USL PRO 2013 Preview
Thursday, March 21, 2013
As they entered their first seasons in USL PRO, Phoenix FC and VSI Tampa Bay FC had their own approaches in mind as to how they would build a squad from scratch.
For Tampa Bay, led by a pair of men in Coach Matt Weston and Director of Soccer Clay Roberts who had coached and played in the league, the search began with a list.
“One of the initial conversations that we had was, ‘OK, let’s put down some target players throughout the league that we know are veteran players, established players, maybe even successful players in this league’,” Roberts said. “Is there any connection to these players where we could see the ability to strike up a conversation about interest in coming to VSI Tampa Bay.”
For Phoenix coach David Robertson, the process was going to be different, with the former Aberdeen and Rangers player looking to use his contacts from Scotland and in the Arizona soccer community to good effect.
“I wanted some experienced players,” Robertson said. “Some local players, some young, enthusiastic players, some guys out of college, some existing guys that play in the league and PDL players. The mix of players we’ve got certainly is that.”
For expansion clubs, getting out of the gates strongly can often be tricky to accomplish. Both Phoenix and Tampa Bay, however, could be ready to contend for a place in the playoffs immediately, with a group of experienced veterans with vast USL PRO experience ready to suit up for VSI. Among their key acquisitions this winter was former Charleston Battery midfielder Tony Donatelli, whom Roberts had played alongside in the MISL, and the former Wilmington Hammerheads duo of goalkeeper Alex Horwath and forward Andriy Budnyy.
For Roberts, once certain players had been signed, things began to line up as he had hoped they would. The former Charlotte Eagles player also points to Mauricio Salles, J.T. Noone and Josh Rife as players he believes will help Tampa Bay be immediately competitive.
“We felt that if we could win them, we would have an attraction to others,” Roberts said.
Weston’s experience in the PDL last summer, leading the Ocala Stampede to a Southeast Division title in its inaugural season, opened up the other main channel VSI looked to while adding players, with players such as Christian Silva and Karambah Janneh (Ocala), Jarod Stigall (IMG Bradenton) and Jamie McGuinness (VSI Tampa Bay) making the jump into the professional ranks.
“We really reached out and hit our local PDL teams,” Roberts said. “Between IMG, Orlando City, us and Ocala, we had a pretty strong division, so we really targeted our [PDL] division for players that we felt were right on the brim of coming in as a professional, or who we really think could develop into a good pro.”
The PDL also proved a good source of players for Robertson, with FC Tucson’s Donny Toia and Reid Schmitt coming aboard for the club’s inaugural season. With MLS veteran Andrew Weber, a local product, set to captain the team, and former Aberdeen standout Darren Mackie appearing in good form since arriving for preseason, a good balance of experience and youth appears to be coming together in the desert.
“We have a lot of young guys who aspire to play in MLS, we have local guys who want to go and play in MLS, and there are some pitfalls and things you need to do,” Robertson said. “Andrew’s certainly going to point people in the right direction and tell people what they need, but I think Andrew himself obviously wants to at some point get to step back up. The whole roster, they are very ambitious, and first and foremost you want to make sure that Phoenix FC have a successful season, and if we can move some players on to higher levels, or somewhere else, then that’s going to make us look good.”
Both teams will get the find out how they match up with one another early in the season, with Tampa Bay visiting Phoenix for the Wolves’ home opener at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Saturday, March 30. Robertson believes, however, that the true litmus test for his side will come a week later, when Orlando City visits Arizona to open its season.
For both teams, though, the playoffs are a clear, and they believe attainable, goal. Whether that happens will be at least partly due to the personnel decisions both organizations have made in the past six months.
“Obviously it’s our first season, it’s an exciting time,” Robertson said. “I think because it’s new a lot of people want to come here, but the squad itself is pretty much the make-up of what I wanted, so as I say, when you start something fresh, the coach gets who he wants and when things go good or things go bad, it’s the coach that made these decisions.”