In part two of my preview of the 2012 Portland Timbers, I am going to talk about the centerbacks on the team. Centerbacks need to be good in the air, to defend against set pieces and to repel the route one attacks of direct teams. Central defenders need to be physical specimens able to hold their ground against aggressive attackers; fleetness of foot is paramount to counter the swift attackers as well. The central defenders also need to be able to build the attack out of the back, developing possession and providing an outlet for attackers under pressure higher on the field. A calmness on the ball and ability to get the ball back to his central midfield or outside backs instead of blasting it downfield is a great asset, and a reason Geoff Cameron is the second coming of centerbacks on the national team. But positional awareness and communication with your partner and the outside backs are the most important skills that a centerback can bring to his team, and excellence at these traits can hugely make up for average qualities in the others.
Eric Brunner is the perceived number one going into the season. He was the anchor of the defense last season, while his partner rotated endlessly due to injury. Brunner is tall and good in the air, but he is sometimes forced out of position by beefier players. He's pretty quick but isn't a speed demon, and we saw him have to resort to some last ditch efforts to save the side, sometimes unsuccessfully like his red card against Seattle. But his communication and leadership skills are excellent and his positional awareness is good and continues to improve. Brunner is a lock to start if healthy, but may slip to number two over the course of the season if someone else steps up big.
Hanyer Mosquera, acquired from Colombian club La Equidad over the offseason. I haven't seen much of him, obviously, but it was pretty clearly stated that they brought him in to start in defense, so I'm putting him in here at number two, and is obviously one of the guys who could overtake Brunner as the number one centerback. He's a big guy and seems pretty fast from what I saw in the preseason tournament. There are currently some issues acquiring his International Transfer Certificate, but Merritt Paulson claimed on twitter he was "75% positive" they would have the ITC by game time Monday night.
Mamadou "Futty" Danso is the most veteran Timber on the team (unless you count Homegrown Brent Richards, who has been affiliated with the club since he was a child), having been with the USL side since 2009. The Gambian is big and strong, good in the air, and has a good positional awareness. He has developed good communication with Brunner and Horst when they played together, so I feel safe assuming he will develop a good on-field relationship with Mosquera as well. Futty has average pace and has decent distribution but is prone to make small errors like a lazy clearance or a positional mistake. When he is healthy, Futty should be the option off the bench on game days as the clear number three on the team. He is currently injured: Dike stepped on his foot and broke the pinky toe bone. He will be out at least another month.
David Horst, of the famous Horstache, showed himself to be starting quality last year. David underwent hip surgery in the off-season and will be out for a couple months longer at least. He is very physical and seemed to show some great positional sense at the end of the season. He is on the slower side of the speed wheel though, but doesn't seem to make the gaffes that Futty has in the past, and is every bit as good in the air as Futty or Brunner. I think when he is healthy he will make an excellent case for that spot on the bench, and could see time rotating in and out of the 18. Clearly will be a starter for reserve league games.
Steve Purdy, member of the 2010 USL PTFC and the El Salvador national team, is a versatile defender. He's both good in distribution and positional awareness, and is a good one on one defender. He is one of the faster defenders but is on the smaller side physically. Last year we saw him start at rightback for the first team and centerback for the reserve team; it seems he may be more suited to the wide role, and is certainly higher on that depth chart than fifth. He gets the advantage here over the rookie because of experience. Purdy is also injured right now with a hamstring issue.
And last but certainly not the least, as he is a huge kid, the 19 year old drafted out of University of Connecticut as a Generation adidas player in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Andrew Jean-Baptiste. Big and fast, Andrew is vastly inexperienced in all aspects of the professional game. He's physically ready to play with the big boys, but needs to develop his positioning, distribution, and focus. His poor passing out of the back ended up as an own goal by Mosquera against San Jose. That type of error is what I'm afraid we will see out of AJB should he have to start tonight against an aggressive Philadelphia attack. Jean-Baptiste is effectively sixth on the depth chart at central defense, but will certainly overtake at least Purdy by season's end if he works hard and learns the thinking side of the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment