Depth at Key Positions..

Simek is a RB.

 

Alvarez LM

 

sad to say, but based on current form our second best left mid IMO is eddie lewis. he wont be anything in about a year and a half, but he has the chance of being the cobi jones of this qualifying cycle. some of you may remember cobi registering a goal and an assist in two consecutive away games during the last cycle.

 

left mid: it is pretty shocking to see left mid a crisis spot all of a sudden, but it certainly is. Beasley is definetly the man right now. No ifs ands or buts. Lewis is getting up there chronologically and Convey and Mapp are just not up for it. None of the three are what i would call quality depth for left or right back for the future.
HOWEVER Next year is where we break out he shiney new guns for the outside. Camp cupcake 09 is where we dish out the switch hitters Holden and Rogers, and Alvarez certainly makes a strong case for a left midfielder.

left back:Bornstein and Pearce are still in the equation at left back and both look godlike compared to Corrales. I like Bornstein a bit more, take that for what its worth if anything, but both have the capacity to develop and have good upside.

Right back: Cherundolo is the number one guy, Spector or Simek should be duking it out for the two spot, on paper we should never, ever have to put Moor out on the field except for camp cupcake affairs.

Spector is officially an important member to this team by default, yesturday just goes to show if something goes awry the guy should be first off the bench on our squad, and certainly given recent circumstances gives a strong case to be starting left back. We NEED his versatility on this team.

right mid: Dempsey/Donovan, given. But first off the bench? Holden and Rogers are probably solutions by next year, and maybe.....emphasis on maybe....Zizzo. If not for the Olympics i think BB would have figured it out this season.

 

Man, I was just going to do this in response to the dumbass "Bradley Fad" thread that I got sucked into.

It's sad that we got to play people out of position in many cases to provide quality back ups for our starters. We're in a bad way at RB and LM at the moment.

J. Hutcherson's latest article on USSoccerPlayers.com points to at least one reason why:

I noticed you left off Striker/Forward as one of the positions of need. I imagine that is out of total frustration or a desire not to be reminded of it. I've yet to read a good reason that Cooper was not brought into either of these camps. Health should not have been an issue as he was playing again at the end of the season. Conditioning shouldn't have either after his training stint with ManU. Just don't get it.

 

you have to be kidding me. on what "form" is Lewis the 2nd best left mid. He has been terrible for the US for 3 years now, but as is typical, there are still some who are going to judge him on the player he USED TO BE, rather than the player that he is today.

 

granted he's not the player he used to be and certainly doesn't have the same wheels, but he's still the best crosser of the ball we've got on that side and that probably gives him a bit of an edge over, say, Mapp who can't seem to do much at all with all the skill he has at this level. If Convey could just step up his game, we'd be talking about Lewis in the past tense for sure. Right now I'd say it's Convey's position to lose. He certainly didn't lay claim to it Wed. night.

I'm not certain why Alvarez isn't getting his due other than being tied down with the U23's. For whatever reason, he's not in the picture....yet.

 

A more general, "Big Picture" way to look at US talent depth is to think in terms of basic central or wide roles, rather than detailed specific positions. Specific positions imply specific formations. Looking at general roles can give you a better idea of strengths and weaknesses. I posted the following on the thread in the Analysis section discussing the 3-5-2 https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=655938&page=2:

Obviously, my point is that the the US has quality depth up the spine of the team in central defensive, midfield, and even attacking roles, but it is sorely lacking quality talent and depth at the classic, wing roles.

To deal with this problem, you can either: 1) move players from their better central roles and make them play wide; or 2) develop/find new wide players of international quality; or 3) play a system that favors central players and deemphasizes wing players. Those are the three options the US has to choose from.

 

I agree whole heartedly with your first paragraph. And it seems as if we're currently going with Option 1, out of necessity obviously. I don't like that method, because I don't think its a very efficient use of the talent we have. But...I don't believe that there's currently any better alternative either.

The appointment of Wilmer Cabrera was interesting to me in that it seemed to signal a change in direction tactically....and perhaps (hopefully) alludes to a change in player development (Option 2) throughout the system. My thinking is that if you are going to begin changing your approach to development and playing style, its much easier to make that change starting with the youth levels. And you continue making changes as that youth group graduates to more senior levels of play. You're stuck with what you have at the senior level currently.

I'll be very interested to see how the federation treats Wilmer's current crop of players.

Option 3 would get us through qualifying alright. But if we get a group like '06, or even '02 I'd think we'd be exposed and on an early flight home.

 

Davis and Rogers are better crossers than Lewis and much younger. Lewis obviously was a better Lmid than those two - in his day.
If Lewis were such a great crosser then why was Leeds relegated and Derby is on it's way down? Sort of like his contributions to the USMNT these past 2 years?
Mapp has not proven himself whether at L or R mid.
Convey will no doubt get more chances if his play at Reading improves, but if it doesn't, BB will bench him if he can find anyone to play there.

Depth is a problem for a lot of nations I bet.

 

Hmmm...maybe he was tired from carrying the other 10 players on his back.

I'm not sure what happened with Davis. I thought he did well against Sweden (was it?). Don't know why he wasn't made available. Was he scratched for injury?

Rogers isn't even getting a sniff anytime until after the Olyimpics I imagine, which is why I don't include him just yet. I need to see him get some bit minutes before he makes my list. I am anxious to see him at this level though. No offense to the Crew, but I sure would like him to take a more concerted stab at the Eredivisie. I believe he could make a real name for himself if he could stick it out there.

 

Not to take this thread to far off topic, but Braun....Do you know if Angulo is training with the Revs? How he's doing? Has he signed with MLS?

Just haven't seen much about him since the whole discovery stink.

 

First of all, your logic is miserably, miserably flawed regarding Lewis & his club teams. I might also remind you that Lewis was Leeds' Player of the Season last year.

I also think he is still the best crosser of a ball, and he actually played decently against Ghana in the World Cup, feeding McBride on a cross for a teriffic scoring chance that hit the post. To say he was miserable for the US in 2005 & 2006 is just wrong.