Freddy Adu to Las Vegas?

So apparently Freddy Adu is still around.

For those who aren't aware, Freddy Adu was the U.S. soccer community's great hope for the future - over ten years ago. Basically we all thought back then that Freddy was going to be what Christian Pulisic is now. But we kinda sorta jumped the gun a bit on that one. 

To be fair, it wasn't really our fault. Adu was drafted into MLS by D.C. United at a mere 14 years old. 14! And he wasn't just a "one-for-the-future" pick either, they played him regularly for his first two seasons. MLS also picked him on two consecutive All-Star teams. 

It wasn't just MLS who saw promise in him either. He went on trial at Manchester United's academy, and eventually was sold to Benfica in Portugal for a seven-figure transfer sum (which was a big fee in those days, especially for an MLS player). 

And that was where the wheels fell off. He played a few games, then was loaned out to Monaco for a season. Not a big deal, right? Monaco are a big team, he was still a young player. But then he was loaned again. And again. And then began his journeyman career, rocking up in Brazil for a while, then Serbia, then Finland, and finally back to USL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. 

And now, after a year away from the sport, he has turned up at Las Vegas Lights FC playing on a trial basis. As a fan of the Lights, I have my guard up about this one. When your club history looks like this:

you are anything but a sure bet.

But at the same time, Adu is only 28 years old (I know, right?). He should still be young enough to put together a few good seasons for a team. And you've got to give the guy credit for sticking with it this long, after being turned away from so many trials and teams.

If Adu is signed by the club (and that is a big if), I could see this going one of two ways.

In one scenario, the club goes in with a level head, and addresses Adu on the merits of his play only, and not on his reputation. This goes both ways - you don't give Adu any credit for being the once golden boy of U.S. Soccer; but you also don't hold his frankly concerning history against him (at least not too much). If he plays well enough during these trial periods, you offer him a reasonable deal, and see where it goes.

In another scenario, the club takes Adu's "publicity" value into account when deciding to sign him up. They figure that having Adu on the team will bring a lot of free interest (internet articles like this one, for example), and think as long as he isn't too bad, we can sign him up.

Let's hope for all of our sakes (including Adu's), the Lights front office takes the first approach. If he's good enough, sign him up. If there are better options, let him go.

I think if there is one lesson that clubs should have learned this past year, it's that the U.S. soccer community is pretty sophisticated. Look at Atlanta - they didn't bother getting big name, well-known Euro stars in an attempt to get interest. Instead, they spent their money on good players to build an exciting team. And the fanbase responded in droves. The same thing with FC Cincinnati and Sacramento - they didn't try to buy publicity with any aging stars. They signed good players, and the people came to support it.

I think that is the way the Lights need to approach this. Make the right soccer decision, and that will align, in the long term, with the correct business decision. 

On a final note, I think that in a way, Adu's story is a cautionary tale for players and fans of all sports. We need to understand that potential talent is not the same as realized talent. Most promising youngsters just don't make it. It could be for a variety of reasons (injuries, lack of work, lack of talent, dumb luck, whatever). It's just the name of the game, and we need to remember that, and not spend our time crushing players just because their career didn't pan out the way we thought.

Till next time.

Lights FC Announces Seven New Players + Kit/Jersey Sneak Peek

Big news in the world of Las Vegas soccer this week.

No, I'm not talking about the Lights' announcement of seven new players. We'll get to that later.

I'm talking about the picture that the team posed of the players at practice, where we got to see a sneak of what I hope is the jersey for the upcoming season.

***UPDATE: Apparently the Lights confirmed that these are only the training kits. To that all I have to say is: that means we have better training jerseys than most teams have game jerseys.

That is what I was hoping for in a jersey.

First, we have a color that is not the standard red, black, or blue that seems so prevalent in U.S. soccer circles. How many teams play in yellow? That alone will make us stand out. And not just yellow, but a yellow-and-teal combo.  I can't think of very many teams in world soccer that play with that combination. And with "Lights" as the moniker, it really fits.

Second, we have shorts that are a different color than our shirts. It seems like the modern trend is to make them all the same color. I watch Real Salt Lake on occasion in MLS, and they have seem to be going away from the red shirt-blue shorts combo to an all-red uniform. I think that is boring. It's a team uniform, it's supposed to be colorful and different. So don't waste time on matching.

Finally, maybe it's the Arsenal fan in me, or the fact that I grew up watching baseball and wearing those three-quarter baseball shirts, but I always love the colored sleeves design.

I have to imagine that these aren't just training tops, but are the real deal replica jerseys. (If they are just training tops, the real jerseys are going to have to be something special to top it).

