Pre-match: USA vs Bolivia May 28th, 2018

...Who cares? Both these guys are gone. No need to take the JK-related bait. In a thread about how the youth is to be utilized against Bolivia next week, I hope we can move past this.

As an aside, I know I'm guilty of derailing for sure, namely when someone brings up Michael Bradley... but still. I'm trying to resist that bait, @Deadtigers and @TheHoustonHoyaFan should be able to resist too.

 

Lineups indicate a mixture of positions along a 3-man backline.

 

You may not care but DWill just turned 29 and was IMO the primary reason the midfield was so stable v Portugal. If healthy he could be our first choice #6 going forward for the next 2 to 4 years, enabling Weston to succeed in the #8 box to box role.

That is why I care.

 

Dwill isn't a natural 6 tho

 

Fair enough, my bad.

That sorta doesn't matter. IF Dwill has attributes that translate well into a number 6 role, and I believe that he does, he just needs enough practice at the position.

Bedoya changed from an 8/10 to a wingback/AM, to a CDM. I see no reason why DWill couldn't go from an 8 to a 6....

 

DWill is closer to being and AM than a DM. His positional awareness is too poor for a DM role, and he becomes the guy who gets the first yellow.

 

D-Will is 29 with a not insignificant injury history.

 

Not sure exactly what a natural 6 is but who on this roster qualifies?

 

Another snapshot from #USMNT training. Here’s Weston McKennie trying to wound Tim Weah with a ninja flick after Weah lost a round of 2-touch Keepy Uppy. That’s Julian Green holding Weah and Josh Sargent telling Weah to suck it up. #TeamBonding #Team2022 pic.twitter.com/0REgyPvNoD

— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) May 24, 2018

 

JJ was the one to get the first yellow too. I find it difficult to believe that he can't be instructed to clog up passing lanes, and the fact that he's used as a box-to-box midfielder for an ultra-defensive Huddersfield, would seem to fly in the face of asserting that his defensive positioning is "too poor".

I'm not saying it's a guarantee, and I think it's debatable whether or not he'll be too old by next cycle, but we need someone in the middle of the park to be a destroyer. It's not going to be Parks. It might be Weston Mckinnie, and it could be DWill.

 

Why play with a destroyer?

 

In theory sounds great but a 34 yo Jermaine Jones was not only our best player at WC2014 but made a couple of group stage best XI list. Our 3 players who made FIFA's WC2014 top 50 list were Howard 35, Jones 34, and Dempsey 31.

As far as the strength of our prospect, well it will be too sobering to compare our 2011 to 2012 prospect class to our current class that some are downright giddy over.

#debbiedowner

 

I meant to get back to you and I did some of my own research, I will yield to your point on this. I will say I always saw him as a box to box 8 and when Mikey became a 6 and we were looking to replace JJ, why he was never given chances to be that guy because he seemed a perfect fit. It seems like JK tried everybody but him. Maybe that was the time he was sidelined with injury.

 

I gotta back HHF on this, which is rare. One of the says I have come across in rugby when people debate a players age and if he is ready for the first team is, "if he is good enough, he is old enough." If that is true for young players then it has to be true for older players. If he is good enough then he is young enough. We don't have the luxury to arbitrarily write of guys because of age, height or any other reason. If D-Will is 33 and is the best option to play 8 come WC2022 then he should play.

 

I think it's clear that we need someone in the team to be physical and protect our players against the more physical/dirty teams in CONCACAF.

I hate the "Hack-a-Pulisic" strategy, and this is one way to stop it.

 

That's more an 'enforcer' than a destroyer.

 

I don't know what to say except, why the heck are you making an arbitrary cutoff?

Yeah, we're going to go young for the first couple years. As we should. But we're going to have to introduce the best veteran players at some point in the cycle. We're talking about the World Cup here, not the Olympics.

Hell, even at the Olympics, they have older players. Nobody would object to a player who was "over 29" on the Olympic roster...

 

Why distinguish the two? We need someone with a motor to defend and make hard tackles. We need the defensive presence to shore up a very young defense, and we need the hard tackles to put Honduran/Guatemalan/Salvadorian hackers in their place.

 

I always feel the USA should have a horses for course approach because the style of play is different in C-Caf and Europe. When facing European teams a Defender who is great in the air is a must but in C-Caf it is not as important as touch and control. So that is to me why we need depth and it will also help change to a plan B.

 

Where is America's Roy Keane!?!

 

None really but EPB (on this current roster) is probably the closest to how Dave would instruct them to play the role.

 

I don't know if I'd go that far but he's box to box 8

 

Destroyer is a role of a particular position, the '6'.

An enforcer is a role that can be filled by any field player. For example, Diego Costa, a striker, was a brilliant enforcer for Chelsea.