Thought this one would be a fun topic. I remember all those years ago when we were so excited about Clint Dempsey and had discussions about what his actual position was and where he would go. During his Revs days, we were excited, but we were would he would become a jack of all trades master of none. There was a very fair argument at a time that he needed to play further back, and in hindsight, i could have seen that argument. I personally thought with the amount of goals he banged in we needed him as close to the front as possible. Clint was a very special and exciting player, and I hope we can find one like him again, but what about some of the others? I think the next comparison to Dempsey in terms of initial raw talent at one point (Im talking the 19-23 age timeframe) was Brek Shea. The idea of Brek was so interesting, he was a pretty good goalscorer, but his defending was very much above average at the time as well. I was adamant from the get-go everything about this guy spoke "left back". He felt so wasted in the midfield, where he ended up constantly playing. He was one of those unusual instances of a tall lanky guy who had good enough speed to play on the outside with proper coaching. When I heard of the Stoke signing, I kept my expectations in check because while I was hoping for another EPL team to set one of our raw molds right, Stoke were by no means the team to do it. One that was in England the whole time that I felt became a fun debate topic that was kind of against the grain was John Spector. There was a stretch before his biggest career changing injury that he played in the midfield for West Ham, and when we first saw the lineup I think a lot of people were bemused to see him there. But woah was that ride fun, he went from holding midfielder to CAM on a dime, and that West Ham-Man U FA Cup game was particularly memorable for that. Spector was a forward in youth converted to right back. Turns out, that might not have been the best of ideas. He appeared to have pretty good instinct on the offensive side of the ball. I thought so much so that he could have had a much better career. Two other guys when they first came out of college I thought needed to be converted were Wenger and Zavaleta, who were goalscorers at the college level. To me, they just seemed like they needed to be moved to center back at the next level immediately to maintain relevancy. Both eventually became JAGS (just a guy) in MLS, and at least Zavaleta reluctantly moved to central defense, albeit way too late. He's making an okay journeyman career there, but could have been much more perhaps if he developed as a possession central defender. Who are some other guys that you can think of off the top of your head that you think would have been better off switching positions early? Who are some current players you do not want to see fall into the trap and where do you think they belong? I know I have to be missing a couple
Brek Shea---center back or center-mid Eddie Johnson---right-midfield or right-back Larentowicz---centerback Nagbe---attacking midfielder Ricardo Clark----right back Tommy Thompson---center mid; rb is a waste of his career Kyrie Shelton---right midfield, right-wing; seems to finally be there Teal Bunbury---right-back or centerback Andrew Farrell---centermid CJ Sapong---centerback or rightback
Maurice Edu is a great shout. I could have got behind that. I remember a few rumblings about Tim Ream to D-Mid. Interesting idea too
Chris Albright - Centerback. He started out as a high level forward prospect and eventually moved back to wing and then right back where he ended his career and even got a few caps. He was fast but never quick enough for any of those positions. He could have been a fantastic CB.
Eddie Gaven's amazing stints at GK for both Crew and NY makes me think he was better than Buffon. For some reason, he played midfield.
FCD tried Brek Shea everywhere as a teenager (LB, CB, CM, LW, Forward) and left wing was where he could be most impactful in MLS. He finished top 3 in MLS MVP voting one year. They did try him at LB and CB, and it didn't stick at the time. In fact, they started him at CB in one MLS game. He got red-carded and the experiment died. I really don't think his position mattered. He didn't have the emotional intelligence to succeed at the highest levels and with the USMNT. Kellyn Acosta? I don't know. Are we suggesting that he should have stayed at fullback. Cuz he was making great progress as a CM, even starting our WCQer at the Azteca (and playing well). He was the starting CM on a Supporter's Shield winning team. Then he got hurt, didn't get the transfer to Europe that he wanted, and then seemingly fell out of love with the sport for a spell. I don't know on that one either. If Kellyn Acosta was a right back, would he get into the USMNT right now over Dest, Yedlin, Cannon, and company? I guess we'll never know, but I doubt it. I really like the Maurice Edu and Ricardo Clark suggestions.
IMO as a Quakes fan Tommy Thompson is better as a unique FB than just another decent CM with a little skill. Not a position "change" but I hope Tristan Blackmon for LAFC stays as a RB, I also like his unique skillset and think he's better as a tank of a fullback like Lucas Hernandez than just another decent CB. I'd also like to see Jesus Ferreira moved to ST full time instead of playing CM/AM. I can see him being a pretty good CM/AM but would be a game-changing high work rate ST similar to Roberto Firmino, dropping into space to collect and distribute, with the ability to still run into channels when needed.
Well and with the way his career started, I can only imagine the uproar on BS if somebody had moved him to a different position at the time it would have been needed.
In his 1077 minutes at amid, Nagbe has 2 goals 2 assists and WS of 7.41 EJ looked the successor to McBride when the former debuted with the National Team. Would love to see Thompson on a decent team.
I also remember seeing Shea play CB for the U-20 NT in a friendly or two, and it was the worst I ever saw him play at any position.
I see lots of folks subscribing to the "move the Black dude to fullback" trope. Which is weird, 'cause we're talking about some dudes that had pretty solid careers as attacking players.