Guy got offered $100,000 to play for the best club in MLS and learn from Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle and he turned it down to go back to school!?!?! I'm sorry but thats just beyond stupid. You can always go back to college. He's going to seriously regret that decision.
I'm not sure that the decision is LAG vs school. It's MLS now - or Europe later. Later, might not be after the 2012 fall season - but could be later this summer. Additionally, signing with MLS also means a "long-term" obligation (3, 4, 5 years). It wouldn't necessarily be his choice to go to Europe during his contract which could cost him more over this term than being patient. Zardes is not ready for MLS - but signing him to a HG contract would help quicken his development. He's got the physique and athleticism, but he is very raw technically. I wouldn't be surprised to see his advisers reconsider unless they have a firm offer overseas. My advice would be take the LAG money and get to work.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/sports/csub/x1997184131/MLS-can-wait-Zardes-coming-back-to-CSUB Stupid.
Indeed. Here's what I wrote on this on the Zardes thread on the YNT board. What a self-serving crock of shit from the college coach. Here's the link to the original article in question. http://www.bakersfield.com/news/spor...g-back-to-CSUB First off, since when did David Beckham play forward? Second, Robbie Keane is going to miss a chunk of the season because of the Euro. Third, the Galaxy will have a LOT of games this year between CONCACAF CCL (both this edition and the next, which starts in the summer), the league, the USOC and any friendlies. Donovan (and perhaps Buddle) has WC Qualifying. Beckham likely has the Olympics. And that's before injuries and suspensions. There will be PLENTY of times when Bruce doesn't have his preferred Best XI, thus creating ample chances for the reserves. Fourth, does Tobin really believe that training with and against college players whom Zardes is already better than will enhance his development more than training alongside and against guys like Donovan, Beckham, Keane, Buddle, Dunivant, Gonzalez (when healthy) and the rest of the Galaxy backline. Hell, with the exception of Leonardo, the Galaxy defenders were all All Americans as college players and went in the first or second round the draft. Ergo, they were among the best college players in the country when they were in school and now they'r even better after their pro and international experience. Does Tobin really think Zardes is going to improve more going against players not nearly as good as the Galaxy's backline in training and games? Please. Fifth - Bruce Arena/Dave Sarachan/Curt Onalfo/Jovan Korovski or Simon Tobin? Which coaching staff do you think has more to offer you in terms of pro development? Other than a loony GK with a drug habit (Josh Wicks), what MLS player has come out of Cal State Bakersfield? Sixth, anytime someone says "it's not about the money," it's about THE MONEY. And anyone who thinks Zardes wouldn't have come out if the money was higher is naive. Also naive is Tobin and Zardes thinking they'll get more money from MLS next season, as explained in previous posts. There's just no precedent to suggest that's gonna happen. This sounds to me like Tobin has taken a page from UConn's Ray Reid and put his own interests ahead of his star player's and sold Zardes a bill of goods that he's "better off" coming back to school than signing with the Galaxy.
From Top Drawer Soccer: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-latest-news/nid-23881
Looks like Zardes is back at it. Six goals in four PDL appearances to date for VC Fusion, including a hat trick against a strong opponent today.
Dude is wasting his time. I wonder if he looks at the Galaxy's box scores and sees Buddle hurt and Keane away and Barrett struggling and realizes he'd likely be playing significant minutes for LA this year had he signed.
Saw two Galaxy matches while I was in Cali and Chad Barrett is absolutely terrible. This Zardes guy is wasting his time, and he's wasting money.
Are you guys joking? You're bashing a kid for getting an education? Look at all the guys who signed GA or left early... Most of them don't make it. I bet guys like Will John, Quavas Kirk, Ciaran OBrien, Jaime Watson, David Arvizu, and Abdus Ibrahim are living it up on their GA deal while muddling in soccer oblivion. I'm sure Peri Marosevic wishes he could fall back on a degree from a Michigan since his career has been a bust. Even the guy you think should be replaced by Zardes - Barrett - is one of those GA prodigies. All of these guys did not Finish their degrees and Taylor Twellman has already taken the "I didnt get my degree so I'll announce" position. So is it really worth leaving early? This is like the NBA all over again, except were luring kids to leave early with 300k in the hopes that they can secure one of the few legit pro contracts in the MLS. And most of those are going to washed up foreigners! So what's the outlook on a 10-15 year pro MLS player who ends up making on average 90k a year and doesn't have a degree? What's he gonna do when hes 33?
