Columbus Crew, Dayton Dutch Lions Friendly / Scrimmage / ...

The Columbus Crew traveled west down I-70 towards Dayton yesterday evening to play friendly match against their new USL Pro affiliate the Dayton Dutch Lions.

Transitional year for these two teams. Columbus has a new owner and everything that comes with that and Dayton, after operating as a distant post for Dutch side FC Twente, is now also affiliated with a MLS team in the Crew.

As for the game itself, I feel it served several purposes. First off; It got some of the Crew players caught in no-man's land some playing time... guys like Ben Speas, Eric Gehrig, Ben Sweat and Fifi Baiden. They played pretty well, but the rust was clearly there. Second; It got some folks out to watch some pro soccer in West Carrollton. Third; It sort of smooths out the player comments from camp Crew about Dayton being "purgatory." 

The Crew ended up winning by two goals scored in the first five minutes.

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Beautiful evening out in Dayton. Time sort of melts away for me on Midwestern Spring evenings like this one.

USL Pro: Dayton, Rochester Draw 1-1 in Lions Home Opener

Dayton equalizes five minutes into added time to save a point at home last night against the Rochester Rhinos in USL Pro regular season play.

Rochester coaches, players, refs after controversial ending

This was an early season match so both teams were still trying to find their way but Dayton, in particular, seemed to go off script the most, especially in the second half.

From the USL Pro Game Report: "But there was too much long ball. The work ethic was fantastic but the soccer we showed today is not the soccer we want to show.” - Dayton coach Sid van Druenen

Too much long ball is an understatement. It was virtually all long ball in the 2nd half for the Lions.

Dayton was comfortable most of the first half, but it was Rochester went up in the first half hour. The final 15 minutes of the half saw Dayton getting lots of pressure and earning corner kicks. Early in the 2nd half Dayton completely abandoned the any attempts at possession in the midfield and resorted to long balls into the box.

With a couple of big players (on loan from Columbus Aaron Schoenfeld among them) aided by a lively surface Dayton was bound to get a lucky bounce at some point. Which happened, in the 95th (?!) minute. A listed 6' 7" 235 lbs. Joe Broekhuizen was credited with the goal.

Rhinos have some reason to feel hard done last night. There was contact with the keeper on the goal (the ref did discuss with linesman) and five minutes of added time was quite a lot (very few fouls and only one real stoppage due to injury).

Dayton has started the year 1-1-1 and travel out to Harrisonburg next Saturday to take on the Islanders. Here's a quick and early look at the USL Pro table (PPG, GD).

PPG : TEAM : GD
2.33 LA Galaxy II (+1.33)
2.00 Sacramento Republic FC (+1.00)
2.00 Richmond Kickers (+1.00)
1.67 Orlando City SC (+0.67)
1.50 OKC Energy FC (0.00)

1.33 Dayton Dutch Lions (-0.67)
1.00 Charleston Battery (0.00)
1.00 Wilmington Hammerheads FC (0.00)
1.00 Harrisburg City Islanders (0.00)

0.50 Rochester Rhinos (-1.00)
0.50 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (-1.00)
0.00 Charlotte Eagles (-1.00)
0.00 Orange County Blues FC (-2.00)

For more on this game stay tuned to Chad Hollingswoth and Reckless Challenge for excellent coverage.

Adding Indy Eleven to Crew, Dayton Coverage

Expect more Indy Eleven coverage along with the Columbus Crew and Dayton Dutch Lions this year on Helltown.

MLS is has really gotten tangled in their own web of rules, regulations and restrictions. Commissioner Don Garber recently went as far as to state on national television that they (MLS) are making it up as they go. This was infuriating and completely unacceptable to any fan that was there with the league when it took shape back in the mid-nineties and bought in to the spunky, can-do league hellbent on soccer survival in the US.

I'll keep pondering, analyzing and picking apart the Crew but Indy will be getting some coverage in this space. Not only because they are a pro team in my local region but because I like what the NASL is doing.

