Top Stories

Morning Ticker: A look at the next generation of MLS All-Stars and Robinho out of Olympics

Robinho_ap

Good morning folks. I’m heading to Toronto this morning but I wanted to give you folks something to read before I headed north.

For those of you who hadn’t seen it, here is my ESPN.com story on the league’s next generation of all-stars.

I wasn’t able to get a proper roundup together since I’m traveling this morning, but here is one of the early day’s big stories:

‘Injury’ forces Robinho out of Olympics

Just when you thought the battle between clubs and countries over the Olympics was over comes the latest. Real Madrid has decided to keep Robinho with the club rather than letting him go to the Olympics because of a groin injury Real Madrid discovered during a physical this week.

Brazil’s federation isn’t buying it, saying Robinho’s injury could have been treated with the Olympic team.

What now? Brazil has replaced Robinho with Cruizero midfielder Ramires and the Olympics have lost another marquee attraction for the soccer tournament.

What do you think of my list of future all-stars? Who did I forget? Also, what do you think of Real Madrid’s decision to keep Robinho with the club?

I’ll check back in once I arrive in Toronto. Enjoy the rest of your morning.

Comments

  1. Somebody mentioned Barrett earlier as a joke. But judging by his comments earlier in the year, how irked do you think he was to find out McBride was chosen to the Olympic squad instead of him? Priceless!

    Reply
  2. Wow, if Altidore and Ibrahim continue to develop on their current trajectories, we might have two, count them, two, true strikers that can finish by 2014!

    Reply
  3. I think Eric Avila from Dallas should be on the list. He has not played much but when he has been in usually makes things happen. In the USOC game against Miami he was by far the best player on the field and has played well in other games.

    Reply
  4. >> is Ibrahim a US citizen… can he play for USA?

    Yes. He played for the U-17 USA team in the 2007 U-17 World Cup.

    Reply
  5. Not a Revs fan but I think Igwe is more likely to be a future all-star than either Mansally (who looks good but can’t seem to finish) or Dube (who doesn’t impress me any more than Cristman and is probably near his peak). Nyassi is dangerous though…if he ever learns to pass the ball after his long dribbling runs, Sainey will be unstoppable in MLS.

    Reply
  6. Harkes also commented on how Leathers looked better than Myers so far and they both were drafted this year. If you are going on potential than maybe you have a point. Also, you could have found much better players than Tony Beltran, he is basically the Pat Ianni of your list.

    Reply
  7. yes folks, it was essentially a players to watch list for Under-23 players. I ddn’t say it in the story but should have (as for the Dube fan, I was going to list him before Nyassi and Mansally until I realized how old he is).

    There are plenty of talented players in MLS in that age range. I just went with these 11 players. Robbie Findley was an oversight on my part. I was actually writing his name in but then forgot to include him. To be honest though as good as Findley has looked at times, I think the group I put together has as much, if not more, upside than Findley. He’s definitely in the mix though.

    I also put this list together based on upside and potential as much as current production.

    Reply
  8. I’d include Colorado’s Nick LaBrocca in this list. He was born in December of 84 so I’d say he qualifies as a young player. As for his play this year he’s been in the middle of the park for nearly every game and he hardly ever puts a foot wrong. Maybe not flashy enough to be an all-star, but a great player down the road.

    Reply
  9. Sepp Blatter is a clown who hates the olympics even though he’s an ioc member. makes no sense. i think fifa is paranoid to think that the olympics can outshine the world cup. I don’t know why they wouldn’t want to have their game showcased at the olympics on the same level as basketball. It could be with messi and robinho, etc. there but not with all these guys missing.

    Reply
  10. Re: Dube v. Gambians as future all-star

    Without explicitly saying so, Ives seem to have looked to the U23 and under crowd age-wise for this list of “young” stars, in other words those born in 1985 or later. While Dube is a rookie, he is not young by those standards.

    Dube = 1983

    Mansally = 1989

    Nyassi = 1989

    Other young players not on Ives’s list:

    Juan Toja – 85 – More like already an all-star (more based on last year’s form)

    Mike Harrington – 86 – as mentioned by Ted

    Marvell Wynne – 86 – Olympian; not sure why he’s not mentioned in the article.

    Adam Moffatt – 86 – seem to be really emerging before his injury this year.

