Antonee Robinson is a raw but extremely talented young player in our pool who has taken the left back position by the collar. The problem is we have absolutely nobody who is even really a contender to be a back-up for left back. Eric Lichaj was downright awful at left back against Mexico, and showed he is a liability on the left. But if it’s not Lichaj, who do we call in behind Robinson? I was hopeful Danilo Acosta would take that spot but he’s cemented on the bench at Real Salt Lake. You’d think that would make Aaron Herrera an option but I don’t see it yet. Then, there’s Greg Garza. If he could ever stay healthy, he would be my de facto #2, but there’s no hope in that ever happening. We could move Chandler, maybe to left back, but he can’t stay healthy either, he’s been stricken from the national team, and we run into the same ‘Lichaj problem’ where he makes the field too narrow. Do we move a center back there? If so, who? Tim Parker might be my guess but he’s not going to offer anything offensively. Or, do we throw another youth into the fire... Jaylin Lindsey has been impressive in spurts, but even as we rebuild, is that too much too soon? Even more so, with George Bello, who was very impressive in his first game with Atlanta United. Then, there’s Matt Real, Chris Gloster, and maybe even Marco Farfan or Sam Vines behind him. Lastly, I guess there’s still Jorge Villafana, who just landed at Portland but not much noise is there, and we know about him that he’s not going to set the world on fire and he’ll be way past his prime in 2022. Still, is that our best option? Maybe, we could make the same argument about Nick Lima but frankly, I don’t see it. Anyways, how does the left back depth chart look to you? We seem to have some choices, albeit not great choices most everywhere else, and left back leaves us with a really good choice in Antonee Robinson and oh my God, don’t look, pick behind him.
lindsey and bello have a lot of hype, but no real timeline. honestly the timeline is probably their mls contracts. i think you touched on just about everyone other than vincent. havent seen him this year, but i thought last season he could be similar to morrow, meaning a solid vet who wouldnt be a bad backup/mls call...assuming we dont ignore him like arena/klinsmann did morrow. not a sexy pick, but between garza, villafana and possibly vincent weve got some dependable guys, though as a fanbase we tend to shit all over that idea. id personally take any of them over whatever rb we try to flip/mid sliding back. thats my only hesitation with lindsey- i just feel hes more of a rb (though im far from familiar enough to say that). eta: didnt glad play on the left a bit with youth teams? could have been right, but i know he moved outside at times. if i add toljan (for purely trolling purposes) i guess thats all i got...
I see it with Nick Lima. He's who I would try. In terms of age/potential, he should not be likened to Villafana. I liked Villafana and am still ok with him in qualifying, but he's always been more of the technically and positionally sound type. Lima has speed and dynamic ability. Of course lb isn't his main position. You could make a similar evaluation of Cannon and Roldan. They've switched sides during games and barely lost a step, showing tactical awareness, 2-footedness, and 1 v. 1 containment. We really need to get these guys into camps and games to answer questions. Felt like Dave botched the fullback experiments for the most part this past week. Hollingshead has always been really highly rated for Dallas when he plays at that position. Blocks balls well, can interplay, shoot, dribble, and is pretty mobile. Not the prototype fb for US as a crosser but definitely worth a shot to see if it translates. Portland is possibly screwing us out of a true lb option with Farfan. He showed wisdom beyond his years and technical ability off the bat. But they don't integrate much.
Acosta is our best LB. Once he sorts out his feud with Petke, he should be the #1 option. He should also leave to another club, so he doesn't have this situation in the future. Then Robinson. Besides them, there's not much. You could always use someone like Besler or Ream at LB. Maybe Gloster emerges in the next year.
Definitely Antonee Robinson is #1 and will only get better. It almost doesn't matter who's #2 but not Villafana. We've been there and it's not pretty. Ream would be a decent look until a pup shows up to challenge Robinson. Lichaj needs a solid look at RB to challenge Yedlin some. Why anyone would put him on left is beyond me. Oh wait, Sarachan. Just happy that the 4 for a 4 man line are pretty much in line. Been a long time.
