In part four of my season preview, I'm going to take a look at our center midfielders. The guys who play in the middle of the park need to have excellent endurance and pace, as they need to be able to cover all the space between the boxes. Communication and leadership are of great importance, as they are the nucleus of the team in attack and in defense. Positioning and ball winning skills are the defensive attributes a good center mid needs, while calm distribution, vision, and creativity are the attacking skills they need to bring to the attack.
Diego Chara is the diamond of the Timbers midfield. He was the team's first Designated Player, and after a short adjustment period, was dominating midfields by the end of 2011. Diego is fast as hell and runs the entire game, covering the entire pitch with both his attacking forays and his tackles at full speed at the last second in the penalty box to save a goal. He sees the game well and runs the offense on this team. He has excellent positioning on defense and recovers quickly from his deep runs.
Jack Jewsbury was the captain of the team last year every time he stepped onto the pitch, with Perkins and Brunner deputizing in his absence. He will remain Captain Jack again, and is likely to start every match barring injury. I rate him below Chara because of technical skills and pace. I think his leadership on the field causes the team to become better organized as a defensive unit, and thus the team is able to create much more effectively when they have the ball, which is why he is the captain. Jack doesn't win every ball in the air, nor is he the greatest defender on the team, and he does get pushed around by the more physical players.
James Marcelin has been with the team since the final USL year and plays with the Haiti national team. He was a regular off the bench in 2011 and has been somewhat vocal about getting increased playing time. He is the guy I want to see come in for one of the strikers every match when we have a lead after 70'. James picks up all the defensive shortcomings of the captain, winning balls in the air and beating up opposing attackers with his physical defending, but maintains the good distribution and calmness about him on the ball. And he showed in preseason he has the long range accuracy as well. Solid place in the 18 and likely sub in most games.
Eric Alexander is a guy the team picked up in the trade with FC Dallas last summer. He prefers to play in the middle, but Spencer has put him out wide just to get him onto the pitch on occasion. Eric is a good distributor and uses his excellent vision and positioning to make up for not being the most physically imposing player. That's not to say he isn't a good defender, which he is, but he's not going to use his body like Marcelin does. Alexander has a place in the 18, if I'm counting correctly, but his role as a sub is very situational. His ability to play wide lets him onto the field as a substitute for a winger when we have a lead, but also when we need a goal as his attacking skills are just as valuable out wide even if he is not as fast as Kalif, Sal, or Darlington.
Freddie Braun is the fifth man on the depth chart in the center of midfield. I've seen less of him play, but he seems very good in possession and great at communicating with the team. He looked like a leader on the pitch in the reserve games and in the second preseason tournament game, but he lacks the defensive consistency or the creativity to make his way into the 18 with any regularity this year. He clearly has the skills to become a good player but needs to continue developing.
No comments:
Post a Comment