Only a couple of years ago we had very poor options at leftback. Guys like Bornstein, Castillo and Bocanegra were the only viable options. Now it seems we have an excess amount of fullbacks. Johnson has emerged as a viable candidate for the starting LB spot because of his good performance against Italy and he has been getting good reviews in Germany. Chandler played LB before Johnson and looked pretty good but Chandler rarely plays LB for his club. Now we have Eric Lichaj who has been starting at LB for Aston Villa the last couple of months and has been Villa's most consistent defender. So going forward who do we put in the fullback spots? Cherundolo is still a quality RB but he is getting old and losing his pace. Chandler is a RB who has also played RM and done very well. Johnson has moved around in his short career from CM, RM, LM and now LB. And finally we have Lichaj who is a RB converted to LB but doing very well in that spot.
I wouldn't count Castillo out yet. Either at the left wing or left back. Klinsy likes the mexican-merican crowd
up and down, but he does offer something going forward that i haven't really seen from our lbs in the past, save for johnson thus far
If Castillo or Lichaj can step it up either one of them should start because Johnson is a better option at LM he likes to attack a lot just like Chandler.
Castillo has been moved to left midfield club level. He's not an option at left back at international level as he's not good enough. Personally I'd prefer to have Johnson closer to goal as he looks to be an effective playmaker. With Lichaj starting and excelling at left back the move should now be feasible.
The one time I saw Chandler play left back for the USA he looked terrible, his left foot ball control was lacking. I would rather keep Chandler at RB. I say Johnson, Shea, Castillo are options at LWB/LB/LM rotate them and see who plays better. Lichaj? I am not sure how he is playing, I guess is worth a look. BTW Merge? http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32675&page=51&highlight=leftback
Shea and Castillo are almost exclusively left mids at club level. Johnson and Lichaj(though Lichaj is right footed) are left backs at club level with Johnson also having plenty of experience in midfield. Chandler is a right back at club level and also has experience playing in midfield; he is not as gifted an attacker as Johnson from midfield. A more interesting questions are who would be the 3rd left back after Johnson and Lichaj and the 3rd right back after Chandler and Cherundolo.
Greg Garza, Castillo's teammate could be one to keep an eye on too. Started today at LB while Castillo moved to LW. I've also heard some good things from Justin Morrow at San Jose.
I've seen every SJ game, Morrow is very good as a center back, and is ridiculously fast. He doesn't look like he has the technical ability to play LB quite yet, but his speed can make things happen. IF he continues to play this well, a callup is inevitable
To me it's simple: you start your best players where they play the best, and fill in holes from there. 1) Timmy Chandler --> RB. He should be starting there now, because that's where we want him at WC14 when Cherundolo is too old (if he is on the roster it at all, it should certainly not be as a starter). 2) Fabian Johnson --> LW. Until Brek Shea shows improvement, Johnson is the best we have there. 3) Eric Lichaj --> LB. Filling a hole in the roster with the best available player. He can also fill in at RB. 4) Cherundolo --> Backup RB. Because the bench is where he should be (if he makes the roster at all) by WC14. 5) Edgar Castillo --> Backup. Another one to keep an eye on, but first he has to show that he can A) play well consistently and B) perform at the international level.
My thoughts exactly. Great post. Johnson should not be playing leftback for us when he's a much better midfielder. Lichaj is starting and playing well in the premiership. That's good enough for me.
I was about to post something similar to this... completely agree. I don't see Klinsmann agreeing though. He'll probably continue to start Cherundolo until he falls out of the BL1, which might actually be this year. When does his contract expire again?
Did you even watch the Italy game last month? Fabian Johnson was the best LB I've seen in many years, Italy would attack our right side and sometimes through the middle rarely did they attack our left. I don't really see an issue at the LB position the issue is LM and FW. Saying that Fabian Johnson should be kept from the LB position is not very smart and I'm pretty sure Klinsy knows this already, remember qualifiers start this summer and the last thing we need is to second guess ourselfs.
Johnson has been effective for club and country playing both positions. The relative merits of the other options at lb and midfield should determine where he plays. Imo the emergence of Lichaj allows for greater flexibility.
Lichaj is a natural right-footer, correct? How have his crosses with his left looked for Villa in this recent period? Or does he generally try to switch feet and do it with his right?
Lichaj switches to the right foot. His value in the attacking end is more in his athleticism and passing ability. He looks comfortable playing along the left touchline but isn't going to cross it in with consistency using his left. It wouldn't be a good idea to pair him with a no-left foot midfielder.
Didn't realize Greg Garza has started the past 2 matches at left back with Castillo playing left mid and Corona playing in central midfield and on the right. Tijuana has made the playoffs. The emergence of a legit 3rd left back option would make it feasible for Johnson to play all of his minutes in midfield. Johnson - B1 Lichaj - EPL Garza - playoff bound MFL team to go with a few MLS prospects like Morrow and Sinovic make for nice depth at left back. To think posters were sweating Miguel Ponce's Decision a couple of years ago.
Garza was also subbed out at halftime yesterday. I don't believe he's played much of a part at all in Tijuana's playoff run. The club seems to be using him very sparingly so far as he gets accustomed to the Mexican league.
Lichaj played RB for a couple of games for Villa this year and scored a goal and got an assist against Chelsea from that spot. He was then moved to LB so he could stay in the squad and he now rarely is a threat down the left side. He is a really good fullback defense-wise but it's pretty clear he doesn't look as comfortable attacking down that side. He has a couple of time and ended up using his right foot most times but he did a couple of crosses with his left and they weren't bad.
