personally I would have zero reservations about throwing him in an elimination match based on club performance. He has been lighting it up for months for a very high level team. He won player of the month for a big club in Germany - there simply havent been players of that ilk who have fallen flat for the USMNT before. importantly it is the way he has done it and the way he has looked out there. plus outside back has to be the easiest position to jump in without experience - its why so many mids have been thrown there for USMNT. i agree the pool is deeper than ever. this is a new level for the squad, imo. thing about scally though is - look at players like yedlin cannon or moore - servicable but not exactly anything other than steady and none of them really create much on offense..none have the two way game scally does...which could really open up the offense since ggg system relies on that from fullbacks. it is a position - without dest - that is ripe for an upgrade and if upgraded will make a big differnce for the team....which is why people want scally to start. its not about risk its about reward. zimmerman is okay....but not sure he is better than richards etc...robinson is the cb that cant be left off imo
Adam, I think you are way underestimating the importance for players to have played together. Its apples and oranges to say a guy plays great with is club so will step in from day one and play great for his country. I doubt Scally would fall on his face but one miscommunication with his backline and its aw shit time. Zimmerman is ok? He powned Mexico.
those 2 breakaways in the first half couldve easilt been goals and the centerbacks were partially responsible at minimum...if either of those score....your sentiments on zimmerman would be totally diff right now i suspect.... Zimmerman is solid and in the mix no doubt.....but he and other players in the mix can play even better than he did vs mexico. you are right....cohesion and priro playing time is key for backline...but 1 new outsie back isnt the end of the world there, imo...it could lead to issues but again they arent replacing roberto carlos or something imo....yedlin is servicable but also not impenetrable...id like to see scally
I agree, the question is, based on Jamaica/Costa Rica/Mexico, is Weah possibly also part of that "locked in" group? If so that would be six guys for six non-defender positions... -------------------Weah------------------- -Pulisic--------------------------Reyna- ---------McKennie-----Musah--------- ------------------Adams------------------ --Jedi--Zimmerman--MRob--Dest-- ------------------Steffen------------------- -------------------Reyna------------------ -Pulisic---------------------------Weah- ---------McKennie-----Musah--------- ------------------Adams------------------
This is where you lost me. Zimmerman is the constant long serving professional. He is paid a lot for an MLS player so he has moved around a bit but has started everywhere and has often been the old bull paired with a young bull. His experience in leading the backline while handholding a young partner and being comfortable in space make him priceless. He does what many expected the veteran Brooks to do. Walker only leaves if long comes back. He is the calm influence at the back and what lots of coaches desperately look for. Richards cant provide that so if you play Richards you are asking Robinson to lead or then subbing Robinson for Brooks.
This. The more caps he gets the more I believe he is the most underrated US player we have, bar none. The good news is sometimes with defenders not ending up being the center of discussion due to X play is a good thing. He is the most consistent defender we have.
I’d love to see Scally vs Jamaica. I have a feeling he’d have a breakout type of performance for the Nats.
Remember when Matt Hedges won MLS defender of the year. He was moved in the Nats pool with Walker as a tagalong since Dallas looked really good with them there together. It it didn't take long for Hedges to be found out at the next level with Walker sticking around. I mean Walker went to LAFC in the expansion draft and went on to be the rock at the back for 2 years then again he was sent in the expansion to Nashville and he is doing the same thing with that D. The boy is all steak no sizzle, but people don't realize that yet. Glad to have you onboard the Walker Z supporters group.
FCD and LAFC won Supporters' Shields with Zimmerman. Neither has since come close to reaching those heights.
Even with those two opportunities, Mexico’s xG was like .79. It’s not good to give up opportunities like that, but the overall performance was very good. I’ve been saying this for awhile now, but people are way too caught up on Zim and Robinson being MLS players. For the national team, they play like people imagine brooks does, while brooks plays like the stereotype of the flawed MLS player. we will have to wait and see how zim and Robinson do against elite competition, but they’ve been as good as you could expect anyone fo be this year.
When Brooks has been good, he's been outstanding. He just hasn't always been good. You almost never know what you're going to get from him, especially in qualifying, for whatever reason. I still think of him as a likely asset in Qatar.
I don’t really disagree, but the mark of a really good player is maintaining a consistently high level of play. zimmerman and Robinson have just gotten things done for the national team. They’re rarely caught out of position, but have the athleticism to make up for it when they do. They’re both good in the air, and they’re both competent passers out of the back. If they were English or German, they’d both be on decent teams in those countries’ top domestic leagues. brooks for me is a highlight player for us. He had the WC goal, and he makes the occasional great pass, but you want your center back to be consistent. If brooks goes to the World Cup as the 4th center back, I won’t complain, but I hope like hell he won’t have to play. Zim/Robinson is a fine pairing, and Richards should be the 3rd center back moving forward unless he’s a complete mess against Jamaica. Then let him slide in for Zimmerman after Qatar and work on building a long term partnership with Robinson for 2026.
