Man, how can you compare a club like Roma that was founded in 1927 and who have had an academy for almost as long to the Quakes and most other MLS teams who are mere infants in the footballing world. The Quakes do not have a U-19 team and, up until this year, we did not even have a reserve team where these academy talents could be stashed and developed more which would undoubtedly increase the teams chances to profit off them via sales or loans as those players would have been given more time to improve. As a result, they had to "risk" signing the young home-growns like Fuentes and Akanyirige. Ultimately, they needed much more development but there was no way to offer them playing time on the senior team so the only option was to loan them out to lower leagues. However, the lower league teams do not necessarily play the same system or have the same philosophy and do not have to play our loanees if they don't see them as good enough which is what ultimately happened to those two guys. That is the main reason why the new Quakes 2 team is vital for the academy as it allows the team now to develop the likes of Medina, Kohler, Walls, etc., by playing them against older and tougher competition while doing so under the teams philosophy and system. Don't you think Quakes 2 would have been a god sent for Fuentes and Akanyirige about now?
I think Quakes are finally getting some stability with Leitch at the helm, with the academy facility looking more likely to happening. Also with the large amount of Quake academy players getting called up to youth national team around the world. I feel things are looking up. Also, Jacob Akanyirge scored recently for his club in MLSNEXT.
I didn’t intend to mention it initially but Jeff pointed out Italy and I gave him an example about Roma selling off their youth players. Forget about them though because that’s a different world. Our academy though began 12 years ago and by now they should have full fledged pros in place dominating but they don’t. They have JT who is below mediocre and Cade who is showing well and is still young but they plucked from the Ballistics. Tommy was friends with Doyle’s dad Gregg Thompson of the Tampa Bay Rowdies and that’s the only reason why he was signed. He’s also been with the club for 9 years and is only just an average player. I think Almeyda only liked him because he was functional and spoke Spanish. There are college draft picks who have done a lot more. Another reason why I think the colleges are better equipped for developing players. I wish the NCAA would allow them to start training with the pros eventually and I foresee it happening. The Quakes basically gave up on both those “young home-growns like Fuentes and Akanyirige” right before Quakes 2 was to begin play. They are now both 20 years of age and one is now missing in action and the other is in Rochester. Why not keep them them and let them play with Quakes now that they have a reserve team in place? Wasn’t that the reason on why it was discovered? Obviously those two anyway were both failed signings and/or projects and a waste of time.
Niko Tsakiris is 16 and has already played 1st team minutes and scored in USOC. Will Richmond is an academy player on the roster who has also looked good in limited 1st team minutes though he also went to Stanford. Hopefully we sign Cruz Medina, who has already attracted interest from Bayern Munich. I think Bob Dylan might have been speaking directly to you, falvo, when he sang, “The times, they are a-changin’”.
I don't know the other guys or if their careers will pan out but I heard Niko Tsakiris is another Tommy Thompson token pick. Shaun Tsakiris who is from San Jose and played for UCLA and the Rochester Rhinos now in charge of Los Gatos United Soccer Club spoke to someone in the organization to get his son on the team.I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it but that is that's how and why Niko was discovered. I hope he turns into a great player but remains to be seen if he will turn out to be a full fledged pro and/or starter.
He’s 16 and already getting 1st team minutes. They signed him because he’s real good, not as a favor to his dad.
He is still young enough to grow but anyway, to each his own. I still think too much is made about of this academy thing and it's overhyped. MLS clubs should just continue to work with the NCAA for their player development. I honestly believe the college route at least for Freshmen , Sophomore's and maybe even Junior's will continue to to be the trek players take. Looking at the bulk of the Quakes current roster, most players took the college route. JT Marcinkowski 2015–2017 Georgetown Hoyas Paul Marie 2015–2017 FIU Panthers Shea Salinas 2004–2007 Furman Paladins Jeremy Ebobisse 2014–2015 Duke Blue Devils Matt Bersano 2011–2014 Oregon State Beavers/Penn State Nittany Lions Benji Kikanovic 2018–2019 Sacramento State Hornets Ousseni Bouda 2019–2021 Stanford Cardinal Tommy Thompson 2013 Indiana Hoosiers Siad Haji 2017–2018 VCU Rams Jack Skahan 2016–2019 North Carolina Tar Heels Tanner Beason 2016–2019 Stanford Cardinal Jackson Yueill 2015–2016 UCLA Bruins Francisco Calvo 2010 San Jacinto Coyotes Will Richmond2018–2021 Stanford Cardinal
I think both routes will continue to be viable but over the last 5 years or so in MLS I think there has been a significant increase in academy vs. college players and I expect that trend to continue. But college players will continue to be very relevant. But look at the trends, not the absolute numbers over several years. For a number of years TT was our only homegrown. Now we have many. There is no one right path for everybody.
