Junior Flores coming to MLS rumor (Goff is pretty connected) Getting word US's Junior Flores agreed to 3-year MLS deal. Leaving @BVB 2. Unclear if he'll arrive soon or summer. Club tbd. Crew top option— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) January 2, 2017
Could be a nice pickup. Perhaps he could have the impact of say...................Lletget. Sometimes these youngsters get "stuck" in the reserves at a "big" Euro club that ceases to be interested in their development. People think of Dortmund as a club that advances young players, which they do. However, we've had a long history of our kids getting "stuck" there (Gyau, Boyd, and Flores are just the recent examples.) Pulisic has been the exception....................
I'm really curious to see how Flores does in MLS. There's been very little material that we can use to gauge his actual level at this point.
They advance you if you are good enough. And Gyau was getting close prior to his knee injury--he even scored an appearance in 2014. By the way, does anyone have an update on this guy? Is he moving to MLS or a BII team or just hanging out with his friends in Dortmund?
He came of the bench a couple of weeks ago for BVB II. Easing back in. It appears he's currently back in the States over the break working out with his sister (who plays at Duke).
Truth is, neither England nor the USA are that big in soccer. Even Uruguay, for all its has-been status, has achieved a lot more of late than the English. And we're going through a rough patch.
Source: Swiss club Young Boys monitoring RBNY's Tyler Adams. Coach Adi Hutter is ex-RB Salzburg club coach,Alain Rochat exMLS player at club— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) January 4, 2017
EPB is back in SKC On central defender, Vermes said, "We feel very good in that area of the field." Said the plan is for EPB "to go win a spot." #SportingKC— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) January 4, 2017
Mike Magee has all-but-announced his retirement. @LAGalaxy @MLS @ChicagoFire @NewYorkRedBulls The last 14 years will keep a smile on my face forever #ThankYou— Mike Magee (@magee18) January 4, 2017 A good question from Brian Sciaretta: Question for followers: Where does Mike Magee rank among American players to never play for the #usmnt?— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) January 4, 2017 Surely top 5.................
Hmmm... Tally Hall, Justin Braun, Todd Dunivant, Jack Jewsbury, Daniel Hernández, Roger Levesque, Mike Chabala, Dan Kennedy, and the Farfan brothers (not retired yet, but come on, not going to happen). Yep, Mike is close to the top.
Actually, a name that comes to my mind is Ned Grabavoy. Below Magee's name, IMO, but a legit contender for a high spot. I mean, it's not exactly going to be a list of all-time superstars. The bar of entry for a senior cap with the US national team is pretty high, is a much higher bar than that of "professional footballer," but all things considered, not that high...
The number of average world-stage players that MLS is signing to DP contracts this transfer period don't speak well of the promising young American talent in the league.
Or it just says that they have money, so they're spending money. And players are valued more highly in Europe coming from the continent or SA, plus have more freedom of movement, therefore they can leverage bigger deals. Americans are coming from colleges, high schools, and inside MLS without deserved nt opportunities to showcase them while the previous coach was in charge. Phony USS fan... Hiding behind the unknown of how overlooked, especially MLS players, won't last for much longer.
Just wait until they start scouting South America like the Mexicans do. The Liga MX final had 9 Mexicans starting, and 12 South Americans (and 1 European).
Maybe this is just me, but I think bringing in so many South Americans (and Central Americans) is just as bad as bringing in Europeans. I don't care if MLS gets a little better. Until it can get a lot better, which revolves around the salary cap being lifted, I want as many American players having more of a chance for playing time.
It's a fair perspective but the challenge is that by having a league that is meaningfully below World Cup levels, it's quite hard to see who has the ability to step up. Performance in MLS isn't a great predictor for WC success IMO as the speed and talent are totally different, particularly on offense.
Rapid league expansion means a higher percentage of foreign players, as the pool of quality domestic players isn't large enough to meet demand.