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FC Dallas waive Leyva, make four other roster moves

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FC Dallas have begun their preparations for next season, waiving Bryan Leyva and three other players while also re-signing a Homegrown product.

FC Dallas announced Wednesday they made five roster moves as they attempt to improve their team for the 2013 campaign. The Hoops waived midfielder Leyva, who has been with the club since 2010, as well as Bruno Guarda, Ruben Luna and Matias Jara.

FC DallasĀ also re-signed Homegrown goalkeeper Richard Sanchez. Terms of that deal were made available, as the the club announced the contract runs through the 2015 season.

The released players will become available via waiver draft in December following MLS Cup.

What do you make of these moves? Think any of the players who were waived shouldn’t have been? Happy the club re-signed Sanchez?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’ve followed the two guys. Both of their contracts were up and they weren’t re-signed. I agree with some of the comments that say the reserve league needs to be altered. The kids need games.

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  2. Wasn’t there a lot of hype on Leyva a few years back. I believe he even had training stint at Real Madrid while he was 14 or 15.

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  3. It is true the pipeline is incomplete. More MLS teams should field PDL u23 sides for the 1st team academy grads plus hometowns who chose to play in college. Plus ecpand the number of gsmes in the reserve league. Then players like Luna and Levya would have a better chance to develop into good pros. If there is no pro/am style u23 league then players would just be better off on college.

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  4. There seems to be a conflict of interest in terms of how FC Dallas progresses. They continue to sign all of these young homegrown players and yet very few of them ever see the field, even in meaningless games. Take the last game of the season, Dallas had already been eliminated from the playoff picture and there was no value in the final game. Rather than give some of his young players a chance to go out and prove something, he plays journeymen like Scott Sealy. I really don’t know if Hyndman and management are always on the same wavelength.

    Dallas has one of the most talented youth academies in the country and yet Hyndman shows an extreme reluctance to blood any of them. I’m not saying he should be fielding a team of only homegrown players but he seems to have a strong aversion to some of this young players. It seems almost ridiculous to give up on Leyva and Luna considering how young they are and how cheap their contracts likely are as well.

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    • I think you hit the nail on the head. Dallas youth teams have incredible success and yet we never see any of them on field. I’m not sure in SH is to blame for this, but what is the point of having probably the best development set up in the country if you’re not going to play any of the players that come through.

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      • There’s still a problem with MLS youth set up. Past the U-18s, the structure is incomplete. In Europe, you have U-19s, U-21s, U-23s and a full reserve league. In MLS all they have is a limited reserve league. That said, MLS youth development is far ahead of what it used to be. Its better for players to play more and with better competition.

  5. Lets also remember that some of these homegrown players don’t spend that much time in the teams academy. Connor Ladde played one season with Red Bull Academy, then went to St. John’s then was signed as a Home Grown. In the future we will see Homegrown players that started with MLS team’s academy at a young age. The program is still farely new.

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  6. How many youth players go thru the Manchester U, Ajax, Chelsea, Everton, etc youth system that don’t pan out for the first team?

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  7. Getting rid of dead weight really. Leyva and luna are talented but they just couldnt take their game to the nxt lvl. Best of luck to them

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    • Jeez, couldn’t take their game to the next level? Leyva looked like he could be a player during his appearances this season. At this point in a young player’s career it’s about getting a consistent string of games, and SH seems unwilling to do this with any of his young players. Maybe they’re just not as talented as originally thought, but it’s also important to keep in mind that none of Dallas’s homegrowns have gotten much of a look to help them develop. In fact, there was even an article that came out recently in Dallas in which Brek Shea claims that he actually asked to leave in 2010, and that the league essentially forced SH to play him. Believe what you will, just saying that when you sign 5 or 6 highly touted prospects and none of them pan out there could be issues beyond the skill of those players…

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  8. Please, can someone explain how this is an “attempt to improve their team for the 2013 campaign.” Are they trying to get cash to pay for potential acquisitions or even a DP or two? Is there some sort of aggregate salary cap they are trying to get under? Or is this just simply them trying to “trade up” to more experienced or higher potential type players? I am not up to speed on the financial side of MLS management, player contracts, league rules, etc.

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  9. I would really like to see an article some time about how well home grown players have been doing in the MLS. Seems like that age group of 17-20 is still struggling really bad to develop into professionals. That’s total conjecture, which is why I would like to see some stats.

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    • It will probably take them a few years to develop. If you look in Europe, most players make the first team at ages 21-23. 17-20 year olds are playing on youth teams and in reserves. Generation Addidas has had alot of success, thats taking the best 19-22 year olds nationwide. Compare that to homegrown which takes the best 17-18 year olds in a specific state.

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      • that’s why i’m interested. generation adidas does have a lot of success, but those are college players. i’m more curious about players that were homegrown and are now old enough to be in first teams i.e. age 20+. leyva was in the dallas youth setup and their first homegrown signing, now he’s out. it might be too early to ask these questions but i’m just curious if mls is keeping up with the rest of the world in that between stage of 17-21.

      • me too, that would be a great article. The players that have gone through the entire academy systems are the first generations right now. I wouldn’t have super high expectations for that group. I feel like a lot more academy players are making youth national team rosters now and hopefully we see some stronger professionals in the years to come.

        there is soo much high school age talent, with so few NCAA/MLS academy spots available. It is defiantly one of the biggest stumbling points for soccer here in the US.

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