Seaton and Martin were both very good today. Porter had a quintessential Porter game; his athleticism was superior, but his crosses and contested shots went sailing. His two goals were both rolled in. Birnbaum I thought struggled in the first half with the ball at his feet. He sprayed probably 4 or 5 fairly easy passes directly out of bounds. His tackling seemed solid though. Francois came on late and didn't have the opportunity to do much since Pittsburgh was pushing at that point. He's definitely not afraid to dribble at people.
Patience my friend. This is year one of the relationship. And how can you say D.C. United young prospects and players down on the depth chart don't benefit from this? They are getting meaningful minutes in a competitive game. If you are worried about quality, most MLS teams have an affiliate and have sent players down, so the quality is only going to improve. This is process not a quick fix. It is going to take time before we can fully evaluate the effectiveness of this program. Although I would argue the successes are already visible if you really pay attention. This is like investing in a new product. You don't just down vote the whole program because maybe the profits weren't as high as you had hoped. Richmond dominated USL Pro last year thanks in part to a lot of D.C. United players. This year will be a little more interesting, because I expect guys like Martin, Seaton, Brinbaum, and Willis to be the main fulcrum on the team. Last year Seaton, Townsend, and certainly Dykstra played a role, but other guys like Joesph Ngwenya, Brian Ownby, and some others I can't really remember were more crucial members. This the D.C. United loaners will probably be expected to carry a lot of the weight. As mentioned here Seaton has looked like he is only getting better and better. Two goals in two games. Also, Colin Martin has exploded. Just look at this pass by Martin to set Davis IV in Richmond's the opener. I would even say that this hasn't benefited D.C. United already, especially considering Dykstra (who was a stud for Richmond last year) just posted a MLS shutout in 2014 after not playing in a MLS match since his rookie days with Chicago in 2010. Think about that for a second. Call it luck, but he said this in a post game interview, when asked about making his first MLS league start since 2010. "I honestly didn't really think much about [how long it'd been] since my last league appearance. It came up in a conversation before the game, but it wasn't something I'm thinking about," Dykstra said. "I've played a lot of games since I left Chicago, so I've been in a good rhythm, and I feel pretty confident about what I'm doing." That is a immediate impact and makes this whole endeavor completely worth it. These meaningful minutes keep our reserve players focused and they will be sharper stepping on to the field if they need to fill in. Sure City Stadium isn't RFK (although there is a chance the attendance could equal out soon), but it is all about getting a competitive game, playing a season, traveling with a team, learning from different coaches, and playing in front fans. If it weren't for Richmond players like Seaton, Martin, Porter, Dykstra, Willis, Caskey, and others would be sitting on the bench or maybe getting the occasional reserve match. And a lot of the times those were canceled anyway. Finally, you ask what is DC really gaining here? I ask, what is D.C. United really losing? The inconvenience of a drive from DC to Richmond. I-95 does suck, but that didn't stop Seaton from getting to RFK for a bit of the DC-NE game. Really the team doesn't really lose anything, except a couple of low salary players that would see limited action anyway. And they loan enough down to Richmond that they can recall them any time they are needed. Even if we only gain a little bit, we didn't give up anything to get it. That is worth it every time.
A lot of the MLS teams are in the reserve league but it doesn't appear to be mandatory. DC United isn't in it this year. If DC United were to participate fully in the reserve league, would players be getting better and more competitive playing time? I'm not so sure. A lot of the competition is NON-MLS teams from somewhere else, and a lot of these games get cancelled or re-scheduled at the last moment.
Pretty sure the reserve league is now just for teams with no USL affiliate to send players to. Either/Or.
What you say it great and I think in the future these types of relationships will be good. Foremost, to me, the players we send down are not good enough for an MLS roster, outside of Seaton (who is untested at the MLS level and may very well flop). Even Martin has shown that he just isn't ready. So what I was saying is that for now, the relationship does little to nothing for us, and will continue to do so until we have a roster of 18-24 players that are relatively competent for this league. When that happens, the guys we're sending down are realistic depth instead of Kyle Porter. It may be that they help grow a Martin or Jeffrey or whomever in the future, but until that happens, it's a project in it's nascent phase of development that hasn't proven itself truly useful to the club (it does in theory but not practice). I'm not disregarding it wholesale, just for the next year or two at least.
That makes no sense Shammy ... Do you check your 401K the day after you enroll and decide it was a stupid idea because you can't retire yet? This relationship is only in it's second year. You point to Seaton and Martin not being ready as some sort of proof of failure? Dude ... those guys are teenagers. You need to give something like this about 10 years to really get a fuller picture of whether it has any benefits or not. Considering the alternative is just simply that these guys don't get to play ... I'm not sure exactly what better option you're promoting. I also think you misunderstand the whole point of the program. This isn't an academy program designed to develop stars. We already have in house youth academies for that. Developing players is just one aspect of this loan program. Really I think the point is mainly to keep the low roster players somewhat fit and sharp so when they have to step in like Dykstra did they won't be totally rusty. Also it's just another way of monitoring these guys in real game situations instead of only seeing them in a practice environment.