I guess we should talk about the new players too. Here's the list of new players:

• Zak Drake – Defender – 26 years old
• Cristian Gonzalez – Midfielder – 20 years old
• Jorge Guillen-Torres – Defender – 23 years old
• Oscar Hernandez – Midfielder – 21 years old
• Juan Herrera-Perla – Defender – 23 years old
• Alex Mendoza – Midfielder – 27 years old
• Andres Muñiz – Forward – 22 years old

Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I knew a single thing about any of these guys before they announced them. But I did a little research, and it seems like they are all solid enough for the level that we are. A few of them have a couple of professional minutes under their belt, some (like Mendoza and Muniz) down in Mexico, another (Drake) tried his hand in Europe for a bit. Most of those "professional minutes" actually came in the academy and reserve level in those league, but hey. USL is a different level - it's perfectly reasonable that someone who couldn't quite break into a Liga MX club could be a solid performer in the USL.

The thing that stands out most to me among these players is their age. Five of the seven new signees are under 24 years old. And of the last group of "Las Vegas" signees, three of the five were under 24. And so far, noone is under 30. That means the average age of the squad so far is only 23.

I don't know how that stacks up to the average age profile of USL teams (I would guess it is pretty young with all of the MLS affiliate clubs), but it's good to see that the Lights are looking to invest in youth. At this level of the soccer pyramid, the smart move is to give opportunities to young, hungry (and relatively inexpensive) players and see who can make the step up. I'm looking forward to seeing who in this group can do just that.

How to Tell that the USMNT Dropped the Ball - A Jonathan Gonzalez Story

The big story of the moment is Jonathan Gonzalez choosing Mexico over the U.S. national team. I know this isn't really a Las Vegas-specific entry, but it's the big story in american soccer today. And it does have a bearing on Las Vegas - there are a lot of kids playing soccer in this area of the country that would qualify as "dual-nationals" through their parents, meaning they could play for the U.S. or Mexico if they ever got to that point.

There's been a lot of argument on the internet over whether Jonathan Gonzalez is a traitor for choosing Mexico, whether the U.S. did enough to win him over, etc., etc.

First of all, let's get the first question out of the way.

Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.

One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.

One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.

Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.

It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the people at the USMNT.

Now let's move onto that subject, the incompetence of the people at the USMNT. I've seen a lot of claims flying, but I will show you how to cut through the nonsense and the "cover-your-butt" game that a lot of folks have been playing.

1. During the November friendly, Gonzalez was not called up. Dave Sarachan (the interim head coach) had this to say about the decision.

Not calling him up is fine. He had a big game the next day for his club. No problem.

However, did you hear how much Sarachan waffled about him? “Along with other guys...” “on the radar...” “one of the young guys.”

2. Jonathan Gonzalez comes out and says that nobody spoke to him about the November friendly.

What? Noone called? Texted? Nothing? You didn't call up this kid, and didn't even explain that you wanted to but were doing it our of courtesy?

3. The people at U.S. Soccer come out to defend themselves. Thomas Rongen (Chief Scout for U.S. Soccer) says "I've been to his house three times in the last year." Others said that they called him up for the January camp, and attempted to contact him in December.

This is all misdirection.

Yes, great, you visited him three times in a year. Great, you called him for a January camp that he was never going to be released for.

But did you notice what they didn't say? Nobody is disputing Gonzalez's claim that nobody told him about the November friendly. They are saying all of these other things, but they dropped the ball when it really counted.

Similarly, Thomas Rongen stated today that there is only 1 full-time scout employed by the USMNT. Since then, others have pointed out that "there are 12 full-time technical advisers and 130 part-time scouts." Also, U.S. soccer sent out this helpful graph showing all the work that they do:

Again, sure this is all probably true, but it is also all misdirection. The fact of the matter is that no-one has refuted the statement that there is only one full-time scout for the USMNT.

This is one of the huge reasons why talent identification in the U.S. is so lacking. When there is only one full-time scout, and only 40 non-developmental academy scouting events, how are we supposed to identify the quality? We are relying on kids to self-select, and only the kids who can afford to pay to play are going to be found.

Anyways, as I said above, I know this isn't strictly Las Vegas-related. But it does apply to many kids' experience here.

needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.

One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.

One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.

Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.

It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT.

Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.

One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.

One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.

Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.

It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT

Anyone blaming Gonzalez even a little bit for this needs to stop. Take off the red-white-and-blue tinted glasses for a second and take a reality check. Put yourself in his shoes. You have two teams to choose from.

One team is a bit crazy at times, but is going to the World Cup, seems to have some sort of plan for the future, and is moving heaven and earth to let you know that they appreciate you and want you to play for them.

One team is not going to the World Cup, seems to be run by people who have no plan, and who apparently don't care enough about you to even shoot you a text message explaining why they aren't calling you up.

Keep in mind that this choice will have a huge impact on your career and livelihood, and could put you on the stage to step up to the next level.

It hurts me to say this, but how could he not choose Mexico? This is 100%, completely, and totally on the incompetence of the people at the USMNT.

