MLS gives New England rights to Angulo

Former St. Benedict's Prep star and Clifton resident Jose Angulo was hoping to have a chance to show off his skills in the MLS Combine and potentially become a high pick in the upcoming MLS Draft.

That chance won't come.

According to sources close to Angulo, the rights to the high school all-american striker have been awarded to the New England Revolution, which filed a discovery claim on Angulo after he trained with the team last summer.

Yes, you read that right. New England just scored the rights to one of th best high school players in the country by inviting him to train for a week before simply filling out a form. Talk about ridiculous.

The decision is a baffling one for a league that has previously expressed a desire to protect the interests of players coming out of high school. Now, New England appears ready to benefit from the poor decision of a teenager who was simply looking for a professional environment to train in. Now, the Revs have managed to "discover" a high school All American who was the leading scorer on the No. 1 high school team in the nation in 2006.

The precedent being set here is a bad one. What will prevent recent high school graduates from skipping college and the draft, choosing instead to make the rounds looking for a contract? What will prevent teams from making promises to young players in order to circumvent the current MLS Draft system? And lastly, if the league's decision was based on the fact that Angulo did not graduate from high school (He left high school early to explore his professional options) is MLS sending a message that high school stars can sign with any team they please if they simply drop out of school?

There is at least a small amount of irony in the fact that the team that has succeeded in benefiting from this bad decision happens to be one of only two MLS teams without an MLS-approved player development program. Why bother creating a youth academy when you can simply invite a good young player to a try out and secure his rights by simply filling out a form?

This isn't an indictment of New England, which simply took advantage of the system that MLS has in place. If anything, the Revs deserve credit for filing a claim on Angulo when two other teams that saw him, the Red Bulls and Columbus, did not. The fault lies with a flawed system that MLS should fix.

Angulo should be in the MLS draft, where his impressive skills could make him a second-round pick at the least. Instead, he must now face the prospects of accepting whatever offer New England makes, which probably won't be much considering the Revs have all the leverage.

If league officials had some sense, they would reconsider their decision and prevent a very bad precedent from being set. MLS might also want to think about fixing a discovery claim system that can be best described as inadequate.

Comments

[KingSnake]

Word of warning to all the MLS wannabes out there: Don't train with a team unless you have a contract, or you will lose all your bargaining power.

[bkupp]

Considering all the special treatment the "big" clubs have gotten, including *interesting* lotteries, special drafts, etc., it seems pretty off-base to be jumping all over the Revs on this one. If there's one team that has always seem to miss out on MLS largesse, it's the Revs. Without our own smart drafting and good, stable coaching, we'd be nowhere.

[Joamiq]

What???
This is a joke!
RB should invite all of the nation's top HS players to train with them for a few days and then file discovery claims on all of them!

[josh]

Could it be that he said, MLS you want me? Let me go to the Revs. It wouldn't be that far fetched would it?

[NailGoesHere]

BKUPP: right on!!

However, Mr. Ives does bring up good points on how this *might* not be good for the player re: his contract.

But considering all the shenanigans MLS pulls with its favored teams, its possible there is some agreement and Angulo was involved in this decision.

"The precedent being set here is a bad one. What will prevent recent high school graduates from skipping college and the draft, choosing instead to make the rounds looking for a contract? "

You mean like in the rest of the world? If he is that good, then surely his agent can get him a contract in Europe. Not comparing apples to apples, I know, but interesting questions indeed.

[Joamiq]

Didn't Angulo train with RB one day last summer (that mildly infamous debacle where he barely played because of blisters on his feet)? Why can't they file a discovery claim on him too? Is it first come first served?

[AJ]

MLS needs to change these rules rapidly so that they benefit the Galaxy and not the Revs.

Perhaps anytime a club files a discovery claim on a player, the Gals get first shot?

