True but you have to also take into consideration the managers and what he wants. Mcleish is a defensive minded coach who at the moment is willing to take a draw and point every game for the remainder of the season. So that means he's going to want his fullbacks to venture forward a lot less then he did earlier in the season. Also like you said Lichaj is a natural RB with little actual LB experience and I think for the amount of time that he's had playing that position, he's done remarkably well in arguably the toughest league in the world.
Didn't Lichaj spend some time at left back on loan with Leeds? Pretty sure he has prior experience. Garza plays as a left back. The lineups on mediotempo are sometimes inverted.
He started at RB switched to LB due to injuries and went to RB again near the end of his loan. But I was referring to the fact that his experience is predominately at RB and that he's picked up LB fairly well for the limited time he's been play there during his career.
Can something that's been going on for the better part of 5 World Cup cycles be called merely an "issue" anymore? Not quite a crisis either...what's in between an issue and a crisis?
The OP was actually suggesting it's not a problem anymore or at least the old problem isn't there any longer.
I agree completely with your premise of best players where they play the best, but I disagree, respectfully and just a bit with some of the conclusions. For me it is like this: 1) Timmy Chandler --> RM/RW. He is playing RM/RW in a 4-5-1 for his club and looks like a beast to me when I watch him. We can play LD on the left, CD in the center and Chandler wide right. 2) Fabian Johnson --> LB. he is playing LB for his club and playing very well, I agree he is awesome offensively, but to my mind the gap between Johnson and Chandler/Lichaj at left back is the largest of all of these options to my mind. Additionally, he is right footed, but has to my mind, far and away the best left foot of any of our options. His left is so good that I commonly see people on here laboring under the misconception that he is naturally left footed. 3) Eric Lichaj --> In my opinion Lichaj is much better on the right than he is on the left and the drop off from Chandler to a 'Lichaj or 'Dolo on the right is less than the drop off from FJ to anyone else on the left imo. We can use 'Dolo who is still a stud when needed and groom Lichaj, or whoever else may get ahead of him in the pecking order at RB. We will have a good, young RB come 2014 imo, probably Lichaj, but there are others as well. 4) 'Dolo --> The man is a consummate pro and very well may be serviceable come 2014.
I don't think Spector is out of the picture at LB, especially if he can get promoted and be back in the BPL next season. Maybe not the most exciting pick, but the guy has loads of experience at a high level
why? i haven't really seen anyone stake a definitive claim at the position, besides johnson who might be better as a mid. spector played well covering for kljestans defensive deficiencies last time he was on the field.
I have a feeling that it will be Lichaj and Castillo competing for the start on the left pushing Johnson up the pitch where he is even more dangerous. I didn't really rate Castillo during Klinsy's first few friendlies, but the poor form can be attributed to a lack of sharpness from not having played many games...this season he's been the only one on his team to start all of the games and has been very good by all accounts...Against a evenly matched or lesser opponent, I fully expect that he'll start, especially given the fact that he knows the way Klinsy wants to play, having participated in the early camps. Against an opponent like Brazil where we will more than likely be on the backfoot (unless they play us the way the played Bosnia), I expect Klinsy to go with someone who perhaps is a bit more defensively proficient at which point he'll call upon Lichaj....thoughts?
20 minutes doesn't count Spector hasn't played good since the Confederations Cup. I prefer Lichaj at LB if Johnson moves up to LM.
I like Johnson going forward so I would love to see him able to roam in the midfield though he looked really good at LB against Italy. So I would be more than ok if he stays there. Lichaj is better suited on the right but is serviceable on the left, and ultimately Id like to see him paired with Chandler on the right in some combination. I would love to see how Shea looks at LB and have Johnson replace Shea on the wing, of course not in qualifying though, experimentation is done in other games.
Really? I could swear I saw Chandler play RM/RW on April 28th, his last game, against Hoffenheim and that Markus Fuelner played RB. Easy for you to get them mixed up though, they are practically twins: I also disagree with you about how he has performed at each position, I think he has been solid in both roles. Clearly he is a great RB by our standards, I just feel he is also a great RM by our standards and would help us most there right now.
Leave Johnson at LB for the time being. He played wonderfully there against Italy and let's see how he performs in the coming games before we move him forward. I think he could still be very dangerous in the final third while playing fullback. Shea should remain our first-choice LM/LW. He has a boatload of talent and is only gonna improve going forward. Chandler should be our RB and provide a nice combination with Donovan down that side of the pitch.
Umm yeah Chander has been playing at RB for the last month or two just check Brian Sciaretta's twitter if you don't believe me.
Boatload of talent ang gonna get better? I wish he would show that for his Dallas team. He has been quite for a number of games.
Castillo as LW or LB? he might not be a BS favorite, but he has been playing well and may be serviceable to us.