Las Vegas Lights FC First Five Signings

Last month, LV Lights FC made a promise to always have at least one player with Las Vegas roots on their roster. I write a bit about how that was a smart move - it would build a great connection with the local audience, and it really isn't a hard promise to fulfill.

Today, the club announced its first five players, all with some sort of connection to the Las Vegas area. While the reality is that the club was always going to have quite a few players that were local (easier to sign because of proximity, etc.), they were smart in that they now look like they went above and beyond their original promise. 

Here are the players:

Adolfo Guzman (@Fitoguzman17)

The youngest of the group, at 21, Guzman is a midfielder who looks like he was been playing most recently at William Jessup University as a sophomore during the 2016-17 season. He grew up in Las Vegas, and attended high school at South East Career Technical Academy. 

Sebastian Hernandez (@dsebas_10)

A 24-year-old midfielder, Hernandez is a UNLV alumnus who looks like he graduated in 2014. Interestingly, the UNLV website lists him as a defender, while the review-journal article has him as a midfielder. He played for Bonanza High School, so he is Las Vegas through and through. He actually went to the tryout that the Lights hosted last month, so it looks like it was a worthwhile exercise.

Marco Cesar Jaime Jr.

Jaime is a 22-year old center back who was born in Las Vegas. Unlike the others on this lest, Jaime has professional experience (and therefore a transfermarkt.com page). It looks like he has spent the last few years playing down in Mexico for Toluca's reserve team, and even got a few shots at playing for the first team in cup competitions. 

Julian Portugal (@portujulian)

Another midfielder, the 25-year-old Portugal is another player who must have impressed at the tryout that the Lights put on last month. He is another UNLV alumnus, (actually listed as a midfielder this time), and before that he played for Palo Verde High School here in town. 

Matt Thomas (@MattyThomass)

Another midfielder (I am sensing a theme), the 22-year old Thomas also went to Palo Verde High School here in Las Vegas. His most recent playing experience came in college as well, at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. 

Overall, the two takeaways from this announcement is that A) it's pretty cool that these guys get a chance to play professional soccer in their hometown, and B) it looks like those tryouts did manage to unearth a few players that will contribute to the team this season.

Let's hope that their first season gives them a lot of playing time and a lot of wins.

Las Vegas Lights Single Tickets - and what it means for the team

The Las Vegas Lights made single-game tickets available - at least for the three MLS friendlies and then the first day of the regular season (March 24th, in case anyone was wondering).

According to my in-depth calculations, that means we only have 79 days until the first professional soccer game in Las Vegas! That isn't that long at all.

It looks like the cheapest single-game tickets start at the very reasonable price of $15. That will get you a spot in the corner grass berm, for those who don't mind not having a metal bench or plastic seat to sit on. And that $15 is just for the MLS games and the first game - I'd imagine that there will be other games during the course of the regular season that dip below that price.

You can't really ask for better than that. I mean, you could feasibly take the whole family to a game for the price of a single ticket to one of the other pro teams that are/will be in town.

As I was thinking about the ticket prices, I was wondering what effect the pricing would have on the quality of player on the field. In other words, at these ticket prices, how much money are the Lights going to take in in gate revenue, and how will that effect the salary/quality of player that the team will be able to bring in?

Here is what I came up with using very complicated and detailed scientific formulas:

Ok, so full disclosure, this was really not scientific at all. Cashman Field has a total capacity of ~ 9,000 if you are counting only the seats, plus an extra ~ 3,000 if you include the grass berms. Based exclusively on the picture on the ticketing website, the seating looks like it's about split into thirds - 1/3 in the corner (behind home plate for a 51s game), and 1/3 to either side. Throw in a couple hundred box seats, and you have a very very rough estimate of the money the team can bring in at any one game.

Now, I wrote a post a bit ago about the average attendances for USL games. Based on other attendances around the league, it seems unlikely that the Lights will be able sell out every game. Generally, it looks like a good average attendance for a non-MLS B team in USL is around 4,000 to 5,000. I think the Lights should be shooting for more than that, since our market is larger than a lot of the others in USL (for example, Reno, population ~ 400,000, averages around 5,000 people per game, so Las Vegas, population ~ 2,000,000 should be able to get more than that). Realistically, Cashman Field should be between 50% and 75% capacity for most games.

So, you figure that based on my loose calculations, gate receipts for the team should be between $3M and $4M for the whole season (assuming about 20 home games, including friendlies).

If the team can pull that off, that is a healthy budget for a USL team. And that isn't even counting what the team can bring in as far as shirt and other sponsorship dollars (I tried to find out approximately what those numbers would be, but it's hard to find, so I'll have to do a deeper dive later).

As I discussed in a previous post, the average salaries around the league are not going to be sky-high. So with this kind of income, plus whatever sponsorship, TV, and other dollars the team can bring in, the Lights should be able to bring in more than enough money to be competitive.