Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.labluesprosoccer.com
Friday, January 20, 2012
FULLERTON, Calif. – What had been dubbed by Los Angeles Blues Head Coach Charlie Naimo as “the biggest week of our preseason so far” has turned out to be exactly that. With sessions taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Naimo and his staff had the standouts from three months of training sharing the field with a number of high-profile invitees, and the Los Angeles coaches were delighted with what they saw.
With carefully selected trialists from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America battling on the artificial surface at Fullerton College, the added quality had everyone raising their game, including current Blues players and local 2012 roster hopefuls.
“With the caliber of guys we had here in the past three days, it almost felt like a team close to the season,” Naimo said. “It has really exceeded my expectations, in the sense that everybody in camp with us this week can play. It seems like we did a good enough job researching and weeding through videos and résumés to bring in the right guys. To top it off, the week culminated in a really nice eleven-a-side scrimmage on Thursday that looked nothing like a preseason trial game. That’s all very encouraging.”
The Blues recently announced the signings of Scottish veteran forward Allan Russell and rising young prospects Bryan Burke, Matt Fondy and Luis Gonzalez. With the club currently finalizing the details of two more players’ contracts, including that of a star striker who did significant damage around the league in 2011, roster spots with Naimo’s team are becoming increasingly scarce. In total, Los Angeles currently has nine players signed for the upcoming USL PRO campaign.
“We certainly have some very tough decisions to make now,” the Blues Head Coach said. “I’ll go on record saying that every single one of the boys that came out this week deserves to make the team. Yet we can only select a limited number of them, and that’s the hard part of being a coach. That said, I’m sure whoever doesn’t get a contract offer will land on their feet with a good club somewhere.”
In light of this week’s exciting developments, Naimo has his sights set firmly on his objectives for the 2012 season.
“The goal is to have a more complete team than last year,” he said. “The level of honesty and commitment that all these guys have brought makes for an even better vibe than when we were at our best in 2011. In terms of positions on the field, we feel that we have at least one option now for every single one. Between our signed players, a couple more that we’ve reached out to and the guys we invited into camp this week, there’s no question in my mind that we’ll have the tools to be a title contender in 2012.”
If you think you have what it takes to help the Blues in their quest to bring home the USL PRO championship trophy, come out to the team’s open tryouts this coming weekend, January 21-22, at Fullerton College! All the relevant information can be found by visiting www.labluesprosoccer.com.