The 26-year-old has been a regular for Arena during his tenure, but had alternated the starting spot with Dema Kovalenko. Birchall was Arena's starter at holding midfielder for 25 games to open the 2010 season, but lost the spot down the stretch to the now-retired Ukrainian. The role is now all his. This season, Birchall must play the vital role of being in all places at once and finding chemistry with both old faces and new. And he knows he has a lot on his plate.