Omar Gonzalez is waiting for another U.S. national team call-up, and much like many American soccer fans and observers, he has been left wondering just when that next call will come.
The MLS Defender of the Year favorite has yet to receive a call from, or spoken to, new U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and in my recent Fox Soccer piece on his national team status, Gonzalez talked about that fact, as well as about his recent comments stating he would be open to a call from the Mexican national team.
Give the story a read. Gonzalez's candidness is eye-opening and will leave you wondering even more just when Klinsmann will call up a 23-year-old centerback who has established himself as the best defender in MLS.
What do you think of Gonzalez's comments? Surprised he hasn't gotten a call-up yet from Klinsmann?
Share your thoughts below.
Another fan with a good head on his shoulders. Well stated bryan.
That’s well stated Adam.
Omar does not have it!
If you guys want the NT to start playing better futbol, this is not the type of player for it. This is a Bradley, Arena, Sampson, type guy – big and strong, but no technique or brains. Your silly little MLS awards get shoved up your arse internatially. Stop looking to the past, and start looking to the future.
Couple of points…. Cameron came out of college as a midfielder. He only moved to the CB position due to injuries (E Rob). He plays other positions because he is extremely versatile and Dom felt he was best suited for the midfield which really lacking in talent. Low and behold they finally get a decent pair of guys to replace DeRo, Holden, Clark and guess what? Cameron moves back to CB, the defensive is much better, Boswell is playing much better and the Dynamo are winning again. Not a coincidence. Cameron is good.
Must be born 1 January 1989 or later. Omar was born in Oct 1988.
Regis was not a CB. He was a LB
Cameron and Gonzo still have the playoffs going on.
So Torres was the only player who ever played for Bradley?
And because he did not keep in touch with him you are saying Bradley kept in touch with no one? Prove it.
What pure garbage.
Oh yeah …
“There’s only One Goooooooch!”
One Gooch is enough. (I’m a GOOCH FAN). We don’t need multiples of the same type of CB. Gooch is better than Omar in every aspect. So why bring 2.0 when the original Beast is sufficient.
I think starters should still be Gooch and Boca. However, I think Klinsi should call in Ream (to back up Boca) and Gonzo (to back up Gooch).
Playing a CB pairing with one cap’s worth of international experience between them strikes me a great way to destabilize the center of your defense.
If Cameron is such a great centerback why is he still at Houston and why do the Dynamo feel comfortable playing him in other positions for so long?
Cameron and Gonzo have potential but CB is about a lot more than being big, strong and fast. They both have a ways to go before they can match what Gooch, Demerit and Boca know about playing center back.
Cameron won’t be there as he’ll be needed for the Dynamo’s MLS Cup tilt.
Not just Ream, who is promising if struggling right now, but Orozco, who has shown much for club or country.
Hmm. Not sure I agree with this comment.
John has or can get a Greek passport, which makes it a lot easier for him to play overseas. Don’t know about Ream.
+ 1 wise man.
Thou to even argue it would be like arguing the Earth is flat.
Omar= Parkhurst in that they are/were great MLS ers not good enough for the Nats. Omar to slow Parkhurst to small.
Callups should be
1. George John
2. Geoff Cameron
3. That young kid in Norway who played USL ( forgot his name) just to get a
4. Gonzalez ( just to reward his MLS play )
100. Tim Ream
101 Orozco Fiscal
200. Parkhurst
oyu obviously didnt see gooch in our last friendly where his distribution out of the back was spot on and he even got forward around the offensive box and laid a sweet pass to dempsey in the closing minutes of the game….goochs’ passing is 10x better since he’s been in portugal! and if i’m being honest, i think that is the reason we haven’t seen gonzo!
+1 sounds like the January camp starting back line. Cameron-John for the secOnd pair
ummmm…how obtuse are you???
Instead of whining maybe he should spend every waking moment learning how to effectively pass the ball.
John gets the most serious looks because his game combines the strengths of bot Ream and gonzalez.
Size/Strength/1v1 D with the touch and passing of Ream. The kicker is he’s faster than either of them and is equally good on his left as he is his right foot.
With that said I cant believe Omar doesn’t have suitors overseas. ..but then again I wouldn’t have believed that he or John wouldn’t have been called up over the last 1.5 years…
Or we can expect two centerback in America are capable of playing mistake-free….
I think Gooch had gotten much less punter-y, and I think Gonzalez has a long time to go before he can’t learn new tricks. I think this has everything to do with the LA Galaxy being in the thick of a playoff hunt. I would not be surprised to not see anyone from LA get a callup. If he’s not called into the January camp then I’ll worry.
Ream is an exceptional passer (relatively speaking, he’s not Xavi obviously), and better than average defender. Omar is a better than average defender, perhaps somewhat better than Ream, but nothing special as a passer. Its much easier to teach Ream to be a better defender than to teach Omar to be a better passer. Plus, distribution from the back has been a major problem that Ream could solve if his defending improved. Finally, more and more clubs are using a Big Guy – Passer combo as center backs in an effort to improve the flow going forward,a trend Ream fits nicely into and probably why he is being scouted so much. Omar probably deserves a look, but that he hasn’t gotten one yet is nothing dramatic.
not sure but there is definitely consistency in both Ream getting a lot of looks from many different places and Omar getting far less.
nat team, euro teams are all seeing something that angry SBI commenter’s are not. Ream possesses a trait that cannot be easily taught: vision and creativity with his passing. bone-headed mistakes and positioning can be taught and fixed over time. Ream can hit the gym to gain mass.
the french guy who we naturalized and Tom Dooley.
right now BOCA is the starter for the “smaller” CB position, I think the backup position for him still up in the air. GOOCH/GOODSON will probably the “bigger” CB position. So Omar is outside looking in until somethig happens to them
BB never called Johnson.
I know with football there are some basic tests for players for strength, speed, etc when looking at say a rookie class at tryouts. I would be curious to see a scorecard like this for our back line options. Height, strength, speed, and other ball skills. How about we just make them do some sprint tests so we can at least see who is the fastest to settle that debate.
I also find it odd that in MLS I see the stories about John going to EPL or Ream getting looks, but I do not recall as much about Omar. Is it that the EPL sees something in the others that Omar does not have….or is it that Omar is just not looking as much at options outside of LA right now or pushing to get extra PR with scout and trade rumor stories like the other two might?
Boca is getting old and will definitely be too old by WC14. Anyone who says Goodson is a better option right now needs to check out how he’s doing over at Brondby.
I believe Orozco and Reams are/were fighting for the same spot behind BOCA.
Omar is trying to crack in to the lineup that Gooch and Goodson are fighting for.
good point.
i thought if you were 23 you could play on the team? How does that work?