After a stellar performance in Sunday's MLS Cup final, should Eddie Robinson be a key player for the US mens' defense????
He's been called into camp by Arena before, hasn't he? I don't believe he made the matchday roster following that camp, but I may just be making that last part up.
Correct. Eddie has a great combination of strength and speed to match up against the Ralph's/Ruiz or against the speedsters like Landon. He is excellent in the air and reads the game well. He is main problem is distribution and controlling the ball at his feet. However, he has improved each year. He should continue to get a look, but needs to get consistant playing time (injuries this year).
Yes he made the first camp after last season, but did not make the game day squad. Correct on both counts. http://www.mlsnet.com/content/02/us1029roster.html
when you start looking at the young defenders we've been producing who are most likely going to take the reigns in 2006, provided we qualify, then Robinson should be in the mix... Bocanegra Califf Garcia Onyewu Yi Robinson There are probably more, but these woere the guys who are getting good looks cos either they're stateside or getting pt elsewhere.
Here's the 15 Center Backs I listed in the other thread: Center Back (Ages as of 6/1/2006) 1. Eddie Pope (32) 2. Carlos Bocanegra (27) 3. Gregg Berhalter (32) 4. Danny Califf (26) 5. Nick Garcia (27) 6. Jim Curtin (26) 7. Oguchi Onyewu (24) 8. Ryan Suarez (28) 9. Jonathan Spector (20) 10. Eddie Robinson (27) 11. Nat Borchers (25) 12. Chad Marshall (21) 13. David Stokes (24) 14. Frankie Simek (21) 15. Alex Yi (24) I also listed Cory Gibbs, Rusty Pierce, Kelly Gray and Zak Whitbread as fullbacks though they all have played centrally often. The order is unimportant, but those are the guys.
The only problem I find in Robinsons game is that he is still too prone to misjudge the play and take poor angles. He needs more time as a starter in defense, which injuries have prevented. In terms of athletic ability and 1v1 defending, hes top notch, with solid ball skills as well.
If you include Chad Marshall, I gotta believe you need to include Ryan Cochrane also. They've been the central D pairing on the U-20's for awhile now. Both dominate at the college level.
Since he plays for Earthquakes, the answer is a definite yes. Robinson is fast as hell dude. He can out run any forwards in MLS plus he has a huge vertical leap.
Ronbinson has all the physical tools, he just needs to grow a better soccer brain. He has a tendency toward fatal non-chalance and needs to train under Agoos and Dayak for another year to perfect his positioning. He could be a star.