RSL Scouts Japan

Today MLSsoccer.com announced that Real Salt Lake's general manager, Garth Lagerwey, travelled to Japan earlier this month to scout players. Lagerwey indicated that the "J-League is, I think, pretty similar to MLS," and he went on to say that, "its a league where we can draw some players from." Currently the only Japanese born player in the MLS is Colorado's Kosuke Kimura (MLSsoccer.com). There were no direct signings because of this trip, but Lagerwey said that the notion of coming abroad to MLS was appealing to some of the players he talked to. If nothing else, a trip like this may alert Japanese talent to the possibility of coming to Major League Soccer to play.

I have mixed feelings about a story like this. I think if the price is right for good Japanese talent, then it should be taken advantage of. A good Japanese player in the J-league has some popularity in Japan, but if he went to the MLS, he would gain a greater following. This is true for me and an American named player named Stuart Holden. The reason I came to know of Holden is because of the hype he gets for being an American in the EPL. If he still played in the MLS, I'm sure I would have learned of him at some point because of his skill, but I would only be his fan if he came to my team. With him being in another league, and one of the few Americans in that league, I feel a sense of pride watching him play, and cheer even though I didn't care for the Bolton Wanderers before. This would also happen with Japanese soccer fans and Japanese MLS players. Players who had their home team fans before, may attract fans who are just proud of them for "representing" Japan. The added attention from Japanese fans would surely help to bolster Major League Soccer's popularity in that region, even after some Japanese talent returns home.

Combine Preview

The combine, for those of you who may not know, is mainly composed of college seniors who have promising talent. They are invited to a camp, placed on teams, and then play a few games for MLS scouts to watch. Patrick Sigler, Cal Poly SLO, has received  an invite, and I wish him the best of luck. I would love to see SLO produce some MLS quality players in the near future. Gauchos Sam Garza and Luis Silva of UCSB look like definite picks for the draft, but Sigler is more of a question mark. He's had some good performances this season but doesn't have the same name recognition that his conference rivals possess. Sigler does have one thing that scouts won't have trouble recognizing, his size.

Best of luck to all the boys going in from the Big West (even those dirty gauchos). It was fun seeing Boxal's familiar face on tv this past MLS season, and I smile a little bigger when Sean Franklin (CSUN) scores. Hopefully Big West Soccer continues to produce great talent and has an even better showing at the combine this year.

Cheers!