What do we do without you Aly?

Aly Borromeo (borrowed from Inquirer.net)

So here we have it. Alexander Borromeo, Fil - American, national team stalwart, long time team Captain, heart of the defense, protector of all who gets a yellow card or gets into squabbles on the pitch with the opposing teams player, done. Done for at least 5-6 months(not counting match fitness)! And that's if he(we) get lucky with physical therapy and what not. To be honest I never thought of the possibility of Aly ever losing this much time to injury, with such a physical specimen, who would! Sure, the Kuwait game he missed was bad, but that was one game!

For the last 10 months or so, Dan the Man, PFF, Coach Weiss etc have been collecting new recruits from all over the world and have found some great ones locally in young guns Leonora, Fernandez, Barbaso and more, Europeans like Carli and one of my favorites, Oliver Pötschke. We already have Sabio who's shown that he is equally capable yet not in the caliber of Aly B. But really, no one has the mix of height, experience, skill, physicality,  speed, veteran saavy, leadership that he has. Did I miss anything?

I never thought it'd be so hard to replace one defensive player. Take for example Anton del Rosario's absence. They plugged in Roel Gener, Carli and Ray Jonsson and for the most part things were okay. But take out Aly and things suddenly become much more complicated. 

Yes we've got the Danish boys in Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara and let me point out to the uninformed, these guys play in the 12th ranked premier league in the world! But, I'm going to take them out of contention for Aly B's spot, why? Because these guys, though with skills incomparable with our other mainstays, just cannot be with the National Team all the time because of club commitments. I'd like to mention too Dennis' lack of height to be effective in the Center Back position too. We've also got another one of my favorites, ever reliable Left Back, Ray Jonsson. By now, I'm sure we've seen this guys versatility. If you didn't know, he plays midfield with the Icelandic premier league team, Grindavik, though certainly Iceland soccer isn't in the same class as Germany, England or Denmark. He is like a Roel Gener x5. We have seen him play Left and Right Back against tough teams, Kuwait and Singapore comes to mind, and acquit himself fairly well. Even with his diverse skill, he cannot be the answer at CB in Aly B's absence.

Ray Jonsson(borrowed from azkalsunited.com)

 

 

Really the only two logical choices for say, the Feb 29 2012 FIFA friendly schedule, LA Galaxy exhibition game or any other non FIFA 'free' day(until he comes back or Jerry L is around), would be Jason Sabio and Oliver Pötschke. Of course I'm just a fan, I'm not "in the know" and am basing everything on what I can read and see in local news reports and forums. If Dan the Man surprises us with a new recruit, even better. But back to Mr Sabio and OP. Jason signed a contract in August of this year and has openly stated that he is on a one year break from his studies which means he is not in the long term plan of the NT. Having said that he IS in the Philippines, match fit and should be around until Aug 2012. Why he hasn't been around with the Azkals lately, if you know, please do share. On the same subject, Patrick Ace Bright tweet on Oct 24:

 

@ianaraneta23 bakit mo ba sinasama sa mentions mo yan? Proud ka na kasama yan? 

Guess who Ian A. was with? Nate Burkey, Lexton Moy and Jason Sabio. Hmmmmm? Is there bad blood there between a member of management and ??? Is that why JS has been absent? Or I could just be totally lost in my own conspiracy theory!

Jason Sabio (borrowed from azkalerounited.com)

 

Oliver P? He played well in the recently concluded LTC 2011. Personally, from what I've seen him do, he would be 'adequate' but most assuredly not an upgrade compared to the Capt. Though he's got the height and speed enough, he isn't the answer if we're playing the likes of Singapore or Kuwait. Did I mention he plays midfield for BFC Preussen Berlin? Yes, he is one of Coach Weiss pet positional conversions(JYh to CB), hence CB is not his natural position.

Just for fun lets put James Younghusband in our mix. Though he played well in this position, has good physical attributes, and a motor that goes on for days, I'll say no!! Why, because I've seen how aimless the Azkal offense became without him. So, I'll stop this subject now.

Oh, by the way did you know, from a report of Cedelf Tupas last February, that Aly was being tapped by Liga Primer Indonesia(translated Indonesian Premier League) teams, Medan Chiefs and Semarang United and was invited to try out with English League 1(3rd tier) teams Plymouth and Brighton among others. Back then, the IPL was a 'rebel league' but as of this past April it has been recognized by FIFA. So the next time someone says he, "doesn't have pedigree" you tell 'em, "yup, but he's got game".

So there you go, for me, there are numerous 'short term' fixes but no one to assume the mantle of Alexander Borromeo, the rock of the defense, the undisputed heart of the team. I never appreciated you until we lost you. Now I know better, so don't take a break because we need you, and soon.