I only see Suarez when he plays the Revs or is on national TV. I hear him mentioned as a future US player. He looks skillful but the games I have seen his defense doesn't look too good. In fact he has gotten beaten badly in almost every game I have watched-admittedly a small sample. So I ask Burn fans: is he a good defender( at DEFENDING)?
I'm in the minority with my view, and I'm a DC United fan, but I think he's given the green light to move forward into the attack waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. He's often a liability as a defender. Can Suarez defend, is the wrong question. Because yes, he most certainly "can" defend and when he concentrates on it he's quite solid. But the real question should be "does" he defend. Unfortunately the answer in Dallas is, rarely. He's quite a solid player, and has the skills to do either, but as he's played this season he's really a right wing midfielder who tracks back. IMHO, Milton Reyes is the perfect example of a defender who attacks. Reyes almost always gets back and prevents an attack down his wing. He's very rarely caught out of position. Suarez hasn't really learned to read the game well enough to do that yet. I'm sure I'm gonna get flamed for that, but it's what I see. I suspect if and when Suarez is called into the Nat's camp, that he'll be asked to defend more. How he does and whether he follows those instructions may determine whether he's really in the mix or not. Also, if he develops a working relationship with Gbandi, that'd help as well. Just my opinion. -Tron
Yes it's true he likes to come up a lot, but if he stays back, he's a killer defender. What Tron mentioned is right, he needs not go up so much and when he does, learn that he needs to haul ass back, which usually isn't too much of a problem, but it only takes on mistake to get scored on ___________________________________________ ~Ryan BURN TO BURN
One reason you didn't hear Suarez' name mentioned as much this year as a potential USMNT player is that his game didn't improve in 2002 as much as many had expected. Whereas last year he might have been the best defender on the Burn over the course of the season, this season you could make the case that he had the worst season of the 4 regular starting defenders. Suarez still had a good season, mind you, but it still was a bit of a disappointment to many Burn fans who were expecting great things from Ryan this year.
What isn't being mentioned here is how many times Suarez saves the day on attacks by the other team. There are games when he does this several times. He plays really hard and makes really great defensive plays.
Ryan was trying to create too much this season but there were times when someone had to step up and do something and since no one else would he tried. I thought he played terrific defensively most of the time. He played centrally a few times and did well. He brings a much needed intensity to the team and that is missed when he or Pareja are out. If he was in the US sytem I see him very much like Sanneh where he makes an occasional run and catches the other team off balance. His defense would be very good in this case where he didn't do too much. I hope he gets the chance with the national team because I think he is good enough and Bruce will help his decision making on when to make or not make runs. He might also be a choice inside although ideally he should play it for club before trying it internationally.
VW nailed it. Suarez seemed to regress this season instead of develop. You would have to say that he was the weakest player on our backline over the course of the year. Coaching or a sophomore slump? By the second month of the season, I was shocked at how beatable he was 1v1, and how teams began to focus on his side for their attacks. But most surprising of all was how much he struggled on offense this year. By the end of the season, I thought that Broome was a far more dangerous threat out of the back than Suarez when you consider passing, crossing, dribbling, possession, runs or any other factor. I never would have imagined that at the beginning of the year. I think he did show a lot of grit when he had to step in and play centrally for a while. I just really think he needs to concentrate on honing his defensive game first. Being an offensive stud will come later.
Suarez is what, 24, 25? Timewise I think he should be able to move forward comfortably already. He's at his athletic peak, but he still needs more professional seasoning/experience. I would expect him to make a breakthrough next season. As someone said, sophmore slump. Also, he tried to expand his role a lot, and sorta overextended. Hopefully Jefferies will reel him in a bit and he'll start to learn when and how to pick his spots. He has the size, speed and power athleticly. He has the defensive and offensive technical ability. Now he just needs to work on the tactical aspect of things and he'll start to live up to everyone's vision of the player he can become. -Tron