This is the 11th in a series of 20 short columns focused on the things I'm thinking about as we approach the 20th season of Major League Soccer. I'm going to dig into mostly non-obvious questions here – the tertiary stuff that can become bigger over time – rather than the giant storylines (e.g., How do the Red Bulls replace Henry? What if Ozzie's injury lingers? Is this THE year for TFC?).
You can find previous installments in my story archive HERE. For this latest entry, we turn to the Rockies...
When you are on a 14-game winless skid, one that's seen you take just two of the last 42 points on offer, one in which you've conceded nearly three goals per game and one in which you got drubbed 5-1 in a rivalry game, there are no small questions. There are no little worries, because everything – every single thing – is hugely important.
Where does Dillon Powers start? What's the best pairing in central defense? Who's got the inside track on the right back job? Will the battle for the No. 1 kit elevate two young 'keepers who've shown flashes of greatness, or drag them both down? Can DeShorn Brown move from "reliable 10-goal-a-year scorer" to "lethal, game-changing striker?" Where do all the Argentines play? Hell, what formation will this team even play?
There is no room for error when trying to pull out of a death spiral like the one Colorado entered in the middle of last summer. All of those questions are huge, and so there's not really one way to approach this column, which is supposed to be about the "little things" the need to go right (or wrong) to boost (or sink) a team. The "formation", "Powers" and "central defense" questions are maybe a little bit bigger than the others, but everything's carrying excess weight in Commerce City these days.
With that in mind, I'm going to focus on right back, and the potential transformation of US youth international midfielder Marlon Hairston, who no longer seems to have a place in a suddenly crowded midfield.
According to head coach Pablo Mastroeni, it has so far been an "exceptional" thing.
Let's just go ahead and break the land speed record for hyperbole:
Ok, Pablo – you've caught my attention.
I'll argue this on Hairston's behalf: over 10 yards, he's as quick as any player in the league, and his balance going into challenges is exceptional. He should be able to not just contain individual attackers, but attack them in the way that the best fullbacks do.
Combination play is harder to judge, especially once there's gametape to study. The man Hairston's replacing – Chris Klute – was exceptional defensively in 2013. In 2014, after flipping from left to right back and going against guys who've watched film and know how to go at him, he became expendable.
You can see Klute in the above clip, reading everything a beat slower than the Galaxy attackers do. In 2015, it'll be Hairston's job to get ahead of that play, make the interception, and start tilting the field the other way.
Mastroeni thinks he's up to it. If he is, that's a pretty big deal – just like everything else in Colorado these days.
