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Gonzalez loaned to Nurnberg

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photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

Omar Gonzalez withdrew from the U.S. men's national team camp on Wednesday to pursue an offseason loan, and we now know his destination.

Gonzalez has been loaned from the Los Angeles Galaxy to FC Nurnberg until at least the middle of February, the German club announced on its website on Thursday. Nurnberg chairman Martin Bader said the club had hoped to make a move for Gonzalez in the summer, but that the opportunity to acquire the centerback came up earlier than expected.

Gonzalez trained with Nurnberg's first team at a training camp in Turkey on Thursday morning, as the club continues its preparations for the second half of the Bundesliga season.

Joining U.S. international Timmy Chandler on a team that is just above the relegation zone, Gonzalez could make his debut for Nurnberg on Jan. 21 when it takes on Hertha Berlin.

What do you think of Gonzalez being loaned to Nurnberg? Think he should have stayed at the U.S. national team camp? Hoping the loan becomes a permanent move?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I know who you are. You’re one of those morons that even though they get what other people are saying you feel is necessary to be a smartass and pretend you’re stupid and confused about what people say. Of course I don’t mean beckenbauer, I mean klinsman the kaiser is not a trademark. And what I mean by saying that a fast league will benefit him is that he will learn to make smart runs when he faces a give and go and better ball distribution of the ball from the back. It all adds up to faster football brain, he is a big dude and he needs that development and experience to compensate for speed.

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  2. Not only that; Onyewu’s remergence at SCP this season will make it hard for any RCB to take his spot on the USMNT. Cameron and Whitbread in my mind are the two CB’s that can take Bocanegras LCB spot from him.

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  3. I agree Gonzo is a tad slow, and his lateral movement is slow as well. Not only that he lacks composure on the ball. But with that being said this is nothing more than a trial at Nurnberg. This gives Nurnberg the opportunity to actually see him in person, and help them decide if they ultimatley want to pull the trigger and buy him from the Galaxy. I look at Gonzo and I see the American version of Per Metesacker. Metesacker is slow as hell, but if Gonzo can work on his positioning than I think he could handle life in the Bundesliga. Personally, I think Cameron is better than both John or Gonzo. He is faster, more athletic, more technically proffecient, comfortable in possession of the ball, and is a really good defender. The spotlight will be soleley on Cameron at this camp, and I think this will push him into the senior national sides first team after this camp. Gonzo and Jhon are younger and have upside, but right now Cameron is a better prospect at CB.

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  4. even if his agency did the leg work, do you really think nurnberg went ahead without even giving Klinsi a call for his opinion? I wonder who is the fool.

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  5. He started training with them already, so it only doesn’t make sense if this is just about getting temporary help on the field. If this is an opportunity for Nurnberg to check him out and see if they want to pay MLS’ asking price for a transfer starting in the summer, then it is a long enough period to make sense for Gonzalez and the team. For the Galaxy, it makes sense in that they could keep him on the team for the CCL games in early season.

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  6. What do you mean? I think that if you play on a crappy team it doesn’t make you better regardless of where that crappy team plays.

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  7. I didn’t put words in his mouth did you see quotations anywhere? LA reports into camp Jan 20th he had this camp coming up now, so to use the fitness issue is a sham, I could understand if this was november or december but its january and camp is right around the corner.I think if JK really wanted his own look at Gonzo he would have had him in camp. I think Gonzo and rightly believes he’s not going to get a real look unless he has trained in europe like everyone else same with Jon. Bunbury did it, Aqudelo did it, Rogers,Bekerman, Shea, Ream. All in December so I think it played a role in their decisions to act like JK didn’t have a role in this is insane, This isn’t LA’s idea.

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  8. This.

    While the USMNT may be more important to many fans than their individual club teams, it is on their clubs where players get paid real money. They have a far greater duty to what is right for their careeers and families first.

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  9. I agree, because I have not understood why Klinsi continued to ignore him and call up other centerbacks with less MLS credential. I am not a USMNT coach, but why not even call OG into camp in the past?

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  10. I disagree that OG’s loan has anything to do with Klinsi. Klinsi has ignored OG so far for the USMNT, which made no sense to me.

    I was glad to see OG called up for this Jan camp, and really concerned when I saw yesterday that he was going to skip it.

