Getting CB Omar Gonzalez from LA

[maninb]

This guy is a monster, 6'5, fast, tough, and young....I wonder what it would take to get him from the Galaxy....Wynne (SoCal boy), and a high draft choice perhaps?

[London]

this guy is going to win rookie of the year, la will not trade him

[Shway]

which part of him is fast?
hes immobile

[maninb]

this guy is going to win rookie of the year, la will not trade him

He's faster than any CB we have, and dominant in the air....I've seen him play 4-5 matches this year and he's one of the main reasons the Galaxy have improved so much...

[olegunnar]

Maybe we should have just drafted him??

We picked 2nd...LA picked 3rd

[Hitcho]

I'd take Nana over any other defender in the league right now. He's rock solid, not put a foot wrong all season, young, cheap and Canadian. Add in Serioux and we've got a perfectly strong CB pairing in my book, especially since Nana will only improve year on year and serioux is far from past it. Gomez adds viable cover.

We should be worrying more about a right midfielder/winger and what jloome refers to as an assasin (which I am now stealing, because I like that phrase a lot).

[maninb]

Maybe we should have just drafted him??

We picked 2nd...LA picked 3rd

I'm happy with Mo taking Cronin....taking a CB at that point was way more risky, but this kid has turned out to be the REAL DEAL....playing with an experienced guy like Serioux could turn out great...He'd be expensive but worth it IMO....

[Huginho]

We Should go after Jeff Cunningham too!! top scorer, I think we can get him for Barrett and a 2nd rounder :facepalm:

[CretanBull]

this guy is going to win rookie of the year, la will not trade him

Agreed.

[MartinUtd]

Maybe we should have just drafted him??

We picked 2nd...LA picked 3rd

That really left me scratching my head at the beginning of the year. Nothing against Cronin, but why oh why would they draft ANOTHER midfielder when we were sorely lacking in the defensive position?

[maninb]

That really left me scratching my head at the beginning of the year. Nothing against Cronin, but why oh why would they draft ANOTHER midfielder when we were sorely lacking in the defensive position?

Because a CB is more of a gamble & a project....Usually it take 3-4 years before a CB is ready to start full-time...Gonzalez is a surprising exception...Mo correctly assumed that Cronin could help us now...

[felipe]

Disagree with Serioux being a perfectly good CB; (move him to right back where he belongs) we need someone else to pair with Nana - a stud. And not the rookie of the year either, but a serious no-nonsense experienced professional.

[Pachuco]

Disagree with Serioux being a perfectly good CB; (move him to right back where he belongs) we need someone else to pair with Nana - a stud. And not the rookie of the year either, but a serious no-nonsense experienced professional.

Funny, you just described Serioux :rolleyes:

[felipe]

no I did not - someone who positionally has a clue - there I fixed that...

[Pachuco]

no I did not - someone who positionally has a clue - there I fixed that...

Well I personally think we are good at CB. Serioux and Nana plus Gomez off the bench is a great combo (for MLS standards) in my opinion. I would personally worry more about replacing the wide backs. Jimmy deserves to play mid, he is so much better at that position and he's a crappy defender.

The thing is, most of our defensive woes start from the middle. We get scored on late in games because everyone drops back and allows them to walk in. I really don't think we have that much of a problem defending. We do however have a serious problem scoring goals.

Having said all that, seems like Omar Gonzales is a solid CB for years to come, so sure, if we can get him, why not?

[maninb]

Well I personally think we are good at CB. Serioux and Nana plus Gomez off the bench is a great combo (for MLS standards) in my opinion. I would personally worry more about replacing the wide backs. Jimmy deserves to play mid, he is so much better at that position and he's a crappy defender.

The thing is, most of our defensive woes start from the middle. We get scored on late in games because everyone drops back and allows them to walk in. I really don't think we have that much of a problem defending. We do however have a serious problem scoring goals.

Having said all that, seems like Omar Gonzales is a solid CB for years to come, so sure, if we can get him, why not?

