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Wright MLS Bound

8K views 77 replies 11 participants last post by  ball_of_rubber 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Good for him. The Quakes, who own the Dragons where he played last summer, have the 6th overall pick, but knowing MLS teams, they'll get someone from a higher-level conference. His hometown team traded away their first round pick (not that he was falling to 21 anyway), but with Seattle trading up to #16 and losing Dempsey, that may be where he lands.
 
#22 ·
Not true. Luzern FC in Switzerland is paying out more money on average. You probably don't consider that a "super team." And again, Liga MX's average salary is near double MLS. And personal source: My 2nd cousin's boyfriend played in Norway's top division for a bottom half club, and earned double what his MLS counterparts did. And yes, he got all his checks. Don't believe everything (aka anything) Grant Wahl or Matthew Doyle write.

But, to me the issue is the league owning your contract, not the franchise (they aren't real clubs in this sense because of single-entity) - it completely takes away the rights of a player to move freely, or if a transfer comes in for a player, the league gets to deem the acceptable rate, and not the franchise, when one might have a different idea of valuation. Takes away from the players earning their true market value.

You'll likely disagree. It's fine. Consider what I'm saying though, and don't be so dismissve and think I'm some Westerfeltian minion, which I'm not.
 
#25 ·
MLS is what it is; it's not high-level professional soccer- but I enjoy it because it's a great experience being able to go to Gillette for games, it's incredibly kid friendly, tickets are dirt cheap, and you occasionally will get to see some noteworthy famous or formerly famous international players.

Being able to continue to see Wright on the Revolution will be great.
 
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#34 ·
Brian Wright update that got missed: He made his professional debut back on 4/1. He was loaned out to the Tulsa Roughnecks of the USL, and came on as a sub and played 30 minutes in a win over Rio Grande Valley.

Not sure if he's still in Tulsa or back in New England (one thing I read implied it was going to be a very short-term loan, possibly only for that 1 game). Transaction information is a little spotty.
 
#35 ·
According to the UVM Soccer Twitter feed, Brian Wright is "set to make his MLS debut" tonight as New England plays at Seattle. I assume that means he'll at least be in the 18. The Revs usually announce their starting lineups/bench about an hour before game time on their Twitter feed.

Game is at 10PM ET tonight on CSN New England (Celtics channel).
 
#37 ·
Really want Wright to start getting in games especially as I'm planning on attending some Revs games....hopefully that starts happening now (?)
 
#41 ·
Except he's not getting into games. Seems pretty clear he's only there as emergency cover until the Kamara guy comes back from paternity leave. He'll probably get sent back on a loan again soon...because you know 22 year olds need "development time" when there are tons of 22 year olds in other countries around the world that have already racked up over 50 first-team appearances by the time they turn 22. And we wonder why the on-field and national team product is subpar?

I hope they give him a shot; it's early and the team isn't performing well enough, but they'd be willing to try something new...you know like playing your coveted "first round pick" and seeing what he can do. But, low stakes means not a care from the franchises.
 
#42 ·
You watch more soccer than I do. But is part of (most of?) his problem that he's on the wrong team in terms of immediate playing time? New England's a pretty C+/C- team, but it seems like a lot of their talent (or maybe more importantly, they're money) is up front with Kamara and Agudelo. Throw in a veteran pro like Teal Bunbury (who even he doesn't see a lot of time), and it seems like there's a glut of seasoned professional guys who play the same/similar position as Wright on this team. I'm actually surprised they don't have him in USL so he can at least get game experience at a level still much higher than America East, as opposed to hanging out on the sidelines. But that's me.
 
#43 ·
That's some of it. Though, I don't think it's a talent issue. It's mostly systematic issues. The fact that he signed with the league, was allotted to the Revolution via the draft, when likely they don't even view him as anything more than a depth/trade piece, and he has no control over it. Coaches choose the veteran guys for no reason other than they are veterans in a lot of cases. USL loans will get you playing time potentially, but there are not many examples of guys going to USL on loan and making their way onto the first team, similar to you not finding too much success of guys going from draft pick stash in the D-League to solid NBA rotation guys and key parts of teams.

