That's what Stone told us during the United States - Grenada broadcast. I've had the same thought at times, but never really considered it in depth. Is Gibbs really a better player than Pope or Bocanegra?
Right now better than Pope but Pope is supposedly playing a little injured. I haven't seen Boca in a while byt he was solid in MLS last year. Nice little defense with the three together if Boca can play left back at a National Team level. Now who is the right back who measures up?
If Boca keeps playing well enough at Fulham he should be able to hold down the left back at the nat level. Gibbs and pope in the middle will be a nice combo, once pope is fully healthy. Think Stevie C has shown us he can be a solid right back for the nats.
stevie c is cherundolo. That's german for a pretty darn good right wing midfielder, but not much of a pure defender.
If Arena uses the Box midfield, then Dolo is either a RB, or a left bench. I didn't see any Fulham matches after Boca arrived, how good is he going forward from LB?
Bocanegra is capable of going forward if there is an opportunity. Boca had a really nice assist for Fulham this past season I think to Hayles for a goal against..... ? I'm not sure Bocanegra is comfortable with getting forward. On the "Made in America" program that FSW produced the interviewer asked Bocanegra about getting forward and he responded that he really preferred to hang back a bit and defend. Granted, if the Bruce instructed Bocanegra to get forward in certain instances, I'm sure he could perform the task.
Very true -- Bocanegra showed that in the first US-Grenada game. He had several shots early off his head from corners and the like. Back to Gibbs - I haven't seen many Burn games so wasn't too aware of how good he was but I was impressed with him today in Grenada. I agree - I think we're in good shape with a central defense of Pope and Gibbs.
Gibbs played Carlos Ruiz very well in their game at the Cotton Bowl earlier this year. I haven't seen blistering speed or superhuman jumping ability out of him, but I think he is just very, very solid at every single aspect of the game. A Gibbs/Chad Marshall pairing for World Cup 2006 is what I'm looking for.
Hmmm... I'd like to see Gibbs and Pope in central defense, with Boca on the left. On the right maybe Sanneh or Cherundolo. Then we'd have capable backups with Hejduk and Berhalter. Mastroeni can always be thrown into the defensive mix if needed, and there are others (like Vanney) who haven't wowed me but are capable. Also, doesn't John O'Brien sometimes play left back? This kinda depth is a nice problem to have, esp. for those of us who remember the '98 debacle. When Agoos, for all his distinguished service, is no longer needed b/c he's not as good as any other eight or so defenders we could throw out there, things are looking up for the Nats.
I preface this post by saying that I think that Pope is the BEST all-time US defender! (Lalas would be the most famous/posterboy.) ...However, which line-up would you prefer RIGHT NOW? ------Dolo--------Gibbs---------Boca---------Vanney--------- or ------Dolo--------Pope----------Gibbs--------Boca------------ ...IMO, Vanney seems to be a Nat on the rise, while Pope (the human cramp) seems to be a Nat on the decline. Now, I am always open to the idea of a player reinventing himself (as Vanney has), but really, what more can Pope do? ...I prefer Boca in the center (as does he) where he can impose his beef and his dominant air game. ...Notice that my entire post has been about everyone except Gibbs? He seems to have that effortless, silky, smooth presence that every coach loves, and his size and athleticism seems to secure a spot in (almost) any starting line-up. ...Post-script, here's my defensive depth chart... RB: Dolo, Albright, Hedjuk CBs: Gibbs, Boca, Pope, Berhalter, Mastro LB: Vanney, Boca, Convey (...IMO, Convey's not, at this stage in his career, a LB... he's a LM in a 4-4-2 or a CM in a 3-5-2)
I wasn't much heartened by what I saw from Gibbs today. Athletically, he is certainly talented, but I don't know if he's really figured the position out yet, or how to play with the other US defenders. On the rare occasions Grenada broke through midfield, the US defense was at sixes and sevens. Near total disorganization. And this against a side of near-amateurs. Part of this Conveys fault, but compare the organization and discipline of Mastroeni + Gibbs yesterday to Mastroeni + Pope against Mexico and you see why I think Gibbs has a long, long, long way to go before he's got what Pope's got. I rate him fourth or fifth among central defenders right now -- behind Pope, Bocanegra and Mastroeni. I have doubts about whether he is right now a more effective central back than Berhalter -- in the Holland game, Berhalter controlled that defense, and Gibbs on a few plays got caught out.
