{"id":9491,"date":"2012-02-21T13:36:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T18:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=9491"},"modified":"2012-02-21T13:39:33","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T18:39:33","slug":"up-for-grabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=9491","title":{"rendered":"Up For Grabs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Darrius Barnes is one of several defenders fighting for spots in the starting eleven this season. (Photo: Chris Aduama\/aduama.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 After five weeks of daily training and scrimmaging, Jay Heaps will finally get the opportunity to test out his revamped defense against MLS competition on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

With the MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy on tap for the first game of the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup preseason tournament (Feb. 22-Mar. 3) in Tucson, Ariz., Heaps hopes that the changes made along the\u00a0back line\u00a0will be up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively, we have to be sharp and we have to be sound,\u201d Heaps said after Monday\u2019s training session. \u201cThat dynamic of being able to keep the ball, but if we don\u2019t, how do we defend as a group (will be important).\u201d<\/p>\n

How well all eleven defend will be certainly worth watching, especially in the wake of last year\u2019s embarrassing 58 goals against total. Tracking back and plugging holes in transition will be two areas that the Revolution will need to improve if they hope to avoid the same misfortunes they suffered through last season.<\/p>\n

But one particular area of the field that Heaps, a former defender himself, will be keeping a close eye on is his evolving back line. While the First Kick lineup projects to have Kevin Alston and A.J. Soares locked in at the right back and center back spots, respectively, the remaining center back and left back spots are pretty much up for grabs.<\/p>\n

With six natural defenders on the camp roster, another reportedly on the way<\/a>, and three more who have seen time in the back, the last thing Heaps will have to worry about is finding players to slot into his back four. And that\u2019s purely by design.<\/p>\n

After finishing last season with only five defenders on the roster, Heaps and General Manager Michael Burns made it a point to sign, draft and\u00a0invite defensive reinforcements in order to ensure that the team\u00a0doesn’t find itself shallow in the back again.<\/p>\n

While the host of new faces could\u2019ve been construed as an indictment on the holdovers, one returning defender who\u2019s actually embracing the number of players finding time in the back this winter is fourth-year veteran Darrius Barnes.<\/p>\n

“I think competition is always a good thing,” Barnes said. “It brings out the best in everyone. All of us are pushing each other to get better.”<\/p>\n

Barnes, who split time between center back and left back last season, is one returning defender who\u2019s had to raise his game after the team signed an experienced central defender (John Lozano) and selected a promising left back (Tyler Polak) in the draft.<\/p>\n

But Barnes also understands that after last season\u2019s defensive lapses, as well as the current uncertainty up top, that the pressure to squeeze out points may fall squarely on the backs of the defensive unit this year.<\/p>\n

Even so,\u00a0the versatile back\u00a0believes that the increased competition for spots \u2013 especially in the rear \u2013 will only serve to motivate him and his fellow defenders to step up their efforts.<\/p>\n

“That’s the main thing,” said Barnes. “You just have to be able to go out there, work hard and push each other day in and day out to get better.”<\/p>\n

Some of the players that have been pushing to find playing time in the rear include center mid Stephen McCarthy, who\u2019s seen time at center back, and outside midfielder Ryan Kinne, who\u2019s at featured at right back on a few occasions thus far.<\/p>\n

But one player who\u2019s stood out in the defending third is Lozano, the Colombian center back the team signed last month. The former America de Cali defender, who looks bigger than his 6-2, 180lbs. frame, has\u00a0appeared confident both in the air and with the ball at his feet in training, both of which have caught Heaps\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn has impressed me,\u201d Heaps said. \u201cHe, to me, really gets the center back position. He gets the role, he understands the position. So being a full-on professional every day, he\u2019s been fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heaps will need the rest of his defenders to be equally fabulous as well, and not only against the Galaxy. With games against the high-octane Red Bulls (Feb. 25), the methodical Real Salt Lake (Feb. 29) and a consolation or championship game (Mar. 3), the back four will surely be tested before the season opener on March 10th.<\/p>\n

Although Barnes acknowledges that teams on the itinerary will also be tinkering with their lineups and formations, he\u2019s looking forward to playing against MLS-caliber competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a measuring stick,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cObviously, we want to measure ourselves against the teams that we\u2019ll be competing against this season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay Heaps currently has a surplus of defenders on the camp roster. But, the new head coach will need to see them shine in the upcoming Desert Diamond Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[24,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/barnesfeature2.jpg?fit=490%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9491"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9512,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491\/revisions\/9512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}