CARSON, Calif. – Omar Gonzalez has been among MLS' most dominant defenders, perhaps the most dominant, since arriving in 2009, and he's got the accolades – better yet, championship rings – to prove it.
It might have all been prologue. The LA Galaxy's backline leader is playing the best soccer of his career, providing a real foundation as the team has continually altered lineups during an early-season injury crisis and repeatedly coming up with big plays to ensure needed points in a tight and deep Western Conference race.
It's about maturity, mostly, as Gonzalez, 26, has evolved into one of the Galaxy's true leaders, responding to a challenge from his coaches to be more than he'd been with some behemoth performances.
The most recent: His dominance of MLS goals leader Kei Kamara in last weekend's 1-1 away draw with Columbus Crew SC. He'll face the Philadelphia Union's attack in an MLS encounter Saturday night at StubHub Center (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“We expect Omar to be a leader on the field, and he proves game in and game out that he's as good as any defender we have in the league,” LA coach Bruce Arena said. “His play over the last month or so has been very good, and we're going to need that as we [head into] the second half of the season.”
It's been most apparent the past six weeks or so.
“Bruce challenged me in the beginning of May to be more consistent, so it's something I've been working on ...,” Gonzalez said. “I think it's been more mental than anything, just focusing on the backline, focusing on taking pride in not letting in goals and in defending properly. And from there, everything takes care of itself.”
The 6-foot-5 Texan had been physically dominant since he came to the Galaxy with the No. 3 selection in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He was MLS Rookie of the Year that season, a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year in 2010 and won the top-defender honor when LA in 2011 won the first of three MLS Cup titles under Arena. He was MLS Cup MVP in 2012, after returning from a knee injury, and has been finalist for the best-defender award the past two seasons. He's made four of the past five Best XI teams.
But his consistency waxed and waned – until this year.
“You get to the point where you're not a young player any more, and you're a guy that people depend on,” associate head coach Dave Sarachan said. “I think each of us [coaches], in our way, has tried to get the message across to Omar that he needs to be heavily invested in the team, and I think he's accepted that role. He's embraced more of a leadership role.
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“And for him, personally, whatever his aspirations are to get better, he's got to have an internal feeling of pushing himself. How that comes about, whether it's through us as coaches having conversations or peers having conversations or just him taking it up in himself, the light bulb is starting to get brighter there.”
Gonzalez, who has risen within the US national team the past 18 months and expects to play a key role in next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup, says he's “being more selfless right now.”
“I'm not worried about how I'm playing, I'm thinking how can I make the players around me better,” he said. “I'm not being so internal and am just worrying about what I can do to help my team get a win and get the result I want. That's all I'm doing. I'm just staying focused.”
The change has been noticeable.
“We've always preached 'play quicker, think quicker,' ” Sarachan said. “And I think he's beginning to think quicker and not just react but anticipate, and that comes with experience. It's starting to show where he's a little but ahead of the game in terms of the next play. ... Part of the improvement is whomever you're paired with [in central defense], you're still going to take care of your own business, but also cover for the next guy and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the players around you.”
Are we seeing the best of Gonzalez?
“I think there's more for Omar,” Arena said. “He's playing well, but I'm a very selfish person. I want more.”
