There's been a lot of argument on the internet over whether Jonathan Gonzalez is a traitor for choosing Mexico, whether the U.S. did enough to win him over, etc., etc.
First of all, let's get the first question out of the way.
Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.
One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.
One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.
Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.
It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the people at the USMNT.
Now let's move onto that subject, the incompetence of the people at the USMNT. I've seen a lot of claims flying, but I will show you how to cut through the nonsense and the "cover-your-butt" game that a lot of folks have been playing.
1. During the November friendly, Gonzalez was not called up. Dave Sarachan (the interim head coach) had this to say about the decision.
Not calling him up is fine. He had a big game the next day for his club. No problem.
However, did you hear how much Sarachan waffled about him? “Along with other guys...” “on the radar...” “one of the young guys.”
2. Jonathan Gonzalez comes out and says that nobody spoke to him about the November friendly.
What? Noone called? Texted? Nothing? You didn't call up this kid, and didn't even explain that you wanted to but were doing it our of courtesy?
3. The people at U.S. Soccer come out to defend themselves. Thomas Rongen (Chief Scout for U.S. Soccer) says "I've been to his house three times in the last year." Others said that they called him up for the January camp, and attempted to contact him in December.
This is all misdirection.
Yes, great, you visited him three times in a year. Great, you called him for a January camp that he was never going to be released for.
But did you notice what they didn't say? Nobody is disputing Gonzalez's claim that nobody told him about the November friendly. They are saying all of these other things, but they dropped the ball when it really counted.
Similarly, Thomas Rongen stated today that there is only 1 full-time scout employed by the USMNT. Since then, others have pointed out that "there are 12 full-time technical advisers and 130 part-time scouts." Also, U.S. soccer sent out this helpful graph showing all the work that they do:
Again, sure this is all probably true, but it is also all misdirection. The fact of the matter is that no-one has refuted the statement that there is only one full-time scout for the USMNT.
This is one of the huge reasons why talent identification in the U.S. is so lacking. When there is only one full-time scout, and only 40 non-developmental academy scouting events, how are we supposed to identify the quality? We are relying on kids to self-select, and only the kids who can afford to pay to play are going to be found.
Anyways, as I said above, I know this isn't strictly Las Vegas-related. But it does apply to many kids' experience here.
needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.
One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.
One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.
Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.
It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT.
Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.
One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.
One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.
Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.
It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT
Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.
One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.
One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.
Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.
It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT.
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