I doubt there is a huge difference in terms of quality or levels of play. There isn't much evidence the academy players are far superior and so far anyway from what I've seen, college players are better and more prepared for the most part. One thing the colleges offer that MLS clubs can’t is the chance to get a free education. I recall reading something that MLS clubs will pay for player’s educations if their careers don’t pan out. I think that is the same setup that Generation Adidas have in place. I don’t know if players take advantage of that though. If Fuentes and Akanyirige for example, are off the team or with other organizations, I doubt the Quakes will pay for them to get an education. As far as facilities , top rate fields and training grounds are concerned, there is no beating our local top NCAA universities. I mean players can utilize weight rooms, pools, tennis and basketball courts to name a few amenities. Heck on the west coast especially, I think we have the greatest fields on earth. I’ve seen what players play on in Europe and their clubs have horrible fields. I think some teams have recently started installing cheaper field turf too but those aren’t much better. You have the top clubs which train on great fields and training centers but as a rule, many mid table , lower division and youth team players don’t. Coverciano in Florence is good but only national teams utilize that facility. AS Roma’s Trigoria is a mud pit in the winter and humid hot mess in the summer. It has nothing on Cal, Stanford, USF or SJSU , for that matter. I still keep in contact with a few old NASL Quakes players and they vividly remember West Valley College in Saratoga as the best fields they ever played on. Also, like the NFL, NBA and to a certain extent MLB and NHL , colleges offer MLS owners like Fisher a free player development. Considering how cheap he is, that is something I’m sure he loves.
He may love it but the fact is the Quakes have invested in the academy and it's getting better and better - one of the tops in the league now, and looking to invest more to (finally) build facilities. Quakes U17's beat River Plate U17's on pens in the U17 GA tournament, and it was no fluke. And some pundits were saying that the Quakes were the best MLS side in the tournament and could win the whole thing. Unfortunately, they had a down game after beating RP and bowed out.
Back to Wolyniec, I wonder if this hire could possibly be a trial run for the head coaching vacancy? He fits the Leitch criteria of “MLS experience”. I still think it’s likely he coaches the Q2 team. That would give him an overview of what he would have in the pipeline for the future as the head coach. The Quakes do seem to be leaning towards the “promote from within” philosophy lately (Leitch, Shawlee, Covelo).
Unless Covelo makes the playoffs then they will then probably give it to him and leave John Wolyniec as TD.
Even if we don't make the playoffs, if we continue to show marked improvement, it might be hard for CL to make the decision to replace Covelo. That said, you can have Woly there in the wings in case things start to go south again the next year.
If Covelo and Leitch add some players or reinforcements during the summer, they could squeak into the playoffs.
Hopefully he speaks Spanish and can connect with the Latinx players and their families. Almeyda was a huge recruiting positive in that regard. Hopefully Woly has a way better vibe than a “Rongen” recruiting our local talent pool.
For those who were hopeful Ian Russel would get the coaching job, does this news leave you more or less hopeful?
Possibly. It can't hurt to have talent to choose from and have developed working relationships. The transition to Cavelo has been much smoother than I had anticipated. I was a fan of Woly during his USMNT and MLS days. Sounds like he has done fairly well in his post playing days. While I'm a fan of developing our own talent off the field (coaches and other staff), I like the addition, especially to bring in someone who may have some different ideas or experience from another club.
Seems less likely now, as I would have thought Ian could be a candidate for the TD job and it could lead to a head coaching job. But still possible we hire someone else to coach for next season (I think there's little to no chance we replace Covelo this season - as I predicted at the beginning of his tenure).
In broad terms, Wolyniec and Russell have had similar paths--2000s MLS forwards who had to start in the A-League to get their chance, then successful head coaches of MLS affiliates in USL.
I don’t think Russell is looking for a Technical Director job. He had that with San Jose prior to being chosen by Chris Leitch to coach at Reno. I think Russell wants to be a head coach in MLS like Schmetzer is. His best chance is still at San Jose.
It seems very likely that it's at least an option should they need it. Wolyniec certainly seems like someone who would be looking to be a head coach and would help explain why he'd be willing to leave Red Bull after all these years. I watched a pretty interesting video on Red Bull's entry into soccer at large and while RBNY have been the least successful club that they own, I'd argue that they have been a reasonably successful MLS club. They've got a couple supporters' shields, were able to bring in some of the highest profile players the league has seen, and earned a couple Supporters' Shields for their efforts. I have to imagine Leitch is pretty well aware of Wolyniec's role in Red Bull's successes and is looking to put Wolyniec's knowledge to use. Covelo's long-term role with the Quakes is very much up in the air and now that Wolyniec's been hired, it also seems less likely that Covelo will stay within the Quakes org should they not offer him a full-time contract. Of course, I'm only speculating here based on what I've seen and how some of the transitions from former interim coaches transpired in San Jose.
I heard a podcast with Wolyniec from the end of last season where he talked about taking his family on vacation then getting back to work for Red Bull II for 2022. Something must have changed his mind because he quit Red Bull prior to this year. Maybe his wife convinced him to take a front office job and give up the travel heavy schedule.
I heard a podcast with Wolyniec from the end of last season where he talked about taking his family on vacation then getting back to work for Red Bull II for 2022. Something must have changed his mind because he quit Red Bull prior to this year. Maybe his wife convinced him to take a front office job and give up the travel heavy schedule.