There a couple of posts over in Jan camp thread that look to be pretty positive. It sounded like they were lining up in a 433 and standouts were two newish, younger players in the 8/10 roles. If the lone dmid behind them turns out to be Canouse, he will been able to have picked the best central midfielders for his system from the camp and not not just gone with historical guys. He also got rid of the two lesser goalkeepers, Acosta, and Glad. Not sure if Glad's progress has been stalled or if the two younger guys from Philly are just better. Acosta has definitely fit into that category of so many MLS players who careers plateau after a number of years. I've seen pretty much no improvement from him over that the last couple of years. He obviously isnt as bad as excellency has tried so hard to convince everyone, but also didnt deserve as near as many caps he got based on his performance. I wonder if Berhalter checked with the fed before cutting the guy they were using in the advertising for these games.
What do you dispute about that particular criticism? In what way is laying blame on him for this goal not appropriate?
it is pretty weird that he was so dominant in the copa America. I guess just another one of your generalizations that isnt really warranted. I saw Berhalter cut 3 of the 11 players feom camp you thought would be playing a role going forward. I wouldn't be surprised if the 8 remaining get whittled down a little more in the next year.
why cant you see that Brooks wasnt at fault on the play? He stepped out to down a midfielder dribbling toward the 18 , causing him pass the ball... check! He dropped back in to cover the defender who was marking attacker that received the pass... check!
I don't care what anybody thinks or says, Brooks is the best CB in the US and most likely best CB in CONCACAF. No one even near him. Plain and simple.
That's a bit more arguable that you'd probably like to believe, but I'm not for demoting him; he's still a front-runner in our program. That said, he got turned into a traffic cone not once but twice on that play. Sometimes defenders get beat, but that was... not good.
Plain but not so simple. Feel free to ignore, as you don't care what anybody thinks or says, but I think that you have to look at CBs as a pair (if you have two).* The reason it's not so simple is that (to create an example) Brooks and Miazga might be our two best CBs but not our best pairing. If you don't like Miazga, or at least not a not-playing-enough out-of-form Miazga, then pick another tall, not-quick-enough CB for illustrative purposes. Once you accept the idea of pairing CBs, you can begin to understand the idea of identifying the best CB pairing. That pairing would likely include Brooks right now, imo, because I feel he's tough enough, not just tall but usefully tall, and (in our pool, certainly) a high-quality distributor out of the back. He also can be spun like a top by a smaller, quicker opponent, so I need to cover that relative weakness. Who are you playing next to him? ++++++++++++++++++++ * Adjust the recipe as needed for a three-man CB set-up, and/or if using a D-mid to screen/cover the back-line. If that's someone like Bradley or Trapp, you really need someone quicker next to Brooks.
CBs in the world get turned all the time. Best players in the world at any position also make mistakes. My question is where are the guys that suppose to help him out, the No. 8 and No. 6?
I couldn't answer this, but I know it will be Brooks and someone else. When healthy, you can't keep this guy on the bench. I mean you can, but it would be pretty stupid.
I'd rank Brooks at the top of our center back list. I just think he should be paired with someone more mobile so they could compliment one another. The problem isn't Brooks, it's that we don't have that more mobile option to pair with him.
It was a funny reference to the McKennie thread where the same poster said McKennie was at fault for the Wolfsburg goal. A goal scored because the GK froze and the defender assumed the GK wouldn't freeze. The poster blamed it on Wes because a pass at the beginning of the sequence was played away from him. Even though he is only suppose to force the ball the way it went not intercept every pass from a CB. McKennie makes a great run. Wolfsburg's midfield is completely bypassed by the run and Brooks is forced to step out on McKennie. He does so, McKennie waits for it, and then slips the pass to Caligiari. Even then, the fullback has Caligiari because Brooks has stepped out on McKennie. Again, the midfield is completely out of position. Brooks gambles and leaves McKennie and tries to double Caligiari after the fullback loses him. He is not successful. But do you really blame Brooks? Whatever, a guy runs 70 yards through your midfield, you force him to move the ball wide, then your fullback gets roasted and it is your fault. Sure. Because he is the closest CB.
Matt Doyle said he was beginning to question Brooks' defense on ET Radio. Suyuntuy is a skeptic. Brooks gave up a rash of goals for USMNT. I wouldn't blame him for Caliguri's goal. My point was that maybe we should stop talking about him as "the one cb nobody would question". That was the phrase I was reacting to. On the goal, his midfield teammates were totally AWOL, for starters.
