You made some good points about ball-handling from the back four - but Frankie Hedjuk in WC 2002 kinda proves your point differently. Plus, midfield quality& experience is more important than better ball skills from the backline.
I think we 'got away' with Frankie last time, and won't be so lucky next time... At the end of the day, if Convey doesn't continue to progress, then I won't have an argument...it partially based on that....at some point, though, US will need to get better at building ball out of the back.....winning/scoring is partly a function of holding onto the ball....losing it early out of the back only puts pressure on your defense over and over (vicious cycle)... I like O'Brien in midfield too...but if Convey can do the same job..well, where else does O'Brien fit (besides left back). Of course, in a 3-5-2, then O'Brien may still go in mid, but I've talking about the 4-4-2 that Bruce often uses..