At Santos, he hasn't even been getting consistent U20 minutes. Is he really good enough to contend for first-team minutes in MLS?
He has played 4 times in the Liga MX already. He is good enough to play with the former college kids.
right, but this is the same player who was basically the biggest defender/protector of our players in that us-mexico u-20 final down in mexico. When a mexico player would get in our player faces, joya would be the one to mouth back in their faces. I remember saying to myself that day "good luck with your career in Mexico, better go to another country as fast as you can".
As far I as I know, he was injured for a large stretch of the Clausura which is why he didn't play much for the U20s. Before that, he played regularly with the U20s (I think). I rate him pretty highly and was actually surprised he wasn't able to secure regular first team action with Santos.
His recent club track record looks quite poor, but I think he has struggled with some injury issues. While we've seen time and time again that Liga MX U20 playing time and even a first team cup of coffee is no guarantee of success, I think in Joya's case we've seen enough from him with the US U-20 that he's a worthwhile acquisition for the right team. And he's likely coming pretty cheap -- it's not like Santos Laguna cares much about him.
It's possible that Joya has been fighting injuries, but his U20 playing time has been erratic for a long while now. In the first half of 2013-14, he played 835 out of a possible total of 2070 minutes (including playoffs).
New info on the Benji Joy to MLS deal: Would be a one year loan with option to buy. http://t.co/93ZZZx37D7— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) February 3, 2014
... alhough there's nothing unusual about a U20 starter not being ready for MLS. With Joya in particular, one question is what position he would play. As a holding mid, he looked weak defensively, and not many MLS teams would be willing to put up with that. I'm a little surprised that it's a loan rather than a transfer. MLS has traditionally been very reluctant about accepting such deals for US players.
Charlie Davies is a recent example.............................. Of course DCU and MLS decided not to buy. He went back to Europe, floundered, returned to the US, and floundered again. We'll see how Joya does. He was certainly capable of playing with the other U20's we had in the World Cup. If that's the case there's room for him in MLS. Now it'll just be up to him to develop into an MLS-caliber player.
I saw the touch and skill to at least contend for MLS minutes. I think he's in the range of contending for minutes on the right team as a winger. Why Ramos thought he was a central midfielder still confuses me.
He was gliding by all those LigaMX in the 129 total minutes he's played on the 1st team that Santos banished him back down to their U20 team for good. Also, LigaMX isn't necessarily known for the speed of their players, MLS has faster players. Just look at the U.S. U20 team, he was one of many players with average athleticism that Ramos put out there. Najar is close to Yedlin equivalent, Joya is not close to Yedlin athleticism wise. I think Benji's strengths are is he reads the pretty game well, has some cleverness, and technically sound.
"@mexicoworldcup: Benji Joya to Chicago Fire, according to a source close to the deal. Not confirmed as yet by MLS or club." Wow that would mean Fire just got a whole lot younger this off season. Cool to see if true. Not sure he'd get lot of PT though
Who said that they were crappy? He played well yesterday in preseason and helped Chicago get their first goal against DC United. Benji is the #8