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The USL season is only a few weeks away and the combination of 13 new teams (seven of them MLS academies), a new format, tons of young talent on display and a new rebrand makes this a very important campaign.
From a Canadian perspective, it’ll be great to see current and future Canadian national team prospects get meaningful minutes on the pitch. There will be plenty of TFC II, Whitecaps FC 2 and FC Montreal coverage on RedNation Online this season, including an exclusive notebook on my expectations for the three teams.
However, for this notebook I want to outline a couple other teams that will be interesting to follow, purely from an entertainment and player development perspective.
REAL MONARCHS SLC (Real Salt Lake)
Outside of the Canadian MLS teams, I’m most interested to see how the Real Monarchs establish themselves in their first season. Affiliated with Real Salt Lake, coach Freddy Juarez will be looking to institute those same trademark principles of keeping the ball on the ground, one-two touch passing and spreading the field. When it comes to the RSL prospects that will likely spend significant time with the club, all of them have spent time within the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy that plays in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) level from U-15 to U-18.
Some of RSL’s top prospects include midfielders Jordan Allen and Sebastian Saucedo and goalkeeper Lalo Fernandez, three homegrown players that are among the top young players in MLS youth systems. Allen is a highly touted U.S. Youth prospect that is versatile enough to play anywhere in the midfield, on the wing or has even logged time at right fullback.
Saucedo is a goal scoring midfielder that has proven it by leading the U-16’s to a 2012-2013 national championship and a 2013-2014 finals appearance by scoring 50 goals in 60 games.
Fernandez has gained experience learning behind one of MLS’s best keepers in Nick Rimando and he will finally get extended minutes to prove he’s the future between RSL’s posts.
RICHMOND KICKERS (D.C. United)
Although not an academy side like LA Galaxy II, TFC II or FC Montreal, the Richmond Kickers have had a relationship with D.C. United that will see quite a few of their top prospects receive minutes within the USL. Some of their brightest talents have already spent time with the Kickers organization and will be familiar with their surroundings, including players like forward Michael Seaton, midfielder Collin Martin, defender Jalen Robinson as well as rookie midfielder Miguel Aguilar.
Seaton, Martin and Robinson all came up within D.C. United’s academy system, playing games at the USSDA level. Seaton is highly touted as not only a big part of United’s future but also that of the Jamaican national team, having risen through the ranks of the U-17’s and U-20’s before making his professional debut in November 2013 at 17-years-old.
Martin logged a lot of games at the academy level and is a former college teammate of Robinson at Wake Forrest. Both are full of potential and on a team that has been known for playing its young American talent they’ll certainly get their chance under coach Ben Olsen in the nation’s capital. As for the rookie Aguilar, this is a player the coaching staff and front office feel has a high ceiling and they will want to see what he can do with the Kickers.
Check back closer to the start if the season for the next USL Notebook, taking a specific look at TFC II, Whitecaps FC 2 and FC Montreal.
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