Why Chris Armas will play a significant role in the 2006 World Cup

A good deal ahead of the 2002 World Cup, I received a few Private Messages from die-hard Fire and Armaphiles in one day questioning my stance on Armas at that time. It seems that some believed, despite my having written on BS many, many times to the contrary, that I simply hate(d) Armas and want(ed) to see him on the first train out of the MNT camp. One particular dolt invited me to continue my joust with my windmills because, in his expert opinion, Arena would NEVER utilize a 5-man midfield where I have always felt Armas would be most effective. I wonder what this particular dimwit thought when Arena did exactly that in beating Mexico, and then shifting to that formation against Germany – two of the most important games in US Soccer history. Nice call.

The fact is, as I have said over and over again, that I have always felt that Armas was, and at least for the next year (assuming full recovery), will continue to be our best pure defensive midfielder. Here is why Arena will continue to use him as long as Armas maintains his level of play:

1. We have a significant weakness right now in our outside defense. I’ve reviewed the El Salvador game 3 times paying attention to the performances of Wade Barrett and Sasha Victorine. I then looked back at the reviews they received on Big Soccer and elsewhere. In my opinion, Barrett was not as good as most opined, and Victorine was not nearly as bad as most believed. Both played unspectacular, but solid matches against a weak opponent, but both have a lot of work to do if they want a spot in 2006.
   
2. Our central defense looks stronger now than ever. The scorching of Califf here on Big Soccer after El Salvador, was again, IMO off base. I will not be surprised at all if he starts again in the next game in central defense alongside a maturing Bocanegra who will be hard for anyone to unseat by the time 2006 roles around. But regardless of the results of Arena’s Califf experiment, the spot is Pope’s to lose. And if Pope is down, and if Califf hasn’t secured a backup spot, the list of capable central defenders is actually quite deep. Sanneh, Berhalter, and even untried talents such as Suarez, Garcia, or possibly future prospects like Kelly Gray. I’m not sure what to make of Arena’s McCarty experiment.
   
3. Ben Olsen – the resurgence of Beninho gives Bruce a true alternative at Right Mid. Chris Klein could step up and contend, but I believe Bruce places a much higher value on Ben than Chris. In fact, I would bet Steve Cherundolo has a better shot as a pure right winger than does Klein, because like Ben, he is a tireless defensive work horse who can put in a good cross.
   
4. DaMarcus Beasley – when DMB emerged on the left, Bruce was given a long-term alternative that allowed for a winger on that side of the field. It gets better, as young talent like Brad Davis and perhaps even Justin Mapp could serve as backups before 06. Let’s not forget that Eddie Lewis is playing well and regularly for PNE in the English 1st division.

All this comes down to one thing. The pieces are in place, and will be in the future, for a 5 man midfield. Playing a 3-5-2 allows us to play to some of our most significant strengths – great speed on the flanks, very strong central defenders good and experienced in zonal marking, and a pretty long list of defensive mids. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that we’ll see a 3-5-2 all the time; in fact I don’t believe it will replace Arena’s favored 4-4-2. But there will be times when it makes sense. And when a 3-5-2 makes sense, Armas makes sense.

I like Mastroeni. I like Mulrooney. I even like Vagenas. I would take all 3 of them over Armas if and when we play a 4-4-2 because I believe they all have better offensive – specifically attacking – upsides than Armas. But when it comes to pure grit, hustle, tireless work, defensive skill, and the simple distribution required of a d-mid in a 3-5-2, I think Chris Armas is the man for the job. He simply outclasses all the rest in these specific areas. And for that reason, like him or hate him, I think he deserves his spot on the National Team until age and injuries catch up to him.

Outside of the 5-man midfield, specifically when Arena utilizes his preferred 4-4-2, I believe the other 3 candidates I mentioned deserve looks in the central midfield. I believe that as of right now the job is Pablo Mastroeni’s to lose, as his play in the World Cup was a huge part of the success we achieved there. Consider this stat – we won 2 games in the World Cup – Mastroeni started both of them. He is also at an age where he can be one of the pieces that Arena builds around leading up to 2006. But there will be situations where playing Chris Armas makes the most sense. I look forward to seeing him return – in those situations.

 

Eck. The second I posted this I regretted the title of the thread, which I cannot change. What the title should have read is, "Why Chris Armas will play a significant role in the run up to 2006." Oh well, on to some of the responses.

Heywood Jablohmi - "I agree, Armas will be a significant player for Arena in 06. He will be 06's Agoos. Let's just hope the ball bounces our way again to cover for this...again."

Sachin - "I agree with most of Nutmeg's analysis, with this provisio: Armas will play a significant role during qualifying but not during the finals."

