Parks and recreation in Lisbon: Keaton at NYCFC (on loan from Benfica)

In my opinion....He is the second coming of Dempsey.

 

anyone with a good link that would like to share

 

He is tall at 6'4, a bit on the slow side but smart with the ball, always knows where the ball is going to be and a deadly scorer from the 8 position. He doesn't seem to like to defend.

 

It doesn't appear to be broadcasted.

 

firstrow has a link but it's dead or as it says it hasn't gone live yet...which at this point to me means it won't.

 

No good comparison out there, IMO. Most of the really big CM's are defensive guys or their offensive contributions are mostly being powerful with headers and runs forward. He's a very good passer, smart player who makes the right decisions, he can contribute goals, but he's relatively slow and not a good defender. Best one I could think of is current Yaya Toure.

 

A rich man's Marrouane Fellaini??

 

Not bad. He also looks a lot like Kai Havertz, but with less pace.

 

He's nothing like Fellaini, other than being tall and playing CM.

 

Not much to glean from the forum this week. Since it was an away game and not televised, the posters had only the radio broadcast to go by. It does seem that Keaton started the action resulting in the first goal (hockey assist) and otherwise comported himself well enough in a good win at a tough stadium.

 

He reminds me a little of Harry Winks, though Harry is more athletic. Both are good on the ball and like to go forward and have a tendency to drive for the box on a break to make themselves available for a teammate.

 

Which is why I said maybe he could be a rich man's Fellaini (?? = maybe).

A rich man's Fellainin would have the attributes Fellaini lacks:

And his being good on the ball would include passing which is both accurate and opens up the opposing defence, which Parks seems to have. Fellaini's actually not too bad on the ball but his passing is very pedestrian and not terribly accurate. While he resembles Parks in being good at driving for the box and making himself available for teammates, its's very aerial, seldom subtle, and most effective by making a bloody nuisance of himself to the opposition.

If Parks could bulk up and add an aerial game, he could be nearly as effective as Fellaini on set pieces and offer far more than he does in terms of both starting moves and scoring/making the last pass in the box late at the end of moves.

 

no, rich man means being better at the traits that the other has, if you're saying having the attributes one lacks would mean you're calling him a completely different player.

 

I'm going to settle this debate once and for all. Parks plays like I use to play but, you know, really well.

 

Some terrible quality highlights from the weekend. You can see Keaton show up a few times, but his hockey assist is at about 0:48 on the video.

 

a rich man's Fellaini would be the best soccer player in the history of the USMNT.

Parks is intriguing. to those that follow Liga Nos more closely, do you think he makes a senior team appearance this campaign?

 

I think it really depends on how the senior team plays. They've not been good and many of their fans want to see Gederson and Parks replace some of their weak links in the mid-field. If the senior team continues to struggle and Parks continues to show he's one of their best junior players, it's possible. I don't think it's likely in the next two months but these Portuguese clubs aren't afraid to throw kids into the deep end and they believed in him enough to offer a 5 year contract. That alone says they're invested in him and will give opportunities.

 

As much as football is a business, I just don't see a Benfica moving up an American player in his first year with the team when there are Portuguese players waiting for an opportunity who have been in the system a while, like Heriberto.

 

I think there's an argument to be made that Portugal of all European leagues cares the least about the nationality of its players. Parks sort of did his trial of fire last year and proved himself in Portugal. If he was a U-20 World Cup signing and this was his first year there I would agree with you, but this is slightly different.

 

Are people missing the Brek Shea comparisons? Or did I miss something in the 23 pages of thread I didn't read?

 

Well Heriberto is a winger. Parks is a CM. His competition is Gedson or Florentino. They're the only two CMs who have similar minutes to him in Liga Pro.

 

Apples and kiwis comparison, in my opinion. Shea is a remarkable athlete, plays on the wing, isn't exceptionally gifted technically, and is not a particularly tough player mentally. Parks is a (relatively) average athlete in professional soccer, demonstrably savvy and sharp mentally, and has real technical ability. The only things I think they have in common are being white and tall.

 

I think you missed the 'smart with the ball, always knows where the ball is going to be'

 

Completely true. Benfica used to insist that no non-Portugese could play for them (for marketing as much as chauvinism) but that died post-Bosman and they've fully embraced the new reality.

As for Parks and his trial of fire, that's also true. He was a proven quantity at D2 level when they signed him, and they didn't give him a 5-year deal so he could do a Christian Saba, so what they're doing now is getting him ready for the first team. That will involve refining his technical abilities, (possibly) working out where his best position really is and/or what other position(s) he can "do a job in" if required, plus working on his already substantial soccer IQ.

IMO, we can expect him to start training with the first team after Christmas and get Cup minutes not too long after that

 

His biggest negative is his defensive positioning and one on one defensive ability. He's on track to rack up over 2500+ minutes this season. If he can get close to average at that his technical skills and soccer iq will eventually earn him a starting spot at Benfica or another Portuguese team on loan in the 1st division.

He's had a very good start to his club career there and I imagine Benfica is happy they landed him when a host of others were also interested. IMO he's the next young American CM who's going to break though at his club and that's impressive as hell considering the bizarre journey he's navigated.