Finally people are getting it. You cannot play two big, non-agile CBs even if both play in a Top 10 club. At least not when you're not qualifying out of Northern Europe.
Everyone is smaller than Brooks. Every forward in the Bundesliga is probably quicker. Somehow, he does pretty well when he is not injured. I'd strive to not put him 1 v 1 with smaller quicker players. Maybe guys like Tyler Adams in front of him will help? I think a good midfield, a well structured team, in front of Brooks and Miazga will work fine. I don't think you are wrong, just overthinking. The choice of LB might be more important than RCB. But let's see Brooks in an actual system with a good coach. Not sure he has played in that for the USMNT yet. In CONCACAF, crosses with Brooks and Miazga in the box will be pretty useless. It should allow Robinson or whomever to play more conservative to deny the dribble. Looking forward to seeing it.
He had a bad second half in CR. But again, if it comes down to their striker 1 v 1 in open field on Brooks, that is a system failure. Brooks did not shine for sure. Against Paraguay in the Copa, he made those plays. Brooks played great against Honduras at home and had to be carted off the field because he did it with a bad sinus infection. He played great against T&T. Just after the Pulisic opener, T&T had a break away that Brooks makes a great slide tackle and recovery on. He was hurt the rest of the way. I blame JJ on the Marquez header, but JK blamed Brooks. So, you can put that one on him. So, outside of that November window, he has been very good in a USA shirt. I don't count anything under Sarachan.
Brooks's pair in Wolfsburg is Robin Knoche. 6'3" but slim like a beanstalk, agile, and smart as a whip. A rich man's Besler.
Do you think he can stay with Lianez (just moved to Real Betis) on an international team? Miazga did ok. I have my doubts about Brooks. I've always thought Brooks should play in a 3cb line with a babysitter which would minimize his defensive responsibility while giving us his prodigious output on offense.
Now I do think Brooks has much to offer the USMNT, but my being respect for arguments based on the Authority of Audacity disappeared somewhere around the same time as my respect for arguments based on Might is Right.
Everyone is here saying Miazga is too slow, but you are right, he stood Lianez up with no problem several times, iirc. Brooks is hurt a lot. When he comes back from injury it seems to take him a long time to get in form. Look at the current season, he was playing great in December but was good in November, and average before that. If he is healthy and playing well, then I agree with others he is our best CB at the moment. But that has been a big If. His passing in his past couple Wolfsburg games has been awesome. The way the game is going, most coaches will overlook quite a bit for that. Was it against England where he was hitting those long diagonals on a dime? I don't think CCV, Long, Miazga, or anyone else in the pool is even close to him on a line splitting pass. When you play agains the bunker, the CB being able to break lines becomes even more important. A big problem in T&T was the ball cycling to Omar who had no idea or ability to move it. CCV has become calmer on the ball. Long is not comfortable. Miazga is probably the second best passer, but is not great.
I don't see Brooks and Miazga as being less agile than Hummels and Boatang who led the Germany defense past France, Brazil and Argentina in 2014. You should be proud that you have convinced some unknowledgeable folks around here by consistently and confidently repeating this generalization that isnt based on facts.
The weakness is all in your mind. Brooks is a more than competent defender, as he proves every week for the 5th team in the Bundesliga. Plus, if we play with 3 CBs, how will Bradley come back between them and stand on the ball?
Leaving aside the jocular remark on Bradley, the question was if Brooks is an automatic starter given a) his defensive lapses in Concacaf and b) the fact that Long and Miazga have been playing so well (for country).
An article on the camp by ESPN. http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/uni...mpetitive-spirit-of-the-usmnt-camp-crosswords It starts out talking about some policies and other things Berhalter has implemented to teambuild but something later in the article caught my eye. Earlier in this thread, someone (I think it was PatricK) made the point that it might be difficult to implement Berhalter's ideas, system etc in the short camps that many of the European players will have. Berhalter seems to agree and is making an effort to refine his approach so that he will be able to teach it in short periods of time. "The idea is to eventually get everyone on the same page," Berhalter said. "But you have to start somewhere, and for us, what we've noticed as a coaching staff, we're fine-tuning the exercises, the instruction, the content, the programming ... We're fine-tuning all of that in terms of how we can we most effectively teach in a short amount of time." To me, the point is that this camp, in addition to being important for Berhalter to better evaluate some of the players that may have a role going forward, the camp is also important because it is helping Berhalter iron out bugs and better prepare his own practices for the upcoming camps.