On Lambo Loan to Tampa
March 18th, 2010 . 12:45 pm . By: Buzz CarrickWe first mentioned Josh Lambo’s pending loan in our Kevin Hartman story, and by now you may have seen the various reprints of the FCD press release. But I wanted to touch on it again as I think it’s a really outstanding move on FCD’s part. Lambo is a young keeper with an outstanding set of tools. He should develop into a terrific MLS keeper and could reach even greater heights. He signed with MLS at 17 and joined FC Dallas after being picked by Steve Morrow. The problem from Lambo prospective is shortly after that MLS killed the reserve league. Lambo is getting excellent coaching and training with FCD, but the one thing every young keeper needs above all else is playing time. With the end of the reserve league Lambo’s PT went to nothing as he was the 3rd keeper. With Kevin Hartman coming to Dallas Lambo was going to remain the 3rd keeper. Now with this loan Lambo should get an opportunity to play, and play a lot. A full season loan, or maybe even multiple seasons, is exactly what Lambo needs. Hopefully his development will make it impossible for FCD to not call him back sooner than that. Tampa is a location Lambo has a comfort level with, which makes this move even more optimum. Here’s a quote from FCD coach Shellas Hyndman from Phil Stephens’ story, “We had a loan request from his agent in December and we said yes, as long as we could sign another goalie,” Hyndman said. “We figured the best thing was to get him games. There were several clubs interested, including Charlotte. But he told us he was more interested in Tampa. It will be a situation where he will see a lot of action, possibly a lot of starts and that’s how goalies learn the game.” Here’s the FCD press release on the loan. JOSH LAMBO LOANED TO TAMPA BAY ROWDIESFRISCO, Texas (Wednesday, March 17, 2010) – FC Dallas has sent third-year goalkeeper Josh Lambo on loan to the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USSF Division-2 Pro League for the 2010 season, the team announced today. Per the agreement, Lambo may be recalled by FC Dallas at any time during the year. Lambo, 19, was selected by Dallas in the first round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. He served as the backup goalkeeper for 15 of the team’s 32 games last year, though did not see action. He started in goal in the international friendly match versus Costa Rica’s Club Sport Herediano on June 10, 2009 and posted a 2-0 shutout. The 19 year-old has been a consistent call up for the U.S. Under-20 team and most recently competed in last year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. FC Dallas kicks off the 2010 season at Pizza Hut Park on March 27 when they host in-state rivals the Houston Dynamo. For more information on affordable season ticket plans or to purchase single-game tickets, visit FCDallas.com or call 888-FCD-GOAL (323-4625). Parking is free for all FC Dallas games at Pizza Hut Park. 7 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
good news! Do we think Sean Kelley will be signed for the year as a 3rd keeper or do we think they’ll risk it and keep 2 keepers and use an extra spot on a field player… and then pick up someone random or a pool keeper if we have an injury? or even pull Lambo back if Sala or Hartman get injured… didn’t that happen with the Burse loan to Portland, he was called back sooner due to injury?
I’m all for the loan and totally agree that a player his age needs game minutes to develop. I do think it’s premature to say he will be a starter in the MLS or even more. Is he the next DJ Countess who most would agree was one of if not the best U20 keeper for the US youth national team a few years back. Strong pedigree on the youth circuit that didn’t translate to the pro game. Maybe DJ was thrown into the fire too quickly, but he had his chance in Dallas, RSL, Chicago, etc… at the end of the day he wasn’t good enough to be a starter at this level. Josh may have what it takes, but he has a long way to go and this league chews up good keepers(Henry Ring – keeper of the year one year, financial planner the next). I hope Josh makes it, he’s a good kid.
What a sad case with Lambo…he should have gone to college, played some matches and grown up a bit with his peers instead of doing loans and setting on an MLS bench for 4-5 years waiting for chance like Chis Seitz.
I don’t know that he should have gone to college. MLS cut the reserve lead due to money/economy. He couldn’t necessarily predict that, but if the reserve league was still around he’d be getting some time in it and facing better competition than he would have in college. And a loan to USL isn’t bad. Again, he’s facing better competition and getting minutes. This loan is much better than just sitting on the FCD bench. The really sad case will happen if for some reason he doesn’t get starts and sits the bench in Tampa. Its true the cards haven’t fallen for him, but I don’t think he made the wrong decision, just had some bad luck so far in his opportunities.
Giggs, I should have put that in, I think Sean Kelley will get the 3rd keeper spot.
IIRC, DJ Countess was a head case and locker room devil that had his career derailed by injuries and team cancer injuries moreso than not being able to cut it as a player.
2tone….Fair comment. I think DJ’s issues were a little bit of everything you said- head case, lack of ability to play at the pro level, and some nagging injuries. I think his early success was part of the issue when he got thrown into the professional world at such a young age. He had done well at every level until then and that has to mess with your head a little. If you can play, a lot of the locker room stuff gets overlooked. Josh does seem to have a better relationship with teammates. It probably helps that we have a lot of young guys on the roster. I hope he does well on the loan. Killing the reserve league really hurt guys like him.