Me too. I'm all for Zimmerman to continue getting reps. Just watching him, it feels like wearing the shirt just matters to him. He's been super solid and it strikes me he's an inspirational presence in the locker room. Count me on the Zimmerman fan club. That said, I wouldn't count Brooks out. The guy is an elite passer and veteran presence. Right now, I'd say the top four Center Backs are Miles, Brooks, Zimmerman and Richards. I suspect those four could be going to the World Cup.
Zimmerman has been very good. But Brooks is still a better CB, when he is on his game. Some of that might depend on the opponent. If the U.S. is playing a European team at the World Cup Finals, I certainly want Brooks in the 11.
I don't really understand how Reyna as a false #9 is our best XI. Walker didn't go to LAFC in the expansion draft. FCD traded him for about $500k in allocation money (plus other incentives.) I mean.................the world whiffed on Zimmerman. After his first FCD contract expired, he went trialing in Europe. He ended up in Scandinavia and got zero opportunities. The club that showed the most interest, but ended up passing as well.............was Viking FK in Norway. That's a shame, because one can easily imagine promotional posters with Zimmerman dressed as a Viking. The reason Zimmerman has been traded twice is simple. Salary cap casualty. He gets paid a ton of money. Almost a million guaranteed. He gets DP money that's paid down by targeted allocation money. So multiple clubs have simply decided to spend that money elsewhere. And Matt Hedges was very good for years before and after Zimmerman left. Until this season when he had a lot of injury problems. We dont' need to prop Zimmmerman up by knocking Hedges down. Matt Hedges in his prime was really good. He's the wrong side of 30 now, though. He's played almost 350 games for FCD. The inevitable decline..................
Is it any coincidence that wherever he goes, his team makes the playoffs? LAFC makes sense. They had the mighty Carlos “Don’t know why Mexico doesn’t call up but he’s their best player” Vela. But they cannot replace Zimmerman. But look at Nashville. Sure. You can make a case that this player is better than we think and all that. But aside from Zimmermann, that’s a team of MLS scrubs. Romney, Lovitz, Willis, Muyl, McCarty, Washington, Maher, Sapong? Not good enough even for a January Camp invite. Mukhtar is good but he’s not that good. Leal, Johnston, and Godoy are alright but they’re not the second coming of Jesus or anything. In other words, what separates Nashville SC from the Houston Dynamo is a man by the name of Walker Zimmerman. ...It’s sort of nuts that Nashville was able to finish third, tied on points for second with that roster. That’s one: a well coached team. But that’s a team that depends heavily on Zimmerman.
I think I mentioned that Walker gets paid a lot and that is why he has moved around in the post previous to the one you quoted. Also, I didn't knock Hedges as a bad player, just that he was found out as not being up to National Team standard. That doesn't mean he is a horrible player. Tim Parker is a very good MLS defender who was called up with Aaron Long at RBNY during their Supporters shield runs and he wasn't as good for Nats as he was for his club. Fact remains Walker stuck around while Hedges didn't just like Long stuck around but Parker didn't.
The main reason that I believe that Zimmerman is just now being introduced to the team is that he’s had a bad history of being injured at the most opportune times for him to be selected. He was riddled with injuries at Dallas. Plus, our program took a break for about two years with missing the World Cup and Covid.
Indeed. Zimmerman had a ton of injuries as a youngster, which meant he wasn't able to participate in youth national teams. He was "on the radar," but couldn't participate. Its pretty well documented that as a youngster Zimmerman suffered greatly from Sever's Disease. He had such pain in his feet that he could barely run. Below is a column from when he was a youth player in 2009. He continued having injury problems at Furman and his first years at FCD. Folks will remember that he missed the U20WC due to an injury (or rather he was recovering from the injury when the roster selections had to be made). It took Walker a while to break into the starting XI with regularity in Dallas. He barely played in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Then he was finally a squad rotation player in 2015. Finally, in his 4th full season of 2016 he was a full-time starter. That was FCD's Supporter's Shield season. [Arguably the best year by any MLS organization. MLS SS and USOC winners. U18 DA champion. U16 DA champion. U15 "unofficial" national champion. If Mauro Diaz hadn't torn his Achilles in the penultimate game of the season, that team could have won the treble. C'est la vie.] Walker Zimmerman returns after recovery | Club Soccer | Yo]uth Soccer (topdrawersoccer.com)
Miss the obvious. Reyna doesnt need to play as a False 9. Weah can and has played 9 at club level. You move him to 9 and Reyna to RWF where he has played for club. Walker is a RCB and Miles is the LCB. As I said, you would be counting on 1)Brooks to lead, which he has not shown the ability to do so. More importantly you would be moving Robinson over. I don't follow Either player enough to know if they can shift to RCB but normally you move the vet over and let the younger player stay and just focus on his game as the vet should be better able to handle a switch like that.
mexico's strikers are not that athletic and don't really punish a team for playing a high line --- I think if you played a team with more capable FAST athletic strikers like France say (mbappe)....might be too much for Zim...all depends on matchup. against that type of team I want fast CBs. if you dont play a high line I prefer brooks bc he is the best passser of the Cbs. I thought walker's distibution could also be a bit better. He is squarely in the mix...but simply not 100% locked-in must start for me.