Not going to waste too much time on your post, but the obvious thing that any player can do is save up and finish school on his own dime once his playing career ends. And in a case like Zardes, if it's a choice between a $100K pro contract and a $10K scholarship, it's pretty much a no-brainer.
Also posted at Youth National teams forum: New article: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jul/20/fusions-zardes-has-potential-to-be-international/ He had an assist on GW as VC Fusion beat the Timbers U23s 1-0 in PDL playoffs this evening.
Poor Taylor Twellman announcing soccer games for a living. I mean damn, I'm so happy I'm not stuck in that job! You can only play pro soccer until you're ~35, maybe shorter, maybe longer. You can go to college until you stop breathing. So if you're throwing away good money to stay amateur IMO thats stupid. It's one thing if you're 16 and maybe not ready. But if a pro club is offering you money to play soccer and you are 20 years old you're being stupid.
Saw him play in the 2 PDL games this past weekend and i totally agree with your assessment of his ability. He is big and fast but very unpolished technically. Have never seen him play before so don't know if what i saw was typical. Sounder defenders who matched up against him said similar things....he's OK just big and fast.
How did the other college players in those games look? Anybody who looked better (or worse than expected)?
So at the risk of beating a dead horse, does anyone else think it's ironic that this guy came back for this college season and it's over before the Galaxy's season?
So here are the games Zardes has played in PDL and NCAA versus what he could have played if he signed with the Galaxy. (I don't count spring games or pre-season games). Zardes played in 7 PDL regular season games (8 goals, 1 assist), 2 PDL playoff games (1 assist) and 17 college games (15 goals, 9 assists). In 2012 LA has played 34 regular season games, 4 (+ 1 and likely 2 more) playoff games, 6 CONCACAF Champions League games,1 US Open Cup game and friendlies against Tottenham and Real Madrid. That's more than twice as many games Zardes could have played in. Meanwhile, by coming back, has he helped his stock? No. Granted, he likely hasn't hurt it much but he's certainly not more of a commodity and able to command a higher salary than he was a year ago. Yes, he's two semesters closer to a degree and that does matter. But, as noted previously in this thread, he could have easily transferred to the Cal State school where the Galaxy train and gone to school part-time there. He likely wouldn't have been as far along in his degree because of the demands of being a pro athlete, but if it was that important to him, he still could be working towards it. But as a player, he's no better and odds are he'd be much better today if he'd spent 2012 playing with the Galaxy. He'd also have a lot more money in his pocket and be closer to earning his second contract, which is usually wear the best chance for a pay-day comes for MLS players. It was a baffling decision when he decided to return and it looks even worse now that he didn't improve upon his personal success and the team did worse and their season ended before the Galaxy's.
But isn't it more realistic to assume most of his time would have been in the reserves this season, which would have equated to about 8 games played?
I don't think so. Buddle missed a lot of time. Keane missed time with the Euros. Donovan has had injury issues and national team commitments. Before he was jettisoned to Sweden, Chad Barrett played in 18 regular season games for the Galaxy. Pat Noonan and Adam Cristman started games at forward for LA this year. Adam Cristman! And that's just MLS. In CONCACAF, Jack McBean and Jose Villareal got starts at forward. I'm not saying he wouldn't have spent some time in the reserves and maybe he'd have struggled for minutes. But Bruce Arena is never shy about giving games to kids who have earned the minutes in training and I'd like to think someone with Zardes' promise could at least match what a Chad Barrett offers. But even if he didn't play, he'd still have the experience from playing against great talent in practice and being coaches by the best American coach ever. That will make you better. And he'd have made 100K and be a year closer to free agency.
Hard to figure out how waiting a year helped him in any way. I think starting on the college path is better for all but the bluest of blue chips (or those that can't get into college), but when you are in his situation, it is hard to see why you'd want to stay there for so long. I think he could have easily picked up classes from CSDH and he could have walked there from the locker room.
I can't view this at work. Is this the same interview in which, when asked what he wanted to LAG fans to know about him he answered, "You're gonna love my skill"?