I watched a number of NASL games last year (Railhawks still my first love) and the level of play is very good, the fans are passionate and they are a breath of fresh air to these increasingly clogged MLS lungs.

The league also trusts ownership and spend wisely and does not put a cap on wages.

INDY ELEVEN

Ersal Ozdemir CEO of the Keystone Construction Company is putting this thing together. The official announcement came last April and the team starts play this year in NASL play.

There is a lot to get excited about with this team. They've got a ownership group that is well rooted in the state if Indiana (their logo reflects this) and an experienced team of people running operations.

Indy is thinking big having already taken deposits on 7000+ season tickets (putting them at Columbus Crew levels), so they have some right to shoot for the moon. Hopefully without massive taxpayer help, however.

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Indy Eleven is still working on a roster but they do have a good group signed up right now. One of which includes former Crew draft pick and Cleveland, Ohio native Kyle Hyland.

PLAYER (NOTE)
Kristian Nicht (Bundesliga, USL Pro)
Nathan Sprenkel
Kyle Hyland (Columbus Crew)
Erick Norales (Los Catrachos)
Baba Omosegbon
Chris Wey
Walter Ramírez (San Antonio Scorpions)
Brad Ring (San Jose Earthquakes)
Mike Ambersley (all over, USL, NASL, MLS)
Pedro Ferreira-Mendes (on notorious Cal FC team)
Don Smart

Things are moving fast before the club's first opener on April 12th.

Which reminds me... even though Indy has a small budget, they will be competing for players 20-30 on the MLS rosters in the region. Namely the Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew.

With Dayton affiliating with the Crew this should get real interesting, real fast. Stay tuned.

MORE ON NASL

For an excellent primer on the league head on over HERE. Dcn. Joseph Suaiden just wrote an excellent two part piece on the NASL and where it is within the landscape of US Soccer.

Crew Roster Development Gap

(After taking a look at the Crew / Dayton affiliation in my last post, I am now taking a wider view of what all MLS teams are doing to develop roster players and where the Crew fall in).
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The recent announcement between the Columbus Crew and Dayton Lions has had time to soak now and after considering the pros and cons of the affiliation I believe it has to be in intermediate step, not the final goal.

After looking though each Major League Soccer team's college age development programs I've discovered that with the loss of a full reserve team and the lack of a U23 team the Crew have set themselves back from most of the other teams in the league.

As things stand right now, the Crew are one of just four MLS teams with no post high school development team of their own.

REASON FOR CONCERN

This is an issue for the Crew because of the big number of college age players they have brought on (having only an affiliation with a USL Pro team severely cuts opportunity for mins, looked at it in last post).

Ross Friedman, Matt Walker, Ben Sweat, Matt Wiet are players just added that could use a full reserve team season. There are other players, like; Brad Stuver, Justin Meram, Ryan Finley, Ben Speas, Shawn Sloan, Aaron Schenfeld that would benefit as well.

In recent years these players would have been able to gain competitive minutes on the reserve team.

ARMS RACE

Since MLS announced that teams had to either field a "B" team in USL Pro or affiliate by 2015 we have seen only one side decide to go with the first option (The LA Galaxy), and another 10 go with the 2nd. The rest are still hanging on to the MLS Reserve League for one more year.

If you were to quick score on post high school development opportunities for each MLS team by their U23 (or anything beyond U18) and their reserve preferences on a 1 (worst) to 4 (best) it would look like this:

QUICK SCORE : TEAM
8 : New York (NPSL Team, MLS Reserve Team)
8 : Chicago Fire (PDL Team, MLS Reserve Team)
8 : Montreal (PDL Team, MLS Reserve Team)
8 : Seattle (PDL Team, MLS Reserve Team)
8 : Los Angeles (New U23 Team, USL Pro B Team)

6 : Chivas USA (U23 SoCal Premier, MLS Reserve Team)

