Well, they lost. Yeah, it's stupid, but to the victors go the spoils. I remember that a long time ago the Hermann went more often than not to an outstanding player whose team DIDN'T go deep into the tournament.
At the risk of beating a dead horse: Many of the schools listed below exited the tournament way before Wisconsin did. Who the hell is Arthur Bosua? OK, I have heard of a school called Columbia. I am not saying Chris Mueller should win the award, but he certainly belongs on this list. 2017 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalists NAME YR POS SCHOOL HOMETOWN Jon Bakero Sr F Wake Forest Sitges, Spain Tucker Bone Jr M Air Force Granite Bay, Calif. Arthur Bosua Sr F Columbia Johannesburg, South Africa Brandon Bye Sr F Western Michigan Portage, Mich. Mauro Cichero Sr M SMU Norman, Okla. Jon Gallagher Sr F Notre Dame Dundalk, Ireland Tomas Hilliard-Arce Sr D Stanford Matthews, N.C. Tim Kubel Sr D Louisville Stuttgart, Germany Foster Langsdorf Sr F Stanford Vancouver, Wash. Grant Lillard Sr D Indiana Hinsdale, Ill. Cameron Lindley So M North Carolina Carmel, Ind. Joao Moutinho Fr D Akron Lisbon, Portugal Wyatt Omsberg Sr D Dartmouth Scarborough, Maine Santiago Patino Jr F FIU Orlando, Fla. Alan Winn Sr F North Carolina Garland, Texas
This century, the Hermann winner has played in the quarterfinals 15 times, the College Cup 12 times, the title game 10 times and been on the national championship team 5 times. So the odds of the Hermann winner this year being from a team that’s already eliminated are pretty slim. 2016 – Ian Harkes, Wake Forest: national runner-up 2015 – Jordan Morris, Stanford: national champions 2014 – Leo Stoltz, UCLA: national runner-up 2013 – Patrick Mullins: Maryland: national runner-up 2012 – Patrick Mullins, Maryland: Final Four 2011 – Andrew Wenger, Duke: NCAA 2nd round 2010 – Darlington Nagbe, Akron: national champions 2009 – Teal Bunbury, Akron: national runner-up 2008 – Marcus Tracy, Wake Forest: Final Four 2007 – O’Brian White, Connecticut: NCAA quarterfinals (upset as a 3 seed) 2006 – Joseph Lapira, Notre Dame: NCAA quarterfinals 2005 – Jason Garey, Maryland: national champions 2004 – Danny O’Rourke, Indiana: national champions 2003 – Chris Wingert, St. John’s: national runner-up 2002 – Alecko Eskandarian, Virginia: NCAA 2nd round (upset as a 6 seed) 2001 – Luchi Gonzalez, Southern Methodist: NCAA quarterfinals (upset as a 1 seed) 2000 – Chris Gbandi, Connecticut: national champions
Yedlin turned 20 in the middle of his rookie season. Moutinho turns 20 in early January. He's a hear and a half older than Dre was as a first year player. So in terms of physical maturity, he may already be ready. (That said, Yedlin was a physical freak.)
Good point about the age. But you obviously have not seen Joao Moutinho in person. He is built like the tall girl in middle school that all the boys were afraid of at the ice cream social. Contrast that to DeAndre Yedlin who, by the time he left, looked like he could play NFL Corner .
*cue flashbacks to yedlin terrorizing our defense in south bend* i thought to myself "holy shit. who is this guy?" as his blondeish fro-hawk went up and down the sideline at light speed. back on topic: it's time for another defender to win the HT. was o'rourke the last non-attacker to win it? i know a guy who'd be a good pick this year.
Bakero, Hilliard-Arce and Lillard are the finalists. https://nscaa.informz.net/informzda...laWQ9NjU0ODc1NCZzdWJzY3JpYmVyaWQ9ODQwMzY3MTgx If either of the latter two win it, they'd be the first defensive player since Danny O'Rourke (defensive midfielder) in 04 or Chris Wingert (03) depending on if you want to could a D-mid as a defender or not.
