After FCD announced that he re-signed they put out another press release shortly after saying he had successful surgery to remove a bone spur in his ankle. He had similar (unsucessful?) operation at the end of 2010 causing him to miss Bradly's Jan camp. http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/socc...john-focused-on-fcd-but-honored-by-greek-call (Article says it was Greece who called him up but it was definitely the US (or possibly both) )
Simple: INJURIES!!!! If a player can't stay healthy; you cannot be mad that he's not called in. He's a fine player, but he's made of glass.
In the 20 yr old category I was impressed with Caleb Stanko. I believe they may be moving him to fb tho.
I saw him last year when he came back from injury - before injuring himself again - and was very impressed with effort/team mentality. Everything doesnt fit in to a tv screen. Sometimes you have to see somebody play live. FCD played exceptional defence towards the end of the season and almost made the playoffs.
You realize John has logged more minutes than both Gonzalez or Besler over the past two seasons... Now with that FACT in mind, do BS threads about Omar become overloaded with posts about Omar being injured "all the time" or do discussion here about Besler center on the fact that he wasn't even a starter two years ago? NO they rightfully revolve around what they do and don't do ON THE FIELD. I thought maybe after four years we'd have enough informed people here to do that. Clearly I was wrong.....chalk up another W for willfull ignorance over logic and reason. EDIT: Thank you Excellency for bringing something to the discussion
Well............I'm an FC Dallas season ticket holder (an endangered species), so I see him plenty live. George John is a good MLS-level defender. Whether he's as good as Besler & Gonzalez, and hence the USMNT, is open for debate. One who actually watched all of FCD's games last year would suggest that Matt Hedges played just as well as John for most of the year. Guys such as Jeff Parke have gotten caps under Klinsmann. Is John as good or better than Jeff Parke? Yes, I do think that's accurate. So I don't think anybody should have a problem with Klinsmann taking a look at John for the Gold Cup. Or Klinsmann may move in a "younger direction" with guys like John Anthony Brooks, Austin Berry, etc.
I saw a fwd leak by Hedges in mid and John at rcb running clear across the field to where the left fb shud have been to pick the guy up and tackle him cleanly in the box. It is the kind of play one appreciates more when seen live. Ofc that may not be possible at the high level but I think there is a lot of character in the guy of the kind that has been missing this cycle.
Because our centerbacks like Bocanegra and Cameron don't have character? Nonsense. The reason John isn't in the USMNT is simple. It's because he hasn't been able to stay healthy enough to be integrated into the group. I'm as big of a fan of George John as anybody out there who clearly doesn't have an agenda. Do I think he's a possibility for the USMNT? Sure..........................but I also think there's clearly a gap between he and Omar Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has peaked in MLS. His international fate is still TBD. He needs to move to Europe in the summer. John's game isn't as polished IMO, still has work to do, consistent play without injuries will help.
Since we can't get off the injuries lets take a look at Johns sordid history with the training team staff over the last two seasons 2011- No injuries. Played every minute of MLS, USOC, and CCL games...most min on team. 2012-1. Nasty head/head collision in USOC kept him out over a month with concussion symptoms 2. Late in the year a nasty ankle sprain while stretching out to block a cross (should've been broken ankle) He came back for one game too early during playoff push and re-aggravated it causing him to miss a couple more games. Is this REALLY the history of a player you consider "made of glass". Be real.
Not my opinion. At least you didn't type yours in ALL CAPS to try and be impressive. He's a nice player, compared to your average soccer player he is great. In MLS, he is above average. But in terms of the options available to the USMNT, he is mediocre. Just an opinion. And Geoff Cameron is a significantly better center back than George John (still just an opinion).
Yes. But Cameron can also play right back, and has done so at the premier league level. (as well as left back and center mid actually. He's a jack-of-all-trades for Stoke) So we could, in theory, play both at the same time against certain opponents. And as we know, we should have 4-5 USMNT caliber centerbacks to feel comfortable anyway. Nobody here is saying George John isn't a good player. It's just TBD whether he's USMNT caliber or not. We've now had two USMNT coaches who haven't given him any caps, so they also think there are better options. George is now entering his age 26 season. He should now be "in his prime." So we should see a really good season from him in MLS. If we do, then he could get a USMNT call for the Gold Cup this summer.
Bobby Moore and George John do have something in common.............................West Ham!! Of course Bobby Moore played for them over 500 times, and George John couldn't make one appearance. But that's just nit-picking really. Was Bobby Moore deemed "not good enough" by two national teams as well?
I would suggest you look at it from a different angle. Our cb's have generally performed pretty well at the international level, world cup and quali's that is. At the same time, (holding two thoughts at one time here, phew..) we have not had much luck breaking into the EPL at that position because the Brits have pretty good cb's over all. Lichaj, Dempsey, Cameron, Howard, Guzan - none are cb's. In fact, Cameron plays cb for the USMNT and cant break in to Stoke's line up at that position and people are happy playing him so why is John disqualified for not breaking in at WHam?
West Ham at the time of course wasn't in the premier league, but in the championship. It was really the Blackburn move that was supposed to go down. It went so far that we were told a deal was done between FCD/MLS and Blackburn. Then all of a sudden it fell apart, and John returned to FCD. The rumor mill says that Blackburn had serious issues about John's ankle, and so didn't end up pulling the trigger. As far as West Ham goes, they didn't use him because they didn't need him. They were doing great without using him, and they ended up getting promoted that year.
I guess we hope for the best with his surgery and if he appears in form he would be a good candidate for Gold Cup. Playing against a team like Jamaica, say, I'd be just as happy with an in form John on the bench as an aging Boca who mite or mite not have the speed to keep up depending on how much he has aged. Why guess with something like that?
the case for George John is that no one else really wants to take central defense as a full time job for the USMNT
If he has a good 2013 for FCD he should get a Gold Cup run out. Should be competing with the likes of Brooks, Berry, Hedges, Okugo, etc. for the CB spots at the GC.