Actually, that is NOT what Rob reported Bruce Arena saying. What he actually SAID was that Arena had commented that Gibbs MIGHT be our best defender. He said that Gibbs is fast, strong and "nasty on the tackle". He did not annoint him the second coming of Paolo Maldini, which is not terribly surprising, since everybody in 1 Bundesliga knew him very, very well but he couldn't get a decent contract offer. Arena was simply complimenting his recent play. Calm down a little bit. Is it too much to ask that, if you're going to start a thread, that you at least get the premise right?
Did you watch the match? I thought Gibbs had by far the least amount of trouble marking Roberts of any of our defenders. Pablo "Slip and Slide" Mastroeni had a nightmare game. I don't think anyone wathing that match would have the same depth chart. Although I agree the defensive organization was not the highlight of this game.
The way I understood it, and the way it made some sense to me, was when saying Gibbs was possibly the best defender we have he was referring to the "pure" defensive aspects of his play: marking a guy, winning balls in the air, making hard tackles, stopping players 1 vs 1. In this regard, I can see how he would be near or at the top of the US pool. And, I agree that his grit is very welcome back there. However, being the best "pure" defensive guy doesn't mean he's our best player in the back. He's still got to work on positioning, passing out of the back, and all that sort of thing. Eddie's still in there through 2006 because experience does mean something in the back. Eddie may be starting to show a few signs of age then, but he'll be in no means another Agoos situation. I think the question is who partners Eddie in the middle, Boca or Gibbs. I think Boca is a better overall player, but he is much more adept at playing left back. I'd expect to see all three out there, especially against top teams that will be putting more pressure on our back line when our guys will hang back more. (just not sure who will play right back in that situation, maybe Sanneh id healthy) I still tend to think Boca is a better central player than wide, but it may end up being a case where he gets shifted around where needed.
Re-aligning a defense after a two game match against Grenada smacks of a desparation that BA does not share right now. His comments give a nod to a player who had a good game, and do not slash at the other wasters on the back line.
Bruce revamped the whole defense between games. He always tinkers with lineups. Making changes for Bruce does not at all smack of desperation. Heck, has he ever used the same lineup two games in a row? I know he changed side every game in the World Cup.
OK. I thought I heard Stone say that Gibbs is our best defender, according to Arena, and then Balboa came in and said something about Pope is really good, too. I could have misheard it. Whatever, in comparing Gibbs to Pope, I think Gibbs is a much better option for the future (obviously). Pope has another year, maybe two of national team ball left in him, IMO. He is and was a great defender, maybe one of the best we have had, but Gibbs is impressive and is getting better every month, it seems.
Gibbs will fill the central defense role very well. Our back line is going to be very good I think once we get into the heart of qualifying. If Bruce keeps using the box mid-field, I think having: Dolo--------Pope------------Gibbs---------Boca (Convey) -------------Pablo--------------Reyna------------------- will be great. Cherundolo is out best option at RB for the box midfield. He marks and plays it better than Hejduk and can get up field than him as well. He's also showing himself to be one hell of a crosser. Everytime lately that he's sent a ball in it's had potential. I think he might should be doing the corners instead of Reyna as well.
And, if we're playing a team where we are a bit undermanned and really need to lock things down in the back more than worry about going forward, a defense of Boca - Gibbs - Pope - Sanneh would be big, tough, athletic and very hard to break through.