Player Search: Left back Depth

[harttbeat]

I always thought central midfield was our weakest spot but after seeing Convey accelerated in that position, i am less worry now. But one position we are really lacking is a True Left Back. How do we define left back? (Roberto Carols? Ian Harte? i guess they are) I guess it depends on the coach's system too ... In the World Cup, we saw Frankie Hejduk play pretty agressive in that position but was a non factor in pushing forwad. From what we see so far, we know Bruce really wants a left back who could attack.

Here are some players that can play in that position.
Wade Barrett
Diego Gutierrez
Frankie Hejduk
Eddie Lewis
DaMarcus Beasley
John O'Brien
David Regis
Greg Vanney
Paul Broome

Hopefully, there is more you guyz can provide.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by harttbeat
I always thought central midfield was our weakest spot but after seeing Convey accelerated in that position, i am less worry now. But one position we are really lacking is a True Left Back. How do we define left back? (Roberto Carols? Ian Harte? i guess they are) I guess it depends on the coach's system too ... In the World Cup, we saw Frankie Hejduk play pretty agressive in that position but was a non factor in pushing forwad. From what we see so far, we know Bruce really wants a left back who could attack.

Here are some players that can play in that position.
Wade Barrett
Diego Gutierrez
Frankie Hejduk
Eddie Lewis
DaMarcus Beasley
John O'Brien
David Regis
Greg Vanney
Paul Broome

Hopefully, there is more you guyz can provide.

Perhaps Chris Gbandi, Phillip Salyer, Ian Joy, and Ricky Lewis. All of these guys are basically rookies though.

[NSlander]

I read an encouraging evaluation of Gbandi's recent practice with the Burn. If this guy is half as good as advertised (as well as healthy and eligible) the entire LB picture changes considerably. He might be the only candidate with the physical tools to effectively fill that role. Even if Convey learns to defend well there, the team needs him more in the middle of the field.

Is Gbandi a citizen yet? I'd imagine getting him pro and international experience will be one one of Arena's higher priorities over the next couple of years.

On the right side, I wish Gooch would get similarly fast-tracked. But that appears even more unlikely. And I pray Arena completely abandons his mad Sasha-stein experiments at RB.

[chayes]

Originally posted by The Wanderer
Perhaps Chris Gbandi, Phillip Salyer, Ian Joy, and Ricky Lewis. All of these guys are basically rookies though.

If Sayler and Joy can't hold down jobs with 3rd division teams, I don't think they are exactly ready to be a starting left back on the Nats.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by chayes
If Sayler and Joy can't hold down jobs with 3rd division teams, I don't think they are exactly ready to be a starting left back on the Nats.

Potential candidates, potential. Gbandi hasn't even set foot on an MLS pitch yet. Twellman was stuck on the bench for 1860's reserves in the 3rd division....sometimes the players don't fit the coaches plans.

[Ghost]

I would strongly imagine that Gbandi will win out at some point. And Barrett is there as second choice. OR it could be Convey or O'Brien. In the long-term I'm not as worried about this position as I am about the other side. But I think Onyewu may eventually seize that position. And there's always Cherundolo, of whom I'm not a big fan.

So if I'm going to worry, I'm going to woirry more about striker than anything else. We need Buddle, EJ, Casey or Quaranta to develop quickly, or for McBride to have a wonderful autumn of his career.

[FlashMan]

uuhhhh, Convey?

I mean just 'cause he didn't play such great defense against one of the greatest "B" teams in the world in only the 2nd time he's ever played the position doesn't mean he might not at some point develop into the position.

we're pretty quick to judge off of one performance...

[harttbeat]

I always thought central midfield was our weakest spot but after seeing Convey accelerated in that position, i am less worry now. But one position we are really lacking is a True Left Back. How do we define left back? (Roberto Carols? Ian Harte? i guess they are) I guess it depends on the coach's system too ... In the World Cup, we saw Frankie Hejduk play pretty agressive in that position but was a non factor in pushing forwad. From what we see so far, we know Bruce really wants a left back who could attack.

