Oliver Ocean .. the right thing ? Why should MLS keep him? How much can he be better than our young Nats ? Why should we develop a guy who will later post threat to our national team at a cost of a young american forward.
Moved to MLS News and Analysis as this is not a metro topic, it's a league one. As to the point of the thread, I don't think he will "threaten" the development of the US National team. If MLS can stomach Carlos Ruiz and to a lesser extent Luis Hernadez, a rookie making a squad as the 4th forward shouldn't be a major issue of patriotism. I think most MLS teams to try to grow young American players into national team regulars. DC grew Convey. SJ grew Donovan. Chicago grew Boca, Armas, Wolff, etc. Metro grew Howard, (arguably Mathis) and are currently growing Magee, Clark, Gaven, Bradley and to a much lesser extent Woly. I don't quite understand being this paranoid about one canadian rookie, who was not very highly touted to begin with. The closest you could get to a legitimate arguement is Damani Ralph, and it's still a stretch. It's Major League Soccer, not Major League for US Interests only Soccer. At the end of the day, the better the competition, the better our players will become.
Re: Oliver Ocean .. the right thing ? So a team should sign a player over another player purely because one's American and the other isn't? What planet are you from?
The SI rules protect enough roster spots. P-40 and dev contracts make it so that younger americans dont even have to compete for roster spots. And to turn the logic around, dont you think its better that our young american defenders see the best competition MLS can provide, vs. artificially limiting it to Americans? Btw, Occean is apparently having a great camp at La Manga. He could be this years Damani Ralph. Finally, with expansion coming there will be even less roster pressure.
When he was not getting playing time with the Rapids I wanted him to come to Metro. Thought he was good when he played.
Is that a response to my Damani Ralph comment? I said that Occean MIGHT be this years Ralph not just because he was playing well in preseason, but one of his strong performances was against a team in the Champions League, one that had beat Arsenal. May not have been a full list of Dynamo Kiev's starters, but I think thats enough to get him flagged as a rookie to watch in my book. Shame that Schmidt quit early as well, but thems the breaks. If he decides to try again next year, Im sure he could get a trial somewhere after expansion.
Any reason you're specifically pointing out Occean, when you could have brought up other players that fit that description? Assuming you're serious, and based on that logic, should the Brits send back Howard, Friedel and Keller because they're occupying 3 goalie spots that could have gone to an Englishman?
yeh ******** you. Howard Friedel and Keller are all better than most english. that's my whole ********ing point. oliver occean isn't much better than our young players. if he is better than ours, i have no complain. my whole ********ing point is that i don't wanna give a way a roster spot to a guy who isn't gonna take our game to another level. ********ers.
When you're the coach, or your in charge of the league or a team, you can make decisions, if the coach thinks he's going to add something to the team that one of the US players isn't, then of course he should keep him. Get a clue.
Re: Oliver Ocean .. the right thing ? This is a common misunderstanding among new soccer fans. The national team and the national league are two separate things. The league's interest is to sign the best players within their rules and budget. Each team tries to get good players so that they can win more games and win more trophies. They don't care who the players are so long as they help the team win its league. The National team doesn't play a regular schedule, and is basically an "all-star" team of the best players from that nation. They compete for international trophies, the biggest of which are the World Cup and the various continental championships. It's sort of like basketball's "Dream Team." Basketball is a good place to point out...yes, the Dallas Mavericks having Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki playing and improving in the best basketball league in the world is gonna make it harder for the US to win the Olympic gold. But that's not Mark Cuban's problem. His mission is to win the NBA championship. I hope that clears it up for you.
because God forbid Metro pickup a good player...then we have to hear people find a reason to cry over it...i like the casey schmidt allusion, i would love for this kid to be a revelation for us, or Mikey Bradley for that matter to continue his strong play into the regular season, but its just preseason...relaaaax..
[r] Olivier Occean played a role in all 3 Metroscum goals against Dynamo Kiev. The 23yr old 6’1” 180lbs fwd, fmr Div2 1st team All American played for Southern Connecticut and is from Quebec.
He slipped through the cracks? Inefficient scouting? Late bloomer? Out of sight (playing college soccer in America), out of mind? It could be any number of things. I am sure Bradley will keep him on the roster if the coach believes he will help the team. That is all that should matter for Metro fans.
Now that is a good question, some Canada fans are wondering why he was not in Olympic qualifying. But only after seeing him do well in the La Manga thing, not before. Maybe noone thought that someone out of Southern Conneticut could help us, we had some young pros in not overly inspired clubs and they didn't. Even if he was considered, being in pre-season with a new club and eager to make a good show maybe was a reason not to call him right now for that tournament. The problem now is that his only options will be to play well in MLS and somehow get a call over our pros playing in much better squads (Radzinski, De Rosario, Peschisolido, even Hume, whose club is in England Div. 2, is just 20, and is still scoring crackers in the FA Cup). Might take a while for that to happen with just one home and away vs Belize and then semi finals in WCQ. I think the thread starter had a legit question, but maybe in the end whoever is scouting at Metrostars knows something neither we nor you knew about.
I dont see the problem.... I dont see the problem here, this guy along with Khari Stephenson from the Chicago Fire, seems to be the steal of the draft ( i.e. this years Damani Ralph )... Occean has been producing big time in La Manga in Spain and seems to be the kind of forward that the metro's dont have on their roster Woly - Big target goof Magee - classic poacher Gaven - target role, possibly midfield Occean seems to be the kinda player that likes to run at guys and create oppurtunities (think Jeff Cunningham/Edson Buddle) and that in my opinion is what metro's are missing now that Cletus is gone...kid could be a steal for cheap money so I dont see the problem with him being canadian Also, how big is this guy?
Well De Rosario is in the same league, so thats apples to apples. Yallop I recall saying that he values the players that are playing in MLS and the A-league, and wants to build that part of the Canadian program. And considering his background I think hes not going to overlook someone here just because a guy is in Europe.
He has one cap for Canada's U-23, gained On May 30, 2002. His profile from the CSA, where he is included in the U-23 Player pool. And Jeffrey, in fairness, there were one or two Canadian fans asking about his inclusion prior to La Manga (although after the MLS draft) when it became clear that both MC2 and Hume would not be available. http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/nationals/profile.asp?id=123&sub=2
The previous coach of the Canadian national team primarily used players that were playing in Europe. I think you'll see Frank Yallop bring more players into camp that are either playing in Canada or the US.
Occean played the last two PDL seasons for the Vermont Voltage. He was a fan favorite here, nicknamed "The Magic Man". Frankly, I have to admit that I'm astonished that he's doing so well, but it's cool to finally see a Voltage alum making it to MLS. Canadian or not.