5 : Vancouver (PDL Team, USL Pro Affiliation)
5 : Sporting KC (PDL Team, USL Pro Affiliation)
5 : D.C. (NPSL Team, USL Pro Affiliation)
5 : Portland (PDL Team, USL Pro Affiliation)
5 : San Jose (PDL Team, USL Pro Affiliation)

4 : FC Dallas (No dev post U18, MLS Reserve Team)
4 : Real Salt Lake (No dev post U18, MLS Reserve Team)
4 : Colorado (No dev post U18, MLS Reserve Team)
4 : Toronto FC (U23/College Team, USL Pro Affiliation)

1 : Columbus (No dev post U18, USL Pro Affiliation)
1 : Philadelphia (No dev post U18, USL Pro Affiliation)
1 : Houston (No dev post U18, USL Pro Affiliation)
1 : New England (No dev post U18, USL Pro Affiliation)

FINAL THOUGHTS, FOR NOW

There are a lot of benefits to the Dayton / Crew affiliation but it cannot remain the only developmental program for Crew players near starting MLS level. Look at the team at the top of the list up there. Look at all the players those teams will have their hands on, all the experience and even places for players recovering for injury to go.

The Crew have fallen back very quickly when it comes to this. Sending a few players out to Dayton and relying on college programs is not enough.

The less you have of that in relationship to the other teams in the league the further behind you will fall.

The ideal goal for the Crew should be to field both a PDL or NPSL U23 team and a full reserve team in the USL Pro division. Having a full USL Pro team gives a MLS team the ability to effectively increase their roster pool size from 30 to somewhere around 56-60.

For those that state money as a concern, a roster of 26 players in USL Pro would cost around $500-750k a year (median salary of around $25k per). Add in coaching and team travel and you are looking at something close to $1 million a year.

With the new USMNT / MLS TV deal in place and a reported extra $3 million going to each team, a full reserve team should be a priority.

MLS / USL Affiliation, Critical Look

MLS / USL affiliation is making news with a few more teams joining in, taking the total up to 10 MLS teams and 10 USL.

Last year Major League Soccer corporate instructed teams to either link up with a USL Pro team or field a team of their own in the division by 2015. After a couple stabs at running a reserve league of their own MLS is trying another direction with the program.

COMPETITIVE MINUTES

Four teams participated in the the first year of the program and one of the relationships (KC and Orlando) saw each team winning major trophies. With this fact in mind and the the recent partnership between the Columbus Crew and the Dayton Dutch Lions I wanted to take a closer look to see what they did right.

KC handled sending players back and forth with Orlando smoothly but then something struck me when I pulled down total minutes of all roster KC players...

The affiliation means that KC lost competitive minutes for players on the team. How? Fielding a reserve team last year the Crew played a total of 14 games which makes for a total of 13860 available competitive minutes on the season.

League Games x Match Length x Positions = Total Mins
14 x 90 x 11 = 13860

With an affiliation MLS teams can send 4* (see update bottom of post) players "down" which means there is only 9360 minutes available for players down the bench.

26 x 90 x 4 = 9360

What that amounts to is nearly a 33% drop in available competitive minutes for players down the bench on MLS rosters. This also means a lot less exposure for these players. It's significant.

11 of the 34 players to be listed in a Sporting KC jersey never saw a single minute with the senior team or with Orlando.

Compare that with a total of 42 players that wore a Crew jersey in competitive matches (a healthy number of trialists) and saw competitive minutes. No Crew player on the senior squad was left without some sort of professional minutes, either in MLS or the Reserve team.

Recap: # of players without competitive mins: Crew 0, KC 11

Recap: Total players playing competitive games: Crew 42, KC 34

Columbus loses the luxury of a critical 4500 extra minutes where players can work themselves back to health, trialists can showcase or middling players can make a mark.

MASTER / SERVANT RELATIONSHIP

Last July, when MLS announced the partnership with USL, Jeff Di Veronica (Democrat and Chronicle) wrote something that has gone largely overlooked, but will play a much larger part as teams join together:

"Holt said if an MLS team needed a player, it can call one up from its affiliate even if the player is owned by the affiliate. “We’ve given the affiliates a high degree of latitude this year to do what makes the most sense for both sides,” he said."