    Now that I see that he is going on loan to a Bundeslega (sp) team, I am glad to see OG skipping a camp that began yesterday.

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  11. Is it just me, or is this going to be an insanely short loan? First potential match on 1/21, then out by mid February? I understand the MLS to EPL loans, but MLS to Bundesliga doesn’t make sense unless they stay longer than mid-Feb.

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  12. So you’ve seen their schedule and know Gonzo will play against the top teams? Not all Bundesliga teams are top notch, just like not all EPL teams are top notch, heck I’d love to see if teams like everton, bolton or fulham could compete in MLS they are comparable because of their financial restrictions and I don’t think they would all do well. I just don’t agree that training with these teams makes you automatically better it didn’t work for Eddie Johnson or a handful of others look at walcott or lennon they still can’t cross a ball I just think that a team fighting relegation to me isn’t going to help Gonzo besides if playing in MLS didn’t prepare these players they wouldn’t be in such demand right now.

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  13. “I haven’t been called up by Klinsi moan moan overlooked gripe gripe.” Gets called up. “Oh, I need to take off on a ‘loan until the middle of February.'” We’re playing Panama the 25th, it’s not like he couldn’t get similar level work for most of the same period out of Camp Cupcake, and he’s begged and pleaded for this chance. Klinsi seems to be a continuity guy so I don’t know how wise it is to be turning down your chance to sneak into the roster.

    I’d be more receptive if he was playing through the MLS season start but the way this is structured it’s intended to be over for MLS preseason.

    I don’t blame him for pursuing what may be a career move eventually — or perhaps in February even, once they’ve had a look — I just think this points out the weakness in some of these campaigns for player X for the USMNT.

    I think he’s a tad slow and gets to hide it in MLS and I’ll be interested how he fares in the B.1. Personally I’m more interested in seeing how the athletic players like Cameron fare at a higher level.

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  14. Great news and a great opportunity. In the big picture, getting a chance to train and impress in an elite euro league is WAY more important missing a nats camp. Good luck to him

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  15. He never said don’t play in MLS or I don’t hold MLS in high regard..He’s command was to stay fit during the MLS stop, and train anywhere you possibly can, preferable a European club (of course) and then come back to MLS..he’s main concern is fitness, tha’s it. don’t put words in his mouth. MLS is getting there slowly but surely.

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  16. Great experience for him to train, and hopefully play, in a great league during the off-season. And if this leads to a permanent move, good for him. I agree with most posters in that this can only help his chances with the Nats by playing in a better league. I’m an MLS season ticket holder, but while the league is good, the Bundesliga is simply better, along with a few other leagues, and playing against better competition is what he needs. Otherwise he risks becoming the next Chad Marshall rather than becoming the next Carlos Bocanegra…

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  17. Great news. After Hertha Berlin, Nurnberg plays in subsequent weeks against Hannover, Dortmund (Gonzalez will have the chance to defend against Gotze, etc.), Cologne (against Poldolski) and Bremen on Feb 25 ahead of the USNMT match against Italy.

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  18. Great opportunity for Omar. He’s a class guy and deserves the opportunity to grow his game in a better league. That said, as a Galaxy fan I hope the loan doesn’t become permanent.

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  19. surprised by all the negative feedback here (then again this is the SBI comments section).

    who cares how he got the gig… it will be good for him to gain the experience of even living in Europe for a little bit. Will make the transition easier if he ever plays abroad full time.

    plus we will all have a chance to watch him play on a higher level if he ever cracks the first 11.

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  20. why is it such a crazy idea that he would put his career prospects ahead of his mnt options? Klinsmann hasn’t shown much interest in him to date, so it would be stupid for him to put off advancing his career while Klinsmann is telling him the Orozco Fiscal is ahead of him on the depth chart.

    These guys have a few years to make enough money to get them set for life. Clearly, LA doesn’t have room to offer him DP-size pay. Can’t blame him for jumping at a chance to move up to a more well-paying league.

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  21. He’ll still start for Galaxy. I think the bigger problem for him cracking into the Nats is the re-emergence of Onyewu.

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  22. I haven’t been the biggest Klinsi fan thus far, but there’s no question that he has pushed players to do training stints much more so than his predecessors, and this signing came on the heels of Omar’s training stint with the team, so you’re not really thinking this through. Clearly Klinsi’s policies had a huge effect on this signing, and he may even have had a direct impact, as he’s been integral in arranging many of these traning stints himself (I don’t recall whether Omar’s is one of those).

