I don't think his contract is up until the end of either the 2012 or 2013 season. At that point he'll be 24/25. I think that would be a good time to make the move.
To answer the OP: somewhere between not yet and no. He certainly is a work in progress with a lot of promise.
It's been unfortunate to me that Ream's reputation has been hurt in the Gold Cup. He definitely made a huge mistake versus Panama, and his defending definitely struggles time to time, but those critical errors he makes can be fixed with experience and coaching. A move to Europe would be great for him. Dutch or French leagues I think he'd be a good fit with a mid level team. Was at the USA vs Canada game and Ream was splendid. He made a mistake in the 2nd half, but taking that away, he won a ridiculous % of balls in the air and with his feet. He was probably 2nd on the US in touches to Bradley in the first half, winning everything, and distributing to Bradley to start the "offense" going.
Not to belabor the point. TR's problem is that the errors he is making, at club and country, are bad. Very similar to what Benny F did at Hamburg. He had the skill and savvy that showed he could hang, but he could never stop making the big/dumb error that lead to quality chances and goals by the opp. That's why he was in Denmark and now MLS instead of the Bliga. TR made two terrible errors against Canada. Not one. He didn't get punished on either because it was Canada. He allowed three clear goal scoring chances for the opp in two matches because of careless/lazy/immature plays. It doesn't matter how good his other attributes are, like Benny's, it's gotta stop, and you can' assume it will...like Benny. Woulda, coulda, shoulda is the scrap heap on which the next future impact players are built. He doesn't make many but when he does...eek. It will decide whether he is a decent player in a decent league, or an impact player in a good league. It's gotta stop. Until then it will be the old "he's got time/no worries/he'll learn" cliches we love to bandy about here. They don't think and act like that abroad...but we do here. Maybe that's why we have a team that looks so damn lethargic right now. It's not about giving up on Tim, but it's not good enough for the GCup...it shouldn't be. Who cares about hurting his feelings. If he can't handle this and get stronger from this than guess what? He wasn't the answer anyway. That's what it means to be a pro. We still are learning that concept in soccer here. If you are gonna get a shot in a legit comp you gotta produce.
Sorry, this is just ridiculous. Does TR need to get better? Yes. Does he get a ridiculous amount of scrutiny that no other CB receives? Yes. At the end of the day, Ream is the real deal.
He's not getting that much scrutiny. There are very few posters (myself inlcuded) that are holding him to an incredibly high standard because we are looking for improvement in the CB position for the USMNT. Nothing more. Nothing less.
He gets far less than Gooch and more than Demerit. Demerit was a solid defender but didn't add much more to the game..But he could defend 1 v 1. Ream does alot of things better than Demerit ever could except defend 1 v 1. My only critism of Ream is he can't defend 1 v 1 when matched against good forwards. so no matter how well he does everything else if he can't perform his primary duty, which is to defend, then he will always be limited against stiffer competition.
Agree to disagree re the level of scrutiny. There have been plenty of mistakes by each of our CBs in this GC, including boca (e.g. 1st couple of minutes v Guadeloupe). It will be interesting to see when other young CBs get into the mix how much scrutiny they get compared to TR. I hear your point re: the high standard you are holding him to; it feels like sone confuse a high standard with perfection. And by confusing the two, those people are going to be perpetually disappointed.
Yes. Yes. I just don't want this BS rumor to start that there are tons of people crapping on his play. There aren't. There are a few posters (myself included) holding him to an incredibly high standard. Almost everyone recognizes his flaws and that he is a work in progress. You could count on one hand the people that have been highly critical of his play.
It's not the level of scrutiny that's the problem with Zoidberg, it's the silly notion that Ream is unable to improve. Anyway: 1) Jamaica's second best chance of the day came when Lichaj blew an offside trap, a continuing problem for him. 2) Their third best chance of the day came when Boca cleared the ball directly up the middle of the penalty area, a continuing problem for him. Each of those gaffes is as big/worse than anything Ream displayed against Canada or Spain.
I completely agree with this. Again, I'm holding all our young defenders to high standards because I don't just want to see replacements on the back line as the old guard gets phased out. I want to see improvement in the quality of our defenders. Question: Do you think any of our young defenders will become better than Gooch, Boca, Dolo in their primes? If so, which ones?
Ream, Chandler and - please let him be moved back to central defense - Geoff Cameron. John maybe. Omar, no (slow feet). Wynne, no. Not sure about Lichaj. I think Brek Shea could be a world class left back, but he'll need 3 years of playing there. Kitchen, no way. Franklin, no way. White, I doubt it. Opara yes if he stays healthy. Who am I forgetting?
I am not that impressed with Eric Lichaj, although he has been adequate/servicable here. What's your take on him?
Lichaj has locked down the left back spot. I don't see anyone close to taking it from him right now...
Found the left back the US is looking for: Kellyn ACOSTA, the left back of the U17 NT playing against Czech Rep. in this moment. He is born in 1995, so that makes him 16. He is real quality. I would try to integrate him into the full squad ASAP. Bergomi was 17 when Italy won in 1982.
He's serviceable at right back, but seems to have lost a step or two since 2009, and wasn't that fast to begin with. Never been a fan. Hope to be proven wrong, but I think he's the second coming of Goodson at best.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/06/21/dutch-powerhouse-one-several-pursuing-nys-ream Ream has suitors
He's serviceable, but if any decent offer came in and he didn't play for the financial powerhouse that is Red Bull I'd say sell him. People can disagree but he really would make tactical gains by leaps and bounds in the Eredivisie, especially at a powerhouse like PSV.