I've reached out to MLS for clarification on who the USL team would be compensated but they refused to put me in contact with a corporate representative (I asked nicely twice) and pointed me to Alex Caulfield of my local MLS franchise.

Earlier today CHS SOCCER.NET interviewed the president of newly affiliated Charleston Battery (Andrew Bell) and asked a similar question; "Does this mean that the MLS club in an affiliation like this would have first-dibs on a player like Colin Falvey if he moves up?"

"It’s a great question. I think that that’s still a part of the affiliation process that’s in process. We still want to encourage and help as many of our players as possible to make it to the netxt level, Colin included. But the other part of it is, for this to work properly, you have to have some veteran and experienced players on the USL PRO squad, to help the younger players that are coming from Major League Soccer, and our young players, to develop as professionals. So we’re always going to have to keep an eye on the balance there."

What this tells me is that the relationship is probably like most other things MLS does in that there is this bizarre front of complete control. Loads for rules, regulations, restrictions... but when you pull back a few layers you just get a bunch of goo.

What Major League Soccer is doing here is probably the same thing any midsize company in the US does... buy out or control market competition. With USL now under the MLS wing they are at the mercy of their masters.

Reading the interview with Andrew Bell you clearly get the sense that they want to maintain a independent club feel. Unfortunately, he has put himself in the servant role here.

This is very frustrating to me as I believe things are just finally getting good in US soccer but not because soccer has finally "made it" (I've been hearing that since the 80s), no... soccer is riding the sports mad wave of live sports in the US. Week after week for the past handful of years live sports has dominated TV ratings.

MLS / USL / NASL are still last is just about every measurable category on TV and online but they are rising with the tide.

To me, it's looking more and more like USL settled for a servant type minor league role. A short term decision that they may regret as seasons go by and their teams are nothing more then the local AA Cleveland Indians affiliate.

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WHAT ABOUT THE CREW AND DAYTON

I'll be writing more about this affiliation as it progresses (grows?) but for right now it's looking like Crew will have a number of players, like KC last year, that don't see any competitive pro time. It's a virtual no man's land. You're not off in Dayton, just practicing all year and filling in the gameday 18 when a first team player is hurt.

Which Crew players are looking to be in this no man's land this year? Guys like Brad Stuver, Tyson Wahl, Ethan Finlay, Aaron Schoenfeld, Kevan George, Eric Gehrig, Shawn Sloan.

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MLS/USL PRO Partnerships:
Columbus/Dayton
D.C. United/Richmond
Houston/Pittsburgh
New England/Rochester
Philadelphia/Harrisburg
Portland/Sacramento
San Jose/Sacramento
Sporting KC/Orlando City-OKC Energy FC
Toronto FC/Wilmington
Vancouver/Charleston

*Had a good discussion with Chad Hollingsworth, Ryan Kramb, Brandon Gee and William Brown for pointing out that reported rules state that an MLS team can send more than four but have yet to send more than that down at any one time. Program still in infancy.

MLS Enters US Open Cup Today

16 Major League Soccer teams are join the 100th US Open Cup today. Officially it is the third round of the tournament.

Over at Massive Report I break down the Columbus Crew and their upcoming match with Dayton Dutch Lions. Go give it a read if you get a chance.

Somewhat buried in all that fun are my thoughts on all of the MLS matches starting today and tomorrow. Today is a really, really big day for clubs lower down the US Soccer pyramid. I can't emphasis that enough. Really big day. So, here is that pulled out.

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May 28, 2013
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Most games kick off around 7 PM EST. USL Live on UNATION will have the Kickers v. DC United, Charleston Battery v. San Jose and Orlando v. Colorado Rapids.

Rochester Rhinos v New England Revolution - Rochester, New York

Philadelphia Union v Ocean City Nor'easters - Chester, Pennsylvania

Somewhat mysteriously, the US Soccer took this game away from Ocean City, where it was originally scheduled, and put it in Philly. There should be a large contingent of Nor’easters’ fans in Chester to pull them on.

