If you're going to stick a vet in among all the kids, defensive midfield may be the best field slot for it... which is great, I guess because that's what this pool currently offers.
Danny Williams
Geoff Cameron
Michael Bradley
Keep at it, young man: Chris Durkin
Geez, not sure what to do: Wil Trapp
Value there, but perhaps not now: Perry Kitchen
It really would be nice to see what Williams could become with regular time as a "run it down, take it away and move it along safely" destroyer. We all know what Bradley and Cameron have the ability to offer, and hopefully after extended USMNT furloughs those elements can return in full force. I'm leaning Cameron today, because he stays central more and adds an extra set piece defender. Our stark regression in that area of the game has nagged me for a few years now.
Durkin is a very impressive kid doing often thankless work on a plays (and loses) a lot of close games, but let's remember he has played only 13 pro games to date. Trapp simply doesn't bring enough of a deterrent up the middle, and his nice passing game isn't so cutting that you want him closer to the attack - I fear he may not even prove to be CONCACAF-caliber as a lone defensive midfielder, so he definitely needs some mobile muscle nest to him. I've realized that Kitchen would probably have more value if ours was a stable system team. That, of course, is not the Nats station at this time.
There are others out there who many would like given a run at this position, but in my view, none of them prorate as a pure #6 player. So you'll still see their names in this Clipboard, just not here.
- Greg Seltzer
Thursday, July 5, 2018
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9 comments:
Keep forgetting Kitchen is just 26. Has he hit his ceiling? Probably.
first one on the list ive disagreed with you on (usual suspects)... i liked what ive seen of durkin so far... i dont think much of kitchen on the international level
Huh?! I'm honestly thinking that you mistakenly copy pasted an old depth chart posting done pre-apocalypse because this list is reeeeeally stale with old men from the old guard who will not be apart of 2022. This list feels completely incongruous with your 1 thru 5 postings.
@ matthew: Nope, it's new. And hey, if you know of some young true DM's worth talking about right now, please let me know. I'm not seeing them. I very much like Derrick Jones and James Sands could well project here, but neither is playing this season (30 total league minutes combined).
McKennie?
Tybz, I think that McKennie is going to be more of an 8 than a 6. Even though he has defensive chops, he's not a "lock it down" gatekeeper. More of an added security, and move it forward type.
Does he play as an 8 for Schalke or a 6?
McKennie played CB for Schalke in their first preseason game.
He would be a fine 6, especially if our other options are 39 year old Cameron and one leg Danny Williams. In the William Carvalho mold.
@ Tybz: About 2/3 of McKennie's Schalke outings to date have come as a #8. Most of the final third of those games saw him as a #6 in a tandem set-up, with a few moonlight appearances at CB and AM thrown in.
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