What are your thoughts on Roberts, long term? Personally, I haven’t been impressed enough by him to think Bayern would take notice. I know he’s young and the sample size is small, but I haven’t seen eye popping quality that would give him a chance to crack BM
I am a big fan of Roberts but have to be honest and agree with you. He is still very young going up against full grown MLS guys but so far, he is just getting by. Nothing great, nothing terrible, but not making an impact. That is fine for now and I see BM, if he goes there, as a move by them betting he will come good in a few years. I could see him moving to the U19s at Bayern and working up from there if he can.
My opinion is that he’s a very inconsistent player. Some games he’ll look as good as Pomykal did at the same level years prior. Other games he’s invisible and doesn’t look like a top player in his age group.
Roberts is very young. He only turned 18 in May, and is still eligible for the FCD U19 Development Academy team. I need to see more against adult competition before really making any definitive statements. He can be dominant against kids his own age. Is he perhaps the same as Paxton Pomykal was two years ago? Maybe. I think Pax was a more developed two way player. So much so that FCD played Pax as a #6 at the Dallas Cup. A sturdy kid that was never afraid of a challenge or to get "stuck in." Thomas seems to have a more developed offensive game, has good vision, good technique..............but is underdeveloped physically. I'm not sure he's ready for routine first team playing time yet. He's the kind of player that could really benefit from seasoning and the experience of playing with Bayern U19s. With the rest of the FCD midfielders on their way back, Roberts will be back with the USL team anyway. If I gave you a choice between Blaine Ferri, Taylor Booth, and Thomas Roberts...……………..which one do you pick in terms of long-term development? We're probably going to be comparing/contrasting those three a lot over the next several years.
Blaine Ferri started on the U17 WC team. Roberts is not really in the same category as Ferri and Booth just yet. Ferri is quietly developing very well in Germany and has a higher ceiling. It would be in Robert's best interest to get to Bayern ASAP if that option is available just for the environment during these crucial years.
I would’ve said Pomykal over Booth a year ago. Now I’ll say Booth over Pomykal. Roberts comes in 3rd, Ferri 4th.
Oh yeah, you're right. So if you're Pepi you have two choices: 1) Play in USL over the next two years at a smaller salary 2) Play in MLS over the next two years at an higher salary. Danty Sealy signed an MLS contract, and is getting paid over $100k in guaranteed compensation. Pepi should command even a higher salary than that. To me this should be an easy one. As long as Pepi and his agents include a release clause if the contract extends to more than 2 years, this shouldn't really be an issue. Pepi and his family should do it ASAP.
Pepi officially signed to 1st team contract: It's OFFICIAL! @Ricardo_Pepi9 is the first player to sign with FC Dallas from @USLLeagueOne development pathway. #DTID 📰: https://t.co/QrwH7zY6TH pic.twitter.com/5M9Bo9vQW4— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) June 21, 2019
I imagine the standard 3 plus 2 options years. The key is the young players trusting that if Euro opportunities arise.............FCD will allow them to pursue em. Also a reminder that he was available to any MLS that could recruit him. He's not from FCD's "homegrown territory." This is FCD's 26th homegrown signing. I just tried to name them all, and I could only do 24. If you can do all 26 without cheating, you're doing better than me. "It's a new stage in my professional career." El Paso native and @FCDallasYouth Academy product @Ricardo_Pepi9 has officially signed with the first team: https://t.co/QrwH7zY6TH pic.twitter.com/EvBmnMdco9— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) June 21, 2019
Pepi had leverage in that he could leave on a free when he turned 18. I’d be surprised if it’s a 5 year deal unless he’s being paid extremely well.
MLS being MLS.............we'll never know We'll speculate for the next two years until he's sold. I don't think we have any idea what Chris Richards' deal was, for instance. What we do know is there was a transfer clause in his loan deal to Bayern, and that was triggered.
