Watched the game ....So sad after such a great start... Babajide was voted best VFF player of the season and selected in the top 11 four times! Pretty good for his first season in Superliga....After some well deserved rest he should be even better in the second half!
Better? The competition in central defense is remarkably tight for January camp this year Assuming no loans, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, and Clarence Goodson are all locks. Then what? There will probably only be four central defenders taken for this camp. That is similar to previous years Ogunbiyi has to compete with guys like O'Neill, John, Schuler, maybe even Bocanegra for that likely final spot. It's far from certain he beats out any of those guys. He might make it but it's not clear case
We should also noted that Nigeria doesn't have many good CBs either so he might have a better chance at making their WC team. I believe their coach, Stephen Keshi, has mentioned him recently. That being said, I'd still like to see him in January camp.
The Danish league is off for 7 weeks, but are the players really available to be called in? I would assume they have their own mid-season camp in January in a warm climate and wouldn't release a player for non-FIFA dates.
this one at least garners a look, a camp strudel invite is certainly justified with the current credentials
4 central defenders at January Camp. Who are your 4? My guess is that he takes Gonzalez, Besler, Goodson, and Schuler who had a terrific playoffs
I think BS would prevail against Goodson being an option, and as a quakes fan i would re-enforce that. I would like to hope we got better than that. Klinsmann may see him a lock but i really, really hope not. Gonzalez and Besler for me are the only real central defender camp locks, or should be anyway. Goodson, Schuler, John, Babajide should be bubble guys.
Based on seeing Goodson look completely average for San Jose (granted he didn't play too much), he didn't seem NT-quality when I saw him and I'd rather see someone else get a chance, especially someone who's excelling in a relatively strong European league.
So you want to replace a guy who has played well for the NT this year with someone you haven't seen play based on the location of his club?
No, based on the San Jose games I've watched Goodson play in (where he didn't stand out to me as NT quality, but people are allowed to have different opinions) and based on the fact that Ogunbiyi has won all sorts of accolades in a competitive European league that successfully sends a larger number of players to strong European clubs like Ajax and Liverpool than the US But Goodson did have a good year with the USMNT so who knows, maybe his national form will continue
Not to start a food fight here, but wasn't Ogunbiyi his team's MVP vs. what could ARGUABLY be called tougher competition?
Besler has been the defender of the year in the league & was league best XI this year. Copenhagen aside, I'd rate MLS significantly higher from top to bottom
Fair enough. I'd rate Denmark & MLS about even. Ogunbiyi has had a fine season & there's really no way to compare the Denmark apple with the MLS oranges unless they're all on the same field. He's earned the look.
The US has one of the weakest collections of CB's of any team at the World Cup so really anyone who has distinguished themselves at a solid level is going to be in the conversation for a place in the squad automatically. Will Jide get there? I'd say it's unlikely given Jurgen's love affair with the same few options and unwillingness to test out other talents (apart from Brooks). At this point it's too late to test out more than a couple of players anyway. So we as fans will be lucky if there's one CB slot open at the January camp for an uncapped player. If there is, it's likely to go to a MLS option such as Chris Schuler, which is fine, it's just I would much rather see a Schuler brought in alongside another talented uncapped player like a Jide Ogunbiyi or Amobi Okugo rather than a proven mediocrity like Clay Goodson or Michael Orozco. I could see bringing in a Goodson if he were to be a starter at the World Cup, thus getting him more time with his CB partner. He isn't though, so why not use this camp to have a look at viable untested options who might prove superior? This is a wasted opportunity for the traditional Jan camp candidates if it goes down the way I expect it to.
Jide is recovering from a slight injury, but is training with Viborg in preseason. http://viborg-folkeblad.dk/viborg-ff/forsvarskaemper-haaber-paa-kampaktion Any chance he gets called up for Ukraine friendly? Probably not.