My expectation is that there will be little difference in the type of player that Arena chooses in defense and I would be especially surprised if he decided that a "kick and run style" is the way to go. I expect that the defense will be more organized. I expect to see a different types of midfielders chosen. The main change that I expect to see is an increased emphasis to play the ball through the midfield. Klinsmann's teams tended to play the ball out of the back, into the midfield who would then clear the ball or pass long for the forwards to run after it.
Mobility at the CB position is very important. I think a lot of our problems against Costa Rica at the CB position were because of mobility. Brooks and Gonzalez at CB just didn't work. Brooks is a lock for the roster, maybe the lineup. He's tall and passes well, mobility is okay, but not great, he can be beat in foot races. Therefore, you can not pair him with another tower, so pairing him with Gonzalez, Miazga, Hedges, Marshall won't work. At the same time, I think there is room for another tall CB on the roster. You pick one of Gonzalez, Hedges, Miazga, and they make the roster. The other two CB positions go to Cameron and Besler. If one of them (or maybe both) is on the roster at another position (Cameron at DM or RB, Besler at LB), then you have room for another CB with some mobility, so that would be someone like Birnbaum, Parker, Zimmerman Orozco, Alvarado, Ream or one of the CB prospects (Carter-Vickers, Palmer-Brown, Glad, Redding).
Marshall has always been good at passing out of the back but he isn't the most athletic player. I believe all four are decent passers.
The Galaxy were committed to building out of the back despite not always having the most fluid CBs in possession.
Brooks can be dinged for his inconsistency or poor decisions but I don't think mobility is one that is a disadvantage. In fact, I'd say we have few CB's that are more mobile.
So you think he's fast? I don't. He's mobile for a big CB, not fast. There's a big difference between the two. You need to have someone back there that moves very well, otherwise you get a situation like what happened against Costa Rica. They were just too slow against small, technical, quick and fast attackers.
The other classical solution for CBs is to be in the right place before the other guy knows where that is.
dont think i'd put birnbaum in the top 5 of the cb depth chart. he hasnt done anything consistently well imo in his dozen or so national team apperances. hasnt lacked in effort at all, i'll give him that. i'm curious how you guys break down his strengths and weaknesses, and where you put him in the cb depth chart. kinda seems like the next orozco to me. certainly not complaining to have that caliber of player with versatility in the pool, but you dont want him to be near the top of your depth chart. perhaps i havent seen enough of him to be critical; admittedly i havent watched him in league action.
I think you are right. I've seen a number of people suggest he should start in March. I think that would be a rookie mistake, getting fooled by two decent performances against two bad teams. Playing well in those games isn't bad, and it puts him at a level where he's maybe not such a liability against the weaker teams we'd face in the region, but we have better CB's, maybe as many as like 6 or 7 currently better, and another 3 or 4 I'd want to test out. I'd consider Birnbaum an above-average MLS CB, but not much more. He's pretty good aerially for a player his size, and he's not a complete log, but he's not very fast either. Okay passer, okay with the defensive fundamentals. I've noticed that he tends to struggle when the pace of the game is higher, which is what you see against the higher level international teams.
I'd put Hedges and Zimmerman over Birnbaum. Still not sure which CB fir FCD is better. Hedges was last year because of experience and being an organizer. The Zimmerman argument is last year was his first healthy year, he's a real monster in the air both offensively and defensively and he has more upside so he may zoom past the MLS defenders into a real starting contender (but he needs to do it again this year). There are several other young defenders in MLS that are also getting better quickly and will push Cameron, Brooks and Besler. The gold Cup needs to be a display of all the up and coming guys.
Arena was impressed with Walker Zimmerman: http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/...n-turns-heads-terrific-us-national-team-debut “I thought Walker Zimmerman played very well tonight in the center back position,” Arena told reporters in his postgame press conference. “The center backs did a good job.” On the opening day of camp, the Atlanta-area native was sidelined after tweaking his knee, and was overshadowed by his partner in the heart of the FC Dallas defense. “We had his teammate in camp, Matt Hedges, who was defensive player of the year in MLS,” Arena said. “Matt was having a real good camp and they play together in Dallas, and at times Walker wasn’t noticed. “As the last couple of weeks went on Walker got better and better every day. I think tonight he had a terrific game, so I’m very impressed with him. I think it’s real encouraging that we have those two center backs that played tonight plus Matt Hedges down the road. That’s a real positive for us.” Zimmerman and Birnbaum faced a physical, speedy Jamaican squad in Chattanooga, and their ability to hold up under those conditions stood out on a cold night.
