I'm only going to comment once in this thread probably ever again because I doubt they'll be too much happen that's notable anymore. Then I'm going to leave this thread again. A lot won't like what I have to say, but I'm going to give my opinion. I know many hate this guy for varying reasons. These people make it known they hate him. It's not hard to identify these people. For now, I'm going to provide an opposing viewpoint. Many have interests against the guy. They've said he was never good, they've said he was overrated, he might threaten the spot of their favorites if he was having success, he's not part of the correct group, his image isn't appealing enough to some. There are varying reasons why it's baked in for many people to dislike this guy. It's a shame what's happened to this guy's career. He's been completely blackballed at this point. No team wants to sign him because of his reputation. No one has explained what this terrible reputation is, but he has a bad reputation, and the reputation being bad without any specifics has become enough. He can't even get a contract in MLS, let alone Europe, although that latter part is only speculation. He's clearly good enough. He shows it when he plays, but life isn't always fair. He's never been given a chance at Atlanta, and not only has he not been given a chance, they've been part of a successful campaign to blackball him. It's obvious that Atlanta decided a long time ago that they had no use for this guy. I think it's rather obvious why. Their strategy is to bring in young South Americans, they want to then sell those players for large sums. Being a selling club of young Americans is less profitable because American players have a lesser reputation. Many have pointed out that Atlanta has given nearly no playing time to young academy players, and none have had success. The reputation for all has dropped substantially. They need to paint the players as the issue. If the attention was put on them, people would see that they've ruined a number of top level talents. For argument's sake, let's say this guy has some off-field issues, of which the specifics hasn't emerged. I wouldn't rule out that there could be something. However, what a lot of people don't want to admit (or don't know) is that a lot of these kids have problems. For some reason, it is only a problem with this guy. He must've done something truly terrible to get blackballed. I've been told about a few top level prospects in the system (I'm talking about the types of players that people think are going to stars in Europe) that have off-field problems, character issues. None of this stuff is a secret, and I'm sure the teams know about it, as well. That stuff has not come out to the public because no one has an interest to leak it and blackball these players because of it. Most don't care. It doesn't effect their play on the field and it hasn't effected their status within these teams. Evidently it matters for this guy. If someone can reveal this guy doing something truly terrible that he deserved this blackballing, I'll retract my statement. The system has decided it matters for this guy. There's nothing that can be done at this point. His career is ruined. He's too far down the ladder now to reach his potential. What a lot of these people that dislike this guy don't realize is that we aren't yet good enough where we can eliminate top level players by blackballing them because it suits the interests of some to do so. This is among the greater travesties in American soccer in the last few years. It might be the biggest because this guy was probably the biggest youth talent we had. It actively hurts the National Team what has happened with this guy. I've never met this kid. Maybe he's an awful person. Maybe he has no motivation. Maybe he doesn't want to be a great player. I couldn't comment on anything other than his play on the field, but from how I see it (and it's possible there's more to this situation), I feel bad for this guy. His career has been ruined by powerful forces within soccer in this country. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this is an instance where I believe it was determined that this guy wasn't going to be allowed to be given a chance to be have a successful career. Any honest person knows if this guy was given a chance to have success, he'd be really good, and it would expose the efforts that have been undertaken to ruin his career. This needed to be said and thats all I'll say because I know the people that hate this guy aren't going to like that someone speaks the truth. Life will go on for everyone. It's only a sport, but this situation is a complete travesty. I won't waste any further time on this topic. I wish this guy well (like any of our players).
You go a lot further than I do by saying that everyone hates him, but I do agree that he has never been given a chance by Atlanta United. I can't say with as much certainty as you whether or not he has deserved that chance, however.
What's the point when of this loan when he'll be a free agent at the end of the season? Just release him then so he can go to the Belgian 2nd division or some reserve team of a bigger club. This reeks of a little vindictiveness. Like he was unprofessional there, so they aren't going to reward him by letting him go nor do they see any value in him anymore.
They're doing him a favor by trying to get him some playing time and maybe shed some salary. If they wanted to be dicks they could let him rot in the academy until his contract expired.
In the world there are quite a few super talented players that has bad behaviours but got into high level stages. For Carleton, if he is really that good, at such young age, there would definitely be some clubs either in US or abroad willing to give him opportunities to show and develop. So my interpretation on this situation is: Carleton has attitude problems, and his ability is not good enough to overcome his bad behaviour. @ussoccer97531
What practical purpose does it serve to him or them to loan him to a club that has no upside as opposed to purely releasing him? If he remained w/ Atlanta, from his perspective, at least the upside would be if he impressed that he's a regular w/ the 1st team. They'd have to play him at a point of excellence. Maybe they don't want to give him the potential springboard if he breaks out, or like I said it's vindictive. Presumably they're paying most of his salary this way.
Seems no MLS team wants to take a shot on him after he ruined his reputation. might as well trial overseas at this point.
atlanta didn’t do carleton any favors early on in his career so i hope people remember that when they trash this guy.
I respect your analysis but the "this guy (Carleton) was probably the biggest youth talent we had" is such an exaggeration! Atlanta United might blackballed him, but think about it, if he is really this "biggest talent we had" level good as you regard him, there is just no damm reason that no other clubs either in US or in Europe give him opportunities, especially considering he is young and not expensive at all. So there is a natural and simple explanation - he is talented but not good enough to overcome his ego and off field issues. Instead, you chose another way to read it - a very wild way: he is the best in US, but are ruined by a dark unknown force that only target Carleton, and can control the entire US soccer community and even make European clubs believe such shit. Moreover, you think there are so many people that hate this kid and these guys can determine whether the whole soccer industry should abandon him. Why do you think you represent the truth and others not believe it are not honest and even hate him?! Conclusion: you are so into your scouting vision that refuse to admit he is not that good.
