Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.labluesprosoccer.com
Monday, January 2, 2012
FULLERTON, Calif. – With the Los Angeles Blues training camp on break until January 5, Head Coach Charlie Naimo recently revealed he has been far from idle over the holidays and expects to have identified, or even signed, the majority of his players for the 2012 season by late January.
Since the recent signings of Scottish striker Allan Russell and all-rounder Bryan Burke, the Blues have agreed to terms with two rising young forwards, one of whom has had significant experience and success in USL PRO. In addition, the club is in conversations with several players that stood out to Naimo and Associate Head Coach Shayon Jalayer at a local combine in mid-December.
The club’s own open tryouts will be held in four weeks at Fullerton College. They are looked at by the Blues coaches as one of several opportunities to find the kind of outstanding talent needed to win a USL PRO championship.
“We really hope to have 60 to 70 percent of our team sorted out by the end of the combine,” Naimo said. “We’ll have a lot of fairly high-profile trialists coming in for the training sessions between January 5 and the combine, and I’m extremely excited to be getting an up-close look at them. I’m especially optimistic about a group of guys who will be coming over from Scotland, England and Wales.
“A couple of them played with Allan (Russell) during his most successful stretch in Europe. Another one went to an American university but is back playing in Europe now. Yet another one is Welsh and plays in England. A good friend of mine from New Jersey knows his father and we were provided with some quality game footage that suggested he might be a good fit.”
The Blues coaching staff hopes to identify a few more good fits during the open tryouts on January 21-22. Interested players should visit www.labluesprosoccer.com for combine information and to find out how to register.