While he has been a dud, I do think this is more of an overall team regression based on the quality of the opponents in the first 1/3 of the season. I am still holding out hope for a breakthrough but my hope it fading.
I am of two minds regarding Gazdag; on one hand I think he should be useful with a more dynamic 9. On the other he shouldn’t be this useless without one.
At one point Pedro Santos became statistically the worst shooter in MLS history. He ended up being a fan favorite. The difference is that Pedro's work rate and effort were unparalleled. I see subpar effort from Gazdag, and no moments of brilliance to compensate.
He had a nice pass or two tonight, but otherwise I totally agree. Pedro did become a fan favorite, but besides the 2020 playoffs, was always a bit enigmatic and inconsistent. I can see a similar path for Gazdag.
As much as I think the “system” thing is a dumb excuse for a guy who’s botched multiple attempts at an open net, I do wonder if it affects the work rate thing. I was watching him closely on defense and he was putting in work on the counter-press, but he clearly had no idea what his assignment was.
You could literally see him float between multiple players and second-guess himself. Gotta be tiring. But we’ve yet to see any of those Farsi/Santos/Morreira-esque 50-yard recoveries that really earns people’s attention.
Fotmob gave him the same rating as Nagbe (6.9), which I think is insane. Gazdag turned the ball over more tonight than DN does in the average season (maybe a slight exaggeration). DN got dispossessed and he immediately tracked back 50 yards and recovered possession. He is why we had 60%+ possession.
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