Season Preview 2016: Fullbacks

PART I: Reclamation  PART II: Forwards  PART III: Wingers  PART IV: Center Midfielders

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FULLBACK

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Stevens, Schewee

With the move to Keyworth and its wider field, fullbacks will play even more of a crucial role in the DCFC’s success than in the past. Fortunately, looking at the roster, I think this is the deepest and most talented crop that the club has ever had.

It all starts with Zach Schewee, one of three players remaining from City’s inaugural roster (Cyrus Saydee and Wade Allan being the others). He spent the vast majority of his early career at left back and then moved to the right for much of last year after the emergence of Alex Isaevski. As a solid defender who likes to get forward down the flank, he should thrive in the extra space at Keyworth. He’ll most likely start the year back on the left, while the right side should be manned by…

Billy Stevens, a NY Red Bulls Academy product and former US youth national teamer. Stevens came to the University of Michigan with a healthy amount of recruiting hype and jumped into the starting lineup almost immediately. His bio states that he played as a centerback his freshman year and right back this past season; based on his size (5’9”, 165), I’d expect him to play on the right for City. Word from several Michigan Ultras (UM’s student supporter group for Men’s and Women’s soccer) who also happen to be in the Northern Guard is that Stevens is a ball of energy who feeds off of the emotion of the crowd. I think he picked the right place to spend his summer.

As alluded to above, Alex Isaevski followed up a promising 2014 with a monster 2015 season, flying up and down the left flank on a regular basis and often looking like the best player on the field not named Mellors-Blair. Unfortunately, he’s currently recovering from an injury and probably won’t be ready to go until the second half of the season at the earliest.

On the plus side, Ben Pirmann added another quality left back to the roster in Xavier’s Matt Nance. WARNING: the first part of the following video was filmed in Madison56erVision.

With Isaevski out for the time being, Nance should factor into the rotation right away. His brief highlight video suggests yet another attack-minded fullback, which should fit in well with the team’s philosophy.

POSITION OVERVIEW

With the all-around quality, this looks like it might be the strongest position on the team. Matt Nance may turn out to be the fourth-best option, yet he’d be a probable starter on nearly every other team in the NPSL Midwest. They’ll all play, and they’ll all be good.

One Reason to Be Excited 😀

Interchangeability. Schewee can play left or right, and if necessary, Seb Harris, Omar Sinclair, and Tyler Stephens can all fill in on the right. It would take multiple injuries to really put a dent in the position.

One Reason to Worry 😕

The injury to Isaevski is a downer, and if he can’t come back, or if he comes back at noticeably less than 100%, it would put a bit of a damper on what this position’s true potential could be.

Player to Watch

Billy Stevens – Along with all his other accolades, he won the 2015 “Ultra on the Field” award from the Michigan Ultras. If he truly thrives on atmosphere, putting him in Keyworth will be like letting a chubby kid loose in a Dairy Queen with a $100 bill and no adult supervision.

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Season Preview 2016: Center Midfielders

PART I: Reclamation   PART II: Forwards   PART III: Wingers

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CENTER MIDFIELD

Edwardson, Watson
Edwardson, Watson

Center midfield has always been an area of strength for Detroit City, and despite the departure of two players – Latif Alashe and Kevin Taylor – who enjoyed loads of success with the club, that track record of excellence should continue in 2016.

Dave Edwardson has been an engine in midfield for three years running and is the odds-on favorite to become the club’s next captain. He typically plays a box-to-box role, with slightly more duties on the defensive end. That doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of contributing in the final third, though:

His biggest challenge won’t be to maintain the level that he’s always played at; it will be to take on more leadership responsibilities if he’s indeed given the armband.

Next to him in the middle will be Troy Watson, a complete unknown at this time last year who ended up appearing in every single match and became an automatic starter by season’s end. He’s a pure defensive midfielder who relies on well-timed tackles and good positioning to break up attacks rather than physical intimidation and sliding in late. I’ve posted this what feels like a hundred times, but it just perfectly sums up what his game is:

watson

He tracks down the attacker, eases him off the ball while staying on his feet, maintains possession with a basic dribble, and passes it out wide to start the attack going the other way. If guys like Deakin, Bautista, and Adkins are to truly shine, a big reason will be Watson winning balls in midfield and feeding them up top.

That’s not to say Edwardson and Watson are automatic starters with no competition, though. One newcomer who should challenge for time right away is Brett Nason, who started every game for Michigan in 2015 and was a top-50 prospect coming out of high school. He plays a defensive/holding midfielder role and looks a safe bet to see significant playing time.

