Who's going to get the nod? Was Michael Orozco Fiscal impressive enough to keep the spot? Or, will Birnbaum, Besler, or Castillo get it? Personally, I'm going to say to go with Besler at LB and slide Johnson at RB.
Without Villafana (moving Fabian to the right) or Lichaj on the roster, I'd begrudgingly move Cameron out there. Cameron's problem as a fullback isn't so much his defense. He plays moderately cautiously as a fullback, but he contains well. The issue is more he hurts your width and doesn't always make the best decision with limited passing options unlike in the middle. But we should supply our width more with our wings against a good team anyway, and we can still double up on the other side if necessary. Defense needs to be our priority for that position in this game with Montero their danger man. Nobody else on the roster is going to contain Jefferson Montero without a double team, and then he could just hit the overlapping fullback. If we subbed in Castillo on the left and switched Fabian over to the right, what's to stop them from just shifting Montero to the opposite side during the game? I think the likes of MOF, Castillo, Birnbaum, and Besler would have enough issues handling either wing. Then I'd replace Cameron with Besler as the CB (at LCB) partner to Brooks. Brooks is a one-man wrecking crew right now and Besler is a sensible, solid defender, who complements his passing well considering he plays a good long ball unlike Brooks. The only way they don't complement each other is that they're both left-footed. But big whoop - right-footed players play alongside each other all the time. Based on Klinsmann's comments about the importance of stability in the back iv, I expect him just to throw MOF out there and tell him to play conservative. But I don't think that's going to deter Montero much. He'll just trick around him.
Besler to CB and Cameron to RB would be the best choice in terms of getting the best 11 on the field, but I'm not sure you want to break up the Brooks/Cameron partnership. Besler at LB (and Johnson to RB) is an option, but has he ever played there other than the one friendly? My guess is Orozco gets the start. If Klinsmann wanted to do something else, he would have done it when Yedlin got the red.
Not so fast, my friend. We have momentum and good chemistry. Never break up things that work! A dealer in Vegas once said to our table, never split a pair of tens...you've already won but you want to change your position for a chance to lose!? He and Brooks have a good thing going in central defense. Keep the backbone strong. Orozco will be the guy on the right. If they flip Johnson, I get it, but I see Juergen sticking with what got us here (i.e., everyone else in same position plus Orozco).
Orozco is not what brought us here, let alone against a Montero-like character. He had enough problems with Ayala and co. Besler has been our most consistent CB the last few years, he complements Brooks well, and his sensible-style is not the type to disrupt anything. Besler got dropped in alongside Cameron for the first time in a while against Mexico in the Confed Cup playoff, and it was the only part of our team that worked.
No, Orozco did not get us here, but the other 9 did. I like Besler, but I think he is a man looking for a role, if Cameron and Brooks are together. Now, if I were king for a day (Thursday, that is), I would move Jones to Right Back (ala Lothar Matthaeus in his later years) and start Darlington Nagbe in the midfield. Jones has the pace and tenacity to be a good defender, and Nagbe could be the great distributor. Plus, we would have more ball holding capability on the field.
The problem with possibly moving Cameron is that the team has FINALLY found something that works in the central defense, and you run the risk of screwing that up by shuffling it around again. It's not plug and play like some may think it is. The partnership has to work mentally as well as physically.
Are Brooks and Cameron the only CB combination that has worked well for the team? C'mon, you're fetishizing them like folks fetishized Beckerman.
They are working in this tournament. We are always riding Klinnsmann for this exact kind of impromptu experimentation, and for good reason it's shit. Makes no sense to break up a partnership that has been extremely effective in such a big game. Also, I have watched almost everyone of Stokes games over the past couple years and he is an indifferent RB honestly. Pace wise I want him backing up whoever is one the right.
Don't mess with what's working. Put Fab on the right, and bring in Castillo. There, speed on both sides still, CB pair stays in tact, and FabJ stays on the backline.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul. That would be the absolute worst thing to do. Cameron and Brooks have developed chemistry, it would be disastrous to mess that up now in the knockout round of a tournament.
Ecuador's biggest attacking threat lies along the flanks. What's the point of having a great CB combination at the expense of getting crushed in wide areas? JK could also play 451, from which one central midfielders could be rotated to double Montero.
How is Besler looking for a role when he's played CB for years for club and country, and done it solidly for each? He played LB one game because we had a dearth of them on the roster. Besler and Brooks does from a theoretical standpoint. Brooks is the big, aggressive, short-passing guy. Besler is the smaller, more sensible, long-passing one. They can get somewhat accustomed and tested out in practice. Brooks-Cameron worked well enough from the first game. That's an invalid analogy. When you take money from someone, they inherently have less money. But our CB pairing isn't inherently worse because it's been changed. If Besler doesn't make the big mental mistake each game that Cameron does, and hits Wood with some long passes, it can be better. Then we can be better defending at RB in addition. Don't know what Castillo's speed means when he's a very poor defender instinctually, positionally reckless, and gets pushed around. If they have the good sense to switch Montero onto him, if he's already not getting worked on that right side, he will then. Really, Castillo provides us neither defense nor crossing on the trail. He can help us with a possession style and maybe charge into the box for a gs opportunity though - as if we need those things in this game.
The combo of Montero crossing on the ground to a speedy guy like Enner Valencia could prove deadly against the twin towers. I hope that we keep a wide midfielder back to help whoever our RB is in this game.
I think it would be stupid to mess with any of the other three spots on the back line at this point, so just put Orozco, Besler or whomever you think is the best defender there, tell them to stay home and be done with it. If we are going to go shifting things around then the only other option I think is logical is Cam plays RB and you put Besler in at CB. Moving FJ to the right is nonsensical. You want to see Edgar Castillo Vs. Antonio Valencia? LOL, that is the worst match up imaginable.
Montero was beating even Yedlin for pace in our friendly. He is going to crush whoever we put out there in this group. We just better have tight marking on the targets in the box.
We made changes to our backline in each of the World Cups of 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014: we did fine. There is no special chemistry created by keeping the same guys together. Inflexibility is stupid.
1v1, Yedlin was just about staying with Montero. None of our other defenders can play high and at the same time stay with Montero. To effectively contain the right flank while playing 451, we'll need a combination of a stay-at-home right back, a covering central midfielder, and a covering a right-midfielder.
Inflexibility is stupid, so is change for changes sake. However, there is nothing as stupid as people wanting to rearrange everything so they can see Castillo vs Valencia.
Besler at LB. FJ at RB. Should be enough to contain them. Montero is fast, but I think FJ is up to the task. Valencia has lost a lot of his pace, so Besler should be able to contain him.