Is Joseph Eligible for Rookie of the Year?

From his bio on the team website:
"During the 2002 season, Joseph played for the New York Freedoms of the D3 Pro League, scoring seven goals and adding an assist."

Not sure, but I think that makes him inelligble.

 

Joseph may have potential in the defense, but his distribution skills, attacking vision, and limited play off the ball are below average at this time for a central midfielder even at the MLS level. Not to say he can't or won't improve, but he has a long way to go. Lets be realistic and give him time.

 

its only one year so he is eligible. A player must play 2 seasons or more in order to be inelligble. (Hence Twellman not getting Rookie of the year honors)

 

No, that guy is Leo Cullen.

Joseph is the 6'3" Granadian who kept setting up Twellman and Moore with chance after chance, pushed the ball out wide leading Ralston, Kamler, Heaps and Franchino into space and basically won every ball within reach.

If MLS named an all-star team today (based purely on merit) Joseph would be 1st team. He's far and away the Rev's MVP thus far.

 

"Joseph may have potential in the defense, but his distribution skills, attacking vision, and limited play off the ball are below average at this time for a central midfielder even at the MLS level..."

Ahhhh, but you see, he's not a central midfielder, and Nicol himself has indicated he's better suited to professional development as a defender...

... but if he can develop into a defender who has strong distribution skills, good field visiion, and solid play off the ball, what's not to like about that should it take place?

The Magpie

 

No question Joseph is the major new impact player for the Revs so far, which says a lot given the JMM acquisition. Also no question his future looks bright and his versatility can only help this team. We should keep our expectations in check a bit longer, however.

 

I don't even agree with that. I think the time will come (if it hasn't already) when Nicol will be ready to revise that opinion.

When you're 6'3", people will automatically put you at central defense (unless they throw you up front as a "Niall Quinn"-like forward).

Now that he's playing in the middle, he doesn't look out of place at all to me. He's making a difficult position look pretty easy. He's doing such a good job, that the Revs may want to ease off that search for an attacking mid and look for other areas to improve (like finding a good two-way player for left back).

 

I've always been under the impression that any player who has previously played as a professional (ie: no 2 year requirement) with compensation is excluded from RotY. Do you have a link for this 2 year stipulation?

 

Socdoc,

Were only talking about possible Rookie of the Year, not for example, MVP of the Year. I am really impressed with him as a rookie and feel he made the difference for us in the last game. His passing skills exceed most of the Rev players and he also used his defensive skills better than any of the others that were tried at mid-field.

Yes, I think he has a good shot at Rookie of the Year.

 

That was my understanding as well.

More importantly is the fact that Joseph has emerged as a solid starter able to add his skill to the core roster that worked their way to the MLS Cup last year. This is a team game and while individual honors are great it's the teams win-loss record that counts. The addition of Joseph, JMM, Reis and Noonan have really added something to the roster.

George

 

I think Jacen and George are right, but this only convinces me that the concept is a poor fit for MLS. The award should be for best newcomer, best U21 player, rising star, or some such thing. After all, if the same criteria were applied to basball, no player who had been paid by another baseball franchise would be eligible (only players who transitioned directly from college or high school.) One could even question whether Division 1 sports sould qualify as amateur.

 

im goin off of information from last year when the whole "Twellman should be RotY" argument was goin on, and what i got from when that was done was that you can't have two year of professional experience.

 

Yes, that is what they do in other leagues, calling it the "Young Player of the Year" award, or something like that. It's an old argument, but when Ichiro was named "rookie of the year" in baseball, even though he was like 28 and had played 7 years in the second-best league in the world. The NHL recognized this a few years ago when European pros made their debut in North America after many of them had played for quite some time in the top European leagues.

And of course, this wouldn't be complete without mentioning that Dapper Doug's replacement at the ProJo used to always call Cate, a 27 year old who had been a pro for 8 years, a "rookie" in nearly every article.

Tom

 

Joseph is definitely settling in nicely. I'm not ready to call him a rookie of the year yet though. I would like to see him put a little more on some of his passes. Sometimes he doesn't put enough on it and it gets intercepted before reaching his intended target. Some of that may be bad field conditions. Like I said, I do think he's settling in nicely.

 

I like MOST of his play, but I coach a U-8 girl who shoots better than Shalrie .Damn, he might shoot down a low-flying plane this year.

 

As I expected, SN has "revised" his evaluation of Joseph.

Quote from Nicol, ripped from socceruk.com:

“We brought him in as a center back,” said Nicol. “We figured that’s where he’d fit in best because he is big, strong and good in the tackle. Looking back on it now, sticking him back there might have been a waste of his talents.”

 

Good anticipation of, what I believe, is proper player placement.

I can't see Joseph playing anywhere else but in the middle of the field.

I'm very happy with this 'Rev-midfield' evolution. While it may be cliche to state that strong 'ball control' teams are built around a solid center-midfield, it looks VERY good in regards to building 'around' it.

Coaching becomes MUCH easier when your midfield is strong.

Rev-on.