Here's my honest assessment. I've seen Lechner play 3 times in the Bundesliga, and twice in the 2-Bundesliga. In the Bundesliga, he got dominated. He regularly got beat by quick passing combinations. He was slightly better 1v1. He was decent on the ball, but couldn't contribute much going forward because his team often conceded possession. In the 2-Bundesliga, he was average. He looked much more comfortable defensively and he attacked quite well when given the opportunity. He had one bad outing against a strong promotion contender, but so did the rest of the team. That said, I think he'll succeed here. He probably won't look good against Seattle and he's definitely not a long term solution, but he should be fine for the most part. He's faster than Tierney, he's better defensively 1v1, and he's better going forward. At the very least, he's an upgrade.
Just like there are effective, under-sized attackers, there are effective "slow" defenders. Speed in a defender is over-emphasized. Positioning and anticipation are much more important qualities. I think Heaps, like Nicol before him, sees Tierney primarily as a left mid, who can also backup up as a left back. I think Heaps would like to use players better suited to LB as soon as he has them available (which may be tonight). And, I think Tierney is a pretty MLS-average player as a left mid - but average is something I'm pretty sure Heaps would like to upgrade. When most of the squad is available, I don't think Tierney will start (but that doesn't mean he's not a useful player).
If Lechner plays LB, does that mean Tierney bumps Nguyen at LM? I hope not, Id rather keep Tierney on the bench and just use Rowe on the set pieces
Tierney fits the role of a bench player. I'd rate him, due to his slowness and errant passing, as a useful bench player we should always be looking to upgrade with a better player. Like BB, he is getting a lot of grief that is a reflection of another year where the front office isn't prepared for the season. If Tierney plays more than 1/4 to 1/3 time, that reflects poorly on the FO, IMHO. Even if you want to claim injuries forced it.
-------------Sene----------- Rowe-------Guy-------Nguyen --------Joseph -- Simms------- Tierney-McCarthy-Soares-Alston --------------Reis-------------- bench: Shuttleworth, Lechner, Moreno, Fagundez, White, Cardenas, Purdie
wow, we have legit players on the bench. OK 2 of them are out of shape and 1 is too young to vote, but still it's nice to see.