2007 FCTP MLS Rookie of the Week...Week 12...

I am going to dedicate this Rookie of the Week award to Alexi Lalas. You'll know why soon.

Week 12...190 MLS players took the field. 7% were rookies. Of those rookies 62% started their match and 54% finished a complete game. Once again, the list of starters and complete gamers is getting somewhat predictable. If you're going to pick a rookie of the year thus far, they would be on the complete gamer list.

Complete Game:
Michael Harrington (2)
Andrew Boyens
Maurice Edu
Adam Cristman
Wells Thompson
Ty Harden

Starter:
Robbie Findley

Substitutes:
Corey Ashe (2)
Kurt Morsink
Gary Flood
Guy-Roland Kpene

When I saw the highlights of the RSL - DC match I made up my mind. I said to myself, "even if Adam Cristman scored a hat trick this week, Robbie Findley is my ROTW." Why? Read my last blog post. Findley gets traded out of La La Land where GM Lalas has gone through a hysterical period during which he has destroyed one of the better franchises in MLS. Findley comes to his new team and gets them their first win of the season by scoring two goals. Findley could have been helping LA to get out of the Western Conference basement...now he is going to do his best to keep them there. Cheers to Robbie Findley for not letting a trade to Utah get him down. If I had been traded to SLC, I might have retired. Instead, Findley goes and shows the league he isn't going to lose the Rookie of the Year award without a fight. His pace and finishing ability are now known to all. Let's see where he can go from here.

Alexi, your ship is sinking with or without HMS Beckham.

MLS Rookie Sent to Salt Lake City for Veteran...

By now you have all heard about the trade sending two young prospects from LA to SLC for an old veteran. This one leaves me scratching my head big time if I'm a Gals fan, and dancing in the streets is I am a RSL fan. Why? Simple. Chris Klein is in the last years of a productive career while Rookie Robbie Findley and second year player Nathan Sturgis are just starting on what could be successful MLS careers.

The only way I can rationalize this trade if I am Alexi Lalas is that...wait...I can't rationalize this move. I'm giving up two young guns in favor of an old guy with not a lot of tricks left in the bag. I've read some people rationalize that LA can use Klein in a central midfield role as opposed to on the wing where he's been playing for the past few years. However, Findley has been showing his ability to run defenders ragged on the wing similar to another Gal who is retiring this season...Cobi Jones. Maybe Lalas is looking for Beckham cover realizing that his mega signing is going to miss a fair number of Galaxy games. Who knows...I am really, really baffled by this one.

Trading Sturgis is another huge question mark. He is a Generation Adidas player so his large contract does not count on LA's salary cap. He has played in each of LA's games so far this season. He plays well as a defensive midfielder and defender. True, the Gal's just got Abel Xavier but in one year LA has traded away the core of a defensive unit that used to be good (Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall & Nathan Sturgis). I don't see how 1-3 equals a positive in Lalas' mind. The Gals certainly have a lot of faith in a young back line. The median age of their defensive unit is 24 years old while the average MLS experience is 2 years. Removing Sturgis actually improves the median age but it certainly drains the potential pool.

Findley is the same thing and I suspect the Galaxy decided he was expendable with the signing of Edson Buddle and Carlos Pavon. While I don't agree with the choice, I can at least see the rationale. Findley has shown skills but is unproven. However, the only thing Buddle has proven is that he doesn't have a good work ethic and can waste a ton of potential. Pavon is new to MLS so the jury is out.

Let's not kid ourselves, the Galaxy are having a ton of issues ahead of the impending media circus that will arrive with David Beckham. However, these trades look more like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic then moves that will help the cause. I would rather have seen the Galaxy hold on to their young talent in the hopes that Becks could have made a positive impact on their young careers. Now the Galaxy have another new player to integrate into their system, which takes time.

I think it is obvious by my post thus far that I think RSL made out like a bandit on this one. RSL have all but thrown this season out the window and are giving Kreis the opportunity to build a team he likes. This move gives him two solid youngsters who have the ability to become some of the top talent in MLS over the coming years. I'm glad to see RSL invest in their future as opposed to searching for results now.

I fear this LA is searching for immediate results and I just don't see how that is going to work out for them at this point. It should be interesting to see how long Alexi and Yallop are allowed to screw around with the team in this manner before AEG decides to make a change in the front office.

***EDIT***
Since I posted this today, I came across the following quote from Galaxy player Santino Quaranta in a blog post of Steven Goff's.

"They're trading everybody, man," he said. "It's a panic. I'm not sure Frank and Alexi are on the same page. It's a bad situation right now."

Deck chairs my friends...deck chairs. It appears Lalas' Super Club is in total disarray. How is this going to affect Beckham's arrival?

2007 FCTP MLS Rookie of the Week...Week 11...

With the Gold Cup in full swing many MLS teams have lost their top senior players to international call ups. This will continue for another month as the US team is going straight from the Gold Cup into Copa America. A busy summer to be sure. I was thinking that MLS teams would turn to their rookies even more this week, however it seems for the most part that the same rookies are getting playing time and that the MLS teams turned to other bench players as much as rookies.

