So Reda Agourram got cut.
Big deal, right? He wasnt going to be a part of the club.
But what does this do to the Quebec content that the team claims to want to build?
He was two summers ago the best striker in the Canadian Soccer League when he was with the Attack and the eventual league MVP (you know, one of those euro old timers that plays semi-pro in Ontario) who has Champions League experience having played against Madrid and Munich had claimed him to be the best young canadian forward he had seen. He was proof that the Impact system was paying dividends. (I realize that injuries didnt help his case.)
Now Mircea is the only one left.
Will he stay or will they keep some generic US college player instead to sit at the edge of the bench?
This was bound to happen since the MLS lowered the Canadian content to 3 players per team (US players are considered 'domestic' on Canadian teams) last year but I still have problems with there being no place for 1 spot on the roster (not the game time 16 players) for an up and coming youngster. For most of its life, the Impact was all about being the end game for all soccer players in Quebec and their use of local players was exemplary. The Inter and Supra before it were also all about local talent sprinkled with a few foreign players and canadian stars like Lyndon Hooper.
And even the Manic of the old NASL had room for young local players like Mimo Del Armi and Brian Decaire.
For those that are against Can-con rules, look no further than the CFL were half the players in the league would be out of a job without it. It provides outlets for university players and helps feed the development system with a clear path.
Its useless having an academy bring up players and the moment they hit Logan's Run and turn 21, are cast aside since there is not place for them on the roster.
More than this being about Reda, this is about what the team plans about doing about integrating young local talent and outlets for these players once theyre out of academies. Last yeat, the provincial first division offered some phenomenally interesting and exciting soccer throughout the province and with no teams in the CSL, it will again be the place to watch the best young soccer talent in the province and the city. The new 6 team closed circuit semi-pro league (which failed when it was tried when Nick DeSantis played for Jean-Talon-Rosemont) might up the caliber a bit but there are quite a few problems to making it a success and we'll address later this spring as plans for it become more clear.
