Strength in Depth, 2012: Defenders

With the season bearing down on us like a freight train, it's time we took one final look at our squad depth. Over the next three days, I will go through our squad, touch on what happened at the end of last season, and detail what happened during the off-season. Today: goalkeepers and defenders.

Goalkeepers

On the goalkeeping front, there is not too much to report. 2011 third-choice RSL keeper Tim Melia left the club following the end of the season after being unable to move past Kyle Reynish in contention for the second-choice spot. After spending two seasons with the club, he is now plying his trade with Chivas USA.

In his place, we've  brought in another youngster, but this one's from the academy. Lalo Fernandez, who spent time with the RSL-AZ academy in Casa Grande, moved to CA Peñarol in Uruguay but was cut not long after his arrival. The player, who previously had committed to University of Wisconsin but opted for a professional contract instead, likely won't see any time on the pitch in first-team action for two or three years, but there does seem to be belief that he could be a very, very good goalkeeper in time. If he, like Kyle Reynish has, can remain patient, we may very well see one of the top goalkeepers in the league with our side in a decade.

Defenders

Our defensive line, generally considered one of the most solid in Major League Soccer last year, took a major hit when long-time contributor Robbie Russell was sent to D.C. United — a compassionate move, no doubt, but also one that speaks to our defensive system. Russell was, without a doubt, not quite as fast as he once was. Whether this owes to injury issues last season or a general loss of pace, this would sometimes leave us a bit vulnerable when he'd burst forward — attacking full backs, a key mark of our system, need to be quite quick. Russell will benefit from a less adventurous D.C. approach, and we will benefit  from the speed of our full backs.

Also departing the club was young center back Rauwshan McKenzie, whose option was declined after failing to win more than cursory minutes with the club. McKenzie, like Melia, moved to Chivas USA, where he will hope to find playing time as he looks to push on with his career.

To replace those two and supplement the already prodigious talent at the club, we brought in a number of trialists. It was never particularly likely that we'd sign all of them (unless we wanted to employ an eight-man defensive line or some such nonsense), but we always knew we were going to sign two players. Those two? Terukazu Tanaka, an attacking right back, and Leone Cruz, a promising young center back. The names have changed, but the situation hasn't particularly. We are perhaps slightly weaker in experience with Tanaka in the side, particularly as MLS experience is concerned, but he seems to be quite the player.

Cruz, however, is particularly untested, but he's a player our side has wanted for some time. Seattle drafted — then cut — him in 2011, and we brought him in on trial several times throughout the season. He seems to have proven himself enough to win a contract, and if he's a quality player, we'll be looking good. I'm so far sold on the Schuler-Olave partnership (but don't get me wrong — it's no Borlave. There can be only one and whatnot.) and, of course, the Borlave. I'm less sold by Borchers-Schuler — they seem a bit to similar in style and responsibility, though that could change with greater awareness from Schuler. We're yet to see Schuler-Cruz, Borchers-Cruz, and Olave-Cruz, save for maybe a few minutes in pre-season, so I'll decline commenting on that.

We've also brought in a young full back, Diogo de Almeida, who won a contract after being drafted. Congratulations to the kid: I hope he does well and develops well with us. He seems a bit raw still, but with time he could well be good. He's with a good side to develop, so let's see how he progresses.

'Til tomorrow, when I'll talk more about the midfield — where we've seen considerably more changes than the back five.