How does one describe Geoff Cameron’s footballing talents? Easy, he is what he is, the most versatile player in the entire league. There is no other man of his qualities who can play center back one week, wing middie a few days later in international play and defensive midfielder the next Saturday in domestic league play.

Geoff Cameron made his Houston Dynamo debut in front of family and friends when Houston opened up the 2008 season against MLS Cup Final rivals New England. His first start for Houston was when he was one of Dom’s First XI versus FC Dallas the following week. He would become the Dynamo hero to many that day as it was his spontaneous late equalizer from the top of the 18 that knotted the match at 3 goals a piece and kept the now historical fact that Dallas has never won in Houston secure. Where as the Dynamo have not only won in Dallas’s home ground but won the club’s first ever trophy on Dallas’s home ground. Geoff Cameron’s rookie season was one to remember not only for the important equalizer against Dallas but his role as a “can do” type of man for Dom’s plan for the team.

The term utility player is used in our U.S. sports mad culture for a player that can play multiple positions. However, as pro men’s soccer is set up, there are multiple competitions that often need to be played out over the course of the domestic league season. Thus, utility guys are actually more common than in the other sports. Houston Dynamo have had the dual nature of league and cup form to keep up, nothing new to this club. This duality can be a blessing and a curse for a head coach and his back room staff. For Dominic Kinnear and his staff there is the league form to keep at, there are international call ups and there are the Cup fixtures that have to be calculated in when selecting the Starting XI. This is exactly where a player in the mold of Geoff Cameron comes in extremely handy. In 2008, Geoff was given the opportunity to start for Houston in the CONCACAF Champions League group fixtures and he did not disappoint his coach or fans in his play. He started 4 of 6 matches in the group stage and earned an assist in the landmark 4-4 tie down in Mexico City versus UNAM Pumas. His play on the right wing allowed the El Naranja warrior that is Brian Mullan the time to recover during the congested fixture schedule of ’08. Not only did Geoff cover the right mid in ’08 but he slotted in at defensive mid at times last season and Dom, perhaps seeing into a future for the Dynamo when defensive cover would be at a premium, sent Geoff into the back line here and there. This versatility would quickly become Geoff’s greatest asset to the team heading into the ’09 campaign.

What Geoff Cameron brings to the table is a solid man of 6-3 height, who is crafty with the ball at his feet, gets his head up to see the other 21 on the field, is deft at getting past his defender, knows how to defend in a back line and is dedicated to getting stuck in when the occasion calls for it. Dom landed Geoff with a third round pick, and now Geoff has parleyed the playing time from ’08 into the guile Centerback, filling in for the rock of a defender in Eddie Robinson, and demonstrating to the league that there is no position he is not willing to excel at.

Supporters of the Dynamo have taken notice of the skills Geoff Cameron brings to the table and there are many calls from all corners of the Rob for Geoff to be slotted in his more preferred role as a wide midfielder. Looking from the outside it appears that with the additions of Julius James and Andrew Hainault the back line is secure in rank and quality, thus the Dynamo fans can be excused for thinking that it is now time for Geoff to be rightfully slotted in the mid for the rest of the ’09 campaign. However, it is Geoff’s quality and growing fortitude as a Centerback that is making any move almost counter productive to the overall team’s success. Sure there are quality defenders not named Robinson and Boswell that are available for Dom’s selection but it is a tremendous credit to the second year player in that no one is at the moment able to replicate Geoff’s success at pairing with Boswell at the center of the Houston defense.

Most coaches, if honest with you, will tell you that they love to have the toughest decisions to make when the Starting XI has to be filled out. This scenario usually means quality footballers up and down the roster and usually an atmosphere among the men on the team that no specific player can rest on his laurels as there is someone there pushing him for clock on the field. This is an additional trait that a utility player like Geoff Cameron brings to the table for a coach like Dom. Dom is able to adjust on the fly to the international call ups that are around the corner in June and as well dips in form or just plain old soccer knocks that will be picked up over the course of a pro season with a can do man like Cameron.

Looking ahead in ’09, Houston fans again will most likely see Brian Ching being called up for Hex qualifiers against Costa Rica and Honduras in June and as well the very likely scenario where any combination of Ching, Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden can be called up over the summer for the Confederations Cup in June and Gold Cup in July. There very well could be a formation where Geoff Cameron does indeed get moved to a starting role at midfield…but not at right half like many would want to see but as a cover defensive mid for Ricardo if he is called away to international duty. If a Houston midfield of Davis on the left, Mully on the right and Stuie paring with Cameron in the middle does not get your Dynamo engine running then you might need to pull in for a pit stop. Indeed, if given the green light at D-mid, Geoff Cameron might again turn up at yet another position on the field in ’09 and prove once more how versatile of a teammate he is to his buddies. Cameron reminds this writer of the guy in the neighborhood many of us knew when young who would turn up to play whatever sport everyone else wanted to play that day and at whatever time folks wanted to show up. He’s the kind of athlete that will tell you “if there is grass on the field then let’s play some ball!” The man oozes the can do attitude found in Houston’s culture and Dynamo fans are spot on for celebrating his play.