FCD Lands U20 Captain Kyle Davies
April 28th, 2009 . 1:54 pm . By: Buzz Carrick
In a move that will shock no one who reads this site, FC Dallas has traded for US U20 Captain Kyle Davies. Last week when Davies signed with MLS, 3rd Degree learned about his signing and the forthcoming weighted lottery from FCD sources prior to any MLS announcement. That information was an obvious indication of the Red Stripes interest in the former Southampton player.
Also of interest in the press release on the trade is a recap of the picks FCD holds in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. FC Dallas has seven total picks in the 2010 SuperDraft; two picks each in the first, second and third rounds, and one pick in the fourth. Being a lefty, Davies can play center back and left back. Certainly positions that FCD has open for competition at this moment. FCD had the best percentage chance to land Davies in the weighted lottery, but the young defender landed in Salt Lake instead. Dallas has sent the lowest of it’s second rounds picks in 2010 to RSL to get Davies. With it’s 24 man roster currently full FC Dallas will have to make a roster move to activate Davies. DALLAS ACQUIRES U.S. U-20 NATIONAL TEAM CAPTAIN KYLE DAVIESFRISCO, Texas (Tuesday, April 28, 2009) – FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock today announced that the team has acquired U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team defender and captain Kyle Davies from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the lower of FCD’s second round picks in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. Dallas currently holds three selections in the second round of next year’s draft and will give up the pick that is closest to the third round. Davies will occupy a senior roster spot on the team’s 24-man roster. “Kyle Davies will be a good addition to our team,” said FC Dallas Head Coach Schellas Hyndman. “He has good pace, is an aggressive player, who is also a good distributor of the ball and a good ball-winner. Kyle has the ability to play in two places for us. Being left-footed, he can play left back and he’s also a center back. Coming out of the English soccer system with the Southampton reserves, it’s a pretty aggressive, fast-paced game, and I think he’ll be able to make the adjustment to MLS.” Davies appeared for the United States alongside current Dallas teammates Anthony Wallace, Brek Shea, Peri Marosevic and Josh Lambo in the 2009 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship held in March in Trinidad & Tobago. After a scoreless 120 minutes of regulation and overtime in the semifinal against the host nation, the 5’10 defender buried his penalty kick to help the United States to a 4-3 PK win and reach the final against Costa Rica. The 20-year-old started all five games in the tournament and was one of only two players on the U.S. team to play every minute, leading the squad to a berth in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup to be held in Egypt this fall. Davies joined Real Salt Lake on April 16 when the team won his rights through a special MLS Player Lottery. Prior to joining Major League Soccer, the Danville, California native spent two years with English Coca-Cola Football Championship League side Southampton FC, where he signed as an 18-year-old. During the 2008-09 campaign Davies made 11 starts in 12 games, scoring one goal for the Southampton reserves, while also participating in training sessions with the first team. Following this transaction, FC Dallas now holds seven total picks in the 2010 SuperDraft; two picks each in the first, second and third rounds, and one pick in the fourth. Name: Kyle Davies 18 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
Nice move by FCD. Let’s see if Davies and Wally can push each other to get better as fellow U.S. U-20 defenders.
Who do you think will get edged out here Buzz? While technically he’s a rookie do you think this guy is starting material?
Of the new defenders we already picked up – John, Torres, Purdy – the rookie John is the only one that has impressed me thus far.
This is good news, but how likely is it that Davies will be able to come right in and start? While I hope the answer to that is “right away” he just turned 20. On the plus side, Southampton has an excellent reputation for development of young talent (e.g., Theo Walcott). I also like the idea of getting more players with English football training and experience!
Just a side note. The reason RSL needed to deal a player was to make room for Argentine Striker Fabian Espindola. From their perspective, why not take full advantage of winning the lottery for Davies–an unproven talent–for a draft pick in 2010, while making room for a proven goal scorer. It was a low risk move on their part.
That begs the question of why FCD cannot seem to sign more players of the proven caliber of the 24 year-old Espindola? It seems like we continuously sign one of two categories
(1) Unproven teenagers
(2) Senior citizens
Get a clue HSG!!!
Goff says it’s Pitchkolan to SJ.
PItch won’t shock me. but I imagine FCD will shop several people to see what they can get. Wally, Dello, Lambo perhaps.
Davies might get a chance wide left too.
You think they might try and trade Achy Blakey Wagner?
He might get the best offer and if they plan on putting this Davies kid in there….
But then he won’t be here part of the summer
He will be w/Brek, Peri, Wally and Lambo in Egypt I believe….
So during that time we may only have a 19 man roster…..
Wonder when the Dallas-based contingent of U-20 players will actually see the pitch…
How do we pronounce his name? like Davis or like Dav-ees?
From SH quotes, good distributor of the ball sounds like he’ll get a shot at left back, cuz thats been Blake Wagner’s main problem. Blake wont stay back long enough to get the ball, then when he does get it, he panics and gives the ball to the right mid who runs past him down the line. Davies gets a chance immediately, imo, cuz he comes in ahead of Wally by SH quotes about the English game being fast & aggressive and being able to fit the pace of MLS quickly. Thats Wally’s main problem is that he’s too relaxed in the back.
GREAT TRADE! RSL is so loaded they dont need him anyways even if they had room for him. I still think we need to make another move. Lets face it guys, Davies wont be starting for a while.
I still believe Lambo or Burse will be dealt. Hopefully, Burse because Lambo has great potential. I think we have to address that Right Back or Right Mid. situation. Most important? It is a no brainer the Right Back.
This team is headed in the right direction though guys! This should get everyone excited. Also, when the economy picks back up it wouldnt surprise me if the Reserve Leauge is installed back in, which would be huge considering the amount of young talent we have on the pine. The future is bright!
Jay
Robert,
That’s kind of harsh on Ferreira, isn’t it?
Chris,
Oh no! I think Ferreira is really great, and last year Rocha looked really good too. Our CAP partnership is not the problem. The problem is this odd tendency to sign Denilson and Davino for big DP money (a.k.a. “the “senior citizens”) and the very young, unproven U-20s, when we still continue to have 2 or 3 major holes in our starting 11.
And there is another problem…current FCD management was sold on Purdy and Torres as being “the answer” in the back. Perhaps Purdy will pan out when he fully heals up (I really hope so!!), but until then, it does make me wonder about FCD mgmt.’s ability to accurately assess and sign quality talent compared to some of the other teams in this league.
The CAP partnership is great, but having them loan us one player a year is not enough to build a winning franchise.
Seems like a dumb move with the teenage potential defenders Dallas already has. Wallace or Shea must have expressed their desire to get out of Dallas after the U20 Championships. I’d bet on Wallace since he’s buried so deep on the depth chart.
Really makes me wish that MLS hadn’t scrapped the reserve division.
Buzz,
How does FCD plan to get these kids some PT? Might there be a flexible lending partnership with USL club(s) so Davies, Brek, Lambo, Wallace, Bruno, and Peri can get some experience?
I like Steve’s idea of loaning some of our youth talent to USL in order to give them the minutes they need to expand their game.
This guy should be a real help in 2-3 years and then he will leave like all the good players do.
Agreed with a couple of comments above. With no reserve matches our youth is going to need some PT. The trades are fine with me, but even with a nice roster, why is RSL so eager to deal Davies? A second round pick in the Superdraft isn’t like a golden ticket or anything.
A second round pick can only be a golden ticket if your not FCD. other teams have found quality talent in all rounds of the draft. I’ll qualify the “quality talent” by defining it as talented young players that are actually playing for the big team that drafted it.
bird in the hand, brutha