Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted by Battle Flag Red.
California’s winter makes it hard to understand why there is an off-season to Sacramento Republic’s schedule. But, off-season it is, and with it comes a team’s off-pitch game of balancing roster needs with player desires and balance sheets. A board-room version of Game of Thrones, where the axe can fall on anyone for any reason. Sacramento Republic Football Club (SRFC) is certainly not immune to such vagaries, and this year, a few players of note have left the team. The impact of those losses will remain to be seen, and the ability to find players to adequately fill those positions may be hindered by the reasons one of them left.
Perhaps the most well known loss was the departure of Midfielder Rodrigo Lopez. His play the last two years certainly captured the attention of many SRFC fans. But local fans weren’t the only ones watching, and it appears opportunities are opening up for him to move up to a higher level league. Rodrigo had previously played at the higher level (Major League Soccer - MLS), and used his time at SRFC to improve and make MLS teams notice his abilities. His path fits with the desire of USL to provide a league that develops players to feed into the major league.
However, the lack of a more consistent path may have been a factor in the departure of Defender Mickey Daly to Bethlehem Steel FC. One of the most consistent players for SRFC the last two years, Daly was an unsung hero and combined in the center defense with Nemanja Vukovic to create one of the most solid defenses in the USL. Daly has not given a public statement as to why he left, and I have no access to any inside information. But, Coach Buckle was quoted in a recent Bee article as saying that Daly wanted to get to MLS faster than SRFC’s path could take him. He is 28 years old, so a measure of urgency is appropriate. But, how does signing with another USL team (Bethlehem Steel FC) with no talk of making a move to MLS advance his timeline? The answer is that Bethlehem FC is the player development arm of MLS’s Philadelphia Union, and has very tight ties with the parent club. In fact, the Union’s past-Assistant Coach is now the head coach of Bethlehem Steel FC. With Philadelphia’s history of using USL for player development when they were affiliated with the Harrisburg Islanders, and their close relationship with Bethlehem Steel FC, Daly believes he has found a solid path to MLS.
By comparison, in the last two years, the MLS affiliate to SRFC (San Jose Earthquakes) has moved no SRFC-signed player to San Jose. Additionally, last year club-loaned players from San Jose to SRFC were as rare as long term acting contracts for Thrones. One wonders if Daly would have stayed if San Jose had any process of legitimately developing and using SRFC players.
Some degree of separation between the teams is understandable. After all, SRFC must develop players for its own team in preparation of the future move to MLS, and San Jose needs players for its immediate use. Even with those divergent needs, the relationship could have been more fully developed for the benefit of both teams and players. Now, until MLS announces the timing of a move to MLS for SRFC, the job of recruiting experienced players may be tough. Especially if “the word” in the USL is that the Sac Republic/San Jose Earthquake affiliation is an “abdicated crown” in terms of player development and advancement.
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