YNT-eligible NASL/USL players -- 2017 In-season thread

It's very positive that they're primarily playing DA products and giving as many opportunities as possible to current DA players like Arteaga, Bailey, and Estrada. However, they're too quick to promote LAG II players to the 1st team without ensuring that they have a realistic shot at becoming solid 1st teamers.

Almost all the players that have been signed to the 1st team from Los Dos have shown themselves to be marginally MLS-level. A case in point is Nathan Smith, who was red carded tonight. Injuries have forced the Galaxy to go way down the roster, but Smith should never have been considered for the 1st team. He very well may be the worst RB in all of MLS. I look at all the current LAG II players, and they all appear to be USL lifers. I can't see any of them realistically becoming quality MLS players, but of course the Galaxy will promote them and then brag how well the academy is working. The goal is to produce MLS-level (or better) players, not USL lifers.

 

Presley has an interesting story. To be fair, we didn't hear much about him when he was at FCD. I associate him more with Lonestar, who I think he played with both before and after FCD? He's actually from the Austin area.

I remember him giving it a go in the UK..........................................

http://www.nonleagueyorkshire.com/2016/10/26/american-presley-gives-nostell-lift-off/

It seems to me that however he was hoping to get a work permit fell thru and he went on a bit of a world tour thru his agency Aspire Pro. Here's a story that says he went off to Belarus on a trial.

http://www.nonleagueyorkshire.com/2017/02/03/presley-heads-trial-belrusian-side/

 

Eric Lopez has been great for Los Dos in the past few games for them. I wonder how close is he to getting a contract with the first team?

 

I'm expecting that to occur prior to next season........................

They have three "OK" first team keepers right now in Kempin, Rowe, and Diop. If I was the Galaxy I wouldn't protect any of them in the expansion draft, and hope one gets selected. Surely all three won't be back anyway. Lopez should be 3rd string next season, in competition for second string.................

That means perhaps an appearance in the USOC or something. He'll be 19. Time for breaking into the first team.

 

Tyler Feeley signed for Saint Louis FC a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.saintlouisfc.com/general/2016-17/releases/STLFC_Announce_Feeley

 

YNT-eligible players have surpassed 40,000 USL minutes thus far this season, by my count.

 

Sebastian Saucedo with a very nice goal for the Monarchs.

1000th Goal Watch: 992 & Counting!@RealMonarchs Saucedo finds the back of the net! pic.twitter.com/GXgZShyZuj

— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 3, 2017

It's like he doesn't know how to play unless he's the best player on the field. When he plays down with the Monarchs he dominates. Then he plays with the first team and suddenly he's surprised he can't beat defenders at will.

 

It's a Minnesota United blog. They're still pretty plugged in with NASL, so I wild trust them.

By the way, 55.1 is the average yearly high temperature in Minneapolis or something. Aka the hottest of takes. Ha-ha.

 

Shrug. Do we all see the writing on the wall? After all of the hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, and peeing on fire hydrants......................the viable NASL franchises are going to move to the USLPro. And that was the desired outcome in the first place. You can't have two 2nd divisions, and the USSF is intertwined with MLS. MLS is intertwined with USLPro. This was all so very predictable...............no?

 

You can certainly have two leagues at lower divisions within the same pyramid structure. The Bundesliga has had that over the years, particularly with leagues separated into regions. The regionalliga. However, those leagues weren't "competing" with each other. And having a league at odds with our federation to this degree isn't healthy. These are just growing pains we're encountering as we develop our soccer infrastructure.

The MLS won the battle with the NASL. And now the USLPro, with the support of the USSF and MLS, has rendered the NASL obsolete.

I've felt for years now that the NASL has served as nothing more than a vehicle for the Cosmos. Not the actual Cosmos. Just the name Cosmos.

The attendance at NASL games over the past two weeks would make ChivasUSA blush.

 

It also appears that SF Deltas is going to fold regardless. Their attendance is just over 2,000 a game with ridiculous travel requirements. Puerto Rico appears to be in a similar albeit slightly less precarious position. FC Edmonton will continue to exist, but CanPro prefers them in the CPL when in launches in 2019.

This is 3 of the 8 teams with a precarious future. The supposedly have 2 other West Coast teams looking to join next year, but that still puts the league at 7-9 teams.

I think the writing is on the wall that the model isn't sustainable. It only really benefits NY Cosmos and Miami FC at this point because they are the only two teams with a model that differs from what USL is doing in-terms of spending.

NC FC looks to be fine going to USL, but doesn't want to pay the buyout, which is rumored to be $5 Million. Perhaps the same with Indy Eleven. If the league loses DII status then the buy-out is null and void. Rumor is that perhaps those teams are pushing (or at least not fighting against) the drop in status. They will be fine regardless.

If the only teams that care enough to fight are Cosmos and Miami then the league won't be saved because nobody is really left to fight on appeal.

 

Another Galaxy Academy -> Los Dos graduation (I believe?) as '01 standout CB Leo Sepulveda makes the bench against Reno.

 

In regards to the NASL, it is hard enough to survive week to week and day to day as a legitimate division II. It is even harder to grow a legitimate division II league into a stable, sustainable organization. There was just too much wasted time and resources spent on gimmicks. It is almost eerie how parallel their mistakes are to the mistakes made by the league in the 1970s. Gimmicks and short sited "get 'em in the seats now!" strategies caught up to the league then just as it caught up to the league now. Completely different group of people, completely different situation, and not the same story, but definitely parallel.

 

USL is definitely surviving and growing at the moment, but they also need to make a lot of changes if they are going to continue to survive. This whole, "one league fits all" strategy was never going to work and I am glad that they are looking to start a division III. There are just too many franchises that were not meant to be division II in their league. In addition to franchises like Orange County or Harrisburg City Islanders, I believe that the MLS reserve teams will also go down to the division III level eventually. A lot of very good franchises were never meant to play anything more than a regional schedule against what amounts to "entry level pros". With minimal operating costs and only regional travel, a lot of these franchises can live a healthy enough, minor league existence for a long, long time without huge crowds, although all of them should shoot for at least 2000 on average - 800 people just isn't healthy for a sporting event, even in a small stadium.

 

So you think that because a handful of USL teams can't draw despite trying (the "2" teams aren't trying), that the entire league is in jeopardy of not surviving?

Really?

 

Who said that?

 

Right now the USL just needs to continue to get their team count up and work on a strategy for breaking off into Division II and Division III. Division II needs to play a semi-regional schedule, but Division III needs to play as regional of a schedule as possible in order to survive.

For the model to really work you might need 16 Div III teams in and East and West Division and 32-40 Division III teams in 4 regions. It isn't possible to travel all over the country on a budget of $1 Million.

There are plenty of markets that could be Division III. In the Carolinas for instance you could have Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham in Division II and WS/GSO, Wilmington, Asheville, Greenville, Columbia and Charleston in Division III. Not going to get all of those markets, but there are enough markets close enough together for a regional strategy to work.

It will only really work well though if you can get teams in close enough proximity where you can bus there and back with a maximum of one night stay.

MLS teams ultimately work better in Division III. You can't play youth prospects and compete effectively by and large in a legit Division II. MLS2 teams are proving that this year. A league that is slightly higher than college soccer is best for you 16-18 year olds. The advanced youth prospects or draft picks can go on loan to DII.