Player Analysis: Miles Robinson

I watch more Euro league soccer than MLS. It’s higher quality, plus it fits my schedule better. Weekend mornings and mid-afternoons are more free than the evenings since those times tend to be reserved for wife and children. As a result, I haven’t seen a ton of Miles Robinson. I’d like to correct that.

Here Robinson effectively Cranks that Soulja Boy.
(Photo: Karl L. Moore)

The USMNT roster will be dropping…sometime after every other country in the world has announced theirs and I think there’s a good chance Robinson will be on it. Before that happens let’s take a look at his game.

I carefully watched Atlanta United’s games with LAFC and NYCFC since they were recent and against quality competition.

Atlanta United fans: I’m aware that a detailed watch of two games isn’t the largest, best sample size, but it’s what I have time for. Hope it’s sufficient.

After watching, Miles Robinson very much reminds me of Aaron Long. He’s smart, athletic, a very good defender, and not a great passer. He doesn’t hang out “in the paint” as much as Long did for the USMNT, but his game is similar. I went over Aaron Long’s game right after the Gold Cup and many of the things I said about him could be repeated here. Let’s start with the good stuff.

Strengths

One vs one Defending

I’m hardly the first person to notice this. A few weeks ago Bobby Boswell said this about Robinson.

“In training, he’s probably the best one-on-one defender ever — that I’ve ever seen. No one could get around him.”
Bobby Boswell

Here’s a couple examples demonstrating that defending.

Rossi tries to get by him here and gets stonewalled. Excellent one v. one defending.

Here he is singled up with the best player in MLS. If Escobar doesn’t step in and foul Vela…I think Robinson comes away with this ball clean (he had gotten a toe on the ball just before the foul). The quick feet and agility to stay with Vela is really impressive.

Quick feet. He pokes the ball away, gets position, and draws a foul. Well done.

Quick Pressure

I noticed it more often against NYCFC than LAFC, but Robinson did a nice job of killing counters by pressuring the outlet attacker. He reads where the passes are going and gets in position to break up the play. It can get him into trouble (more on that later), but he did it frequently and successfully.

Here Robinson follows Diomande into the space “between the lines” and doesn’t allow him to do anything with the ball. You can see Diomande visibly frustrated. You gotta love that as a defender.

Another good, aggressive step to win the ball. This time followed up with a positive pass.

Whether through instruction or inclination Robinson was stepping more aggressively in the 2nd half of the NYCFC game. In this clip, he wins the ball in the midfield and plays a pass into space. Almost worked.

Physicality

Robinson wins physical battles. He was matched up all game against Walker Zimmerman (noted meat) on set pieces and won basically all of them. There are multiple clips of Robinson winning the ball and the attacker in a crumpled heap on the ground. Who doesn’t love that type of defending? This also makes him quite a useful threat offensively and defensively on corners.

Here’s his goal. Maybe a little push, but I’ve got no problem with that. Excellently placed header into the lower corner back across the goal.

Room to Improve

Passing

Just like Long, Robinson is not a great passer. Unlike Long however, Robinson will play a risky pass. If he can develop this part of his game I like the aggression, but right now it looks like a liability.

Bad judgment on the pass here. Nothing comes of it, but it was a dangerous turnover.

Another questionable diagonal ball gets picked off.

Attempted line breaking pass. It doesn’t come off.

Reading the Game

I’m of two minds on this one. Sometimes I was impressed with Robinson’s awareness while defending. And then there were just a couple times where it looked like he lost concentration a little bit and one of those moments cost Atlanta a goal. Let’s start with a couple good examples.

Moralez hits a nice pass, but Robinson has recognized/tracked Mitrita’s run and gives him no space to do anything with it. Atlanta gets the ball back.

This is LA’s second goal, but weirdly I think it’s another example of **good** defense from Robinson. You can see him accelerate to get in position and then he cuts out the cross. I suppose you could criticize not making solid contact on the clearance, because it does fall right to Rossi.

In the scramble after a corner (Robinson was matched up with Zimmerman on set pieces btw) he recognizes the danger, get in front of the attacker, and cuts out the pass.

And now an example where Robinson loses his man.

Robinson is at least partially at fault for Heber’s goal. He steps to challenge, doesn’t win it, and then loses track of Heber as he tries to recover and get in position.

Every defender gets beat, so I don’t want to be too hard on him. But this is where I think Long is still a little better than Robinson. Long has 5 more years of experience and reads things a little faster/better. It keeps him a nose ahead of Robinson for now.

Conclusion

I hope he gets called up for the games in September. The way I see the roles in Berhalter’s system, Robinson is a perfect backup for Long in the “Sweeper CB” role that I’ve decided is a thing. 😂 We certainly don’t need to see Omar again. We are well aware of his capabilities. Also, a Miles Robinson-Chris Richards pairing at the 2020 Olympic Games would look pretty dang good.