A hypothesis: Nick Lima is one of the people that MLS attackers are most fearful of bearing down on them.
Nick Lima enters the 2020 preseason in top physical form. Photo Credit: San Jose Earthquakes
The 25-year-old San Jose homegrown had a brilliant – if injury-shortened – rookie season in 2017, and followed it up by being The Literal Only Good Thing About The 2018 Earthquakes. But even as he began 2019 with National Team caps (and a very pretty cross to Walker Zimmerman’s noggin against Panama), he ended the season with only 24 appearances and no return call-up to the January USMNT cap where he took the league by storm.
This time last year, Lima had: a winter at Hertha Berlin, a USMNT Man-of-the-Match Award, and the moniker “National Team Nick.” Now he is unsettled: Tommy Thompson has a lock on right back for San Jose, and Reggie Cannon and Sergiño Dest have bumped Lima down the depth chart for Berhalter’s Yanks. Lima will need to make some changes in order to further his potential.
An answer might be understood from Lima’s National Team debut. As a False #2, Lima pinched in to a midfield spot when the US was on the attack, working to recycle possession to Michael Bradley and snuff out counterattacks. This could be a way forward for Lima — not a cockamamie inverted fullback, the likes of which will probably not be seen again in Berhalter’s US selection and certainly not in Alemyda’s formation, but as something more straightforward: a modern #6.
Lima’s Skillset
Important caveat to make early on: unlike my collaborators here, I have no access to the Earthquakes staff and have no idea how viable an option this is. Just because Fioranelli, Almeyda & Co. should listen to me does not mean that they will. Do not take this as rumors.
That said, Almeyda seems to want a specific set of skills from his fullbacks. Tommy Thompson’s surprise transition makes him a prime example: technical quality and field-stretching stamina to unlock opportunities for San Jose’s top-of-the-line wingers. Paul Marie, Shea Salinas, and Marcos Lopez are all cut from the same cloth. These are non-goalscoring wingers who can get in a cross as well as use dribbles and quick 1-2 passing to open up a field for the three men up top.
This is not Nick Lima’s game. The former Cal forward was moved to right back in college because minutes of game clock he spent with his back to goal was “wasted time,” according to his college coach. Nick is strong and fast and can kick the crap out of the ball. He might have been a great strong safety had he stuck with American football, but it’s probably best for his brain and various Pac-12 receivers that he chose not to. Which is all to say: Nick Lima is not Tommy Thompson or Reggie Cannon. His speed and strength is, for the MLS, remarkable.
A Bushido Destroyer
How to win a soccer match in nine words: Expand the field in attack, constrict it on defense.
Almeyda’s San Jose does this to almost comical effect. They try to hold the ball by stretching the field touchline-to-touchline, endline-to-endline, isolating defenders against their skillful wingers. While defending, they turn every touch into a sumo wrestling match over three square yards of space.
When effective, it’s a joy to watch. Frustrated keepers just punt and hope to set up a second ball, angry wingers are fed up staying around their own 18-yard box. When less effective, you have a Carlos Vela highlight reel. For that not to happen, the central midfielders need to have the magician’s sense of space, playing the game in a funhouse mirror.
Judson, billed as the N’Golo Kante of the Brazilian Second Division, was precisely that. Of all central midfielders, he was third in average pass distance at 22.05 yards (behind Sam Piette at 22.18 and Bryan Acosta at 22.36). He could switch the field capably behind Jackson Yueill. As for defense, well, here’s a Judson heat map:
Chart courtesy of @JmooreQuakes, Data: @AnalysisEvolved
That map takes into account successful tackles, unsuccessful tackles, and loose ball “tackles.” So it is less a figure of Judson’s success as it is of his everpresence. If anyone typified the man-to-man, follow-him-to-the-bathroom sheer annoyance of Almeyda’s defensive system, it is Judson.
To compare, here is wildly successful Sporting KC midfielder Felipe Gutierrez, trying to shield a leaky backline:
Chart courtesy of @JmooreQuakes, Data: @AnalysisEvolved
And here is the elder statesman of defensive midfielders you really don’t want to play against, Diego Chara:
Chart courtesy of @JmooreQuakes, Data: @AnalysisEvolved
Neither can hold a candle to Judson’s field coverage. So what does San Jose do when Judson’s not ready to go?
