I think its important to recognize just how fantastic this guy was vs an elite Brazil. was easily the best passer on the night. There are videos of his passes yesterday all over social media, though it wont likely be covered by regular USsoccer press. Still remember his 1 vs 3 stop in the Copa.
Robinson was awful the first 20 minutes or so, he settled down after that and was looking pretty good by the end of the game. I'm hopeful that with some seasoning he'll be a reliable player for us. Robinson-Brooks-Miazga-Yedlin looks like our top-choice back line through the next WC, unless someone steps up and forces their way into the picture. If that happens they need to get a look, but we also need to play those 4 guys together whenever we can to build cohesion as we move towards WCQs and Qatar.
Antonee had a bad game, but it was a coachable bad game. The talent, skill, heart, and desire are all there, he just needs to learn from his mistakes. Honestly, I’m glad we had the Brazil game for him to get exposed so he can take that with him and build on it so he’s ready when it counts.
I'm going to go ahead and say I highly disagree. Only one of those four in my current starting XI is Brooks, although Robinson might be there for the interim. There are many years to go, and that backline looks a bad fit stylistically.
Brooks - skill wise and ceiling wise - is the best CB we’ve ever had. Sure he has had a couple of bad games and has been hurt for a large portion of last year, but some fans don’t realize just how good he is. His distribution is fantastic which would be so key against bunkering teams
Since he was playing center back he at least shares responsibility for the first Brazil goal. The outside back was badly beaten BUT there was an totally unmarked Brazilian in the middle of the goal just outside the six. That is a center backs responsibility. Yes he made good plays later in the game but it also should be recognized that his play, as much as anyone's else's cost the US a goal. That is not to say that he is not the first coming of a great center back but one good game with at least one BAD mistake does not equal a great player. I think he "may" be the US's future at center back but there have been many many before him that proved in the long run to be little more than thugs. I hope he rises above the rest but the bar is very low for now and surpassing what we have had in the recent past could be accomplished by a player that simply retains consciousness for a full 90 would surpass the vast majority. I really dislike this tendency to anoint a player as great or even good before he actually succeeds consistently over a period of time. At least he was not on the field for the fiasco at T&T so that is a positive.
Adams. I don't even think Adams is a better player right now, but he has bigger potential, and Yedlin is a known quantity that doesn't need to be playing regularly. I think it makes sense to role with Adams at RB for now, and if he can't handle the position, you put Yedlin back in there. I'm not thrilled with Yedlin's level of play though. I find that he often underperforms for the NT, and his lack of technical ability is a problem for what I'd like the NT to be trying to do from a stylistic standpoint.
SUM/MLS is pushing Adams as a CM right now so I doubt we see that. Once he heads to Germany he will either improve on his ability with the ball under pressure in the middle of the park and make the right play or he will be moved to wingback. Time will tell but once that happens you'll likely get your wish of seeing him get a game or two at RB.
I find myself never understanding the compliments towards Adams play at CM. I can't figure it out. I've tried figuring it out a number of times, but never can. I like his skill-set and think he has decent potential, but I see him as a very average CM. I think he has very high potential as a wing-back.
Yea I cringe at the Kante comparisons. Adams is still young and I hope he improves but it's clear as day that as he stands right now he isn't capable of playing as a CM in any progressive type of system. He has to think about what to do and if the pass isn't wide open/clear as day with little pressure he struggles. He's got to improve with the ball. He's got the potential to be a good wingback but would need to work on different elements of his game. Either way he's off to Germany soon and we will see what he's made of. Wish the deal didn't require him to wait till the end of the MLS season but at least he's still getting out at 19 and not early to mid 20's.
yeah its just his mentality, energy, attitude age etc at this point....he's got the potential but is far from where he needs to be at CM, imo.... i agree he has that "it factor" and will find a spot on the field/roster for a while to come for usmnt...but not sure if it is at cm, either.
Brooks is our best center back, but I do worry about a pairing of Brooks and Miazga because generally if you have one tower back there with limited mobility you want some more agile next to him. That said, it didn't create any huge problems against a team like Brazil who keep the ball on the ground and are one of the most skilled dribbling sides in the world, so perhaps this trepidation is unwarranted.
It didn't create problems because we had very little of the ball. The CB's were playing so deep. This type of game where we none of the ball is the type of game where it will likely work the best. It'll be a bigger problem against a team that plays on the counter.