The two other center mids on the roster both happened to have their finest moments of 2015 in the same match, June 20th at Cincinnati. Matt Ybarra’s weak-footed thunderstrike drew City level at 1-1…

…and Danny Dragoi’s goal a few minutes later proved to be the game winner. It also resulted in one of the most iconic images in club history:

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Many a brave young firetruck was confused on that day.

Back to the seriousness, Ybarra’s style is box-to-box, similar to Edwardson. While Dragoi is the oldest player on the team (34), he plays with energy and enthusiasm and likes to get forward. An excellent option to have on the bench or to make the occasional start.

POSITION OVERVIEW

While the center midfield won’t roll seven or eight deep as in some years past, this year’s group should be just fine. A possible bonus, Tommy Catalano played in the Windsor friendly on April 24th and by all accounts acquitted himself well. If he rejoins the team, that’s just one more bullet in Pirmann’s clip.

One Reason to Be Excited 😀

Troy Watson’s growth over the course of last season was stunning. If he continues on that trajectory, he’ll be one of the best midfielders in the NPSL Midwest in 2016.

One Reason to Worry 😕

As with winger, there’s really not much to fret about here. I guess one concern is that with the Saints moving to Dayton, the local fire department there hasn’t been through a false alarm and might get caught off-guard come May 15th.

Player to Watch

Dave Edwardson – If Troy Watson’s play from last year carries over, it might allow Edwardson more freedom of movement and we could see him chip in a few more goals and assists than in previous seasons.

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Season Preview 2016: Wingers

PART I: Reclamation   PART II: Forwards

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WIDE MIDFIELD/WING

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Adkins, Saydee, Al-Gashamy

There may be a good amount of overlap between forward and winger since several players are capable of playing both positions. Danny Deakin, Javi Bautista, and Spiro Pliakos could all end up bouncing from spot to spot, as could…

…Ali Al-Gashamy, a former Norway U-17 national teamer who, early in his career, bounced between several lower division clubs in Estonia and Norway (one move involving a €50,000 transfer) before landing at Gardner-Webb University. His stats haven’t been eye-popping, but GWU is one of the poorer teams in their conference, and judging from his highlight video he would’ve had double-digit assists if his teammates were better finishers.

From the above, he looks most comfortable out wide, taking on defenders in 1v1 situations. Q.E.D.:

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I’m not sure if City has ever had a true winger with his combination of ball skills, speed, and ability to beat people off the dribble. Oh, and he was also in FIFA:

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He should be an impact player whenever he touches the ball.

Joining him at the position are a pair who are well-known commodities. Cyrus Saydee, the silent assassin, is back for his fifth year. I feel like I write the same things about him every year, but that’s probably because he’s so damn steady and consistent: small (5’6”) but the most technically skilled player on the team, makes defenders look silly with his dribbling and ball-control, usually starts on the wing but drifts around the entire attacking midfield area to create chances. Having him combine with Deakin, Al-Gashamy, and Jeff Adkins should be a treat to watch.

After extensive action for City in 2013 and 2014, Adkins is back on a full-time basis after his college coach reportedly strongly insisted that he play for the Bucks last year. There’s little doubt where his heart is, though:

Photo by Dion Degennaro

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I like him best on the right wing where he can make attacking runs and cut inside to create havoc as demonstrated below:

And I might as well bust out this free kick gif from a couple of years ago because it’s just too pretty not to.

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Finally, Tyler Stephens returns for another season. He can also play right back, but I think he’ll see most of his time at right midfield so I’ve listed him here. He didn’t see a ton of the field last year, so his role is probably that of a depth guy, to fill in wherever he’s needed. Started his college career at Oakland U before transferring to SVSU.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The wing was a problem area for City in 2015; Tommy Catalano never looked 100% comfortable out there, and once he left the team, even defensive mids Latif Alashe and Troy Watson got looks on the right side, with middling results.

We all know what we’re going to get with Saydee – excellent play, game in, game out – but the addition of Al-Gashamy and re-addition of Adkins are huge upgrades. Additionally, as mentioned in the intro paragraph, players like Deakin and Bautista could easily slide out wide depending on what type of lineup Ben Pirmann wishes to deploy.

One Reason to Be Excited 😀

There should be much more of an attacking threat from both sides than in 2015. This, coupled with Keyworth’s wider field, should help create a more balanced attack than just punting it up to WMB over and over again (even though that worked quite a bit).

One Reason to Worry 😕

I’m having a hard time coming up with one. Maybe finding enough playing time for everyone?

Player to Watch

Take your pick. Al-Gashamy, Adkins, and Saydee are all now in their early to mid-20s and coming into the primes of their careers. Each of them should be very good, and I expect one of them to have a monster year. I’ll randomly go with Adkins.

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Season Preview 2016: Forwards

PART I: Reclamation

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Note 1: All position previews address the roster as it currently exists.

