Portland Timbers soccer analyst Ross Smith, on last week's Timbers in 30, had Liam Ridgewell go through it: the various passes the center back has in his arsenal, getting him to describe how and when he makes his various decisions in distribution. Along the way, the duo highlighted an array of skills we rarely talk about with center backs. When you stop and think about it, of course, the ability to play a good pass -- or, in Ridgewell's case, a variety of them -- is a desirable skill, but a center back's play are typically far down the passing chains that lead to goals, we rarely stop, dissect a center back's choice, and assess those decisions in terms of the chances they lead to.
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