They don't have to loan him. Teams force out of favor players to train with the reserves/kids all of the time. They could let him idle until his contract expires or he agrees to trade or termination. Instead they're willing to at least let him rehab his career out on loan while his contract runs down. What's really interesting is the amount posters that think this situation is Atlanta's fault.
Carlton didn't do himself any favors early on in his career so I hope people remember that when they trash MLS/Atlanta United.
Atlanta hasn't publicly detailed most off-the-field issues that may exist with Carleton. You've chosen to interpret that as some sort of blackball conspiracy against Carleton perpetrated by people who seemingly dislike and have it out for him. An alternative — and IMO much more reasonable — explanation is that it would be unprofessional and unhelpful to do so. What exactly are you looking for? A team-published blog post detailing the shenanigans of Andrew Carleton? A leak to the local paper, allowing them to publish a salacious exposé? Obviously that's not going to happen, nor should it. I think Carleton has a lot of talent. I think it's totally illogical to think that organizations that stand to benefit from Carleton's talents on and off the field would choose to obstruct his career in any way. I also think it's illogical to believe that Carleton's reputation is the product of a disinformation/rumor campaign led by members of the Ayo Akinola fan club, or whatever. If you think there's any significant number of US fans who don't want Carleton to do well, you are fooling yourself. Characterizing skepticism as "hate" is childish. Ultimately, I think it requires a lot of wishful thinking and mental gymnastics to come to the conclusion that Andrew Carleton's career isn't going well mostly because of Andrew Carleton.
A lot of those kids are refusing to leave the reserves of big clubs where they get paid more. In this case a shot at playing w/ Atlanta's 1st team >> being sent back to the USL where he's already semi-proven. I didn't claim Atlanta was more at fault for Carleton's downfall w/ the club, but they've made their own mistakes. They're still yet to have a success from their academy in spite of no shortage of talent.
When multiple players on Atlanta United say that Carleton has too many off the field issues that's a bad sign. Like getting drunk underage and posting it on your story the night before a cup final. Or forgetting your passport for a game in Montreal. When you are a young and talented player you are given a chance to over come it but when the club has another player just as talented who doesn't do that off the field (Barco) then it becomes a burial of his career. Clubs would not blackball this kid for no reason, he is reckless and that's that.
It’s Atlanta’s fault he parties and shares it on Instagram. it’s Atlanta’s fault he posted lean on social media It’s Atlanta’s fault his only two pro coaches both called out his lack of professionalism it’s Atlanta’s fault he got kicked off the championship parade It’s Atlanta’s fault he didn’t bring his passport to the airport. it’s Atlanta’s fault he played avg at best in the USL. Just to make sure you haters are all on the same page.
He's been under contract with Atlanta since he was 16, so that blows up your theory right there. No other team in the world could "give him opportunities" because he is/was an Atlanta United player.
Carleton apparently didn't do himself any favors either. Plenty of blame to go around. People can't say Atlanta only has a desire to bring in South American youngsters, and aren't interested in the development of American youngsters. Explain Miles Robinson, then, who now has multiple full USMNT caps. He finished 3rd in MLS Defender of the Year voting. Multiple coaching staffs in Atlanta have PUBLICLY talked about Carleton's lack of professional behaviour. You only talk publicly about it as a last resort. Both staffs seem to have gotten fed up. This reminds me a lot of when other clubs were just getting going with their youth initiatives. They didn't really know what they were doing. We forget that Atlanta signed Carleton before they even had a first team. Old guys like me remember back in the day when clubs like DCU had a really hard time with young teens like Santino Quaranta off the field. There was no support system built up for the young players. They didn't know how to be young professional soccer players. Its something that clubs like NYRB, RSL, FCD, LAG seem to have figured out. You've never heard a single bad word about off-field behaviour of FCD youngsters. That's probably because its been a community effort for years of a big group of kids pushing each other in the right way. There's a support system. Kellyn Acosta shows Reggie Cannon the way who shows Brandon Servania the way who'll show the next group of kids the way. Carleton had no such support system with Atlanta. No mentors.
You guys are only thinking in terms of soccer. Take a second and remember he is a human with human problems that a lot kids his age go through. Have you ever thought that Atlanta is doing this kid a favor by getting him out of the area he grew up in by sending him to Indiana? A lot of times leaving all the distractions of home and all the bad influences can turn ones life around. Hope this happens for him and his soccer career can start back on the upswing.
Carleton should have another option year left on his contract beyond this one. 3 years (2017, 2018, 2019), 1 year team option (2020), 1 year team option (2021). ATLU could have dropped him this off-season, but they picked up his option. The club obviously still view Carleton as a talented player that could garner a return on their investment, but obviously they feel Carleton needed to get out of Atlanta and his comfort zone. They dropped Goslin, so not like they are just keeping youth players to keep players.
I think all of us are guilty of trying to read way too much into this situation. In the end, its quite simple and best understood when taking the most simplistic, logical approach. Carleton was a talented youngster in the U17 set up and was signed to a pro deal off the back of those performances. Like many talented youngsters, he never made enough of an impression to become an important part of Atlanta's first team squad. There was no conspiracy to keep him down by the club, nor were his off the field antics egregious enough to completely give up on him. In the end, the only thing that matters is performance and its quite obvious that his performances were not nearly good enough to get him into the team. He isn't the first U17 starlet that this has happened to and he won't be the last.
I could have sworn it was a 4-year contract and he just had to make it beyond this one to have freedom to go to Europe as was initially expected would be a transfer. If it's 5 years then it makes some sense, but man would that have been a restrictive, one-sided contract. He shouldn't have signed it then.