The USA central defending was a mess when Jorge took over. He tried to fix it the usual way (testing a several players in the backline: MOF, Boca, Goodson, Ream, Goodson), but never really got around to it. He sort of gave up, and instead of trying to fix the CB situation, he has patched the thing with a galore of defensive mids (protecting the CBs and even the sides, so no one can run inside and surprise). It's not ideal, but he needed something that worked well enough to stop losing, while he creates the needed team chem and imposes his ideas. At some point, I'm sure, he'll take out the training wheels and test more CB pairings. But the quals is not the time to do it. So he'll keep it conservative in the away games, at least to begin with, and then change to a more attacking formation once the other team tires attacking. Sounds good enough to me, all that is needed is getting 4 points versus each rival.
Right but it's been a YEAR and that JUST happened. I wasn't expecting sweeping changes but testing centerbacks was something Juergen eithe didn't prioritize or didn't do well. Moving players around, while new, is not the same as bringing players in. Lichaj has been inexplicably omitted at least a few times, although he's suffered his fair share of injury issues.
"Gave up" or "Didn't get around to it?" aren't really good reasons in my mind... Geoff Cameron came in and impressed at Camp Cupcake and then had a phenomenal game in Mexico. Goodson was given several chances, as was Orozco Fiscal. Even Oguchi Onyewu had a few caps. Goodson has had good games, but he doesn't address the issue of lack of pace in the backline though ( hence Slovenia's first goal and him not being able to recover in time). Orozco Fiscal was supposed to fix that, as well as with his on the ball ability, but his overall defensive skills don't seem that great. Wouldn't hurt to have him around though with that kind of versitility. Still, Cameron was a great player who didn't really get enough chances early on. At the very least, substitute appearances might have been good for him, although I imagine the playoff race didn't help Juergen get a hold of him.
I understand your stand point but against a Mexico or Italy at the moment, if he doesn't play out there then those teams have a higher probability of scoring on us. If JK puts in a RM who is more of a threat attacking but isn't as good defensively then it goes against the entire game plan. Against weaker sides I agree he shouldn't play there but when you play teams that are going to hold the ball all game you want as much protection in front of your back 4 as possible. Look at the Brazil game when we tried to be a little more open and he wasn't playing that RM spot, we where much more easier to score on.
I believe Williams is a useful option to have (and to play) in our pool. I would prefer that JK utilize more players. At this juncture, who knows what they might offer. That is my own main point.
Cameron has been a nice find, and I think JK's tactic is sound. He has patched the defending hole, and keeps trying people there until he finds one or two ideal pairings. At that point, he can start testing them in friendlies with only one or two DMs in front. However, this is most definitely a team in transition. It's good to keep that in mind.
No need to despair yet, man. The USA will qualify fine, but I think JK is basically rediscovering the wheel with the team. It will be time wasted, but not actually a step back. I hope.
thats the thing i noticed with JK. He doesn't have a set depth chart. So when someone can't play because of injury instead of bringing in the backup, he takes a player from a different position and slides them over to cover for the injured player. So when we are presented with the problem of an injured Bradley and Donovan instead of replacing these players with a Fielhaber and Bedoya (or pick two others at these positions) JK changes the formation to 3 D-mids - Jones- Beckerman-Edu. You're playing the speedy Jamaicans and you play 3 D-mids??? Or look at when Torres played in the back 4 for one of the qualifiers (i think it was @ Guatemala) I knew we were in trouble very early on when he had trouble with possession in the midfield and we kept seeing Gomez playing the winger role. Gomez is a striker who belongs in the box. Not a guy who will take the ball out wide.
Sam Cronin is 25, has a more established career, and is playing on a top team and doesn't have a chance. I dunno this game kinda woke me up from hero worship like watching "the Phantom Menace" for the first time in the theater. its driving me to use the dreaded "eurosnob" moniker. If performance matters then you wouldn't call up these euro players with such skimpy club careers. I'm quickly gaining much more respect for Arena and Robo Bob. When Bob would use Ching up top I'd whine about needing a more skillful forwardto play it on the ground but perhaps thats asking to much from our pretty creatively weak sauce mids. We need a ching style target to relieve the pressure on the mid.
I also thought he had a solid game. However he and Jones shouldn't be on the field at the same time. They're basically the same player and Jones has the edge when it comes to experience and positioning. He didn't have many forward passes, but that's what you want from your CDM
They would be ok playing together in 4231 with a true attacking mid. I wouldn't to see them in a central midfield of a 442 however.
I was thinking in terms of the Jamaica match. If everyone were healthy I'd like to see two of Edu, Cameron, Bradley, and Williams except for Williams and Edu pairing.
To the original question: He's decidedly not impressed at all playing on the wing and he has been given A LOT of chances compared to others. He had some minutes in the middle in the second half against Jamaica, and to be fair that was a broken line up for us already, but still... I think the thing is I can't see anything he's particularly good at. Neither creative vision or tight control. He just seems like a really mediocre prospect that JK is determined to mine into some sort of gold.
He's just fine as long as he's a DM. I don't ever care to see him playing further up the field or wide right anymore, however. As to who is our best option at #6, I think that is a pretty open question right now, IMO. I think Williams is one of the guys in that picture, along with Jones, Edu, and (yes) even Beckerman.
The way I see it as of now. Williams- Are best #6 imo. Makes good tackles in not threatening position. Smart on the ball very good. Jones- Can cover a ton of field but does too many reckless challenges and can lose possession in bad areas. Edu- Almost the same as Jones but he can be even worse in losing possession sometimes..He's better suited as a CB. I wanna see other players tried out. McCarty, O'Brien, Kitchen, or Morales.