Here are some players that can play in that position.
Wade Barrett
Diego Gutierrez
Frankie Hejduk
Eddie Lewis
DaMarcus Beasley
John O'Brien
David Regis
Greg Vanney
Paul Broome

Hopefully, there is more you guyz can provide.

i didnt know i started a thread like this 5 year ago. It was definitely interesting who was consider back then. 5 years later, we're still searching for one.

[Bigrose30]

Six years on, this is definitely still a trouble spot. Here's how the position boils down today:

Heath Pearce - Incumbent starter. In my mind, he's a big liability. Lacks pace and positioning is poor. Watch the game away to Guatemala if you don't believe me. Strikes a decent ball with his left foot, but that's about it going forward. Doesn't convince otherwise. Getting only occasional minutes at left-midfield in 2BL, if that says anything.

Jonathan Bornstein - Looked to have initially won the job back in 2007 with some good performances against Argentina and Mexico, but due to injury/form, he has since lost the job to Heath Pearce. Has the pace needed, and actually is a quite combatative 1v1 defender. He's a converted back, so he needs time to learn the positioning and the instinct of when to go forward.

Jonathan Spector - Big, strong and fast, and can play anywhere across the backline. If he can get healthy and get a run of games in, he would certainly be in the conversation for a weak-link spot like left back. That is a big 'IF' however.

Michael Orozco - Natural CB, and will take a while to live down his Olympic tantrum, but is certainly a solid enough 1v1 defender to merit consideration. Has a bit of a nasty streak, which if kept under control, can be a good thing.

Carlos Bocanegra - Current starter at CB, but a regular at LB for a club that's challenging for the league title in France, a fact that will only matter to Bob Bradley if a) another center back is playing too well to keep off the field and b) no other left back can be found. We all know what 'Los brings to LB: no-nonsense defending, aerial prowess, and the bare-minimum going forward.

Frankie Hejduk - He's done it before. It's precisely his ability to play either FB position that he will continue to make the bench in key games for the US. The guy hasn't lost any pace, and never gets tired. You know what you'll get with Frankie, and while it ain't usually pretty, he's been getting the job done for over 10 years now. While he probably won't figure while he's out of season, don't be surprised if he gets a nod at LB this year.


Overview:

Jonathan Bornstein gets an audition against Sweden. If he passes, he gets a trial by fire against Mexico. If he thrives, he's your new #1.

If Bornstein tanks against Sweden, Heath Pearce remains the tenative starter, pending Jonathon Spector's health.

Orozco's best shot of finding a place on the team is showing he can be serviceable at both positions. He'll get his chance at the Gold Cup this summer.

Bocanegra will only be moved if Chad Marshall moves abroad and is worshiped by Kicker.

[tomásbernal]

Good post there Bigrose. I didn't realize that Bocanegra is playing LB at Rennes. Considering that fact, might it not be possible that BB tries him out there and puts one of the other center backs in his place (we seem to be pretty strong at the CB position)? I'm not thinking about Mexico, but maybe another team that isn't so strong.

P.S. I thought it was pretty interesting that this thread is SIX YEARS OLD! Zombies I tell you, zombies....

[Martin Fischer]

I hate to do another amen post, but that was a strong. objective anlaysis.

[olephill2]

Six years on, this is definitely still a trouble spot. Here's how the position boils down today:

Heath Pearce - Incumbent starter. In my mind, he's a big liability. Lacks pace and positioning is poor. Watch the game away to Guatemala if you don't believe me. Strikes a decent ball with his left foot, but that's about it going forward. Doesn't convince otherwise. Getting only occasional minutes at left-midfield in 2BL, if that says anything.

Jonathan Bornstein - Looked to have initially won the job back in 2007 with some good performances against Argentina and Mexico, but due to injury/form, he has since lost the job to Heath Pearce. Has the pace needed, and actually is a quite combatative 1v1 defender. He's a converted back, so he needs time to learn the positioning and the instinct of when to go forward.

Jonathan Spector - Big, strong and fast, and can play anywhere across the backline. If he can get healthy and get a run of games in, he would certainly be in the conversation for a weak-link spot like left back. That is a big 'IF' however.