Normal things to do would be to: first bracket set of numbers: average Whoscored_number of games at left back this season second set is WS_all games at left back 1. audition right backs for the role(Fab Johnson solution) top candidates: Lima(7.26_1::6.87_2), Cannon 2. audition a left midfielder there(Beasley solution) top candidate: Picault 3. audition young, unproven reserve team players top candidates: Marlon Fossey(Fulham), George Bello(Atlanta) 4. audition utility defenders for the role(Bocanegra solution): top candidates: Dave Romney(7.92_3::7.28_14), Ryan Hollingshead(7.92_5::7.45_34) 5. continue work with Lichaj(8.10_1::6.9_47)
What's the current story with Fabian Johnson? Is he retired from the national team? If he's still interested in playing I'd have him back there. He's young enough to feature in qualifying and the next World Cup. And he's certainly better than LIchaj or Villifana. I'd feel pretty good about this backline: Johnson Brooks Miazga Yedlin
I don't think Kellyn Acosta is terrible at LB, but I'm mostly alone in that opinion. Certainly Garza when healthy, which he should be by the time we have another competitive game.
I really liked what (little) I saw of Fossey (with the U20's, before he got hurt), but iirc he was/is a right back. Still, I am more than willing to take him on as an unproven reserve-team conversion project. https://sbisoccer.com/2018/04/u-s-u-20-marlon-fossey-signs-new-contract-with-fulham
It is definitely bleak. Maybe Brandon Vincent with Chicago. I agree Dani Acosta is the best shot, but being benched in MLS is never a good thing for your USMNT case. If Edwin Lara could ever get minutes in Liga MX, he could be an option. But first he has to A) get those minutes and B) figure his international future is better with the US than Mexico and switch back. B won't happen till A does, and A hasn't happened.
I'm OK with Robinson as the starter and Villafana as backup for now. We know Villafana isn't great, but he's serviceable at the CONCACAF level. I'd also take a look at Sweat in January camp to see if he can be a stable, but unexciting backup option too. Other than that, just hope that the Bello hype is warranted and he becomes an option by 2022.
Not Greg Garza. Solid MLS player in his system, but way too slow for the international game. In one particular 2017 Camp Cupcake match that he started, I remember wondering why he suddenly looked noticeably quicker in the second half after getting smoked by the opponents the whole game, chasing haplessly time after time as they blew past him. Then, I realized I'd missed a substitution and Villafana had replaced him. Villafana, who is far from a burner, was a clear, significant upgrade in speed and quickness.
I think Villa has that ability to be consistently average, which isn't the worst quality in a back up defender. He turns 29 tomorrow, which isn't ideal 4 years before a World Cup, but that's not ancient either. He could still have a few years in the tank, and hopefully someone breaks out in the mean time. If you asked who our number 1 Left Back was 6 months ago, I doubt you'd see a lot of people saying Antonee Robinson. Things change quickly and Qatar is 50 months away
Villafana never quite reached Jonathan Bornstein level. The latter became consistent and excellent starter in LigaMx. He was woefully underused by the NT. FabJo turns 31 in December, currently plays wing-forward, and is injury prone. Brandon Vincent is more CB/LCB than he is LB. The pool is decent enough. If a stay-at-home left back were acceptable then Romney and Hollingshead would made for excellent prospects. If a full-service attacking left-back were wanted then Cannon, Lima, and Picault would make for good prospects. Picault, of course, would be something of a project. For the next round of friendlies, I'd like to see Lima brought in.
I don't think there is anyone any good after Robinson in a 4-back set. Robinson this year is playing there, I believe, but last year played a bunch of wing back on a bunker team. Villafana is old and below average. If we had a real game tomorrow and Robinson was not available, I'd rather go with a 3-back with Johnson, K. Acosta, or Saief slotted in as a left sided wing back than go with one of these MLS average or below average LBs. But we don't have any real games for awhile, so let's hope some body emerges. MLS fullbacks have not stood out recently as being any good. Not sure why you can look good in MLS and then not look at all acceptable against Honduras or Bosnia "B".
That's pretty optimistic at his age. I think it's more like when he hits 19-20. A goodish LB in MLS is still in MLS where good 1 v 1 defending is like sighting a Sasquatch.
There are quite a few quality LBs at the U20 level. So much so, that Bello will probably not even crack the U20 team much less the full USMNT by the U20 WC.