With the emergence of Doneil Henry, Ashtone Morgan and Matt Stinson during this past season combined with the continued development of players like Oscar Cordon and Keith Makubuya, as well as the hopeful return from injury of Nicholas Lindsay, the relative infancy of Toronto FC Academy is already starting to bear fruit. And with the new Academy facilities in the Downsview area set to open in June/July of 2012, it’s sure to only be the beginning.
It’s clearly evident that the new found Toronto FC philosophy is seeping into the Academy set-up, with everything from the 4-3-3 formation to the urgency to play out of the back, keep the ball down, use the width of the pitch and for the central forward of the attacking three to be the focal point becoming prominent in terms of how the franchise is developing its young players. With that in mind, I would like to highlight some of the players that may be of interest to Coach Aron Winter, Assistant Bob de Klerk, Director of Player Development Paul Mariner and the rest of the Toronto FC brain trust as they start to work on putting together their senior squad for 2012 and even 2013.
FWD - Stefan Vukovic
The first player that immediately stands out when watching this team play is Stefan Vukovic. It’s no mystery why he is much heralded, as the was winner of the Canadian Soccer League Golden Boot with 18 goals. Playing the equivalent of the Danny Koevermans role, this player does a lot more for the team beyond just goal scoring. He drops back when required to defend, loves to press defenders in possession and has good field vision. He reads the game very well and loves to play off the shoulder of defenders. While his finishing ability is his best strength, he can also deliver a good cross-field ball.
He is still not the finished article but in my opinion he has nothing left to learn at the CSL level and it would benefit him greatly to be training with the aforementioned Danny Koevermans, Torsten Frings and the rest of the squad on a regular basis. It would shock me if he didn’t get called in for the preseason and get blooded into some Nutrilite Canadian Championship games.
FWD – Tristan Jackman
The other player that I believe has what it takes to get the call up next season is Tristan Jackman. While he doesn’t have the finishing ability or strength of his forward partner Vukovic, the one aspect of his game that is undeniable is his pace. Although he plays on the right side instead of the left, his role on the team is similar to that of Ryan Johnson. And just like Johnson, he needs to work on his crossing, but Jackman makes up for it with boundless energy and a tireless willingness to defend. He has outstanding closing speed that is impossible for slow-footed defenders to cope with. Over the course of a match he may only touch the ball one or twice, but in those moments he makes something happen.
He’s not quite as ready as Vukovic, but in my opinion he also has nothing left to learn at the CSL level. That being said, it may be a little less likely that he gets a call up to the senior pro team because the Academy doesn’t yet have players that can get promoted from TFC Academy 2 (aka U17 level) that can take over both roles effectively.
DEF/MID/FWD - Dylan Carreiro
The one aspect of this player's game that Toronto FC love and are desperately in need of within the First Team is versatility and this player has excellent understanding of what it take to play as a fullback, winger and wide forward. And much like his teammate Tristan Jackman, he also has overwhelming pace. That being said, he does still need some work on defensive positioning and on occasion gets caught up field in transition. This is something that the coaches may want to have him improve on next season before they give him a call up.
The other factor that may be holding him back is that he’s primarily a left sided player and with Ashtone Morgan, Ryan Johnson, Joao Plata, Danleigh Borman and Peri Marosevic amongst others in line, he may not be able to fit just yet. However, it may be a good idea to convert him to a right-sided player, as it would give him further versatility while at the same time fill a void within the squad. The First Team needs to provide Richard Eckersley with cover and they can’t keep moving Doneil Henry to right fullback, as it will hinder his development as a central defender.
Dylan was apart of the U17 Canadian Men’s National Team during qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup this past summer in Mexico. He didn’t end up making the squad for the World Cup tournament but is definitely on their radar.
MID - Michael Bilak
Michael Bilak is they typical athletic, workhorse-like player that every team needs, especially in Major League Soccer. In my opinion, he’s a mirror image of Matt Stinson. There is nothing flashy about his game but he puts in a solid performance for 90 minutes. I would say that Stinson has proven to be more versatile but Bilak may just be a more capable goal scorer. As with Dylan Carreiro, he can do with more seasoning in the CSL but he could also learn in much the same way Cordon and Keith Makubuya are learning now.
DEF – Nathan Kelsey
What Nathan Kelsey brings to the table is comfort and control of the ball, something that is at a premium in today’s game and that is arguably lacking on this team. However, much like Bilak and Carreiro, he could do with another year of learning. In fact of all of these players I’d treat this one with kid gloves, as being a central defender is easy in theory but much more difficult in practice at the professional level and if it takes a little more time to work on specific aspects of his game - like man marking on set pieces (TFC’s achilles heel for the last five years) or playing the offside trap - then so be it.
TFC Academy coaches Danny Dichio and Jim Brennan have done a fairly good job implementing the system and teaching these players what it take to be a professional, although I wouldn’t say it’s a seamless fit and the brain trust of Winter, De Klerk and Mariner might look into it reassessing and reassigning them to different roles if they the organization does bring in new coaches to supplement what is already in place in terms of youth development. Both Dichio and Brennan can take pride and credit for developing this crop of players - the possible graduating class of 2012/2013.
Kamal Hylton is Owner/Freelance Soccer Writer at Hylton Sports Media,
he specializes in covering Youth Development in Canada and the
CONCACAF Region as well as European leagues such as Bundesliga, Serie A and UEFA Champions League. Follow him on Twitter to view all
his work.
|