This week MLS saw 190 players take the field, 8% of whom were rookies. 60% of the rookies started their games and 47% played a complete game. This week we saw some nice goals from rookies in Toronto, DC and New England. So let's see who played.

Complete games:
Andrew Boyens
Maurice Edu
Ty Harden
Adam Cristman
Wells Thompson
Bakary Soumare
Michael Harrington

Starters:
Dane Richards
Nick LaBrocca

Substitutes:
Joey Melo
Gabe Gala
Robbie Findley
Jerson Monteiro
Kurt Morsink
Sinisa Ubiparipovic

Bold players saw their first MLS action of the season this week.

First off, I'm not going to do this every week but this week I am going to single out the anti-rookie of the week. For my money, it was Nick LaBrocca. No offense to Nick, but he didn't look like he should have been out there. The Rapids were missing Pablo Mastroeni and Kyle Beckerman so there was a hole to be filled, but I have a hard time believing the combination of Jovan Kirovski and Nick LaBrocca was the answer to fill in for them. Certainly Daniel Wasson and Jose Cancela were looking better in practice then this combo. Thankfully for us Rapids fans Beckerman is available this weekend...LaBrocca still has a lot to learn.

Now down to the players who played well. As you all know by now, I tend to look exclusively at those who played a complete game for this award. While Dane Richards did look dangerous and tally his third assist of the season, I think we need to look at Toronto and New England for the finalists this week. First lets go to the Great White North and BMO Field. Toronto completely demolished league best FC Dallas. Boyens and Edu surely earned honorable mention for holding FCD to a clean sheet. Edu even got on the scorers sheet first for his team. However, my money this week is on Adam Cristman who is filling in for Taylor Twellman during the Gold Cup. New England fans should feel safe with Cristman taking shots on goal. True, Will Hesmer really sucked in goal and a better keeper would have saved Cristman's first goal...but not his second. That was quality finishing in any league and most keepers wouldn't have gotten to that upper 90 blast. Cristman not only gets the credit for the finish, but how about the 50/50 ball he won to set up Noonan's run that led to his goal? That was what you need out of a strong forward.

Congrats to Adam Cristman this week, winner of his third FCTP ROTW award.

U-20 World Cup is Upon Us...

This entire year I've been more excited about the U-20 World Cup then I have the Gold Cup or Copa America. I guess that is the kind of guy I am. I am disappointed to say I won't be able to see much of either event because I am going to be in Minnesota on a Lake without cable television during the majority of the remaining US Soccer events. I also don't get GOLtv despite paying a ton of money for digital cable, thank you Comcast.

Today Thomas Rongen announced his roster. 21 U-20 players will head to a pre-tournament camp this weekend and their first match in Canada is June 30th against South Korea. Seven of the players are college players and depending on their play in the tournament they could skip the fall college season if the right professional team comes calling. I hope MLS will be included in that group as I think the college kids on this team are some of the most exciting prospects the US has seen. However, foreign clubs use this event as a shopping market of young talent. A good performance in Canada will mean big money for the top talent from around the world.

You can check the above link and announcement for the entire roster. The college players follow:
Brian Perk - GK - UCLA
Steve Sandbo - GK - SMU
Tony Beltran - D - UCLA
Ofori Sarkodie - D - Indiana University
Julian Valentin - D - Wake Forest
Andre Akpan - F - Harvard
Sal Zizzo - F - UCLA

The college kids are certainly at a disadvantage to their professional teammates as they are coming off a short spring season and maybe some PDL time while the MLS pros are coming off 10 weeks of full time soccer and the Euro pros are coming off a full season. It will be interesting to see how coach Rongen integrates the professionals and the non-professionals. They're all going to be at different fitness levels.

Keep an eye on these kids, they're our future pros.

2007 FCTP MLS Rookie of the Week...Week 10...

This week I am uninspired. Maybe it is because I am tired...maybe it is because only 13 rookies saw playing time. I don't know, but I feel like the LA Galaxy must as they wait in desperation for David Beckham's arrival. Personally, I think Alexi Lalas is more interested in Posh's new "reality" show...but no matter. He'll be here soon. Fear not LA. Until his arrival it appears your offense relies on one man...Landon Donovan. I believe (please don't quote me on this because I got the stat from a MLS commentator during a match) that this weekend was the first goal scored by the Gals without Landycakes' participation (read goal or assist). Congrats LA, you're screwed until late July when Beck's and Landy join/rejoin your team (sooner if Landy decides not to go south for the Copa America).

So, who played? 12 rookies (7% of the MLS players to take the field in Week 10).

Complete gamers:
Dane Richards
Robbie Findley
Ty Harden
Bakary Soumare
Maurice Edu
Andrew Boyens
Dane Richards (second game)

Started:
All rookies who started finished a complete game. Good work!

