Tell me what he did wrong then? Maybe he was made to look better because of how bad Smeltz was.
I though Roux did ok for his debut. I've watched the tape again and can see exactly what people say about him defensively. All the good stuff he does going forward (and even Harry Ngata got pissed off with him constantly launching the aerial ball into the box and I think that cut out a lot of Marco opportunities) he does get exposed at the back. He needs work on body position, tracking back and switching on when we don't have the ball. From a defender, he has to bring that side of the game to the table first - the attacking stuff is a bonus and Fenton could provide the same. In fact Fenton probably did better on the right but by then Mexico had sat off us so it's not a fair comparison.
you've pointed out some positional issues with storm roux and rightfully so
however, i don't think it's fair to judge him at all because most of these issues would not be there...
1. had he been properly integrated to the squad
2. had the team been cohesive with a back 4 - i.e. played a couple of years with this formation
the lack of defensive cover in front of him is also a mitigating factor - rojas was playing as a winger, not a wide midfielder and offered no protection
also, who in their right mind plays with attacking full backs and no holding midfielder these days? i understand that we were chasing the game, but one of those central midfielders needed to be played as a deep pivot and the wingers needed to drop centrally without the ball