Richmond Kickers v D.C. United - Richmond, Virginia

Look for the Kickers to put up a good fight but because of the new MLS relationship with USL Pro this is more of a big brother little brother matchup now. Year’s past it these two were pretty fierce enemies.

Sporting Kansas City v Des Moines Menace - Kansas City, Kansas

Los Angeles Blues v Chivas USA - Fullerton, California

Fort Lauderdale Strikers v FC Dallas - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Orlando City v Colorado Rapids - Orlando, Florida

If there is one team the casual MLS fan might recognize, it is Orlando City SC. Their grassroots bid to become the 20th MLS franchise failed so they will be looking to take down one or two this year during this tournament. They are a team loaded with MLS level players. This one will be good if City can keep their composure.

Real Salt Lake v Atlanta Silverbacks - Sandy, Utah

Fox Soccer studio host and legendary US Men’s National Team player, Eric Wynalda is also the part-time coach of the Silverbacks. For those that remember back to last year, Wynalda took a ammateur side called Cal FC past the Portland Timbers in US Open play.

Charleston Battery v San Jose Earthquakes - Charleston, South Carolina

This game will be streamed on USL Pro’s UNATION service. Watch this game for the beauty of Blackbaud Stadium. In my opinion? Charleston is the team I would have liked most to be the 20th club in MLS. Was able to watch the Battery take on Dayton a few weeks ago... I fully expect Irishman, Colin Falvey and company to give the ‘Quakes fits.

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May 29, 2013
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Columbus Crew v Dayton Dutch Lions - Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is going to come out with everything they’ve got this year. Should be a great one. Go watch this game already.

Charlotte Eagles v Chicago Fire - Rock Hill, South Carolina

Charlotte has a name that Crew fans will remember in Shaun Francis. Shaun has been playing well for the Eagles. Keep an eye on this result. Chicago will be pressing but might find a side that will not be easy to take down.

New York Red Bulls v Reading United - Harrison, New Jersey

Carolina Railhawks v Los Angeles Galaxy - Cary, North Carolina

LA lost this fixture last year to this same inspired Railhawks side at WakeMed. Look for former Crew starter Mr. Julius James playing in the back line. Also, Robbie Rogers will likely feature in this match. So, give it a watch if you are in the Raleigh-Durham area. No excuses. Know who might be there watching right beside you? Will Hesmer.

Houston Dynamo v FC Tucson - Houston, Texas

Tampa Bay Rowdies v Seattle Sounders FC - Saint Petersburg, Florida

This one should be interesting. I don’t expect a Rowdies win but wouldn’t be suprise if there is an upset here. Brutal travel for Seattle. Saw the Rowdies earlier this year. Not impressive but they do have a great player in Englishman, Luke Mulholland.

Portland Timbers v Wilmington Hammerheads - Portland, Oregon

USL PRO, Top Performers 2012

Ten months ago I took a look at the USL Pro division and pulled out a number of names that I felt were the crème de la crème based on the rating model I developed for Major League Soccer players.

So, before digging into this year it's important to go back and take a look at how well my list from ten months ago did. After all, if I missed on all the players last year then time to crumple up my rating model and air ball an attempt at my NC State trashcan hoop 3 feet away and start again.

In CAPS on the right will be my comments on if they should be in Major League Soccer.

Luke Mulholland : F : YES
Number 1 on my list last year, moved to Tampa Bay Rowdies and helped them finish 2nd in the league and win the NASL championship. I've inserted NASL stats in to my model as well and hope to get to that soon in this space but Luke finished 5th there.

Jhonny Arteaga : F : HE IS, KINDA
Picked up by NY Red Bulls, handful of apps, fans didn't seem to take to him but look at who he was playing behind. Recently released. I'd like to see another MLS team pick him up.

