There's a 5 min clip out there of Banks vs Frankfurt (1-0 L) that displays some of his defense. I watched the match and thought he was outstanding. He had a couple of outstanding and timely tackles. He was a beast in the air. Where I think he struggles or better said where he needs improvement is positioning and his on-the-ball defending. What I've noticed positionally in FCA's back three, he has a tendency to get caught wide instead of tucking when they are against the ball. It's imperative in a back three to stay compact and he drifts a little. That tends to leave the half space open for the opposition. Banks may be covering that wide space left by a wingback not tracking back but I haven't looked too in-depth to know if that's the case. When Banks is on the ball, he wants to aggressively win the ball and has shown a tendency to play for the interception and/or swipe at the ball. A smart attacker takes advantage and flicks the ball on or has him beat because he over anticipated. It's not usually costly because he has very good recovery speed but can lead to some nervy moments and desperate defending. I would like to see him be a little more patience with his on ball defending. Sometimes it's better to delay the attacker than gamble and try to win the ball. The good thing..... positioning and on-the-ball defending are correctable and will improve with experience, so I'm not the least bit concerned. I've said it for a year now that Bank's profile and ceiling at CB is higher than any American CB ever. There's a shit ton of time, learning, refinement, experience, and productivity that must happen before he's wearing that crown but the potential is there. It's like if you melted Brooks (height / technical skill), Pope (brain), and Bocanegra (athleticism) into one. In two years, I think he'll shatter FCA's outgoing transfer record of €26M.
Banks starts! Augsburg (15th) hosting Union Berlin (9th). My schematic shows Banks at RCB in a 3-4-2-1. Augsburg should have hired a professional portrait photographer.
Kind of a bummer... but that's how it goes. I was impressed with his play again yesterday. His passing ability and vision is really top notch for a CB of his age. He is certainly not the fastest in small spaces but when he gets moving he can reach a legit top speed. He matched the pace of one of Freiburg's fastest players in the 2nd half yesterday and made a clean tackle on the ball while carrying a yellow. He had a few moments like that yesterday. But his clean passing is what stands out most to me.
and its so important for centerbacks to be able to pass...for me its the key criteria that separates the top teams from the rest - centerbacks that are good with the ball
Deserving a World Cup spot because of a bunch of stats without having played once for the national team isn't a great mindset. Deserving of a shot or an opportunity? Sure. For most national team managers, I am pretty sure they'll want to see players play well for the national team at least once before they bring them to the World Cup.
“ “A bunch of stats” is one way to describe it. Another way would be “playing extremely well at a higher level than all but one of the CBs in our entire player pool.”
Banks back starting after YC accumulation. Google has him at LCB instead of RCB. Sands starting against him for St. Pauli
when Zimmerman was playing for the USA, Banks wasn't playing first team at all. Poch lacks the crystal ball
I get that our backline is suspect and that Banks is talented but how many players that age are getting put on WC teams as a central defender? It's still possible but I won't be mad if he doesn't. If it was next year then he might be a shoe in and Albert and Sullivan would have a chance.
I disagree with you here. Banks was getting some minutes on the first team for Augsburg in the back half of 2024/25 season. Heck, he was on Poch’s 60 man preliminary roster for the Nations League around that time. He certainly could have been on the Gold Cup roster in the summer and gotten some playing time in the fall friendlies replacing first Zimmerman then Blackmon.
How many 38 year olds have success at the World Cup as a CB? I wish we weren’t in a position where a 19 year old was among our best CBs, but we are. And the point is that using “he hasn’t played any games with the USMNT yet” as an excuse is silly when in the past year we’ve given playing time to people in my opinion will be worse options this summer (I actually include team in that category despite being one of the people screaming for his inclusion very early on four years ago). I also weigh a season in the BL much, much higher than international friendlies, but play Banks in March. If he’s solid, he should be on the team.
It was an odd half for Banks. He started out at RCB and played well. Even had a peach of a long ball with backspin that left the ball in stride with the forward who had gotten behind. Later in the half he was moved to LCB and started to miss on his passes. It was probably the worst 20 or so minutes I have seen from him. But it wasn’t train wreck level bad. A bit harsh to pull him…. but hopefully it lights a fire. WRT the NT, a small window of poor play should not have an effect.