Depth and the MLS
One can divide San Jose’s 2019 into three parts:
- We have no idea what we’re doing
- We are beating up on other teams’ scrubs
- We are tired and getting beaten up
It should come as no surprise that Almeyda has consistently valued “reversability” and stamina as he looks for players to make the gameday 18. For his system, this makes a lot of sense. Everyone’s job is more or less to run like hell, so where you start on the field does not matter as much.
Guys like Carlos Fierro and Andy Rios can nominally play anywhere in the attacking four. San Jose does not have that kind of depth in the midfield. When Judson was out in 2019, he was replaced by Anibal Godoy or Magnus Eriksson. Those two have the tenacity but not the speed required to cover an obscene amount of the field (see heat map above).
Godoy is gone to Nashville. Eriksson will be taking Jackson Yueill’s regista role through March (and likely in spurts throughout the summer) as La Joya Rubia becomes a USMNT full-timer. That leaves the Quakes in a tough spot through the congested summer schedule. Eric Calvillo may be better suited to the Yueill role, with less defensive responsibility. Luis Felipe is a useful player in the wrong system — he doesn’t have the speed that Magnus also lacks. Someone else is needed to destroy counterattacks,and if San Jose does not want to have another autumn swoon, they need to find a player with the “reversability” to fit this role and challenge Judson for a spot. There is nobody on the roster whose skills suit it better than Nick Lima.
Seek and Destroy, then Seek Again
One of the most fun parts of watching Lima play over the past few years is seeing brilliant, technically-gifted, attackers just want to get subbed off the field. He is so much stronger than your standard willowy MLS winger, and so willing to hipcheck one of them off the ball and into the advertisement boards off the touchline. The other fun part has been seeing him rip shots from outside the box.
As a midfield destroyer, these would be Lima’s two roles: knock opponents off the ball a half-dozen times a game, and be a threat to shoot from distance. He would not have to be a creative passer (he isn’t) and would not have to be tricky on the touchline. Just like how the college coach said Lima was wasted with his back to goal, Nick can leverage straight-line speed and athleticism to keeping the ball with San Jose and the opponent on their heels.
A caveat: you do not see many players transition from outside positions to the center of the pitch. Phillip Lahm is maybe the most notable one — or maybe I’m just showing my age — but it is rare to find someone used to wing play who has the nonstop awareness to head off counterattacks before the other team even has the ball. It’s even more rare for college players who don’t have the minutes under their belt that someone like Judson does.
For Lima to pull this off would be a rarity, but here’s where his time with the USMNT could count in his favor. He was lauded by Berhalter for his ability to transition and his coachability. Lima has, unlike any other outside back in MLS besides maybe Russell Canouse, shown he can thrive in the middle of the pitch (albeit in only a couple of international matches).
This brings up point regarding Lima’s USMNT time: he could get a lot more of it in this new role. One of the sharpest critiques of the US Men since Jermaine Jones wore the strip is that there is no steely enforcer heading things off in the midfield. For the team to play the possession-heavy, gritted-teeth, CONCACAF qualifiers they have to win, they have to have a defensive-minded midfielder in the rotation. Right now, the options are to either fly Tyler Adams back from Europe or hope that Eryk Williamson, Brandon Cervania, or Edwin Cerillo can fit. Nick Lima as CONCACAF roughhouser gives Berhalter someone he can trust to be the B-Team Tyler Adams. There is no shame whatsoever in that role, and it plus the flexibility to play either fullback could get Lima a World Cup roster spot.
It is hardly Lima’s fault that a new coach came to San Jose and wants to play four wingers on the field’s two wings. This situation is also no reason to show Nick Lima the door. A new role that suits the 25-year-old’s strengths, rather than forces him to become someone he’s not, could prove the best for the player, the squad, and even the National Team. There is a tidy bit of business to be made in unleashing Lima in the center of the pitch.