It's killing Wright's development. He's 22. His window is literally 2-3 years tops, because 22 with little professional experience in the global game mostly means your chances of success are low. South of the border, across the pond, there are lots of 22 year olds who have had well over 50 professional appearances by that age. These guys were getting loaned out or put in competitive games and environments at 18, going up against fellow professionals, and thrust into real competitive situations with real consequences and stakes - not the recreational mentality that purveys US/Canadian Soccer culture.

Lots of people want to blame the college model, and some merits to that (no truly good soccer player should even think about going to college anymore), but even these homegrown kids signed at 17 just ride pine or are not getting meaningful professional minutes, even on loan at USL teams. This lack of experience shows when US/Canada youth national teams at the U17, U20 and U23 level are in international competition outside of CONCACAF, and even within it because these guys either aren't playing on professional teams in favor of marginal vets, or are in college where you can't equate the competition levels.

That's a long way of saying that Wright and so many others' windows to show themselves closes before it even begins, and it's of no fault of their own, and I think that's ridiculous, especially for a league that is as butt as MLS is.
 
#44 ·
It looks like New England will play young guys when there's a positional need (4th-round pick Josh Smith seems to be logging decent minutes this year) or where there's a distinct amount of talent (GA's Kelyn Rowe and Andrew Farrell both played a lot in their first couple seasons, as well as homegrowns like Fagundez and Scott Caldwell...hard to believe Fagundez is only about 6 weeks older than Wright). Unfortunately for Wright, it just looks like right now he doesn't fall into either category for this team.
 
#45 ·
And it's exactly why the whole drafting process and having your contract owned by the league not the team stuff needs to go away when it doesn't align with the global standard of the game. Give players the freedom to sign and play where they can make an impact and improve their value like real soccer countries. I just feel bad for him. He'll end up in the new Canadian Premier League by next year, likely aka the league Canada had to make in order to be fully qualified to make the joint bid for the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and USA.
 
#48 ·
I don't really know much about the MLS Draft, but there's 4 rounds.....is it normal for a 1st round draft choice to not have played in a game yet? It's not even like the Revs are at the top of MLS where you might expect there would be stiffer competition/deeper team.....Wright is a really exciting, dynamic player- I'm not sure why he wouldn't be playing.
 
#49 ·
I'm not sure, but from a personal experience, a very good friend of mine had his son drafted in the first round (son played for a high level college team in a Power 5 conference). He didn't play for the MLS team at all his first year, was never on the active roster and was loaned out most of the season. However, this, his 2nd year, he was loaned out once early but since has been on the active roster and has actually been subbed into a few games this year.

I haven't followed the sport/leagues very closely nor have I developed some strong opinions as others, but that has been what I have seen.

Is it the norm? I have no clue.
 
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#54 ·
That's a bit harsh, since 10 years ago MLS only had 13 teams. 11 academies have had to be established since then, and many are only just now starting to see the fruits of their labor. Look at Dallas right now, last year's Supporters' Shield winners who also led the league in HGP minutes. Red Bulls, the East's top team, were second. Meanwhile my Union, established in 2010, are only just now getting HGPs minutes (Derrick Jones started our first few games of the season). Although Keegan Rosenberry (who played every minute of the season last year) was in our academy, our homegrown claim on him was rejected because he took summer classes at Georgetown to speed up his degree

I think the addition of MLS reserve teams in USL will help that number go up going forward
 
#55 ·
It doesn't take away from the fact that homegrown players and development is mostly a lip service, especially if you can get another player a green card to skirt your international roster sports in favor of actually putting down a real investment to funnel players into the first team. Sure, some of them work out nice, but that # is proving not many, and it's still a good enough sample size. 10 years is plenty of time for the likes of LA Galaxy, DC United, Chicago Fire, New England Revolution, Houston Dynamo, etc. to produce multiple first teamers from its academies by now, especially given the amount of diverse talent in their "territories" and the amount of investment its owners, who are billionaires mind you, want to give in terms of resources. Most of them have only produced 1-2 tops. Adding teams doesn't change the fact that it's not even close to enough.