If Cameron and Besler are still out injured, or not yet fully fit, Arena will have to determine who to pair with Brooks in March. He could go with his old pal Gonzalez or start the best MLS option from camp. Marshall is the veteran that Arena seems to like for March, but he clearly isn't a long-term answer due to lack of speed. Zimmerman had a great debut but Arena may want to see more of him before trusting him in such a big game. Birnbaum was solid in both games and might be the safest of the three. Ream is one other Euro-based player that Bruce might rate.
Besler isn't injured? I would think Gonzalez, Hedges, Zimmerman should all definitely come before Birnbaum.
Cameron is expected to be back in full game shape in a week or two. Assuming he gets in a couple of games at Stoke, I expect him to start at CB next to Brooks. Brooks plays much better paired with Cameron.
Cameron's not a CB, its his worst position of the three he can play, and Brooks shouldn't even be the first CB on the team sheet. Besler outplays him for the NT. If Cameron is fit, he should go into midfield.
He is certainly a CB, as well as a mid, and an outside back. He's certainly better at CB than outside back. He plays there for Stoke frequently. Recall Copa America, where Brooks and Cameron played very well together. Was Cameron "not a CB" at that time? Brooks also plays very well next to Cameron. This is reason alone to start Cameron there. Besler is fading, and was never on Cameron's level,which is why he's never won a move to Europe.
lol this post is so bad its hilarious. Cameron has had bad ball-watching problems at CB his whole career, and he's a little too wild with his positioning. He's much better in a position where he has room to roam and hunt out the ball instead of reacting to it. His best games for club and country have always come as a #6. Brooks outplayed Cameron by a lot at Copa America the first number of games. Cameron was playing okay, but he was getting pretty lucky. He was beat a number of times, but it just happened to be a stretch of games where he wasn't punished for his mistakes, so he got a lot of credit he didn't deserve. Brooks played incredibly well during that stretch, Cameron not so much. Later in the tournament, they both faded. It was so cringeworthy to read some of the analysis in that tournament. Cameron has been outplayed by Besler for his whole NT career, and Besler comes first into the team before Cameron, although both have a place in the team. They've both outplayed Brooks for the NT, so they should both come before Brooks, but there's room for all three. And lol that Besler never "won" a European move and that he's fading. Pure euro-snobbery and ignorance, choosing not to move is not the same as not "winning." Besler was the best defender in the November WCQ's, in both games. He's been more consistent than any CB we've had the last few cycles, including at the WC. He is certainly good enough to win a move to whatever league he wants, but chose not to.
LOL. No euro-snob--I like MLS and routinely suggest putting MLS players ahead of European players if the MLS guy is playing better. I too see the benefits of playing Cameron in the midfield, mostly in light of our positional weaknesses there. But Cameron has consistently played well at center-back, for both club and country. Brooks has had his low points, but also his high-points. And it is clear he has the best set of tools among anyone currently in the mix at CB.
Neither Zimmerman nor Marshall should play with Brooks. If Brooks is there by default (not sure about that) then the second one is either Besler who is getting injured pretty often or "above average" Birnbaum.
Next to Brooks for March, I'd rank them like this: 1. Cameron. He's partnered well with Brooks before and you don't mess with the CB pairing in March. 2. Besler. He's a proven vet internationally and I don't care about starting 2 lefties. 3. Birnbaum. Had the most reps recently and is more fluid/mobile than Gonzo. I understand the Big Soccer wish to try Cameron at DM. I'd love to see it at the Gold Cup. But Arena has made it abundantly clear that he likes Bradley as the #6, and Bradley has the most experience in that role for the US, and was pretty solid there at the Copa and for Toronto late in 2016. Anyone who thinks Cameron, coming off a long layoff, will bump Bradley out of the DM spot in March is living a fantasy. Later perhaps, and worth a look. But not in March.
As Donovan and Holden discussed during the Jamaica telecast, Cameron is just getting back to full training. It will still be weeks before he is ready for game action. By that time, it will only be a few weeks before the qualifiers and he won't be in game shape. Another important factor is that Arena has no connection yet to Cameron so he's less likely to push him to get back quickly to start in these important qualifiers. If Cameron was healthy and in game shape, he would be a no brainer to start these games at CB with Brooks. Even if he were to eventually switch to midfield, Arena’s not making that move during qualification. Assuming he doesn't want to rush Cameron back before he's in game shape, there's a good chance he starts one of the MLS CBs or Gonzalez, who he's familiar with from LA. I was thinking Besler had a longer rehab ahead from his offseason ankle surgery but it was apparently just a clean-up, so there's a chance that he or Ream get called. However, he talked quite a bit about using the winter camp to develop comfort among his defense. To me, once again, I think he considers Birnbaum the safest of the three in camp, even if he expects Hedges and Zimmerman to jump him on the depth chart during the Gold Cup.