Garcia playing at CB was a HUGE problem with us falling back all the time and giving up late goals. Also I think Frei should get better command of his area, but he's young and this will come with experience. If you have a keeper who also can act as a 'sweeper' it sure as hell helps the central D immensely. I think Nana is a better fit at RB, seeing as he likes to get forward as well, and Gomez providing depth.

I still think Wynne is VERY appealling to LA because he's a USMT player and local boy with name recognition...and as far as Rookie of the Year being untradeable, just think Mo Edu.....

[CretanBull]

Having said all that, seems like Omar Gonzales is a solid CB for years to come, so sure, if we can get him, why not?

*If* we could get him it would be amazing, but the asking price is likely to be something like Nana, Cronin and a 1st round pick or two...which makes it slightly less amazing.

[Beach_Red]

Well I personally think we are good at CB. Serioux and Nana plus Gomez off the bench is a great combo (for MLS standards) in my opinion. I would personally worry more about replacing the wide backs. Jimmy deserves to play mid, he is so much better at that position and he's a crappy defender.

The thing is, most of our defensive woes start from the middle. We get scored on late in games because everyone drops back and allows them to walk in. I really don't think we have that much of a problem defending. We do however have a serious problem scoring goals.

Having said all that, seems like Omar Gonzales is a solid CB for years to come, so sure, if we can get him, why not?

We've had the lead in almost every game we've played this year. That thread about, "What if games ended at 75 minutes," is a bit of an eye-opener.

Is the problem that we don't have a big enough lead, or that we let in late goals?

[felipe]

I just don't like the idea of two kids at centre back - no matter how good they are; experience counts for so much, and especially at such a key position.

You get an older cooler head who's seen it all before and dealt with it - then you get a much better calmer D who will play out of trouble and not crumble when the opposition turns up the heat.

Nana still runs around a bit and gets out of position - and so does Serioux - realistically he's not a 'true' experienced centre back (he's played all over the place in his career); either of them teamed with a 'real' centre back would be great, but together...not so much...big gaping holes everywhere...we've all seen it this season - thats why we went out and got Garcia for chrissakes...

Don't forget you need someone to organise the backline too. No one would argue that ManU era 38ish Laurent Blanc could even come close to either of them in terms of speed or tackling or general athleticism - but we all know who the better (much) centre back is...

I'm not saying that we should go dig up Blanc or some other champions league calibre defender - I'm just saying a leader and experienced central defender (even at MLS levels) is exactly what we need - not another kid.

And in 3-4 years, Nana will be that player, that experinced elite centre back - but we're good enough to win now - if we get one now; and in all fairness if Nana develops like it seems he must - he won't be here then.

[Pachuco]

Garcia playing at CB was a HUGE problem with us falling back all the time and giving up late goals. Also I think Frei should get better command of his area, but he's young and this will come with experience. If you have a keeper who also can act as a 'sweeper' it sure as hell helps the central D immensely. I think Nana is a better fit at RB, seeing as he likes to get forward as well, and Gomez providing depth.

I still think Wynne is VERY appealling to LA because he's a USMT player and local boy with name recognition...and as far as Rookie of the Year being untradeable, just think Mo Edu.....

I agree about the Garcia thing. Notice how I didn't mention his name? :) If I see him in a TFC uniform next year then I'll say that we have a serious problem at CB. Right now, I'm fully expecting him to be gone.

[CretanBull]

Looking at our current defenders, the only guys that I want to see back are Nana, Gomez and Serioux. Brennan can stay with the club as a midfielder. Garcia needs to be traded for a bag of pucks (I don't think anyone will give us a bag of footballs for him) and Wynne should be moved for a winger.

[Beach_Red]

It's too bad Tebily's wife wouldn't let him live in Toronto.

[Mr. Bigby]

We Should go after Jeff Cunningham too!! top scorer, I think we can get him for Barrett and a 2nd rounder :facepalm:

LMAO!!:poke:

[Shway]

He's faster than any CB we have, and dominant in the air....I've seen him play 4-5 matches this year and he's one of the main reasons the Galaxy have improved so much...