Note 2: Since many players can play multiple positions, I’ve listed them at their primary spot (or at least what I think it is).

Note 3: Official DCFC Roster page is here. Sean Grogan’s incredibly helpful roster tracker is here.

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FORWARD/STRIKER

Channell, Deakin, Bautista
Channell, Deakin, Bautista

Will Mellors-Blair’s performance in 2015 was arguably the best single season from a Detroit City player ever, and it’s highly unlikely that his production will be duplicated by any one player on this year’s roster. That may not be as much of a problem as it seems since Ben Pirmann has collected a good number of quality options to share the attacking responsibilities.

Tyler Channell saw a healthy amount of playing time in his first season with City, and after his monster college season – 19 goals, 14 assists, D-II Midwest Player of the Year – he’s primed to play a much larger role in 2016. At 6’2”, he’s one of the tallest players on the roster and a perfect complement to the smaller, speedier strikers.

One of those is Javi Bautista, who missed all but the very beginning and very end of the 2015 season with an injury. When healthy, he flashed a tantalizing combination of speed and finishing, and I believe he could’ve cut into WMB’s playing time if he’d been 100% all year.

With some big-name newcomers, Javi seems like a bit of a forgotten man, but I expect him to be a major factor in City’s attack.

Unquestionably the biggest acquisition of the offseason was South Carolina’s Danny Deakin, formerly of Erie:

Okay, moving right along… Deakin is ranked as the #41 college player in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer and is a product of the Sheffield United youth academy.

He can play anywhere in the midfield or up top, but I’ve listed him as a forward because I project him to play mainly as an attacker in the hole behind the main striker and the center midfield.

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Wherever he winds up, he’s an automatic starter from day one and a massive coup for the club.

Jordan Kalk, Tyler Channell’s strike partner at Saginaw Valley St., is another quality addition – his 20 goals led the Cardinals in 2015.

He had surgery at the beginning of April with a six week recovery time, so he’ll likely miss the early part of the season. When he returns, his nose for goal will only add to the wealth of available options.

Rounding out the position are Wade Allan and UDM teammates Spiro Pliakos and Tyler Moorman. Allan is one of three remaining players from City’s inaugural 2012 roster, a team leader who bleeds rouge and gold and will do whatever’s asked of him, be it starting, coming off the bench, or simply putting in work at practice. He’s also recently off the market. Ladies, please look elsewhere.

Pliakos is an intriguing prospect; as a UDM Titan, he was named Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2014 and made all-conference first team this past season. He’s also ranked as the sixth-best player in the league by TDS. His high school recruiting highlights show that he’s a talented dribbler with deceptive speed. At 5’8”, his skillset appears similar to that of Bautista and Kalk, so he’ll probably face an uphill battle for playing time, especially early on. On the other hand…

pliakosgoty

…if he can do stuff like this on a semi-regular basis he might leapfrog some folks.

Tyler Moorman is the tallest forward at 6’3”. He was also part of the all-conference first team and led UDM with 7 goals. His size makes him a nice weapon to have coming off the bench; he can be an extra aerial threat if the team needs a goal late, or he can help hold the ball up and kill clock when they need to preserve a lead.

POSITION OVERVIEW

As is obvious to anyone who follows DCFC, Will Mellors-Blair will not be replaced by any single player. What Ben Pirmann has done is build a group of forwards that has, at first glance, more overall skill and depth than in the past couple seasons. I expect Channell, Bautista, and Deakin to get most of the playing time at the beginning of the season, but Kalk should make a real push once healthy. Pliakos and Moorman may have to wait their turn, but both possess the attributes to make them contributors as the season progresses.

One Reason to Be Excited 😀

The variety of options. WMB had a great year in 2015, but too much of City’s attack was focused on him. Not having a true #1 guy (at least at this point) should allow for a more balanced and varied approach and keep opposing defenders from keying on any one particular individual.

One Reason to Worry 😕

Kalk is currently recovering from surgery and Javi missed the bulk of 2015 with an injury. If there are lingering effects with one or both of them, this position suddenly looks a little thin. That could have a serious impact, especially on those two-game Friday/Sunday weekends.

Player to Watch

Deakin – for all the reasons listed above. Not to put too much pressure on him, but a player of his ability is one that could elevate a team from good to great. The only thing to do is figure out where he fits best into the lineup and let him go to work.

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2016 Preseason Roster Analysis

Much to my frustration, DCFC has been releasing player information at a snail’s pace this preseason. With my season preview due out in a month, it would be pointless for me to wait until the all the players have been announced to write a roster piece, only to turn around a week later and repeat what I said in the team portion of the preview. Therefore, I’m going ahead with all the info available to me at this particular moment (Sunday, March 27th), although there’s a pretty good chance that this piece will be outdated soon after it comes out. Oh well, on with the show.