Serie Zed - "Armas may play leading up to the qualifiers and may be on the squad in 04/05, but I don't think he'll still be one of our top two options at that position in 2006..."

Like I said in my first post, I think Chris will be a part of each and every camp, and will even see significant game time, as long as health and age don't catch up to him. They will, and if I had to bet, I would bet they catch him before the 2006 World Cup. If they do, I hope Arena learns from his Agoos mistake and cuts Chris loose and thanks him for his time served.

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luvdagame - "i may be wrong, but i don't believe that armas will
make the team in '06....

i hope we'll be way past that in '06. we should have maybe 3 or 4 new guys who are better than armas by then!!"

Could happen. We have some very good players coming up in the position, the best of which just might be Ricardo Clark from Furman. Everyone keeps talking about the Eskandarian draft in MLS, but I firmly believe that Clark will be the player that seperates himself in years to come. Stay tuned...

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USA4Life - "I agree 100% with the 3-5-2.
Especially with Donovan and Mathis on the team..."

Actually, I thought about that as well. We have a pretty good depth of players who are comfortable in the hole behind the two strikers, including Mathis and Donovan, but even a guy like Kirovski, who has begun the long process of resurrecting his club career with a few good games in Birmingham. Don't forget that Martino is a very good fit for this type of role as well, as is, gasp, Freddy Adu. A strong pure attacking mid makes a 3-5-2 an even better fit.

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He's in Fashion - "Armas will get his caps, but Mastro played well in a 3-5-2 for the Rapids, he's better on the ball, IMO he outclasses Armas in every aspect of the game."

Actually, I have to admit that if Armas is better than Mastroeni in a 3-5-2, it aint by much. I realized this was one of my weaker arguments when I thought about the Mexico game and the superb performance of Pablo. But I still believe that Chris is a marginally better decision maker in that scenario, although Pablo has the guts and the ability to take more chances in the attack than did Chris.

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Shaster - Armas' offense skill and passing ability are underated. Currently, he is better than Mulrooney and Vagenas. Mastronei is on pair with Armas, but have less positional sense and a better dribbling ability. One reason Armas cannot go forward too often because he has to sheild weak US center defense. When US has better center defenders coming up, he may still to be a backup d-mid behind Reyna with Donovan the designed a-mid for 2006."

I think Armas is very good with one touch passes typically into safe play. In that position, Armas usually does a great job in keeping his team out of danger. I disagree that he is now or that he ever was as good as Mulrooney, Vagenas, and Mastroeni in adding to his team's attack, especially in a 4-4-2, but there we will disagree.

I also disagree that Armas does better than Pablo in positioning. The one significant difference I noticed the second Pablo stepped into the MNT DMid position is that Pablo did a lot less ball-chasing than Chris. He held his position and helped keep team shape. If you have tapes, I'd invite you to go back and review 4 games. Watch Pablo's defensive work - specifically his commitment to staying within the zonal system - against Portugal and Mexico, and then compare that with Chris' performances against Germany and Ireland, where Chris's poor positioning and overcommitment to the ball helped lead to opponent goals and US losses in both games.

The one area where I hope Pablo improves is that I think at times he's too quick to use the slide tackle. It hasn't cost him or the MNT yet, but it could in the future.

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fatboy15 - "Why do so many people think defending isn't a skill."

Good question. I think it comes down to the fact that of all the qualities of a player, the cerebral skills of defending are the hardest to rank neatly on a piece of paper, or on a soccer board. The best students of the game pick up immediately on a defender's abilities. But Chris does have an excellent defensive brain, and carries out his generally good decisions with very good defensive ability. There is a lot of skill that is involved in defense, but don't kid yourself, either. A lot of what defending entails is simply pure effort, and like Armas or not, it would be hard to argue that Chris doesn't give a complete effort every time he steps on the field.

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flanoverseas - "Proof yet again that Karl Keller IS Nutmeg."

Um, no.

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Martin Fischer - "Other nits are that I think that both Victorine and Barrett played well against El Salvador and that Califf was awful."

Hi Martin. I disagree with a lot of people on Califf, but what specifically made you think Califf was awful? I'm just curious. I thought Victorine and Barrett were good, but that there is a ways for both of them to go. They've got 4 years - it could happen.

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MLSNHTOWN - "I think if he is close to making the pool, BA will give him a bit of sentimental shot ala Agoos."

I hope not. If Armas isn't one of the best 2-3 DMids in 2006, he should not be on team - period. Agoos wasn't one of our best defenders in 2002, and it cost us. Hopefully Arena learned the lesson.

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