I think people need to stop making this argument. Reyes had a slow start, but has probably had a better season than Parker. It could also be argued Nealis has had a better season than Parker. If Long hadnt gone down, Reyes could have been brought along slower. And then Nealis & Reyes were both out for awhile. The problems in central defense were not because we failed to replace Parker, they were because our #1 was out, as well Parkers replacements.
The issue with the defense started in 2019 when the team invested time and money to develop nealis, boateng and scarlet. We needed one of these guys to be ready to replace Parker when he was traded. The only guy to make it to the first team was nealis and he has had a few rough games this year. That blame falls on hamlet and the nyrb development system.
There was signs that this team will struggle without Long. Since the development path failed, they had to trade parker to bring in new blood. The team did a great job bringing in reyes but we still needed a vet to help control the game for atleast 1 -2 years.
Thelwell is still to blame for not bringing in a veteran defender. we still do not have one on this team until long comes back. He instead signed 2 more young kids.