Matthew Delicâte : CF : POSSIBLY TOO LATE
Still with Richmond, not as productive as 2011 still above avg at 0.47 G+A p90. Have him rated overall as 8th best USL F in 2012. Still stings that the Crew didn't go after him instead of Olman Vargas last year.

Jorge Ivan Becerra : [will have to update]

Henry Kalungi : D : NEEDS A GOOD 2013
Still with Richmond, decent year but not as good at 2011. Rate him 60th overall but way down the list of defenders.

Rob Valentino : D : WORTH A LOOK
Solid year with Orlando, by far the league's best team and best defense. He missed some time this year though so he dropped down the list a bit. Still, two good years in a row on the best team? Worth a look.

Paul Nicholson : MF : WORTH A LOOK
Solid year with a not as good as 2011 Wilmington but 2 good years put together. Decent size. 26 yrs old. Worth a look.

Sainey Touray : F : WORTH A CLOSE LOOK
2 goals, 4 assists in 808 minutes. Productive, good size. Still only 22. G+A p90 0.67, 15th in USL with those over 450 mins. Was only a game away from 900 mins... would have been 5th in G+A p90 >900 mins.

An honest evaluation would be to say my model was able to pick out above average players. I am satisfied with results so I am moving forward with a new list and doing it early enough in hopes that MLS clubs take a harder look at the talent in the USL Pro division.

Important to note that this is more a list of prospects - in that I pulled ones who seemed poised to do good things based on age and situation along with league performance.

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2012 USL PRO, WATCH LIST

Orlando City dominated the league (in many ways including expansion hype, Wayne Rooney's brother and Tony Pulis' son) this year so I'm going to start with them, the league's best team.

01 LUKE BODEN : 24 : D : ORLANDO CITY

This 6'1" Englishman spent his formidable years with Sheffield Wednesday. After getting loaned out a couple times he signed a deal with Orlando. Boden clocked 1890 minutes with Orlando this year which means he anchored a backline that allowed an astonishingly low 0.75 goals against per match (best in the league). Based on his numbers alone I am confident that Boden should get a look. Add in that he was shaped by a club like Sheffield Wednesday and you have a player who will likely make his way on to a MLS side soon.

02 KEVIN MOLINO : 22 : M : ORLANDO CITY
Molino was the 2012 USL PRO MVP and I can see why. I have him second overall in the league (played in 200+ less mins than Boden). That said, Molino was ever present on the team (23 apps of 24 possible). From the MF he managed a 0.54 G+A p90 rate which is 4th when looking at MF with over 900 minutes. Kevin has played on every level of Trinidad and Tobago national team. Given his age I'm positive more than a few MLS teams are looking at him.

COUPLE OTHERS FROM ORLANDO

MATTHEW LUZUNARIS : 23 : F : CAROLINA via ORLANDO
Luzuraris is a player who has already been identified by many. He's from Florida and has seemingly been all around the world yet just 23. Like many attacking talents, he goes to a club, gets a handful of chances and gets shuffled along before he can prove himself. Well, last year in Orlando he got that chance and made a big splash with 1.06 G+A p90 for Orlando City. Since he played 934 league minutes that puts him over my magic 900 min / 10 GM mark. Extremely effective player.

JAMIE WATSON : 26 : MF : MIN STARS via ORLANDO
Jamie has popped up on my radar a few times. He's got fairly extensive MLS experience already. He's a former Generation Adidas player that was probably burnt a bit by that contract. No question about his passion for the game though. He tallied 5 Goals and 3 Assists in 1526 minutes on the best team in the league. G+A p90 rate of 0.47, which is very good. A little undersized (5'9") for MLS but impressive resume.

DENNIS CHIN : 25 : F : ORLANDO
Dennis is only behind teammate Luzunaris in the G+A metric. He a 6'3" forward that recorded 0.96 G+A p90 with 1223 minutes played. That's 11 Goals, 2 Assists. He was the highest aggregate goal scorer in the league.

