Louisville City social media has been churning out tweets and ‘grams about tryouts this weekend at King Louie, which I find a little interesting. One would think that the club’s technical staff had better means of casting nets for players than hoping someone saw a tweet from the club’s official account and decided to sign up. Another explanation, which could be more plausible than “they don’t have anyone particular in mind that they’re targeting with these tweets & ‘grams”, is that they just want more people to sign up and pay the entry fee. That looks and sounds a little more like a cash grab, which isn’t a great look, either.
The truth is, though, that lots of clubs in USL have paid open tryouts. That doesn’t really absolve the “paid” part of it, but there are times tryouts are effective. Look at Kyle Smith as Exhibit A of why these things can work out sometimes.
There’s also the cost of renting out the facility for a couple of days to be considered, though I doubt it costs more than the $3,000 or so the club will raise in entry fees.
Talent identification is difficult for teams worldwide. Sure, if you’re Real Madrid, you just find out who’s really hot somewhere and pay a bunch of money to break their contract and put them on ridiculous wages so they stay with you until you’re done with them. For most everyone else, finding great players is hard and speculative work.
Tryouts are one way, probably the least expensive way, to find players. Scouting is much more expensive and risky. Scouts are supposed to go look for players in expected and unexpected places. The problem with going to expected places like big youth or amateur tournaments is that lots of other people are doing the same thing. Looking for players in unexpected places in a country the size of the United States can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sometimes you think you’ve found a diamond in the rough and they don’t pan out. Other times you might have seen a guy ten times and not thought much of them, and then they get picked up somewhere else and are revolutionary. It’s almost like the human condition is fickle and unpredictable!
Then there are biases to be considered. Scouts are human, and have biases and preferences for certain kinds of players. That can be detrimental, especially if he or she is looking for a player to fill a particular role that requires things that a scout isn’t used to putting enough value on.
For example, American soccer coaches in particular have a tendency to overvalue speed and athleticism and undervalue technical ability and decisionmaking. Most scouts are soccer coaches, too. That’s not to say that there are a bunch of trequartistas out there on the streets just waiting to be picked up, but overlooking the cerebral player for the supreme athlete is a thing that does happen.
That brings me to today’s lone link: USL’s list of top ten free agents going into 2020. I don’t know how big of a roster John Hackworth wants or has the budget for next season, but in my view there are three of areas of need: depth at both fullback spots, goalkeeper, and center back. I said for long stretches of last season that City needed depth at defensive midfielder, too, but Corben Bone’s addition to the midfield and Napo Matsoso’s development into a true box-to-box player to me means that Speedy Williams and Paolo DelPiccolo are more than capable of being the cover in front of the back line that City needed last season. I never would have pegged Speedy for a number six, but he executed it so well toward the end of last season that he’s earned my trust.
So, as far as top free agents go, here’s the USL’s list:
- Romario Williams, forward
- Dejan Jakovic, defender
- Brian Wright, forward
- Evan Louro, goalkeeper
- Dillon Powers, midfielder
- Jimmy Ockford, midfielder
- Cody Cropper, goalkeeper
- Collin Martin, midfielder
- Vincent Bezecourt, midfielder
- Saad Abdul-Salaam, midfielder
My notes:
- I’d loooooove to have Romario Williams on the squad but he’s a want, not a need.
- I don’t know how Hackworth and Budnick are going to handle goalkeeper, but I don’t suspect Chris Hubbard is going to get a free pass to the Number 1 shirt, which makes Cody Cropper an interesting option to me.
- Jakovic is a very good defender but he’s also 35.
- Jimmy Ockford, a former UofL guy, is worth a look, but I’d rather see him at fullback or center back than midfield, which he may not prefer.
- I know nothing about Abdul-Salaam but it appears he can play center back and right back, which would be useful. He’s a west coast guy, though, and may not want to come so far east.
Chances are high that City doesn’t sign any of these guys, but I wouldn’t hate it if they did. Howie Lindsey said on Soccer City the other day we can expect a few new names on the roster before the end of the year, so we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears open for you. VAMOS MORADOS.