Michael Orozco - Natural CB, and will take a while to live down his Olympic tantrum, but is certainly a solid enough 1v1 defender to merit consideration. Has a bit of a nasty streak, which if kept under control, can be a good thing.

Carlos Bocanegra - Current starter at CB, but a regular at LB for a club that's challenging for the league title in France, a fact that will only matter to Bob Bradley if a) another center back is playing too well to keep off the field and b) no other left back can be found. We all know what 'Los brings to LB: no-nonsense defending, aerial prowess, and the bare-minimum going forward.

Frankie Hejduk - He's done it before. It's precisely his ability to play either FB position that he will continue to make the bench in key games for the US. The guy hasn't lost any pace, and never gets tired. You know what you'll get with Frankie, and while it ain't usually pretty, he's been getting the job done for over 10 years now. While he probably won't figure while he's out of season, don't be surprised if he gets a nod at LB this year.


Overview:

Jonathan Bornstein gets an audition against Sweden. If he passes, he gets a trial by fire against Mexico. If he thrives, he's your new #1.

If Bornstein tanks against Sweden, Heath Pearce remains the tenative starter, pending Jonathon Spector's health.

Orozco's best shot of finding a place on the team is showing he can be serviceable at both positions. He'll get his chance at the Gold Cup this summer.

Bocanegra will only be moved if Chad Marshall moves abroad and is worshiped by Kicker.
Good post, but I disagree with your assertions that:
a) Heath Pearce is slow, and
b) Jonathan Spector is fast

If anything, I'd say Pearce has decent pace while Spector isn't quite fast enough to be a regular as an outside back.

That said, I still think Spector is the best candidate in our pool for LB at this point. He's probably the best pure defender of everyone you mentioned, and he's versatile enough and two-footed enough to get the job done. He won't be much of an attacking threat from the left flank, but I say to hell with it. Let's just put a lockdown defender in there, tell Steve Cherundolo to push forward more often and at all available opportunities on the other side, and rely on DaMarcus Beasley to attack more and defend a bit less on the left flank.

We have a defense right now that's quite difficult to break down. With Spector in at LB, it will be even more difficult for opposing attacks to break down.

[Martin Fischer]

Good post, but I disagree with your assertions that:
a) Heath Pearce is slow, and
b) Jonathan Spector is fast

If anything, I'd say Pearce has decent pace while Spector isn't quite fast enough to be a regular as an outside back.

That said, I still think Spector is the best candidate in our pool for LB at this point. He's probably the best pure defender of everyone you mentioned, and he's versatile enough and two-footed enough to get the job done. He won't be much of an attacking threat from the left flank, but I say to hell with it. Let's just put a lockdown defender in there, tell Steve Cherundolo to push forward more often and at all available opportunities on the other side, and rely on DaMarcus Beasley to attack more and defend a bit less on the left flank.

We have a defense right now that's quite difficult to break down. With Spector in at LB, it will be even more difficult for opposing attacks to break down.

I probably agree with you re Pearce having better speed than Spector, though the difference is not that great. A couple of problems with your analysis:

Spector has rarely been a regular starter at the club level and does not appear to be close to being one with West Ham - I doubt he will be effective without club playing time.

Beasley is currently rusting out and, if he remains our best option at left mid, then having the left back stay home might render our offense even more anemic. Generally speaking, I question whether the USMNT has the offensive star power to play with a stay-at-home left back.

[KALM]

He may not have been first choice at West Ham ever, but in the past, when he's been available, he's started half the time for them (in the past 2 seasons he's been available for a little over 60 league games and has started 30 of them and come on as a very early sub in many more). If he can get back to that type of standing with his club post-injury, he should be playing regularly enough to keep up his match sharpness.

He's surprisingly received more minutes overall in a top league over the past few seasons than pretty much any field player of ours except for Cherundolo and Bocanegra, but that's largely due to his versatility (I'm not joking when I say he made an appearance at every position except for keeper last season). What this means is that he will be a short term stopgap at any defensive position that's currently our weakest, but until he gets a consistent run of games at any position for a season, it's hard to view him as anything more than that.

