Looks like he wanted to move to New York to get into acting. He's played the most convincing traffic cone since you know who.
For more Rafa goodness, check out Chiumiento's goal from a few weeks back: http://www.mlssoccer.com/videos?catid=1916&id=18902
Just for the record, Ream completely outplayed John - who was caught ball-watching on Rodgers' goal - last weekend against Dallas. He's had his downs this year, but quite a few ups as well.
An interesting thing that I wonder if people realize or not, is that for all the talk of Ream having lots of potential, that Gonzalez is actually a year younger than Ream. He just went pro 2 years younger.
Yeah, he doesn't turn 23 till next month. In addition to turning pro after his junior year, he also started at Maryland at age 17. So, for an American player in his third year of pro soccer, he's still very young, especially for one who played college soccer. By contrast, Tim Ream turns 24 next month.
I wish Gonzalez was on a team say like he Redbulls or RSL where he would be encouraged to pass it a bit more. Arena's tactics are not good for developing a CB on the Int'l level.
The Galaxy's passing out of the back has increased quite a bit this year. They have definitely changed as a team, and a lot of it goes through Omar. He's had some really great passes - long, short and in between. Sometimes my husband and I note a very good pass by calling it "Reamesque". With that special irony reserved for homer Galaxy fans. That said, Omar is still improving and has a ways to go to be great international level, but I think he has the potential. I don't believe the Galaxy is standing in the way of his development at all.
This is such crap. Gonzalez doesn't play like that because he's not good enough with the ball on his feet yet. When Berhalter was healthy he played a very important distributive role for LA. Omar will never be in Berhalter's class with the ball on his foot, but I think he can end up better than, say, Onyewu. Arena will have played a big part in that.
I'm just saying going from playing a Arena's style to a decent team in Europe will be a shock with how he is allowed to not be at his sharpest on the ball.
That maybe so, but come on, the Galaxy don't exactly play joga bonito. I doubt they ever will with Arena in charge.
Joga bonito - no, they don't. They are too cautious and defensive for that. But do you watch them much? The style of play has shifted much, much more towards possession this year, starting from the first game. Bruce will slow it down and not be aggressive towards goal, especially in the second half of games, but that's different than playing boom ball. When they boot the ball upfield too much now, it's an exception to their usual style, and I think it's usually when they are tired.
Just wanted to throw out Lamar Neagle's name as well. He's a real talent with speed, athleticism, strength, touch and a fantastic outside shot to boot. All that being said, he is a typical American late bloomer. Mentally he has miles to go. He is extremely inconsistent and tactically he's still learning the game, but hey if Robbie Rogers is getting call ups, why not give this guy a look.
I'm a homer, but Cameron really needs a look. He is an average MLS starting midfielder, but since he has seamlessly moved back to CB the last few weeks he has just proven his worth in that position. He's a natural there.
Problem is guys like Cameron, Gonzalez, and John who without a doubt deserve a call-up don't get it and guys like Ream and Fiscal who don't deserve a call-up at all, get it.
I agree about Fiscal, but Ream has been decent. He had one bad against Panama play, and now people are jumping to assumptions that he doesn't deserve another call-up.
Welcome to BigSoccer. One bad game opened him up for criticism. Now, one bad pass in a match will equal a terrible match for Ream, and if he is in the screen shot when a goal is scored, yikes. I think people want to validate their opinion by finding fault in a player that made their crap list, while ignoring all that they contributed in a match.