The World Cup only stuff is tiresome. This is my team and our region. I want to get back to bossing concacaf.
I'm not saying dont try to win in CONCACAF.....just that winning and bossing concacaf is not going to get you anywhere at the world cup level and if the usa is bossing concacaf it shouldn't be seen as "good enough" how would this mexico team that just won the gold cup do in a world cup? 2nd round? maybe?
But Long is ready for prime time? He basically had an extra season in MLS before captaining the USMNT and MLS fans claiming he is our best CB. It is just crazy how little MLS players have to do for people to think they are ready for international competition. How many more years do we have to look very poor and lose with MLS players before this nonsense ends?
Long shows signs but I'd take Lichaj orver him let alone Miazga. The local league fans have blinders on.
You're right. Name 4 non-MLS centerbacks that should have been on a 23-man roster for the 2019 Gold Cup, or even the 2020 whatever. Hell, I'll give you the injured Brooks, and the Matt Miazga that was on the roster and played the final, so just give me 2 more that WEREN'T injured.
I’m good with Long. I got no prob with him starting next to Brooks in a meaningful game. However, just answer your question (albeit to someone else), two more non MLS CBs that should have been called up over Omar... CCV and EPB both would have been better players to call up in the present and for the future. Hell I’d rather have seen Cameron over Omar.
This is the kind of thing I must admit I do not understand. Miazga and Long were both brought into the Gold Cup squad. From what I saw, Long performed BETTER than Miazga. Now, does that mean that's the end of Miazga and Long has the spot locked down from henceforth? Well, I certainly hope not. But it we are saying that the national team should be meritorious, outperforming your competition ON the national team should mean "something." Long should not get a demerit simply because he plays for the "local league" and Miazga does not. We are no longer talking about 2 unnamed players in different leagues … we just watched the two players perform on the same team, in the same competition! At some point, we need to be judging them on that basis.
What am I right about? I was mostly asking questions. I was just using an another arbitrary statistic. It is hard to follow these inconsistent arguments. I will play your silly game... Seasoned - Brooks, Miazga, Alvarado Potential - CCV, EPB, Richards The only thing I have said about Long is that I am not convinced. He has looked shaky when facing tougher competition. His game against Mexico helped alleviate that, but still just one game. If all were healthy I would be calling in 5 CB... the first three listed, Long, and rotate one of the younger guys to build for the future. Their performances over the next year would then determine the pecking order.
I agree that they should be judged on their performance, but dont completely agree with rating Long as better. I thought they played to a similar level with both doing different things better. Long had the advantage of being a starter from the first game and having 3 games under his belt vs 1 going into the semifinals. It appears Berhalter doesnt agree with us that performances should determine playing time as Long was a mess in the last friendly before the tournament and Miazga way, way better.
Why not just bring them all into camp and compare them in the same setting? There is plenty of room once he stops calling Gonzo, Ream and Zimmerman.
This is my issue with the anti-MLS people. Long was our best CB in this tourney by far. I don't think he's better than Brooks, but he's also our fastest CB and most athletic, and that's incredibly valuable. Just becaues he was a late bloomer and is in MLS now doesn't mean he's not better than Miazga at the moment. On average, a player in a better league will be better. But there are going to be exceptions. Young players like Tyler Adams and Paxton Pomykal. Late bloomers like Aaron Long who won't attract a ton of European attention because he's already 26. And a few vets who still have it but come back for the money. Ideally, our roster is stacked full of Big 4/5 players. But we're nowhere near that being a realistic possibility right now. And even when we have those players, there will be exceptions to the rule. Aaron Long is one of them. You can tell the people who can't get over league affiliation when they can't recognize that.
We saw differently and I've seen much more of Lichaj, This GC the minnows rarely challenged the back line so they looked so 'good'. When they were challenged I wasn't wowed by Long's play at all. He shows signs but if I had to pick one to win against a team that is at least decent like Mexico, I don't think Long starts. WC qualifying maybe if he stays healthy. You seem to weight this Egg screw up tourney more heavily than I do going forward.
So you think that Miazga was better than Long in his minutes? You must, if you say that you saw differently. If that is the case, I don't know what to tell you.