Im going to question if you have been watching TFC. For you to say he's faster then Nana, and Gomez

[TFCtoMUFC]

Mo isn't stupid enough to trade our whole team for a CB, this thread is even more off than the trade Sam Cronin thread.

[prizby]

Maybe we should have just drafted him??

We picked 2nd...LA picked 3rd

i got money saying had he falled to #4, we would have picked him over OBW

[Cambridge_Red]

i got money saying had he falled to #4, we would have picked him over OBW

I doubt that. OBW was an anticipated pick, being Canadian and all..

[prizby]

I doubt that. OBW was an anticipated pick, being Canadian and all..

most teams had OBW pegged for the 2nd round..we reached for him

[poppamidnight]

I'm happy with Mo taking Cronin....taking a CB at that point was way more risky, but this kid has turned out to be the REAL DEAL....playing with an experienced guy like Serioux could turn out great...He'd be expensive but worth it IMO....


OMG... seriously... shake head...

Omar was rated higher potential,
cronin was more impact now...

Omar played a position we needed/knew we'd be needing (since the Marshall to seattle news was old once it finally became news)
Cronin played in one we had + still have a glut of...


I called to draft Omar on draft day,
I still look like I was right.

[CretanBull]

I was hoping that we'd pick Ike Opara, but he stayed in school to avoid the draft - it looks like he plans to go directly to Europe. My second choice was Gonzalez. I like Cronin, and picking him will be a good idea if he can play regularly and it will allow us to move out one of our expensive midfield contracts and improve elsewhere. If that's not Mo's plan now that Cronin has a year of MLS experience under his belt I'll have lost whatever remains of the confidence that I have in Mo.

Edit: OBW wasn't going to fall to the second round, he was going to be picked 7th or 8th by DC or 10th by New England. We 'reached' for him knowing that Frei (who we were going to pick 4th) was going to slide to 13.

[ua-kozak_TFC]

This guy is a monster, 6'5, fast, tough, and young....I wonder what it would take to get him from the Galaxy....Wynne (SoCal boy), and a high draft choice perhaps?
that would be a good idea... if we had one.. But i don;t think we even have a first round pick next year.

ps: I wonder how "drafter" MO that a lot of people seem to praise will manage when he doens;t have 3 picks in the top 15...

[Ossington Mental Youth]

he will have to make up for it by bringing us the players with experience that we need hence him giving trials to those african cats

[wzhxvy]

What ever happened to the Ivory Coast guys ?

[Ossington Mental Youth]

im sure we will hear about them at some point IF they were worth signing

[Beach_Red]

What ever happened to the Ivory Coast guys ?

At the time there was something about having the trial then because of their schedule. Chances are they also visiting other leagues to check them out, too.

[maninb]

Mo isn't stupid enough to trade our whole team for a CB, this thread is even more off than the trade Sam Cronin thread.
Read the original post....Nothing about Mo 'trading the whole team', I said trading Wynne and a 1st rounder may be enough...sheesh....

[maninb]

OMG... seriously... shake head...

Omar was rated higher potential,
cronin was more impact now...

Omar played a position we needed/knew we'd be needing (since the Marshall to seattle news was old once it finally became news)
Cronin played in one we had + still have a glut of...


I called to draft Omar on draft day,
I still look like I was right.


Certainly Omar would have been a better pick knowing how he turned out, hindsight, etc etc.... I was just saying picking a CB is far riskier, just look at how Julius James turned out...He was rated as high as Omar and now he's out of the league...

[nimamalek]

Cronin was definitely the safer pick....but wouldnt it have been nice to look at the lineup and see Nana and Gonzalez as the back pair for the NY game this weekend :)

[Yohan]

isn't hindsight a nice thing?

I don't think anyone really thought Gonzalez would develop this fast. Then again, nobody really thought Frei and Cronin was going to play practically every game this season for TFC.