It is way past time for another Center Back to win the HT. These are the two best players in 2017. Toughest position on the field. Can we all agree that Jon Bakero does not deserve this year’s award?
I would not regard DMF as a Defender. Integral part of Defense? Certainly. Defender? No. DMF has much greater distribution responsibilities. And more frequent turning with the ball. But DMF can afford mistakes. CBs must be flawless.
My vote (one that I do not have) is for Thomas Hilliard-Arce. Imagine Hilliard-Arce and Grant Lillard as the CB tandem for USMNT heading into Quatar 2022 .
Over John Brooks, Matt Miazga, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Erik Palmer-Brown and Justen Glad? No. Just no. Doesn't mean they won't be solid pros. May even get some national team caps. But let's not over-exaggerate their ability here. Hell, if Hiliard-Arce goes first overall to LA, he may not even start in central defense given whom the team has already acquired. Despite MLS adding more teams every year, college players are less and less a part of the picture. And players who played four years of college soccer play even less. At the USMNT, it's even moreso. Fewer and fewer former college players are part of the national team pool and of those, very few of them played four years. For things like the January camp, where most of the overseas-based players aren't available, you'll still see mostly college players, including a handful of four-year guys. (I really think Brandon Vincent can stick at LB.) But when guys like Pulisic, McKennie, Gonzalez, Wood, Moore and the CBs listed above are included, that changes dramatically. It's not hard to imagine a scenario where, when the US next takes the field in a game that counts, DeAndre Yedlin is the only former college player in the starting lineup. Having said that, I'd give Hilliard-Arce the Hermann!
Apparently the Hermann committee didn't watch the NCAA QF between Wake and Stanford. http://www.wakeforestsports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/010518aad.html Can't say I'm surprised (hence the thread title) as the voters usually tend to be swayed by stats, but after seeing them play each other (not to mention that 3 straight national titles thing) I'd have given it to Hilliard-Arce.
This result actually pisses me off! If offensive statistics are what the Hermann Trophy is all about, then Chris Mueller deserved much more consideration. If the Hermann Trophy is about the best player among collegiate ranks, then both Grant Lillard and Thomas Hilliard-Arce (maybe others) are clearly better than Jon Bakero. Hell, I will take Foster Langsdorff over Jon Bakero. Has anyone else noticed the almost complete lack of media attention given to this year's Hermann Trophy award? Nobody cares, fewer now than ever. College Soccer is entering an era from which it very well may not survive. It is exceedingly ill timed for the Missouri Athletic Club to render a politically motivated result to the sport's most prestigious individual award. This lacks credibility, and it reeks of gerrymandering. This is bull-shit result and a bull-shit award. Gather round everyone; get your last look at College Soccer as it slips into Oblivion! I reiterate that I do not hold anything against Jon Bakero personally. He is not a bum for a footballer. He deserved to be on the HT list, but not to win it. I wish him success on the next level.
Why the Hermann is announced weeks after the college season is over when almost everyone among the few people who care about college soccer have moved on till next season is befuddling. This would have lot more oomph if they announced it the weekend of the College Cup. To the bigger point, I agree that college soccer is in a really bad place. With every addition of an MLS team, every USL team there are more opportunities for young players to have alternatives to college soccer. Toss in MLS' partnership with Southern New Hampshire for free online classes and teams like the Galaxy, Timber and Sounders being willing to pay for college for their academy players and the complete lack of progress on reforms for the college game and its even easier to make the case for top players to skip college soccer. Not college. College soccer. Shit, one of the few things keeping college soccer relevant at all is MLS' refusal to allow underclassmen to declare for the draft. If that were to happen, you'd see even more kids leaving early.
College soccer is not in a bad place, for every young player signing with the MLS there are a dozen just as talented internationals begging for the same chance.