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MORE TOP IN USL PRO

04 NICKI PATERSON : 27 : MF : CHARLESTON BATTERY
This Scot's resume tells me he has been around the block a bit but no MLS experience as of yet. He'll be 28 by the start of 2013 MLS action by he's worth a look. I see 10 (2nd in the league) Goals and 2 Assists while playing in 93% of all possible minutes for a 0.54 G+A p90, good enough for 3rd highest among USL Pro Midfielders with over 900 minutes.

09 DANNY EARLS : 23 : D-MF : ROCHESTER RHINOS
Another from the British Isles, this time an Irishman that spend a couple years with Colorado Rapids in MLS before winding up in Rochester last year. He was an ironman for the 2nd place club playing in 96% of available minutes notching 2 Goals and 3 Assists. Danny is 5'9" but stout. What's that mean? A 5'9" American might be considered undersized in MLS but not a similar sized Irishman. Does that make sense? It better. He also makes art. Find him, try him - MLS teams.

23 JOSE CUEVAS : 23 : MF : CHARLESTON BATTERY
At 23 years old, Cuevas won 2012 USL Pro Rookie of the Year. This probably placed him on a number of radars across MLS. Awards aside - I like his 7 Goals and 4 Assists in 1659 minutes. Even at 5'8" he's worth a look.

24 COLIN FALVEY : 27 : D : CHARLESTON BATTERY+YoungHeart

This square jawed Irishman likes to play football year round by playing the summers in USL and winters all the way around the world in New Zealand. Falvey says: "...you get to play and get paid all year round. You also get to see and live in two wonderful countries." That quote typifies what I feel the Crew is all about. Falvey is the reason why I like looking this stuff up. It's one of the reasons to love this sport.

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Loads of good players in the USL Pro division. With the amount of competitive games these guys play and available stats MLS clubs should be building models based around: success in the league, age, size, etc. Matching that up with how similar players specific traits based on performance in the past when making the jump to MLS allows you the ability predict output and minimize risk.

For this research I used the statistics publicly posted on the official USL website.

Complete player ratings and stats on all 269 players to see USL Pro mintues, go here.

Scouting, Appropriately

Back in December I decided to take a look at a handful of players currently plying their trade in the United Soccer League Pro division. The reason being; I am frustrated with the lack of attention Major League Soccer teams pay to existing professional league soccer in this country.

The theory I'm employing is to utilize the existing footballing infrastructure that's already in place, in our very own country. It's surprising how hard that is for some to comprehend.

This post is the 2nd follow up to a group of talented players I singled out (1st post, Link). I'm still frustrated with how MLS sides largely ignore the USL and NASL but some of the guys I identified four months ago have moved "up". Others, still available for any MLS club looking to improve!

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01 : Luke Mulholland, 23 ATT MID (England)
Starting and playing with NASL side, Tampa Bay Rowdies. Hoping the NASL can continue to settle. It is very important to the soccer well being of this country. I expect Mulholland to have a great year and move to MLS.

02 : Jhonny Arteaga, 25 F (Colombia)
In the starting 18 with the NY Red Bulls now! Woohoo! Columbus had a shot at him, tried him out even. Playing behind a couple heavyweights in Henry and Cooper but I expect him to get his chance.

03 : Matthew Delicâte, 29 F (Wales)
Still with Richmond Kickers. Like a true Welshman, never stopped playing all winter. Was one of the leading scorers on his indoor soccer team during that time. I expect good things from the Kickers again this year. Crew. Sign him already.

04 : Jorge Ivan Becerra, 27 D (Mexico)
Having a hard time finding Iván Becerra right now. Last seen with Wilmington Hammerheads.

05 : Henry Kalungi, 24 D (Uganda)
Still playing for the a strong 2012 Richmond Kickers side. Also, played all winter in Uganda.

06 : Rob Valentino, 26 D (USA)
Still with USL Pro Orlando City. We'll see how well that team does this year. They are making lots of noise about getting into MLS. From what I saw of Orlando a few weeks ago? Not a great move for the league.

07 : Paul Nicholson, 25 CDM, (England)
Resigned with Wilmington Hammerheads. He is one of those players that has you scratching your head as to why MLS teams even bother with drafting college kids. Sign this guy instead.