Gonzalez benefited from good coaching from Arena, and I'd argue just as important, mentoring from former USMNT defender named Gregg Berhalter who partners him in CB. Put Gonzalez in TFC camp and I don't think he'd have progressed as quick as he has in LA.

I think Arena would like to add a speedier back up to Berhalter for next season, but it'd take a lot for Arena to give up Gonzalez who is going to be next Chad Marshall of MLS. You just don't give up quality CBs like that like you're playing fantasy game.

Whoever said trade Wynne and 1st rd pick for Gonzalez is a bit of wishful thinking. LA has no need of RB with AJ dela Garza and Sean Franklin having a solid lock on that position.

[maninb]

^ Yeah wishful thinking but it does make the day go by quicker....:)

[TFC~Vatreni]

Actually I was hoping they were going take Gonzalez with the 2nd pick when the draft was happening. He was tall and highly touted; and at time, our defense was quite suspect.

[poppamidnight]

Certainly Omar would have been a better pick knowing how he turned out, hindsight, etc etc.... I was just saying picking a CB is far riskier, just look at how Julius James turned out...He was rated as high as Omar and now he's out of the league...


No...
...just not even close.

He had good things said about him... But just cuz we went to toronto, it was obviously blown up...

much like another toronto sports team?

Schenn...Kadri??? As a Canucks fan I know Cody Hodgson is a 2nd-tier prospect [meaning toronto prospects would be 4th/5th tier]...but toronto fan "hope" blows things outta proportion

...Maybe part of it was Mo's doing. Trying to make himself look better, by hyping up the pick he made...

Toronto sports fans really need to take look at their sports-information OUTSIDE the little bubble of Toronto media...

then you really can see the proper "hype"/lack-thereof of draft-picks/prospects receive

If James was really as hyped as Omar, he'd have gone like #2 in that weak-draft. Chance Myers was about it in the buzz heading into that superdraft

Maybe I'm saying Mo spews good propaganda
...maybe I'm scolding you for believing it?

[TFCtoMUFC]

Read the original post....Nothing about Mo 'trading the whole team', I said trading Wynne and a 1st rounder may be enough...sheesh....

Ya thats fine and dandy but its not going to happen.

[Yohan]

Actually I was hoping they were going take Gonzalez with the 2nd pick when the draft was happening. He was tall and highly touted; and at time, our defense was quite suspect.
IIRC Mo signed Serioux before the draft, and he was suppose to be solution to the leaky D problem

[jloome]

People are forgetting that during the stretch run, in which Gonzalez has been so "solid", they're defence has faced a fraction of the pressure it faced the rest of the year, becasue their midfield has been doing its job

Gonzalez has had some real howlers this year, and yet recent memory has people voting him rookie of the year.

[Bobo]

Well I personally think we are good at CB. Serioux and Nana plus Gomez off the bench is a great combo (for MLS standards) in my opinion. I would personally worry more about replacing the wide backs. Jimmy deserves to play mid, he is so much better at that position and he's a crappy defender.

The thing is, most of our defensive woes start from the middle. We get scored on late in games because everyone drops back and allows them to walk in. I really don't think we have that much of a problem defending. We do however have a serious problem scoring goals.

Having said all that, seems like Omar Gonzales is a solid CB for years to come, so sure, if we can get him, why not?

Nana can play either CB or RB which gives Mo a bit more to work with if he decides on trading Wynne. I'm comfortable with Nana in either spot but its always nice to have a better proven defender in the middle.

[Yohan]

People are forgetting that during the stretch run, in which Gonzalez has been so "solid", they're defence has faced a fraction of the pressure it faced the rest of the year, becasue their midfield has been doing its job

Gonzalez has had some real howlers this year, and yet recent memory has people voting him rookie of the year.
haha. I remember Gonzalez having a particularly terrible game vs NY first game Becks came back. Didn't he give up like 2 dumb ass penalties?

And that 6-3 spanking from Dallas at HDC, where some guy named Jeff Cunningham ran around him and Berhalter