Who said anything about failure? I don't think it's failed. All I have said is that it hasn't done anything yet to benefit DC United. Keeping Dykstra "sharp" and incubating Seaton aren't even really proven positives either. So for right now, it's not a failure, nor is it a success. It's just some random thing DC is involved with that could be good some day but for now is largely irrelevant.
So what's your alternative? Bottom roster players should just go to practice and keep the bench warm? How exactly does that have higher odds of success? I'm not sure what your point is other than just criticizing for the sake of criticizing.
Keep sending guys to Richmond, but there is absolutely nothing to read from performances there. If guys get sent down, it's because they are third or lower in the depth chart for their position and with our roster, that is extremely low. That's it. The lower leagues of the US serve 1.5 purposes right now: 1) to set up clubs for expansion and 1.5) to help a few guys not in MLS retain fitness or arrive at a 'lower level MLS quality of play.' It's like saying "don't read to much into getting beaten down by Columbus or beating up New England since they represent the top and bottom of the league." If we fall somewhere in the 4-9 spot, it'll take games against middle teams to figure that out.
You do realize that loaning players down into lower divisions is pretty common practice in many leagues all over the world. It's not like MLS pulled this concept out of their asses. The fact that it's a lower quality opportunity for lower quality players is exactly the point. If these players were amazing today they wouldn't be getting lent out. Maybe 90% of them never improve ... who knows. But very few teams around the world have 30 starters on their roster. You need something for those bottom roster players to do otherwise they get absolutely zero game experience. I'm still waiting for you to explain to me how that is better for anyone
I'm not saying what you think I am saying. What I am saying relates to the analysis of players (specifically DC players) sent down and their performances when there, rather than the efficacy of sending players down to a lower league to stay sharp. That other leagues around the world send players to lower leagues is irrelevant, well beyond their having a real developed system that we don't have. Let's not forget that one team went bankrupt recently also, another is becoming an expansion team and a third is trying to be one (Sacramento). It's a system in turmoil and the immediate benefits are minimal. That's literally all I am saying. It's not even a big insult to the USL Pro or anything.
I understand the point that USL/NASL teams are typically below the MLS level of play. However, the alternative of simply getting practice time rather than game time is a waste of resources. Most players, especially young ones (by US standards), need to get as many realtime touches and game experience as possible. Given that the system has only been in place two years and we've only sent a handful of players down, what returns are you expecting to see in such a limited amount of time? I believe Martin, Robinson, Birnbaum, and Seaton could very well end up being useful by season's end, but they won't get to that level simply by watching the games from the sidelines. They also won't get it in another round of baptism by fire. They need to at least get their feet wet before we throw them in to the deep end of the pool.
The "SYSTEM" has been in place for more than a decade. And it has worked. Namoff was a so-so player on DC United when he first came. The coaches sent him down to Richmond for a season or so. When he came back he was top level and even on the National Team for a few games.
Not sure what system or what turmoil you're talking about here. The teams and (suspect/********ed-up/stupid) league issues you have brought up are NASL, MLS deals are with USL, they're not related. Some teams (like DCUnited) have had informal relationships for years with a USL team. The current "system" has made it more formal which makes the USL teams feel better about it, for 2 or 3 years.
Richmond lost to Charlotte, 2-1 yesterday. Seaton scored Richmond's only goal, assisted by Francois. Kemp and Martin also played for the Kickers.
It was quite possibly the simplest goal ever. Francois sent a cross from about 10 yards from the end line and it drifted to the crossbar. Charlottes keeper had it, dropped it either running into the crossbar or falling into the goal (couldn't really tell on the feed). Seaton apparently touched it in from there. He honestly could have had another one or two but poor finishing put it right at the keeper with not a ton of power each time. Martin was good in the first half but seemed to fade in the second (in fairness most of the team did). Kemp did exactly what you would expect, good work up the flanks and dangerous crosses, but a few moments on defense that really scares you. And of course a right foot that is for balance only.
Putting this here because I don't know where else it goes -- Has DCU released Shanosky? He's not playing in Richmond, not even listed on their roster and he's not in the 18 for DCU. Or has he taken over the "Alam position" at DCU?
He's in Chad Ashton's basement, being turned into a robo-player, a back-post-run machine as it were. Curious......
Is Shanosky cleared to play yet? I didnt think his wrist or hand or whatever it was that broke would keep him out, but maybe there is something more to it. Kemp wasn't rostered in Richmond until this week, so I wouldn't read into that.