According to, well, everyone, John Anthony Brooks looked quite good in another 90 minute effort for Hertha Berlin, helping to pitch a shut out. I know he's young, but if he continues to play well, I really think he ought to get a call up for Russia.
He is young, but age shouldnt matter. The best players should get a callup. If they are 18 or 35, they should still be called up. However, whether he is one of our best center backs is another discussion. My opinion is he should be rated somewhere between Tim Ream and a George John or Omar Gonzalez. In other words, a bubble player.
It is really hard to let Boca go, but I get that agoos-aphobic feeling everytime I see him out there now. I thought it was particularly telling on the Ruiz goal that Boca stopped his run. Even at Boca's speed he could have made the goal mouth by the time Fishbreath got around Howard. Not that he stops it, but that he doesn't even make the effort is discouraging and worrying.
I'm a little surprised nobody is mentioning Orozco-Fiscal as a centerback option. I haven't seen enough of him to have much of an opinion, but Klinsmann has called on him in the past. Perhaps the coach still thinks he's a useful player there?
I thought that he looked decent against Mexico as a RB. Orozco-Fiscal is about as good as Parkhurst IMO.
Right now, in my notes, I have Gonzalez, John, & Brooks as our centerbacks for Russia, with Jurgen using Cameron in his club position, at rightback. Cameron would be emergency CB though. This could likely change by the 14th. If Gooch breaks in @ Malaga & keeps a place or if Ream gets it together at Bolton, John is on the outside.
Probably because he lost his starting job for one of the worst teams in Mexico. He's just not that good. He wasn't much good in MLS either. Good news on Ream! He finally got a start today! Bad news on Ream...he conceded a penalty. Gooch has remained on the bench. I won't count out either guy, but I'm not going to think much about them as options unless and until they win jobs and perform well consistently. As for your CB list, I like it, but I really don't think Cameron will be used as an emergency CB. He should start. He's still relatively green and could use the experience.
Sounds like the flavor of the week approach. Gooch and Ream haven't shown anything in ages but if they happen to show something positive in the next 3 weeks, they are in? If they show poorly the following week, they are out? The Hex starts February 13th. The US is going to have one or two opportunities with full squad to get together before that date. It is unfortunate but at this point, Klinsmann needs to pick a back four and stick with it so they can get used to playing together - especially if he insists on playing a high line with only one DM (a talented but very young DM) shielding. It isn't something that happens overnight. Whoever JK thinks is a possibility as a defender in the upcoming Hex, he needs to get on a jet, get to their matches and assess whether it is realistic to believe that player will get us through qualification and make a decision and stick with it unless there is really good reason to change. Hopefully the US qualifies early in the Hex and then JK can start to tinker with the back four again. I'm not going to argue that Boca is or is not the guy going forward. However, one thing you can always count on with Boca is that he takes responsibility on the pitch and fights. If it appeared different on this one in just the third minute of play, I would suggest there is a reason other than he just gave up and that was because he was too old and slow.
I think he slowed up 1) looking for the OS call 2) because he thought/hoped Howard was going to come off his line quicker. And who knows if he could have saved it, but a flat out boogie the second he realized the ball is over him puts him on the goal line around the point Ruiz shoots - Not a lot of players will make that run, either, but they should. Overall, having watched a decent bit of rangers, I feel Carlos has lost a pretty critical step.
Maybe he slowed up looking for offside, then thought Howard would get to it, but once all of that was done and Ruiz dribbled past Howard, there is no reason for Boca to not be sprinting into the goal other than lack of awareness or laziness.
I don't think he needs to set his back 4 just yet, do you think the only 2 game dates prior to the HEX is enough to set the back 4? anything could happen, we are talking 4 months down the road.
"Lack of awareness and laziness". Those are two new adjectives when it comes to describing Bocanegra. Some new insight into his play.
Yep. That play was not what we've come to expect from Boca. I think it's difficult to argue that he was totally aware of Cameron, Ruiz, and Howard, and that he tried his hardest to recover.
A back four needs to get comfortable playing with each other so they are on the same page in match situations. You do this by having them play in matches. It isn't something that is accomplished in a couple of training sessions. Certainly a lot can happen in 4 months such as injuries, but then you deal with that.
by feb 14, jk isn't makine massive chnages. as yu have he gold cup and hex to do so but boca will only get slower goodson and cameron might be the cbs for the first hex, but things will changeby theend of the hex omar health is my only concern, by 2014 he might well be a starter, with money on brooks cameron at right back, fabian ay left, ready to roll
He's too short to play center back at the international level. He is a decent player, and might be someone who can add depth at LB or RB, but frankly we have better options.
