Totally agree. Actually, I wish Philly could hang on to Aaronson for one more year. I'd like to see their fans at least get one full season (not a covidy season) with Aaronson. I think, in the long run, if "selling" teams are getting very little on-field benefit from the talent they develop, it's going to inordinately hurt interest in the team.
[ It seems like 2-3 years of great young player is all you get with probably only 1 year of real all-star performance.
Maybe some of these guys can go to Europe to be stars and play for our national team and show some thanks by playing the end of their career back with their home team.
McKenzie was arguably the best CB in MLS this year, both from the eye test and some metrics (ASA's goals+ had him as the #1 CB and #2 defender, behind Anton Tinnerholm). He's right-footed, but plays left center back and it's hard to tell he's not left footed. He's a strong passer and good on the ball. There are games where he is dominant as a centerback at the MLS level -- he just gets to everything. He's quick on his feet and has good recovery speed. He does still make some mistakes, from the games I watched. He's only 6', though he jumps pretty well, but he doesn't have the height of Brooks or Miazga. I'd like to see him tried. Obviously, MLS is not the highest level, though some attackers are pretty damn good. It's time for him to move. He should get a starting look in the MLS camps, IMO. I could definitely see Brooks-McKenzie-Richards being our top three in some order by 2022, though his potential is not as high as Richards. He was on that U20 team despite being hurt, partially for his leadership.
Some will stay an extra year, some will not. The players that don't quite cut it at that level -- maybe a Fontana, maybe a Matt Real, maybe a Jack Elliott will stick around and provide some continuity for fans. It's not ideal, but there's no particularly good alternative if the player wants to go. Trying to force people to stay doesn't end well.
I have noticed that guys in other countries seem to do that a lot. That would be cool for 30 year olds to come home for a few good years.
Well deserved. If you had told me at the start of the year that Nashville was going to be better than Miami, I wouldn't have believed you. But they were thanks in large part to the defense. Zim was outstanding. Another thank you extended to FC Dallas for drafting and developing him Rock-solid. 👊 @thewalkerzim is the 2020 Defender of the Year! pic.twitter.com/eCuMPzs49O— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 18, 2020
Former Dallas man, Dax McCarty played a big role in that defense too. In a smarter world, Dax would have 50 or so caps for the USMNT.
There was a year in which FC Dallas gave the most minutes to homegrown players and the 2nd most minutes to its own draft players. 4 years ago or so. 8 players with FCD connections (drafted, academy, etc.) have been called up over the last calendar year alone: Chris Richards, Reggie Cannon, Weston McKennie, Walker Zimmerman, Brandon Servania, Paxton Pomykal, Jesus Ferreira, and Chris Cappis. Who's next? Maybe Ryan Hollingshead. Maybe Bryan Reynolds. Maybe Tanner Tessmann. I wouldn't be stunned if one of those guys is in the December camp. And who the hell knows what's going on with Jesse Gonzalez?
McCarty probably starts in the FCD "All drafted" USMNT in front of Hollingshead, Zimmerman, Hedges, and Drew Moor. Although they'd done well drafting defenders over the years. Clarence Goodson. George John. Zach Loyd. The list goes on. The defense is one area in which the all-time FCD drafted team beats the FCD all-academy team. The academy backline is probably Moises Hernandez, Chris Richards, Nico Carrera, and Reggie Cannon. So obviously there's a CB problem next to Richards. The midfield on the academy team has to beat the midfield of the drafted team to have a chance at winning that hypothetical matchup. Options there include Weston McKennie, Paxton Pomykal, Emerson Hyndman, Kellyn Acosta, Chris Cappis, Brandon Servania, Edwin Cerrillo, Tanner Tessmann, Victor Ulloa, Thomas Roberts, etc. etc. Central midfield University But the drafted midfield combo of McCarty and Bobby Rhine is pretty darn solid. With Brek Shea bombing up the wings getting the ball to Eddie Johnson and Jason Kreis.
There have long been rumors about a physical altercation between Benny and one of the key USMNT players early in his tenure. Don't know if that has any merit. But it has long been used as the reasoning for why Benny wasn't included more. He also had a lot of down years in his career. I mean, he did next to nothing at Hamburg. He did next to nothing at Derby. He moved to Denmark to play for a bad Aarhus team that were relegated (27 appearances with 1 goal in 09-10). Then he played a year in the Danish 2nd division. He moved to New England, and they couldn't give him away fast enough. Finally when he moved to SKC, and he really started to excel in club football. 5 truly impactful seasons that started when he was 28 years old. By the way, only made the all-star team in MLS one time. But right as he had emerged from the pack, he clearly had issues with Klinsmann in the 2014 cycle. Clearly the two didn't see eye to eye. He only had 6 caps from 2012 thru 2017. By then we were starting to have others emerge in his position. In 2014 we started having Bedoya excel in France with Nantes, for instance. Mix Diskerud was excelling for Rosenborg. I can keep going. Sometimes players are great and miss their windows. Chad Marshall is another example. One can make a decent argument that Chad Marshall is the best CBs in the history of MLS. Sure can. It just never happened with him for the national team. An injury at the wrong time. Somebody else flashes forward in the pool. He was just as good as CBs we took to the WC in 2010 and 2014. Was Clarence Goodson better than Chad Marshall in 2010? Well, I don't know.
The thing about Benny is that he performed for the Nats even while having shady club situations.He played well and hit the winner at the 07 Gold Cup. He played well at the 2010 World Cup... I think the biggest problem is that the coach that believed in him got fired. Bob would have given him more rope because he had produced for Bob in the biggest spots.That is proven by the fact that Bob went out and got him for his LAFC team even on the downside of his career. Klinsman had no such loyalty, not that he should have. I agree that Chad Marshall should have been called up. He kept getting hurt at bad times, like Opara. I am annoyed that coaches sometimes don't have the vision to take a guy that they don't know personally but have the tape on. One of my pet peeves is that in 2017, Matt Besler was starting for the USMNT and his CB partner at SKC was a better player and US eligible! It doesn't take a genius to just plug in that club CB pairing instead of dragging in Omar or whomever else.
Chad Marshall would have been drafted by Dallas if the league hadn't forced Dallas to trade the pick do DC could draft Freddie Adu.
My memory might be off, but I'm pretty sure there was a report that Marshall wasn't all that interested in playing for the National team, kinda like a Nagbe situation.
I just think he got tired of fighting for a role and being the last man cut from important squads. I have some brains cells way back there telling me that he declined some january camp callups. Once because he was getting married in the off-season, and then another when he wanted to spend time in the off-season with his family. Something like that. Opara is another great example that was mentioned above. Another CB was George John. After his fantastic 2010 and 2011 seasons for FCD, Blackburn bid 1.2 million for him. The transfer fell thru (for reasons that I don't think have ever been made clear). He was invited to January camp that year, but declined as he wanted to try to make a move to Europe. He went to a trial with West Ham, and that turned into a loan. West Ham declined the transfer option on the loan deal, and he returned to FCD. Both the USMNT and Greece were recruiting him and trying to call him up. The future looked really bright, and international opportunities were a possibility. Then he got hurt, and everything disappeared. Including George John.
Source: FC Groningen actively scouting Chris Mueller of Orlando City.— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) November 19, 2020 Mueller gets a little nibble. Orlando still have options on the contract, though.
I desperately want to see someone crack the piggybank in Europe for Jordan Morris, but I get the sneaky suspicion that Seattle will not even pay heed to offers that are not at least 7 digits.