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Posted by
Steve Bottjer, December 12, 2012 |
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Email Steve Bottjer
Twitter @BottjerRNO |
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The Montreal Impact announced on Wednesday that the club has come to terms with midfielder Justin Mapp for the 2013 season. As per MLS and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mapp, 28, played 27 games for Montreal in their first season in the MLS, including 21 as a starter. He scored twice and added five assists in 1,641 minutes.
"I'm very excited to be back. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by the Impact to return for another year," said Mapp. "I'm looking forward to 2013 following the success we had in our inaugural season in MLS."
"We are very happy that we were able to come to a new agreement with Justin," said Impact sporting director Nick De Santis. "Last season, Justin showed some very good moments. He is one of the most technical and gifted players on our team. We look forward to our technical staff continuing to work with Justin to help him find more consistency in his game, while helping him reach his fullest potential."
In analyzing the move on a number of levels, it looks to be a smart one by Montreal to bring Mapp back.
Firstly, while many people do consider him overpaid to a certain degree given that he made $210,000 in 2012, the fact of the matter is that Mapp is a quality MLS player and a positive citizen. He has the talent, work ethic and athleticism to be a solid two way player in the North American top flight. He also appears to be a player of good character who is good in the dressing room and he brings significant MLS experience to the Impact squad. It will be interesting to see what salary he has been brought back at when player salaries are announced by the league later on in 2013.
Secondly, Mapp is a good player, but he is not such a great player that there is much danger that he will leave for a big offer in Europe. Every MLS team that has been successful in recent years has several players like Justin Mapp. They aren’t superstars or even emerging stars, but they know what the MLS is all about and they can make valuable contributions to a team’s success in the North American top flight. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, the former D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Philadelphia Union left winger is a proven MLS commodity. (It also never hurts roster balance to have a number of natural left footers on your squad.) Furthermore, for all of the talk about Montreal going with a European approach to building and managing their team, the re-signing of Mapp also highlights that the Impact brass have not forgotten about the value of quality American players.
Thirdly, at 28 years old, Mapp is now entering what is widely considered to be the prime years for a soccer player. He has accrued several years of MLS experience, but still has athleticism. It’s a truism that teams often struggle when they field either too many young players or two many older players who have lost their athleticism. In this sense, bringing back Mapp was a no brainer.
Fourthly, re-signing Mapp for 2013 really helps in terms of building continuity for Montreal from season one to season two in the MLS. We all saw an impressive first year Portland Timbers squad suffer in year two due to the amount of roster changes the club made over their first offseason. There was a lot of recent talk among the Montreal players and Impact brass about the importance of having roster continuity heading into next season and bringing Mapp back is a sign that Montreal is serious about avoiding the type of player turnover that has plagued Toronto FC throughout the team’s existence.
Lastly, Mapp showed on several occasions last year that he has the capability to link up well with Marco Di Vaio and to deliver quality balls into the opposition box. With Montreal usually playing with only Di Vaio as a lone striker, having a workhorse like Mapp putting in a good shift down the left flank is vital.
Overall, it’s hard not to like today’s announcement that Justin Mapp will back with Montreal for 2013. The fact that Montreal was able to negotiate a contract that was acceptable to both parties is a plus in that it will allow Impact management to focus on addressing the team’s weaknesses rather than putting energy into replacing an important squad player.
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