    Dax McCarty – 87 – looked good w/ US U23s but not much PT in MLS this year due to injuries

    Others with less “star” potential, but who may deserve to be on the young player radar screen include:

    NE: A. Cristman (85), A. Igwe (88)

    NY: H. Freeman (85), L. Sassano (85)

    DC:

    CLM: E. Gaven (86)

    TOR:

    CHI: C. Barrett (85), S. King (86)

    KC: A. Hohlbein (85), J. Leathers (85)

    LA: A. Pires (85), M. Randolph (85)

    CHV: F. Mendoza (85), J. Braun (87)

    SJ:

    COL: J. DiRaimondo (86)

    RSL: R. Findley (85)

    DAL: A. Alvarez (85), D. Oduro (85), B. Wagner (88), A. Wallace (89), J. Lambo (90)

    HOU: G. Cameron (85), C. Ashe (86)

    Reply
  11. Ives,

    Good article. I also wonder why Robbie Findley isn’t on the list as well as Igwe from the Revs? I’ve only seen Igwe play a few games, but the kid has got some talent.

    What about Chad Barrett…just kidding!

    Reply
  12. I mentioned Igwe in the Olympics post and I will again mention him here. Without a doubt, he is the second best left- back this country has to offer right now. He was part of the U-20 team last summer (I know he didn’t play) and the Revs first- team (who lead MLS in points right now). I liked Harrington last year but I watched the game last Thursday and he looked below average in that game. In my opinion, Ekpo won the match- up with Harrington (due in large part to Ekpo’s pace). Like John Harkes said, he really needs to work on his first touch since it was “solid as a rock”.

    Reply
  13. Dube’s already 25, so i don’t know if he’s really a potential all-star. A nice contributor, sure, but he doesn’t have the upside of Mansally.

    Another Rev who could be all-star quality in a few years is Amaechi Igwe, who has been really top notch this year in limited appearances.

    Reply
  14. “Kansas City’s Chance Myers has the look of a future all-star”

    Not a great photo to go with the caption above. It maybe should have been “Oh I traped it now what do I do?”

    Other than that I appreciate the list it is good to find out who the up and coming players are that we do not get to see. being from Dallas I know we are waiting for Brek to get playing time. In the preseason he looked really good.

    Reply
  15. No Geoff Cameron?

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sure he’ll be an all-star, but he’s a better player than some on that list. Now if only Kinnear could choose a position for him >_< I think he's the only player in the league (and a rookie to boot) who's spent quality time at Centerback, Forward, and Right Winger.

    Reply
  16. Excellent article Ives, great insight on tomorrow’s marquee names. Also show’s that MLS is indeed developing young talent.

    One question (and I know it’s not Q&A Time): is Bakary Soumare eligible to play for the USA? He has a green card, played High School soccer, and College soccer in America…

    Reply
  17. Ha, I before I read the article, I was saying to myself “I bet Ives leaves Nyassi off of the list.” But I stand corrected. Nice work. And Jeff, I think you may be right about Dube concerning Mansally. I’m beginning to question Mansally a bit, as the kid just can’t seem to finish. However, I think that Nyassi has been a real breath of fresh air and inspires a great deal of offense that leads to Dube – and Christman’s – not too pretty goals.

    Reply
  18. I think some of those future all stars are a bit obvious, not really going out on a limb there. Although maybe Franklin–let’s wait and see. It’s not really much of a compliment to call him the best defender on his team. Even with the Galaxy on pace for the postseason, they basically still give up as many goals as they score.

    I don’t like seeing all of these stars being held out of the Olympics. Having said that, I also feel like I’m the only person on earth watching Olympic soccer, and always have. It’s just not a big deal to teh general public, even if it is to me.

    Reply
  19. To solve this in the future, why doesn’t FIFA just add Olympic game dates to their calendar, giving clubs no choice but to release the players.

    Reply
  20. Is it in FIFA’s interest for the Olympics to be a marquee event? No. So it’s very apparent, to me at least, they are feigning support for the event but really could give two sheets about it.

    Reply
  21. Its all down to Blatter’s lack of stones and not giving a firm rulign for either clubs or federations ot fall back on.

    I think Salinas out in San Jose can crack that last based on the few tiems I’ve seen him.

    But that would assume that MLS actually allows some young players who earn it a chacne to play in the ALl Star game. Otherwise I’d say future All Stars include: NY’s next DP, LA’s next DP, and every member of RSL since they’re the next to host it. GARBER! Er!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to soccerroo Cancel reply