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  23. The loan is until mid-February and MLS is in the offseason so he would not be starting for Galaxy during the offseason. If he wants to become an elite defender a move to Bundesliga is the right way to go. Yes, there is a risk that Gonzo will be warming the bench after transferring to Nurnberg, but it’s the same risk that Howard, Dempsey, Bradley, and Altidore took when they moved to Europe.

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  24. Hah. That’s funny. Apparently all Germans look alike to some people. I will defend the last sentence, though. I suspect he meant fast paced which will help Omar immensely. It’s not a matter of how fast the player is but how fast the ball moves and the pressure on the player to make quick decisions and move the ball quickly. Learning to play in a fast paced league like the Bund. 1 will be incredibly beneficial to Omar if he can adapt and gain playing time. If successful, he will also dispel the notion that he is too slow and lacks the ball skills to play in a top league.

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  25. May be one of the few that think this might be a little off from a timing perspective. He’s finally been called in by JK, and he’s a starter for LA, no questions asked. Is JK going to give him significant chances with the Nats if he can’t get off the bench for Nurnberg? I know it’s just a loan, but still. This should be the year he gets on the team.

    Anyway, just a thought. If JK set it up, no problem. I hope John and Gomzalez still get called in.

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  26. No disrespect to MLS, but Bundesliga is a much better league and offers a higher level of competition. If Gonzo gets a chance to play against international quality guys like Ribery or Robben, it would be invaluable for his development as a defender. Playing at Bundesliga (or La Liga or EPL) is a better way to prepare to play against international quality competition than playing at MLS. Klinsmann is not disrespecting MLS per se, he just recongnizes the reality that the top players need to play in the top leagues facing top notch competition day in and day out.

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  27. So you’re arguing that there’s an inverse relationship between winning and euro callups? Shaky ground there, friend.

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  28. Great for Nurnberg and good chance for Gonzo. Nurnberg gets him for an extended trial to see if they really want to invest in him and Gonzo gets to see if he can cut at that level while getting in shape for MLS.

    Don’t expect him to get Bundesliga time unless they have an injury issue.

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  29. This will allow us to know exactly where Omar stands in terms of his development on the international level, and for us fans, we will have a much clearer basis to evaluate his (not) being called in to camps from here on out.

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  30. I understand the second sentence, but the other two don’t make sense. I don’t understand why you would think Beckenbauer was involved and I don’t get how a fast league will benefit him. You mean he’ll learn to play a faster game? Maybe — or, maybe his lack of speed will be a serious problem.

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  31. This has Klinnsman all over it. Craziness what is MLS going to do.Honestly the guy obviously doesn’t hold the league in high regard and thinks that anyone who wants to play in the national team shouldn’t be in the league I just don’t see this working out well for anyone not the players, not the league and not him. I mean he’s used mostly euro players sans brek shea and beckerman and we have won 2 games. Ugh this should be an interesting cycle to say the least. But Hopefully this helps Gonzo and allows him to transfer next winter and make way for the next guy the Galaxy better get the young guys ready to play because they are one injury away from 2008

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  32. All of you who think this has Klinsmann on are fools. He hadnt brought Omar in during his time so why go on a limb to arrange a loan for him. James grant sports, his agency, has arranged all their own transfers and trainings for their players while other companies depend on Juergen. Get off the Klinsmann soapbox….. He is only fooling you and gulati.

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  33. Very excited for the experience he will be getting.

    Kind of pissed the Bundesliga is on break for so long, so I hope he is able to get a starting look by the 21st, since he has plenty of time to bond with the back line and center middies in front of him in the meantime. Its good news he is with the team and they were interested in his services all along – I hope he can impress and get a full time gig over there. He’s extremely young and has already reached the pinnacle of the MLS – might be time to grow the ol’ resume

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  34. Agree this is excellent news for him and is actually a boon to his USMNT prospects.

    Missing out on this camp is no big deal IMHO as this will put him in the mix for 2014 in a much better way than staying with the Galaxy for much longer.

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  35. This has the kaisers fingerprints all over. Good for him I’m a galaxy fan and I couldn’t be happier for him he deserves it. It’s a fast league so it can only benefit him.

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