Yup. I heard that too. It was pretty laughable because Vines and the Rapids, since he signed a HG contact, openly said the adjective is to get him to Europe when he’s ready.
I remember when Royal Antwerp were a Manchester United reserve team. For the longest time I just thought of them being propped up by United. It appears as if that relationship ended awhile ago now though. My dude Alex Yi trying to break through.
I rewatched the Haiti game and I think a lot of the hate to Vines is a bit overblown. Not saying he was good but I think Lewis and Zardes on the LW with him hurt his spacing more than anything. But I also think because he was disappointing in Olympic Qualifying a lot of people would write him off
Vines is the kind of player that the "hot takes crowd" throws generic criticisms at - and many of these people who criticize aren't really watching him on a regular basis. Because of the lack of hype around Vines, people have been watching other left backs. Vines isn't perfect and he has holes in his game he has to fix. He's good, he's not great. But he is an excellent passer, he's smart, and he's still improving. To date, he has 4506 MLS minutes with Colorado after a 2303 minute season in USL with Charlotte. Every season he has gotten better and even with all those minutes, he really hasn't stagnated. He hasn't really given any reason to doubt him yet - at least among those who have actually paid attention to him.
I concur. If not for COVID I would have seen every single home minute he has played, in the flesh. The improvements Vines has made have been steady and consistent. He has not taken some huge leap in his development like other prospects have. Vines didn’t need to it. He’s needed a slight improvement and a slight tweak here and there. The passing has been there. But the biggest improvement I’ve seen is not only seeing but understanding when the right moments to attack are presented. In his first two seasons, he would just sprint forward at any given time and rely about his good speed to track back. Teams caught onto that and attacked his vacated space. He was having to work twice was hard to defend. There still is that tendency — as seen in one counter attack vs Haiti where he was out of position and Haiti damn near scored. But overall he’s improved that. The kid isn’t flashy. He is just solid. A solid professional that can have a big contribution for club and country moving forward. We are all proud of Vines jn Colorado. He’s come a long, long way since I first laid eyes in him playing for Pride SC in CO Springs. He lit up my team 4-1 in State Cup U-14 semi-final and I remember asking the coach who is that kid? His exact works “Vines. Sam Vines. Remember that name”. A year later he part of the Rapids DA squad and 3 years later he was signing a HG deal. Wild ride.
In the handful of USMNT games I’ve watched of him, he has impressed me with his skill, but his defensive awareness and physicality have been underwhelming. He can definitely improve on his weaknesses, especially awareness, but I don’t see him as a really high potential player. Still, he could be a quality left back in Belgium and have a nice career. In some ways, he reminds me of the players that Mexico often produces.
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard of in years! You sparked my curiosity to see what google could scrounge up. Well…. Yi the head coach at Academy of Art University (D-II school in San Fran) from 2018-20, an assistant at Navy in 2017, and was the top assistant at University of San Fran (2014-16) and had stints at Dayton, Galaxy Academy, and FCD Academy. Now here’s the cool part….. Yi is now an assistant for Kyle Beckerman (crazy he’s a college coach) at Utah Valley with Seth Tembley. That’s a reunion of the inaugural class of ‘99 at the Bradenton Academy.
I think if Vines existed 5 years ago and said the same stuff they'd be right. The reason I think he's moving now is that it would no longer seem crazy to him to think that he'd succeed over there, and that the Belgian teams are looking at Americans now as cheap labor. It's more of a reflection on the changing times in US soccer than it is on Vines's goals, I think.
In Europe, if you're supposed to be a mid table club and you finish midtable, you have a 2 month vacation basically. In MLS, if you're midtable, you spend the last part of the season ensuring you stay above the playoff line. Then you have an all-in game to make the next round of the playoffs, which is a 2 legged tie. If you win that, another. Etc.
With the Gold Cup ending, I thought we'd have heard something more definitive about Vines (and several other USMNT on the roster in Vegas) moving by now. Is quiet a good thing or has interest dried up for now?
http://americansoccernow.com/articl...r-lead-the-usmnt-to-improbable-gold-cup-title Link to said recap
I already did an interview with a Belgian publication for a story once it is announced. They wanted my thoughts on Sam.
.@MLS #USMNT @ColoradoRapids #BreakingNews: @Burgundywave @GoldCup winner, Sam Vines, makes an appearance at this morning's #Rapids96 practice to say goodbye to his biggest fan, @RapidsYouthClub Evan Holsinger, +his teammates/staff, before he departs for #RAFC Belgium, tomorrow🇧🇪 https://t.co/RGJamoOlcA— John Andrew Babiak, a 1st Generation 🇺🇦/🇺🇸 (@Photog_JohnB) August 3, 2021
Good move for vines. The Belgium league will probably be the highest he can legitimately play in. He’s not a top 5 league player imo.
This kid continues to exceed expectations. I have no idea what his ceiling is but it's premature to suggest he's already hit it. There are a lot of leagues in Europe and left backs are at a premium in most of them. Let's see how he does in Belgium and reassess in a few months.
I think you're overrating a lot of European fullbacks. Left backs are at a premium and typically aren't amazing, even at great clubs. I mean, if Ben Chillwell can play for Chelsea, Vines has all the potential to play in a top league in the future.
My comment was me being surprised at the individual saying "a top 5 league player." He's very underrated