[casoccerdad47]

Good post, but I disagree with your assertions that:
a) Heath Pearce is slow, and
b) Jonathan Spector is fast

If anything, I'd say Pearce has decent pace while Spector isn't quite fast enough to be a regular as an outside back.

That said, I still think Spector is the best candidate in our pool for LB at this point. He's probably the best pure defender of everyone you mentioned, and he's versatile enough and two-footed enough to get the job done. He won't be much of an attacking threat from the left flank, but I say to hell with it. Let's just put a lockdown defender in there, tell Steve Cherundolo to push forward more often and at all available opportunities on the other side, and rely on DaMarcus Beasley to attack more and defend a bit less on the left flank.

We have a defense right now that's quite difficult to break down. With Spector in at LB, it will be even more difficult for opposing attacks to break down.

I've posted this before, Spector is faster than most people realize. He's faster than I realized until I saw a rebroadcast of a 5 or 6 year old Community Shield game between Manchester United and Arsenal about a year ago. In that game, both Spector and Clichy were late game substitutes and matched up on the same side of the field. Spector stayed with Clichy on a couple of overlapping runs by the Frenchman and Clichy's not slow.

[lmorin]

Good post, but I disagree with your assertions that:
a) Heath Pearce is slow, and
b) Jonathan Spector is fast

If anything, I'd say Pearce has decent pace while Spector isn't quite fast enough to be a regular as an outside back.

.....

Re Spector--when I last saw him fit and playing regularly, he had no problem keeping pace with Christiano Ronaldo. That says to me that he is, at the very least, fast enough. Pearce is a bit slower, I would say. I would also say, and this is more important, that Pearce is slower to recognize situations and does not accelerate fast enough. Certainly not compared to Spector.

[lmorin]

The US needs a good left back. Spector is my hypothetical first choice. However, he may never make it back to regular play in the EPL or for the Nats. In my view, nobody else listed anywhere above is adequate with the possible exception of Bocanegra. If he is played LB at Rennes, then he's probably a decent candidate and, at least tactically, improved from his time as LB at Fulham. If Bocanegra goes to LB, then who in the middle with Gooch? Califf?

[Tonerl]

Spector has underrated speed. As Kalm notes, he's played a lot more than people seem to realize. The wildcard now is Zola. We haven't seen Specs healthy yet since he's been in charge.

For me, Spector is my theoretical first choice, as he is lmorin's, but he needs to stay healthy.

Pearce is as fast or faster than almost anyone in the pool. Go back and watch the England match. He makes up 10 yards on Hargreaves (who is pretty fast at a sprint, though not that quick or shifty) over like 30 or 40 in one instance in that match. The guy can flat out run. I'd venture to say he's faster than Bornstein. Donovan, Beasley, and Cherundolo from a couple years ago are probably the only current players who hang with Pearce.

As for the Guatemala match...that may have exposed Pearce's true weaknesses. But we should note that many have questioned the tactical choices in that game (especially the central midfield personnel and positioning) and some blame for the continual exposure of the flanks (both flanks, mind) has to be laid there.

Bocanegra is an interesting case, but for those who haven't seen Stade Rennais this year we should tell you that he's not exactly playing a traditional fullback role. They have been playing a kind of an unbalanced 4-back/3-back hybrid. Boca's position has been described as fullback-cum-center half. As Bigrose posits, I agree that he's not moving until somebody steps up big at center half, and with Marshall staying in Columbus and Subotic having chosen Serbia, I don't think that's happening any time soon.

[Tonerl]

Spector has rarely been a regular starter at the club level and does not appear to be close to being one with West Ham - I doubt he will be effective without club playing time.

Where does that leave Pearce?

[Kevin8833]

Brek Shea- I believe he played there for the 17's, naturally left footed, big, strong, fast, technical. People will not like this idea but he could be a great LB. Of the natural LB options I like Bornstein or Orozco. Pearce just doesn't do it for me, even though he seems like Bob's first choice so I guess I will have to live with it.