Yet another step in HSG vision of having a starting XI made entirely up of HG players. The likelihood of this happening is still probably a few years away, but the ownership group looks like they are still moving in that direction. In all honesty, they are really only a couple of CBs away from putting together a viable squad. This team won't contend for trophies, but also don't think they would be bottom of the table. GK - Gonzalez CB - CB - RB - Cannon LB - Gomez MF - Pomykal MF - Cerrillo MF - Servania/Roberts/Tessman FW - Sealy FW - Pepi FW - Ferreria
I think he lost a little leverage from his couple of lackluster performances against opposition one tier above who he's been crushing. FCD didn't even bow out to MLS sides in the USOC. Pepi was partially at fault for the team struggles. Not that I'm putting a lot of stock into it as far as his future. I'm still a fan of him as a prospect. But it was disappointing. Want him to at least be an asset in the main USL, in spite of his tender age. There's no shortage of 17 year olds doing it. Over-under 4 years at around the MLS minimum is where I'd set it.
As an aside, given the depth in Dallas' academy, they might want to think about cultivating a USL 'Ship squad as well as their real reserves, so there's an in-between level to prove themselves at before promotion to the top tier. Their League One outfit could be a pure youth squad. The USL Championship is 36 teams and MLS has 24 and counting - 60 teams. There are 68 up until League 2 in England. So USL League One is more like League Two, while the better teams in the Championship are like the Championship. That's a real gap in caliber, let alone is it once you get to MLS. It could be a shock to some players.
I really don't think there is that big of a gap between USL League One and USL Championship sides. Perhaps there is some difference in level, but not nearly enough for a club to have a team in each.
That’s being very short sighted and he doesn’t turn 17 until January. And the contract sounds to have actually been done a couple days ago, just was publicly announced today.
- I know he's 16. That's not far away from 17 and thought quite highly of him to hold him to a higher standard. Still do. To wit.... - I said expressly, "Not that I'm putting a lot of stock into it as far as his future. I'm still a fan of him as a prospect" - he played a couple days ago and last week as well - and it's short-"sighted"
Guys, lets not be prone to overnalysis. Moises Hernandez still under first team contract. Out on loan right now. So there's one. I spoke with #FCDallas Head Coach @LGonzalezFCD about the signing of 16-year-old prodigy @Ricardo_Pepi9.He talked about how he discovered Pepi in El Paso over three years ago and what his signing means for the @FCDallas organization. 👇 https://t.co/t7C0viEFTv— Garrett Melcer (@GarrettMelcer) June 21, 2019
I really think that is the ideal situation. If enough players are sold, it might be something that wouldn't create too much of a fianancial drain to make it prohibitive.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to the levels going forward. My guess is that as depth increases, there will tend to be more of a separation between levels. If you assume that right now there is a relatively limited number of players that are at the "USL Championship" level with many at a level a significant step or two below....same for USL league one. As the number of players actually at the level increases, those at a lower level will be pushed down to that lower level.
We'll have to see how it plays out. From what we understand there are going to be a bunch more teams added to the USL League One next season. Some coming down from the Championship and some moving up from the NPSL. I'm hearing speculation that there's going to be another North Texas team in that division next year. Fort Worth Vaqueros would be cool...……………….. I think the idea was that FCD didn't want to sign a bunch of journeyman and veterans in order to be able to compete in USL League One. They wanted to do what they're doing now, which is playing a lot of teenagers and academy players. A direct link from the academy. I mean, if I look at the USL Championship standings...…….………the worst teams in the division are Swope Park Rangers and Tacoma Defiance. Those two teams have won a combined 3 out of 31 games. Real Monarchs are also close to the bottom. These are the "reserve teams" from MLS that are trying to do what FCD is doing in terms of giving opportunities to youngsters. Portland Timbers II is doing well this year, but who the hell cares? So there's this philosophical question that's presumably going on in all MLS front offices. How are we building our pathway from the lowest academy levels to the MLS first team? I mean, FCD is having a really tough time fielding a squad of 18 with their USL team. They're getting by in League One. I think they'd be trounced by a lot of these USL Championship teams. Is that good for the kids that are playing with NTSC? Tacoma Defiance has a GD of -30 after 17 games. Is this good for development? Or is having success against a lower level of competition, like TFCII and NTSC are having in League One, better for development? All clubs are feeling their way thru this. My sorta feeling is that the only thing that can truly prepare kids for an MLS level, is actually playing at an MLS level. Neither USL Championship or USL League One prepares a defender like Mark McKenzie to go up against a Carlos Vela or Zlatan Ibrahimovic. You have to go out there and do it.