08 : Sainey Touray, 21 (Gambia)
With Harrisburg City. Just fractured his wrist, but hopes to get back to action soon.

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One of the Other guys from my original post... Jose Angulo, 23. He signed with NY Red Bulls. Good stuff!!

USL Pro Guys, Super!

The MLS SuperDraft is coming up later this week and I'm getting geared up by not trying to figure out the rules of it. Instead, I am just going to follow up on a post I made last year regarding the USL Pro division and declare the "SuperDraft" the crap beer at your least favorite chain restaurant (Rock Ice happens to be a Costa Rican beer, hmm).

Applying the same weighted measurements I used for 2011 Major League Soccer, below is a short list of USL PRO players to keep an eye out for in the future. Some call this league the 3rd division, others call it minor leagues (cringe). I like the league. Stable and has a wealth of good players.

01 : Luke Mulholland, 23 ATT MID (England)
Luke had one of the better goal scoring years in the USL last year and recently moved to the NASL side Minnesota Stars for a few games. 9 goals, 5 assists in 23 games in the USL.

02 : Jhonny Arteaga, 25 F (Colombia)
Jhonny made appearances for MLS reserve teams Crew and Red Bulls last year and had an impact each time he played. He had an impressive per 90 minute goal scoring rate of 0.70 with FC New York last year. He won the USL Golden Boot with 13 goals in 21 games.

03 : Matthew Delicâte, 29 F (Wales)
I'm not sure what else to say about the guy. I wrote on him a few times last year and as fate would have it, his Richmond team played the Crew in the US Open Cup and beat them. "Deli" put in a beautiful header that ended up being the winner. He actually is the "traditional big English" style forward that *assive Report called recent crew signing Olman Vargas. Though, not sure exactly what English tradition they refer too... Andy Carroll?

04 : Jorge Ivan Becerra, 27 D (Mexico)
I have to trust my measurement system with defenders because I saw so little of USL teams last year (Fox Soccer did have a few). Ivan tops the list of Defenders (and 3rd overall) and stands out to me because he put in so many minutes with a good side in Wilmington as well as being one who was chewed up by the MLS Draft format back in '06. Columbus actually picked him up then but he never really saw time with the senior team.

05 : Henry Kalungi, 24 D (Uganda)
I'm noticing a trend with internationals breaking in to the United States via College Soccer then finding themselves on a USL squad. In the case of Kalungi he fell to Richmond via Winthrop via drafted by MLS (Rapids) then not getting a contract. All of the Richmond Kickers side had a great year last year. Kalungi just happens to be the youngest of the group that allowed only 0.88 goals a game (2nd best in USL).

06 : Rob Valentino, 25 D (USA)
Looks like Rob bolstered the best defense in the USL with Orlando (0.67 GA). Though, it appears it was more defend by committee for the team. Rob has been picked up then dropped by a couple MLS teams (Revs, Rapids) without ever seeing a minute.

07 : Paul Nicholson, 25 CDM, (England)
Paul is another who found his way to USL via College. He is another good player on Wilmington's strong 2011 side. He played every minute during their positive 2011 campaign.

08 : Sainey Touray, 21 (Gambia)
Touray probably has the biggest upside here out of the bunch. He has been identified as a talent already (Red Bulls took a look at him as a teen). Last year was the first year he really got some time and didn't disappoint. 7 goals and 6 assists in just 12.9 (90 min) games. That fills up the stat sheet more then most in the USL.

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Other guys... Andriy Budnyi, 30 (because he is from Ukraine and born in the former Soviet Union). 8 goals, 6 assists in just 16.4 (90 min) games... Jose Angulo, 23 (another Colombian). 9 goals, 3 assists in 15.8 (90 min) games... Tadeu Souza Terra, 25 (Brazilian). Looks like he was already spotted by a bigger club in Brazil but he lead the USL in assists last year with 8.

Complete USL Pro Stats available HERE.