As of today, the only players to have been announced are those who are returning to the club, so there aren’t any mysterious and exciting newcomers to introduce. If some of the rumors floating around are true, however, there will be much more to talk about a month from now. Here’s what we DO know (special thanks to Sean Grogan and his handy roster tracker):

FORWARD/STRIKER

Returners: Wade Allan, Tyler Channell

Key Departures: Will Mellors-Blair, Zach Myers, James Murphy

Position Overview: Arguably the position of greatest need, City loses the two best forwards to ever play for the club in Will Mellors-Blair and Zach Myers, who missed the 2015 season and will no longer play due to concussion concerns.

Consummate professional and team leader Wade Allan is back for his fifth year with the club, and I’m very interested to see if Tyler Channell’s tremendous progression in college will carry over into his second year in the NPSL. As a junior in 2014, he recorded a respectable 6 goals and 6 assists for SVSU, but he exploded as a senior this past fall, tallying 19 goals, 14 assists, and was named the D-II Midwest Player of the Year. Several other quality options will no doubt be added to the roster in the coming weeks, but Channell will get his fair share of playing time and may become a regular starter if he can maintain his current trajectory.

***[UPDATE 3/28/16]*** The club announced the signing of Jordan Kalk today. He played with Lansing United in 2014 and 2015 and led SVSU in goals this past season with 20. A very good pickup but more attackers are needed

WIDE MIDFIELD/WING

Returners: Cyrus Saydee, Jeff Adkins, Tyler Stephens

Key Departures: None

Position Overview: April is still a few days away, but City already has a quality starting midfield in place. Cyrus Saydee (now on Twitter!) can fit in virtually anywhere, but his home is at the wide left spot where he regularly embarrasses would-be tacklers with his dribbling and ball-control skills. The wider field at Keyworth should play into his strengths, giving him more space and time to operate. Cyrus + more time on the ball = bad times for defenders.

Jeff Adkins, now free of his Michigan Bucks purgatory, will provide pure speed and attacking ability on the right flank.

The position was a bit of a problem area in 2015 after the early season departure of Tommy Catalano, but a full year’s worth of Adkins would be a welcome solution.

Tyler Stephens can play at a number of spots in midfield and defense, but I’ve listed him at right mid for now. He began last season as a depth player but saw more and more time as the season went on.

CENTER MIDFIELD

Returners: Dave Edwardson, Troy Watson, Matt Ybarra

Key Departures: Latif Alashe, Kevin Taylor

Position Overview: Central midfield has become an area wanting for a bit more depth, but certainly not for quality. One slot will be filled by Dave Edwardson, my presumptive favorite to become team captain. The other will belong to Troy Watson, a complete unknown at this time last year who appeared in every match and quietly turned into a consistent starter and fan favorite for his quality defensive midfield play:

watson

Matt Ybarra is also back, meaning we’ll get plenty more use out of this video:

FULLBACK

Returners: Zach Schewee, Alex Isaevski (Injured Reserve)

Key Departures: None

Position Overview: The good news is that both of last season’s starting fullbacks return. The bad news is that only Zach Schewee will begin the season healthy. Alex Isaevski is currently recovering from a recent surgery, so it would be unrealistic to expect to him to see the field until the second half of the year at the earliest. Assuming Schewee slides back over to his natural left side, right back becomes a key area of immediate need.

CENTERBACK

Returners: Seb Harris

Key Departures: Josh Rogers

Position Overview: Not really enough data here. Seb Harris is back and will see plenty of time here and at right back. More bodies are obviously needed, and it would be nice if one of them was a vocal presence given the loss of Josh Rogers.

GOALKEEPER

Returners: 404 Players Not Found

Key Departures: ???

Position Overview: Ask again later. Bret Mollon may be coming back, he may be coming back strictly as an assistant coach, he may be injured, or he may be gone for good. Alex Bouillennec may or may not be coming back as well. It would be great to have at least one of them on the roster, but nothing is known at this point.

TEAM OVERVIEW

Every position is currently a position of need, but forward and goalkeeper are 1 and 1A in my estimation, followed closely by centerback and right back. I’d feel very good going into the season with the current starting midfield, and any further additions there would only bolster my confidence.

Ben Pirmann mentioned earlier that the club will be housing players (probably 4) again this season, so I’d expect to see some big splashes over the next several weeks since none of those players have been announced. 2016 may give us the most roster turnover we’ve had since City’s very first season, and given the club’s reputation now as compared to then, many of the new acquisitions should be of a high caliber and cause for excitement.