No its not. Not at all. I like Beita and he is a good MLS fullback but DLG is one of the best fullbacks in MLS when he plays there and is all around a better defender. Furthermore, DLG is a lot quicker.
Looks like he is just in the same situation Kljestan was not long ago then Legit snubs: O'Brien, Clark, DeLeon, Mccarty, Myers, Cooper Not really deserving: Morales, Delagarza, Parke, Lade, Buddle, Evans, S Johnson....and I still dont like Beckerman Evans is not a bad player but no way he will ever break into our midfield, rather see a young guy like Perry Kitchen at least..Same goes for Parke, rather see Okugo, Berry or Hedges, and I think as far as old guys go Demerit is better. Also wouldn't have minded Silva or Adu
Beitashour is the best right fullback in the league, unless you want to make a case for Myers. Im willing to bet if you asked the MLS coaches outside LA and SJ if they would rather have Beitashour or DeLaGarza, you would get 90+% of them going Beitashour. Beitashour is better going forward, delivers a killer ball (when healthy), runs the entire touchline, and is a very good off the ball defender. The only weakness in his game is his 1v1 defending technique, but when healthy its not much of a issue as he is very good at denying the initial pass. Wasnt as good in the second half of last year, but also was playing with a sports hernia.
As has already been said, the most important thing going on here is the progression of Besler and Gonzalez. We need at least one of them to step up. On the whole, I think most would agree that it's a pretty solid roster. It's probably best not to focus much attention on the January camp fringe players, but Klinsmann's fixation with Morales bothers me. It's not so much that back-end roster players matter, but it raises questions about the effort he puts into evaluating certain players. It also sends the wrong message, I think. Connor Lade also stands out as a weak choice, but at least he had a hard-working rookie season during which he far surpassed expectations. I wouldn't mind seeing guys like Sapong, DeLeon, and Okugo in camp, but I don't consider them to be true snubs. I think they are in the border category right now where you can't complain if they're called and you can't complain if they aren't. Hopefully they go out in 2013 and transform themselves into obvious choices next winter.
The other factor is that Gonzalez and AJDLG have played together for a long time. Not just at the Galaxy, but at Maryland too. That type of familiarity is beneficial. But even with that said, I'd still go with Beita. BTW, Freddy Adu isn't in camp for two reasons. 1) he's not in form and hasn't been for a long time. 2) for whatever reason, Freddy doesn't take to coaching too well, and I'm sure Klinsi doesn't want that headache in camp.
I saw this coming because you're a SJ supporter. Beitashour is not the best right back in the league. Franklin, DLG, and Lee are all better defenders in the right back position. Myers, Beitashour, Beltran, Hainault, & Williams are close but they just arent quite there besides maybe Hainault. Franklin, DLG, & Lee have been around longer and have proven their worth and experience. The first few times I saw Beitashour play right back a few years back I knew he would be a good fullback in MLS but 90% MLS coaches are going to take the player with more experience and DLG has more, along with more speed & just better defensive attributes all together.
Yea, I had a feeling someone would mention him. He is a good MLS fullback. I'd say his stock has kind of dropped a little over the last year though. I dont know if i'd label him as one of the best anymore unfortunately.
Sean Franklin? Mr backpass Sean Franklin? AJD was absolutely horrible last time, takes way too long to cross, make decisions, and can't dribble. Without Gonzalez the LA Galaxy backline is terrible, he alone inflates the performances of Franklin, AJD, Dunivant. I don't care so much since it's January and we're arguing over 4-6th string guys but AJD one of the best fullbacks? Sheanon Williams isn't USMNT quality either.
Not with the 2nd half of his season, hernia or no. AJ will not make the senior team, but as a fullback he had a decent camp last year, earning an invite. He's smart, he has solid pace and positioning, he's a good passer - things that are good for a fullback. As part of a 25 man roster, I have no issue with his inclusion knowing he will not make the senior team but will be a valuable asset to watch in camp. Same applies for Lade. Buddle is a head-scratcher for me. He was terrible with LA. Same goes for Beltran - huh? Personally this camp is going to be interesting for me to watch: Omar - I want him to make the senior team and be our answer badly. Plus, he's rapidly become one of my favorite players. Besler, Davis - can they make the senior team? Feilhaber - so much potential, so much pouting. Can he make the senior team? Gatt - Is he a Richards or an LD? Zusi, Johnson, Agudelo, Diskerud - can they continue to step it up? Everyone else is just there to get some training.
Neither Sean nor AJ is as bad as you make them out to be. They are not senior team caliber, but so is a good chunk of that roster. Sean wasn't fantastic this year, so he wasn't called. AJ was not "absolutely horrible last time" - selective memory. I'm surprised that AJ was called, but as a fullback, you know, I'm okay with that.
I'm talking about the best MLS fullbacks here, im not really talking too much about the national team besides for arguing that DLG will probably start over Beitashour which is why the conversation was started.
This. Dear God this. Hope Omar is ready for the media scrutiny. Besler is a little more under the radar, Omar isn't. He is going to have a giant spotlight placed on him from day 1. From Jurgen, from the media, and from us.
Is this camp also not the start of the process in putting together the roster that will take the pitch at the Gold Cup?
I would have liked to have heard the coaches discussion of Amobi Okugo. Personally, I consider him a much more legitimate candidate for the full USMNT than either Delagarza, Lade or Parke.
If Omar or Besler were not called into the camp I wouldn't even call that a snub, I'd call that a nuclear ******* catastrophe. It's so expected that they should be there that I cannot even fathom why they wouldn't. I agree with the general statement that the core group of players aren't bad, nothing shocking. However I would really love to have a sit down conversation with Klinsmann and have him truthfully explain to me why Alfredo Morales is better than Perry Kitchen. Why Conot Lade is better than Perry Kitchen. Why Okugo is not worth a look over 30 year old Parke? (If you want a veteran presence come gameday and in camp that's fine, even if there is no way he should see the field over Besler and Gonzalez.)
I don't see any glaring omissions or any awful call ups, but I see a lot of useless call ups. Beltran is not USMNT quality, De La Garza probably isn't either, Parke is 30 years old and hasn't done anything overly special in the MLS, Feilhaber doesn't warrant a call up, neither does Brad Evans. Plus, the worst call up of the camp has to be Edson Buddle. The dude is 31 and is coming off a season where he struggled. The one call up that I am torn on is Brad Davis. If JK plans on calling him up on a regular basis, then I like the call up a lot. However, if this is one of those call ups to just bring in an experienced guy to help out an unexperienced roster, then I think its useless. Brad is 31 years old. If he isn't going to be a regular member of rosters under JK after the season that he just had, then he will most likely never help the USMNT. If that is JK's plan, don't waste the spot. I don't think any of these call ups are so awful, its just he wasted some roster spots on guys that won't ever help the USMNT or won't help again if they helped in the past.