MLS Flavors of the Week, 2017 Edition

I don't know. There are a lot of people who REALLY like Robinson's tools, although he's a bit raw. Of course, folks said that about Christian Dean.

 

.@SashoCirovski on Chris Odoi-Atsem: "The best 1-v-1 defender I've coached in 24 years." #SuperDraft

— Danny Michallik (@DMichallik) January 13, 2017

 

Jacori Hayes falls to FC Dallas, the rich get richer in that midfield

 

Hayes and Acosta in the same midfield?? They're gunna place some even nicer futbol

 

With respect to physical tools, Christian Dean didn't make top-10 in any of the MLS Combine's 3 tests, whereas Miles Robinson was top-10 in 2 of 3.

 

Reposting from 3 days ago in the 2016 Flavors thread:

 

Klenofsky selected by DC, good insurance policy for Hamid

 

Here was what Arena said about Hamid. Doesn't seem too worked about the latest injury. I think its more of an insurance policy, in case Hamid bolts for Europe. His contract is up at the end of the season. You figure if he leaves, Klenofsky could step in next season.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/01/12/arena-seven-goalkeepers-contention-usmnt-2017

“Bill should be fine," said Arena. “I think in a couple weeks he should be back to full training.”

 

and Dom Kinnear has already come out saying he plans to loan out Tommy Thompson AND Jackson Yueill to Reno.........jesus christ can we please sack this clown before the season starts.

 

Kinnear has developed Rico Clark, Geoff Cameron, Stuart Holden, and Dwayne DeRosario.

 

Thompson isn't any good though

 

It's tough to tell with certainty until the player is getting serious minutes.

 

Fair point

 

That's kind of weird to put that out there already before you even have training camp and give those guys a chance to make their case.

Not that I follow San Jose closely at all, but it seems like Kinnear would have to be on thin ice given the new GM and results this past season.

 

yup, sure did, its been a couple years give or take since hes developed anyone though. Alashe should be his bread n butter, but we know how that has gone.

 

No one bats 1000 in talent development. Alashe is only in his 3rd year.

 

Sure but who's the last guy he's made a lot better? Time seems to have passed him by. Maybe he's really as old as he looks.

 

Not really. The league is a lot bigger now making it harder to scoop up talented castoffs and talented low draft picks. In addition, Kinnear hasn't been on teams with big budgets or big academies.

Corey Ashe is an example of a limited player whom Kinnear helped become a quality MLS fullback. Ashe even got a full international call up.

 

My 2nd 2017 flavor is Jonathan Lewis. He is fast, great 1v1 attacker who has his head up looking to make the pass.

The 19yo late bloomer is being compared to a young Landon Donovan. He is also eligible to represent Jamaica and has a Jamaican Camp call up. He will benefit from Vieira's development system at NYFC

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/01/13/mls-superdraft-2017-jonathan-lewis-akron?autoplay=true

 

With the expanded slots, Jamaica would have a decent shot at a WC, making them more attractive to diaspora Jamaicans.

JK would've been all over him like burnt dumplings.

 

I don't disagree with these three guys but I just finally watched Arena's Facebook Q&A and he didn't actually single out Roldan. He only specifically mentioned Roldan's and Nguyen's names because fans asked about them not getting called into camp.

Again, I don't mean to doubt these player projections. I'm only bringing it up because the comments I had been reading on big soccer led me to believe that Bruce actually singled Roldan out as a guy to watch moving forward. However, all Bruce did was say that Roldan could still make a case for a 2017 call when asked about his specific snub. It wasn't intended to imply that he's any more likely to get a look than others in a similar position.

To me, it seems like Roldan, like anyone else who wasn't called in this time, has to take his game to another level in MLS this year if he wants a national team look.

 

Or they need to be better when Bruce is watching (which had previously been a rare occasion), instead of play non-descript games in the frigid cold and high-altitude as Roldan did in his final two in Toronto and Colorado. Prior to that, in fact, Bruce had singled out Roldan without being prompted. I think it was before the aforementioned Colorado game during the telecast. Roldan already played at more than a high enough level to those with perspective on him. He was around a top 20 MLS player from after he seized the starting job to late in the playoffs. Bruce's perspective was off a couple games when the Galaxy played them, which got overridden by the two subsequent games he watched more recently where he didn't play well. When Bruce gains greater perspective on him after being manager from watching a bigger sample of games, and not being blatantly biased against new MLS players unlike Klinsmann, I'm sure he'll be called up after a reasonable amount of time.

 

Where do you get that from? I havent seen anything linking Thompson and Yueill to Reno other then 1 tweet by Robert Jonas, which could easily have been idle speculation on his part.

 

Thats where i got it, hope its wrong

 

I'm not sure about that. JK always desired more pace on the wings, calling up a number of guys from all over the place that just didn't stick for a myriad of reasons (Ibarra, Gyau, Gatt, Picault, etc.)

Lewis was just named to a US U20 camp, so it seems like we're now in good shape to get him.