Of course it comes down to the # of opportunities/real stakes and incentives, of which MLS franchises have no incentive to fully commit. There's not a punishment for not developing and finding players. There's not an incentive to develop to sell on to help sustain a club at lower levels. Bob Kraft just wants the Revs to be a tax write-off, as do most of the league's owners.
 
#57 ·
Further casting Wright's prospects in doubt, the Revolution, who are 10th in the 11-team Eastern Conference, acquired another forward: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...n-land-forward-krisztian-nemeth-trade-crew-sc

Wright has still only made one league appearance. They have some guys who will be out of contract next year so if they hold onto him maybe he can figure his way in, but if you want proof that MLS doesn't give a crap about its draft picks or trying to develop and give some young players some run, his whole rookie season is a good example. There are 12 games left and they're 6 points out of the final playoff spot in the East, but still. Aren't "first round picks" suppose to be given some run on bad teams? You know, since MLS is trying to Americanize a global game, that's what the NBA and others do. I got no idea if he's dogging it in training (tend to doubt it/don't believe his ability level is that bad in the low quality player standards), but something has to give.

Their manager would certainly be trying something different and giving more chances if he was in a relegation fight....
 
#58 ·
Their manager would certainly be trying something different and giving more chances if he was in a relegation fight....
In fairness, Heaps is currently considered one of the worst managers in MLS, and a LOT of Revs fans want him gone.

But it's not like Wright is fighting for his spot against geriatrics. In the positions he can play (forward/wing):

Juan Agudelo is 24, just two years older than Wright, and has been capped for the USMNT.

Diego Fagundez is the same age as Wright. Only he has 4-5 years of first-team experience.

Kelyn Rowe is 25 and recently played for the USMNT at the Gold Cup.

Femi Hollinger-Janzen, who's deployed in the supersub role, is 23.

As for the "he'd change things up if he were in a relegation battle" bit...um, I'm pretty sure that signing a player who is proven MLS quality and has played in a major international tournament (Euro 2016, with Hungary) counts as changing something up. Németh scored 11 goals in 28 matches for KC in 2015, and KC has sorely missed having him to pick up some of the scoring load.

That said, at least loan him out or something so he gets playing time. If he's not on the bench or in the 18 it's not going to help him develop.

This is one of many areas where the Revs are sorely behind other MLS teams: they don't actually have a USL affiliate where they can get their homegrowns and draft picks match time. They have an "affiliation" with Rochester, but never use it, partially because Rochester is to USL what the Chicago Wolves are to the AHL (basically, a fiercely independent team that cares more about winning than player development, and does have the 2015 USL Cup to back that up).

All around them, MLS teams have USL affiliates where draftees, homegrowns, and even academy kids play against pro opposition. Philadelphia has Bethlehem, Houston has Rio Grande Valley*, San Jose has Reno*, KC has Swope Park Rangers, Salt Lake has Real Monarchs SLC (ugh, what a dreadful name - fantastic team though, they're first in USL right now), and of course the various "2" and "B" sides (Orlando, Toronto, LA, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, NYRB).

* - These two are a bit different, because while they're owned by different people than the MLS side, the MLS side controls the technical staff.

That leaves New England, Columbus, Dallas, DC, Chicago, Minnesota, Atlanta, Montréal, and Colorado out in the cold and affiliating with otherwise independent teams. Of those, Minnesota and Atlanta are brand-new sides so they have an excuse, and Dallas (who uses a bunch of youngsters anyway) and DC intend on launching teams in the near future. Columbus, Chicago, and Montréal have all at least made *some* use out of their affiliates (Montréal actually shut down their B team in the winter). That leaves New England alongside Colorado, a team that is also horribly run (Stan Kroenke teams gonna Stan Kroenke teams).

TL;DR: The Revs organization is stuck in MLS 1.0, Jay Heaps is an awful manager, he needs to get away from there and to somewhere he can get playing time, even if it's in the USL.
 
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