Last night truly exposed this defense. Of the 4 starters, only Fisher was slightly above average in his play. Birnbaum is just mediocre at this stage in his career. Opare still is a train wreck with the ball and at his age likely will be forever. (He did make a really good desperation save on Dwyer late in the game -- but then again a better defense might not have allowed that to happen in the first place.) Mora just lacks any pace whatsoever, so he backs off from players allowing them to line up crosses and passes because he's terrified he'll be turned. We'll probably see Vytas Wednesday, but really, who is on the bench? Brillant? We've seen what he can do. NDL? Out injured and no world beater when healthy. OA? Is he injured again? A player DCU waived last year who wasn't picked up by any other MLS team and got a roster spot on a tryout this seasons. Robinson? Is he injured or in witness protection? Now Hamid might make these guys a bit better than Ousted has, but I'm not sure DCU has a defender on its roster that any other team would pick up on a free.
According to Alexi last night, Birnbaum is now prefers Steven rather than Steve. Maybe he'll try Stefan in V3.0. Regardless, Hamid isn't going to fix this mess and is at great risk of looking very foolish behind the maggot-knot line that would give a Marvel Comic hero pause before suiting up.
Durkin? Didn't he play center defender in the U17 World Cup. Our passing out of the back would immediately improve about tenfold. And I think he could organize things a lot better. He seemed pretty vocal and composed while at defensive midfield.
I can assure you that if United acquires Geoff Cameron, that will be the end of Ben Olsen's managerial career after Cameron breaks out the poison pen and airs all the perceived dirty laundry rolling around in his head. So maybe he's just the guy this crowd's been looking for. During a relegation battle he was subbed on once in his teams final seven games, a win, three draws and three losses. Let me be the first to say it, he's washed up at both the international and top-tier European league level. Let someone else carry the water for US Soccer in this case. Thx, Jay!
Geoff Cameron has been given permission to leave Stoke and join Werder Bremen, according to the Telegraph. #SCFC #SVW #USMNT— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) August 13, 2018 Cameron apparently off to Germany. Would like to see Durkin get a shot back there if he isn't going to play at hi normal position.
He's 18, I wouldn't put organizing our shitshow defense on him. It's Birnbaum or the 'keeper who must do that.
Let's talk again after we see what Cameron does at Werder Bremen (presuming the reports are correct). That's a top-tier European league, right?
Cameron can do whatever he wants at Werder Bremen. He's not meant for DCU at his age, competency and price point. For a TAM deal? why not, but not the $3M number that been kicked around. You're a decent sized team in a European league flush with cash, $3M is a rounding error. Not the case anywhere on this side of the planet.
Two different complaints. Is he washed up or too expensive? I am doubtful re the first, more willing to listen re the second. But we don't really know what his number is at this point. Maybe the Werder Bremen deal will give us an idea.
Mmmmmmmm, it can be a bit of both. But people who are willing to bring Cameron in as a DP have to consider this: In the last 2 years, Geoff Cameron has only had 42 appearances for Stoke in competitive games. That includes cup competitions as well as the league. In addition to being planted on the bench while in a relegation fight for his club, he has been injured for a good chunk of time as well. And not with a single catastrophic type injury that couldn't be avoided … but several niggling things. So why would we want to risk picking up a player at a high DP price point, who is 33, has struggled to stay healthy, and wasn't seen to be good enough to help in a relegation fight? Price is inextricable linked to interest, because there is a high end of how much you could offer even for the greatest players. But to pay an exorbitant price for someone clearly in decline, who won't even put butts in seats, and who you can't count on being healthy for more than half the season if recent history is your guide, would be a huge mistake.
What I actually said was that you can make a $3M mistake or have a $3M squad player at place like Werder Bremen. You can't have that in MLS. Further, his age, injury history and the position he plays dictates that he's at best a TAM player in MLS.
Whatever else happens at least we are back in the MLS conversation. On the MLS website are articles about Acosta's hat trick, Ronney's influence and Hamid's return. We're stil a bad team that played a mostly bad game Sunday night, but the Rooney acquisition seems to have injected some fight into this squad. That and the fact the there are still couple of playoff spots up for grabs makes attending the next dozen or so games bearable..
I wouldn't call it an error by him. The D, mostly Canouse, but also Birnbaum was bad. Hamid might get it when he's really on his game, but he hasn't started consistently in about 11 months. I don't expect him to save a shot from that close range.
Bill has played like 3 competitive matches in the past 6-7 months. People aren't ignoring it but are understanding that some rust is to be expected.
I'm ok with most of his mistakes. I guess I might be hard on him if he costs us points but I expect a goal a game from this defense. His mistake yesterday was tolerable. I'm far less forgiving at the other end of the pitch.