Eh, I think the list of people who slag on MLS is pretty small. Long and Miazga play in equivalent leagues and I think almost everyone had Long on their list of potential starting CBs. I'm not sure who's better but I'm glad that both are in camp and would be comfortable with either one of them. For me, the key question is who fits better with Brooks' strengths and developmental areas?
There's reasonable people who can see both sides, and then there's a crew who really do disregard players because of a league. The number of overall posters is small, so maybe I'm just seeing a large %. It's unimportant, regardless. I think Long fits better with Brooks, frankly. Simply because he's the fastest and Miazga's edge on him is height -- and that's part of Brooks' strength. But I tend to value speed across the whole team more than most.
This is my issue with posts like this. These arent my views. These are just the ones that are easy to argue against. Here are a few of them... - There has been a ridulous bias towards MLS players this year, including making Long a starter for this tournament after having a game so bad right before the tournament that would embarass Gonzo. - Long has good physical tools (is he faster/quicker than Alvarado?) but hasnt shown he doesnt have the same weaknesses that our backs have had with positioning, mental errors, etc. I dont think he was better than Miazga but he is clearly in our CB pool. - Being a late bloomer doesnt mean anything except he has little experience playing at a high level which is important for defenders - The post you quoted was taken completely out of context of conversation (note: tomasb did the same thing... it is the best way to deflect when they dont like the direction of the conversation). He was claiming that Miazga wasnt ready for the Eridivisie because his age. It is an arbitrary stat. MLS fans look for these when they want to attack or defend a player. I was suggested experience would be a better stat if he was going to use one. The funny part is that the weakness that Vitesse had with Miazga's game is one that was very much on display for Long in this tournament. He is very poor with the ball at his feet. - I just want our best players on the field and that hasnt happened since 2016
Works for me. I'd like to see both pairing against Mexico or better teams. As always, I'd like to see each pairing with a ball-winning DM in front of them as I think that certainly plays to Brook's abilities. Why do you think Long is faster than everyone? I don't really have a thought on who's fastest.
I watch him run and he looks faster? I mean, I don't have a stopwatch, but I've seen Long close down on guys much faster than Miazga or Zimmerman. Miazga is honestly a little slow, both in reaction time and total footspeed. It's his weakness -- you can see it a bit on Mexico's goal (which has plenty of blame to go around).
You definitely dont see both sides. Yes, there are people that disregard players due to league and that is the MLS fans. You know those people that didnt see an MLS bias with this roster. Again, you arguing against things people arent saying. I havent seen anyone say they dont want Long on the team. It is kind of sad that you are making this about the best performer from MLS when the drop off from him was big. I could do without pretty much that whole bench... average MLS guys and Boyd. Hey... a real argument. Wanting a faster guy to pair with Brooks. Makes sense to me, but dont think we should rule out Miazga as a partner until it has been tried. I think Miazga's personality is a better match for Brooks. I also think Alvarado is another option for a speedy/quick partner who is also very good with the ball at his feet.
I haven't thought about it but I can't recall them closing out on the same guys and one looking faster than the other. I'm not saying you're wrong but I haven't heard that Miazga is slow - I thought his athleticism was big selling point when he left MLS to play in better leagues.
Long's athleticism is world class for a defender. If he was more comfortable with the ball at his feet he would be top 4 league prospect, I would not be surprised if the BuLi comes calling. With improved ball skills Long could be another GCam. Long's athleticism was on display in the Cupcake match v Panama on the play which resulted in the Zimmerman header goal. Long started 10 yards behind Roldan on that transition recovery on the Panama run-out and had passed Lima at 30 yards! We have a young, athletic, high energy pool, we need a scheme that maximizes that talent pool.
yeah I saw it the same. Haven't seen anything from Long that says this is THE GUY. he just blends in. doesn't do much with the ball...and benefited from some poor competition.....it's not about MLS vs Euro or whatever....I want the MLS players to be great.... in my view, Long hasn't proven anything...and I don't see why everyone wants to anoint him and players like him (arriola is another good example) the biggest problem the USMNT faces when playing better teams will be how they play vs a high-press and I have seen nothing from Long that leads me to beleive that he will be able to handle that well.
I was comparing him to Lichaj. Miazga has his moments too but he wasn't challenged much and wasn't quick to help out either.