MLS Scouting and the future

the Columbus Dispatch carried a short notebook blurb on how Sigi is going to capitalize on Guillermo Barros Schelotto's connections in Argentina to recruit new talent.

This isnt really news... it seems to me that MLS already has a goodly share of imports both from Brazil and Argentina. Which is a natural progression from earlier days where many of the MLS internationals came from smaller CONCACAF leagues.
The attraction for many of the South Americans is the increased exposure to scouts from Europe. Yep, that's right and it was even true back 10 years ago.. Stern John used the Crew as a stepping stone, with help from his cousin Ansil Elcock to get to the Crew, then Dwight Yorke vouching for him in England.

There's problems with this sort of thing, of course, as some players and ex-players have a certain degree of myopia when it comes to prospects.. witness a guy named Miroslav Rzepa who Robert Warzycha of the Crew had brought in from Poland.. the guy was AWFUL and only played a few minutes of tentative 'deer in the headlights' soccer. CB Mark Williams and midfielder Ian Woan of the then FA 2nd Division were little better.

This year the imports have made a bigger impact than ever before, both as high wage Designated Player and creatively financed non-DP. We can easily say the biggest EFFECTIVE addition for Los Angeles wasnt Beckham but a certain bleached blonde CB, Abel Xavier.
The biggest addition for NY wasnt Reyna but Angel. In fact Reyna shouldnt even have been offered a DP. Where else was he gonna go? For Chicago, Blanco was hands down the best deal.. but one has to wonder if Paulo Wanchope will prove worth the dosh.

The Crew did pretty darn well with Schelotto, and a lesser but still valuable trade to get Alejandro Moreno. The BEST thing about Schelotto is that his word carries a lot of weight in Argentina and he loves living in Columbus, {mainly because he can go anywhere he wants without being pestered, he notes he is recognized now and then but even those people generally leave him alone. McBride could easily vouch for that.}

But that wont concern those he talks to... what he can bring is the quality of play and chance to improve both in profile and influence. Of course with an eye to Europe.

How did Schelotto and Sigi link up in the first place? That's a little murky but it worked... certainly better than Dallas' recruitment of Denilson the Elder. Which is not exactly ironic.

The key to recruitment is not finding the guy but analysis of what effect he would have on the team.. refer back to Rzepa and Woan. In the case of Denilson, I apparently analysed it correctly by doing a simple google search. He never seemed able to find a team that was 'good enough' for him. Seems to me that's all a front office would need to know and it ends right there.

In cases like that, certainly word of mouth will work better than a scouting combine, or listening to a rank of player agents.