Yeah he has. On several occassions the Fire have run out a back line of: Perez - Bocanegra - Curtin - Gray. A lot of the 3-5-2 was due to the Fire having three very good center backs (Boca, Curtin and Brown) who weren't quite as good at fullback. When Brown got injured, he's done a lot of alternating between 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 depending on personnel. Gray has some pretty serious ballskills and he always looks good when he pushes forward. He still looks like a midfielder to me being forced into defense, but my guess is that his tactical game defensively has improved a bunch and will continue to do so. Sarachan either disagrees with me or wants to continue to work Gray in defense, because he's recently had the choice of playing Whitfield or Gray at right back and the other at right mid, and he's chosen to put Whitfield at mid. Key defender on the US Open Cup winners and the slight favorites for the Supporter's Shield so the resume is starting to look good.
Maybe Martino needs more PRO years to run an offense. If we put Landon in that spot, we may start Buddle and Casey in the top. That will be a nightmare for poor Concacaf defenders who are not Canadians :>). I believe everyone will try to make the back up spots for forwards and right midifielders. E. Johnson, Quaranta, Magee, etc. will be working hard for this spot because the left side is too crowded right now. I still don't know if Winger is that good considering Convey, Whitbred, or even Dunivant can play that spot. If USSF really decide to win the Olympics and if we lost Landon/Beasley/Convey to the Senior Team, we may get all three overage players to fill them up.
Kelly Gray is becoming yet another in a long series of examples of why it makes sense to train youth forwards into professional defenders as they develop. Kelly was a damn good forward/midfielder at UP, but a lot of us thought coming out of college that his long-term spot was going to be in the back. He has strong ball skills, and sees the field well, he makes very good decisions, but he lacked some of the creativity and quickness it takes to be a standout professional on the front line. Because he's a smart kid, and defense is more about being mentally sharp and always making good decisions; because he reads and reacts to the flow of the game so quickly; and because he has the physical attributes of size, strength, and good enough speed, he's transitioned well into the Chicago back line.
Knox Cameron Another one similar to Kelly Gray will hopefully be Knox Cameron. At 6-3/4 200/210 he has good college ball skills and is successful at forward at that level. I hope people recognize quickly that he will need to switch to defense in the professional ranks. Professionally he will have good size, athleticism, ball skills. Now he needs what Kelly Gray has gotten the past 2 seasons. Pro Defensive tactics, one v one defensive skills and such. I think if this happens soon he will be a MLS starter in 2 years and in the World Cup pool for 2006.