I think the point is you want to give your chosen pair as much game time together as possible (including with DM choice), you do realize that well over half the games (Take out the Gold Cup games which will be a "B" or "C" line-ups for USA) that will be played before next WC are the hex games.
all I'm saying is those two games shouldn't make or break the starting 4 for the Hex. Of course the sooner we get in to a consistant back 4 the better. I would hate to see a better CB not get his reps with the first team simply because JK has already decided on his back 4.
Is he? He's only an inch shorter than Bocanegra who is great in the air and taller than guys like Puyol or Cannavaro. Given that we want to play a high line and more mobility and skill might be good for one of the CBs, whether it is Orozco, Pearce or someone else, although I'd at least want one to be bigger and strong in the air. Ideally Klinsmann will try out a lot of different CBs with a variety of skills in our next few camps as having different types of players would give us more flexibility against different opponents (if we're playing Mexico, Orozco might be better than someone like Goodson, but against someone like Sweden maybe not).
Fabian Johnson and Cameron are pretty close to locks at this point and should play in every US match possible. That's 2 of the 4 starters. Slotting a veteran like Cherundolo in at RB is easy and the team doesn't "need" him in every possible match. I think testing for the best #2 RB is more important because of Cherundolo's age, so I'd call in Parkhurst and Lichaj and have them battle it out in November and January. Ideally, I'd like Chandler to commit and bring him in, but that's another story all together. So, the big question is this: a) is it smarter to give Boca the few remaining minutes before the Hex and have him build a better understanding with Cameron, or 2) is it better to find a stronger #2 than Goodson and get him to action ASAP, just in case Boca's age starts to become a problem during the Hex? Just in case a better #1 CB is needed. If Gonzo is available in November and January, I think it's a no-brainer to call him in and force feed him some games. That process should have begun in 2011, as a battle between Gonzo and Ream, but that's water under the bridge at this point.
Just for fun...here's the Fifa 13 ratings of those same 5 players. The top two "scorers" in each category are bolded Overall: 71 (Gonzalez), 70 (G.John) , 67 (Besler), 66 (Brooks), 64 (Okugo) Accel: 75 (Okugo) , 71(G.John), 66(Brooks), 65(Besler), 58(Gonzalez) Speed: 79 (Okugo), 65 (G.John), 65 (Gonzalez), 64 (Brooks), 60 (Besler) Jumping: 88 (G.John) , 81 (Okugo), 81 (Brooks), 71 (Besler), 66 (Gonzalez) Strength: 85 (Gonzalez), 81 (G.John), 77 (Besler), 71 (Brooks), 71 (Okugo) Height: 196cm (Gonzalez), 193cm (G.John), 193cm (Brooks), 183 (Besler), 183 (Okugo) Weight: 93kg (Gonzalez), 91kg (G.John), 79kg (Okugo), 78kg (Brooks), 77kg(Besler) Positioning: 54 (Okugo), 38 (G.John), 34 (Gonzalez), 31 (Besler), 29 (Brooks) Reactions: 66 (G.John), 66 (Gonzalez),63(Besler), 59(Brooks), 54(Okugo) Interception: 75 (Besler),74(G.John),74(Gonzalez),69(Okugo), 56(Brooks) Slide Tackle: 70(Brooks), 69(G.John), 68(Gonzalez),62(Besler), 57(Okugo) Standing Tackle: 76(Gonzalez), 71(G.John),71(Brooks), 68(Besler), 59 (Okugo) Marking:75(Gonzalez), 73 (G.John), 67(Brooks), 67(Besler), 64(Okugo) Dribbling: 59 (Okugo), 46 (G.John), 40(Brooks), 32(Besler), 32(Gonzalez) Ball Control: 62(Okugo), 56(Besler), 52(John), 48(Gonzalez), 43(Brooks) Vision: 55(Okugo), 43 (G.John), 41(Besler), 38(Gonzalez), 32(Brooks) Looks like EA's programmers have come to the same conclusion as me after three years of obersvation...which is G.John is a muthafin MONSTER! I have and will continued to be absolutely baffled as to how (m)any ?honest? observer(s) could rate him lower than anyone but maybe Omar "Mr. Championship" Gonzalez. If its in the game, its in the game