Herculez Gomez in the World Cup squad?
Herculez Gomez scored for Puebla again at the weekend and several people are calling for him to be given a chance to make the squad for the World Cup, but I am not one of them.
Gomez has been in good form since his move to Mexico but I have watched enough of him in MLS to know that he is not better than the current crop of forwards that Bob Bradley has to call upon.
Jozy Altidore is playing in the Premier League, and while he is not setting the world alight, he offers a more rounded set of talents than Herculez does. Eddie Johnson, Robbie Findley and Charlie Davies all possess more pace than Gomez, while Brian Ching and Conor Casey are better hold up players than the former K.C. hitman.
Add Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey into the mix, who can both play up front, and you can see why Gomez doesn’t stand of chance of making the plane to South Africa.
Death of the tackle
Watching much of the MLS action over the weekend highlighted the death of the tackle in the league.
There are still plenty of mistimed challenges - Jamison Olave and Marvell Wynne last weekend are classic examples - and silly free kicks given away, but you rarely see a team win possession because of a ball-winning challenge.
The majority of times a team does regain possession it is because of a mistake by the opposition and not because of their own defensive work. I wonder just how much work is done on the training ground to improve what has become a dying art in the game. Fans love to see good attacking football but a meaty challenge can also get the crowd involved too.
What happened to El Superclasico?
I remember traveling to the HDC a couple of seasons ago to attend the Superclasico eagerly awaiting what was fast becoming the best rivalry in MLS, but a run of nine games without defeat for the L.A. Galaxy has dampened things, particularly in the stands.
The atmosphere has noticeably dropped off from the days of David Beckham and Jesse Marsch going head to head in the center circle. The Galaxy fans still try and play their part but I do feel this game would be a bigger draw if their was a real big name player in the Chivas USA side for their fans to cheer for.
The Galaxy has Donovan and Beckham and the Goats need players at that level to get their fans back invested in this match.
Omar Gonzalez is even better than we thought
If you ask any coach in Europe they will tell you one of the hardest positions to find real quality at is central defender, but Bruce Arena managed to unearth a real diamond when he drafted Omar Gonzalez last year.
Since then, the 21-year old has been an ever present in the side and has matured into one of the finest prospects in MLS. He is dominant in the air - at 6ft 5in he should be - has great positional sense and has developed leadership qualities in his short time in the professional game.
He is also very composed in possession, which is not something you can say about some of the defenders that have made the U.S. squad recently. Omar does lack a bit of pace, but defenders like John Terry, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia have proved you can still play at the top level if you read the game well enough.
The World Cup may have come too soon for Gonzalez but he is a defender that is destined for great things in his career.
D.C. United is a club in turmoil
It wasn’t that long ago that D.C. was one of the elite teams in MLS but that has changed over the last few years and, judging by their start to the season, it is not going to get better anytime soon.
The squad has some real talent so it is hard to put a finger on just why things have gone so badly, but I do think it is way too early to start pointing the finger at Curt Onalfo.
The former Wizards coach would never admit it publicly, but he is probably now realizing he has a bigger job on his hands than he could have ever anticipated.
At the end of the day though, he proved himself in his time with the Wizards and I expect him to lead United out of their slump and get this franchise moving in the right direction.
On to this week’s MLS Power Rankings …
1. Los Angeles Galaxy: The Galaxy didn’t even need to be at their best to beat Chivas USA yet again last Thursday.
2. New York Red Bulls: Resilient and disciplined are not two words you would have used for the Red Bulls under Osorio, but they best describe their start under Hans Backe.
3. Columbus Crew: The return of Chad Marshall is good news for Crew fans as he is as vital as Schelotto to this team’s success.
4. Houston Dynamo: A big win over RSL came at a price and the loss of Ching may derail their hopes of competing for the western crown. Does anyone really believe Dominic Oduro is good enough to step up?
5. Kansas City Wizards: Zoltan’s torn ACL is a blow to a squad that doesn’t really have too much depth.
6. Colorado Rapids: Gary Smith will be happy with four points from two games although Marvell Wynne is still far from being the finished product.
7. Seattle Sounders: The Sounders dominated against New York but I’m not sure moving Montero out wide was the best coaching move Sigi Schmid ever made.
8. Real Salt Lake: Sloppy mistakes cost RSL a win in Houston but Jason Kreis will be happy with his side’s overall play to start the season.
9. New England Revolution: The Revs may not play the “Barcelona way” as Steve Nicol put it but they showed tremendous spirit in their win at D.C.
10. FC Dallas: Let’s hope Dallas fans read my last article and actually come out and support their team against one of the best in MLS this weekend.
11. Chicago Fire: The Fire can’t be happy with only one point from their first two games but should only be judged after they have played at home.
12. Toronto FC: Jim Brennan supposedly moved upstairs because he couldn’t see eye to eye with Preki. Does the Toronto coach get along well with anyone?
13. Philadelphia Union: The Union’s rivalry with D.C. begins this week and will fancy their chances of a win with United struggling so badly.
14. San Jose Earthquakes: I wonder how Joe Cannon is enjoying having Jon Busch around fighting for his place in the side?
15. Chivas USA: We are only two games in and we have arguably seen more changes to their system than the goats had in the entire Preki reign.
16. D.C. United: This team has been so poor that Curt Onalfo may be wishing he had his old hard-working squad in Kansas City back.
Keith Costigan covers MLS and U.S. Soccer for FoxSoccer.com.
