that shouldn’t be an issue. Second of all, he should know the players and system fairly well from last season. So he should be able to be integrated right away.
Does he deserve to start? What combination of forwards is our best? Findley/Movsisyan? Espindola/Movsisyan? Espindola/Findley? Here are some of my thoughts:
Each of the three forwards has their strengths and limitations.
Findley:
Robbie has great pace as everyone knows. He also has tremendous leaping ability and is our best forward in the air by far. He is also a surprisingly good passer as witnessed by his quality backheel to Javi for the game winner against DC. Robbie also was 2nd on the team in 2008, with 5 assists.
The biggest knock on Findley has been his first touch, but he has shown a great touch so far this season. His ability to catch the ball on his knee from a long overhead pass by Borchers against DC was phenomenal. However, that play also demonstrated another weakness which is the fact that he doesn’t have a lot of on-the-ball strength. On that play he was easily knocked off the ball and failed to get off a shot with any power. Findley also does not have a powerful shot and must rely on precision to get the ball past the keeper. He can be very opportunistic. He’s a decent finisher in this regard, but he will always need a fairly open chance to score.
As you can see below of the 3 forwards he gets shots off with the least amount of frequency (a shot every 33 minutes), and he gets a shot on goal with much less frequency than the other two (every 82 minutes). He scores a goal every 192 minutes, which is just over every two matches, not a bad statistic. However, Robbie has shown to be streaky since joining the team and disappears for long stretches.
Movsisyan
Yura’s combination of strength, speed and determination are what makes him a quality forward. He’s great at holding off the defender to get to the ball. He also can make some moves with his feet, but in general struggles to get separation. Yura has a great work rate and the hot streak he had at the end of last season put him among one of the most productive forwards in the league, but can he continue that this year?
He’s taken far too much criticism for lacking quality finishing ability, but he has not shown the ability to consistently take advantage of opportunities. For his size, Yura is also not particularly good in the air. Early last season Yura tried to get to crafty with the ball and do far too much on his own. He tallied a single assist despite having the ball at his feet in the final 3rd quite often. This year he appears to have a renewed interest in passing, and this could help the team to see a deadly strike duo emerge this season.
As you can see from the stats below, Yura isn’t shy about getting shots off taking one every 19 minutes. That’s 4.7 shots per 90-minute game. He gets about half of these shots on frame which isn’t bad. Unfortunately he is only able to put one in the net every 214 minutes. That’s nearly 1 goal every 2.4 games. Not horrible, but considering how often he gets shots off it could improve.
Espindola
Fabian has a good combination of strength on the ball, determination and technical ability. He’s not the fastest guy out there but he can cause fits for defenders on the left side of the box. Being a left-footed guy also helps the cause on a team lacking true left-sided players. He’s also a player that is willing and able to run at defenders with the ball, which is different than either Movsisyan or Findley.
Fabian’s finest moment last season came against Colorado at home. It was a game that Espindola dominated, scoring a brace, and nearly getting a hat-trick. Espindola’s biggest negative in his time with RSL was his health as he missed a number of games with injury.
The thing that Fabi demonstrated last season was a dealiness and ability to punish the opposing defenses that the team has always lacked. As you can see from the stats he managed a shot every 26 minutes which is respectable, and put an extremely high percentage of these on goal. However, his best asset was the clinical finishing he demonstrated putting every 5th shot in the back of the net to score every game and a half.
| Robbie Findley | |||
| Year | Min/Sht | Min/SOG | Min/G |
| 2009 | 29 | 77 | 77 |
| 2008 | 34 | 83 | 249 |
| Totals | 33 | 82 | 192 |
| Yura Movsisyan | |||
| Year | Min/Sht | Min/SOG | Min/G |
| 2009 | 23 | 45 | - |
| 2008 | 18 | 37 | 176 |
| Totals | 19 | 38 | 214 |
| Fabian Espindola | |||
| Year | Min/Sht | Min/SOG | Min/G |
| 2009 | - | - | - |
| 2008 | 26 | 38 | 128 |
| Totals | 26 | 38 | 128 |
Combinations
While it’s impossible to project how well a forward combination will do together until they actually get together on the field, here are some brief thoughts:
- Movsisyan/Findley: We have seen this combination, and it works reasonably well. However, I think this combination may lack the ability to create their own chances against some of the top defenses in the league. Movsisyan does the heavy lifting in this duo running down balls, and keeping defenders off of him with the shoulder. Findley takes the opportunities that present themselves and uses his pace to get behind defenders. He also gets his head on crosses.
- Movsisyan/Espindola: This combination could produce some results. Both players like to have the ball in the final third. Both will look to shoot first, but Espindola in particular will recognize good passing opportunities. Neither will scare opponents with their speed. Neither play a back to the goal style. Both are tenacious. Espindola’s technical ability and aptitude to run at defenders could allow more ability to create opportunities on their own than the Movsisyan/Findley duo. This combination would also allow Findley to play a super-sub role and get the most out of his blazing pace against tired defenders late in games.
- Espindola/Findley: With Movsisyan coming into the season as the “annointed one” based on his hot streak last season, I have a hard time imagining a lineup without him. I still think he has a lot to offer. However, I like this combination more than the other two. The reason: these two have are the most different. Espindola can pick out Findley with a cross for a header. He can slot the ball through when Findley makes a well-timed run and he can play the ball out in to space for Findley to run onto. He also can work with the ball out on the left side, opening up the middle for Findley and the midfielders.
What are your thoughts? Who should be the starting forwards once Espindola comes into the mix? (please note, I’ve left Escalada out of the mix simply because I don’t know enough about him to judge his abilities).