Subs:
Corey Ashe
Mike Banner
Jerson Monteiro
Corey Ashe (second game)
Omar Cummings

Bold = first MLS appearance

One positive for the Gals...Robbie Findley. The former Oregon State Beaver continues to run tirelessly just like Cobi once did and he got the only goal for LA against FC Dallas this weekend. If the Gals could play more like they did in the lead up to the goal, they wouldn't need Becks or Landy...but they can't. I am going to give Findley the rookie of the week award this week. Not just because he got the goal, but more because I feel sorry for he and his team. They are working hard and all they have to look forward to is Beckham's arrival and the circus their lives will become. On the goal, Robbie didn't do much but put in a rebound, but that is what goal scorers do. They put themselves in the right place to score no matter what the circumstanes. I'm sure Findley would have liked to dribble from midfield while splitting and sprinting past defenders al la Lionel Messi, but that doesn't always happen. Either way, Findley got the goal and the Week 10 ROTW.

2007 MLS FCTP Rookie of the Week...Week 9...

Well folks, we hit a milestone of sorts this week. 10% of the players to step on the field were rookies. That is the first time we have hit that number in 2007. Congrats youngsters. You're taking over the league. Ok, not quite yet but it is an impressive mile stone.

Rookies are continuing to win starting places. After seeing some of the performances over the past weeks I am starting to think this could be one of the most productive draft classes in MLS history. One third of the way through the season and 69% of the first round players have logged playing time in the league. Many of them have significant playing time.

So let's see who played a complete game this week:
Andrew Boyens
Maurice Edu
Dane Richards
Michael Harrington
Ty Harden
Bakary Soumare

Many of the usual suspects at this point, with the exception of Bakary Soumare who earned his first league start.

Starters:
Adam Cristman
Jeff Curtin

The rest:
Jerson Monteiro
Corey Ashe
Robbie Findley
Guy-Roland Kpene
Kurt Morsink
Sinisa Ubiparipovic
Wells Thompson
Gabe Gala
Omar Cummings

Players in bold saw their first MLS action this weekend.

This week my Rookie of the Week is Bakary Soumare. His first start was also Chicago's first win in a long time, and I don't think that was a coincidence. His play on the defensive end of the field solidified things enough so the attack could do their job. His strong tackles and good positioning helped Chicago right their sinking ship...this week. I'm not saying the young defensive team was the best...they did give up 18 total shots making Matt Pickens do a lot of work. Dasan Robinson, Jeff Curtin and Soumare showed this week they can play and as the season wears on I have a feeling we'll be seeing better performances from Chicago based on these young players.

MLS Youth Teams...More Information...

Months ago we got word that MLS clubs would start fielding youth teams with the goal of one day having a proper club set up, but details have been slow to trickle out of league offices. This week we got word of some movement from my local club, the Colorado Rapids.

In my mind, a proper club set up is one where hundreds if not thousands of young soccer players, at the age of 10, 11 and 12, try to earn a spot in a professional club's academy system. This is what happens every year in Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain...most other soccer countries around the world. Great players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney certainly didn't pay hundreds of dollars a year to play for their local club. By the time they are 15 or 16 players are identified as future stars and they have a chance to earn a contract with their club. The national team doesn't have to do the work of developing this talent as currently happens in the US. The club invests in the player knowing that some day they will make a lot of money on a transfer or from that player's play on the field.

This is finally happening in the US. As noted in the article the Rapids have taken great steps forward, following the likes of Red Bull New York, DC United and a couple other MLS clubs. The Rapids have hired Brian Crookham as Director of Coaching for the Rapids Academy. Previously this job was handled by assistant coach John Murphy. As I'm sure you can imagine Murphy is a busy guy with his coaching responsibilities and he couldn't dedicate the time necessary to get a proper youth/academy set up off the ground. Now Crookham, who has a long history in Colorado youth soccer, will be tasked with getting the academy off the ground leaving Murphy to his primary coaching responsibilities. I think that is great.

Here is the other information nugget we got:

Beginning in June, the Rapids Academy will field U16 and U17 teams in the Rocky Mountain Division of the Super-Y League. Tryouts for the teams will be held on an invitation only basis. Players born in 1990, 1991 and 1992 will be eligible for these teams.

My interpretation is that the Rapids by inviting players onto the teams will be picking up the tab meaning that players of all walks of life will have a chance to impress...not just the privileged who can pay to play for Colorado Rush, Real Colorado and the like. That is great. Additionally MLS is now allowing clubs to identify talent and after two years of playing for youth teams they can join the senior club directly, skipping the draft.

There are over 100 clubs in the USL-Super Y league. It will be great to see the Rapids, the other MLS clubs, and the regional dominant youth clubs mixing it up. Hopefully this level of integration will lead to increased support of the MLS clubs. The Rocky Mountain division of the Super Y league will host teams from MLS clubs Kansas City and Real Salt Lake. In addition youth clubs in the area will enter teams. USL will also have a championship at the end of the season for the Super-Y league.

Great steps forward for MLS and US Soccer.