[Bryan]

Joamiq; Yes, they could have. But I don't believe they did, which is what I think Ives meant when he said, "If anything, the Revs deserve credit for filing a claim on Angulo when two other teams that saw him, the Red Bulls and Columbus, did not."

[Ives]

Josh, there was no deal. Angulo did not request to have the Revs receive his rights. Angulo wanted to be in the draft and wanted to go to the Combine.

And Nail, that isn't how the rest of the world works. Simply trying out with a team doesn't give a team your rights anywhere in the world but in the United States based on this precedent. The way the world works is that your rights go to the team you sign a contract with.

And why does this have anything to do with what other "big" clubs have gotten away with? Nobody is saying he should go to the Red Bulls. He should go into the draft, where any team can draft him. Otherwise, why even have a draft?

[Ives]

Joamiq, it is as simple as which team gets the paperwork to the league first. One team could have a player for a month and another for a day and if the second team gets the paper in first they get his rights. It's a pretty bad system.

[pc]

The how is the player better or worse if drafted. You still accept the contract from MLS or go away. Your only real option is an offer with a USL team because they often pay better. This may be MLS's way of seeing that talent is better disbursed through all level of American socer.

[Matt Y]

This would NEVER stand up in a court of law. How can the MLS be so stupid?

They are already a huge target for union loving, anti-business/pro-labor lawyers Why leave themselves even more open to attack?

[Ryan]

this is how Europe works I don't know whay your panties are in a bunch. They just get them younger over there.

[tsingletonvt]

I am a Revs fan so the fact that the Revs have secured Angulo's rights works for me, but I do have an issue with how the Revs came to acquire those rights. MLS rules and interpretations are most definitely written in pencil. IMHO, constantly changing rules to benefit certain teams or players (or even appearing to) hurts the credibility of MLS.

Ives, not to pick nits (I think you do great work), but how have things changed regarding Angulo since your article on 6/14/07 which stated:

"As I stated in the post about his training stint with New England, Angulo cannot be signed directly by an MLS team. As a player straight out of high school, Angulo must go through the MLS Draft, and must actually sign a pre-draft deal with MLS before even being eligible for the draft. If he can impress New England and Columbus coaches it will make landing an MLS contract that much easier."

http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/06/jose_angulos_ne.html

[Matt Y]

Dude...this ain't Europe...our labor laws are quite different.

[NSLChicago.org]

What's ridiculous is the whole Discovery system and the Superdraft. Didn't the Galaxy sign Alexi Lalas as a Discovery Player at one point?

Abolish Discovery players and the draft. Let clubs go find their own players wherever they can. If teams flop on the field, why should they be rewarded with a high draft position or You Suck Allocations? They should be happy that they can't get relegated!

Doing away with the draft would force clubs to get better at identifying existing pro talent, or at establishing an effective youth pipeline.

[SeaOtter]

NailGoesHere,

The kid wants to play for the U.S. MNT but doesn't have his citizenship. He's choosing MLS to stay in country for that reason.

He does have interest overseas. But if he follows your advice the league loses a top quality prospect and the US program loses one too.

But hey, as long as the league gets to save money taking advantage of the kids situation, right. It's all good.

BKUPP,

You should be bitching about the club's ownership and not MLS. The ownership won't spend on a stadium. The ownership won't spend on a DP. The ownership won't spend to develope their own talent. And I think if you're looking for anyone missing out on "MLS largesse" you might look to Colorado, RSL, or Columbus before pitying the poor 'ol Revs.

Ives didn't attack the Revs anyway. He as much as commended them for using the system to their advantage. It's the league he has a problem with. And so do I.

[Steve]

Ives, or anyone that knows... Would it be possible for this kid to skip out for the year.. maybe play in the USL, and then re-enter the MLS Draft in 2009? Kind of like Bo Jackson & John Elway did in the 80's in the NFL. Except they decided to play baseball... then re-entered.

Just curious as to how long NE retains his rights for.. ?

[Bryan]

By the way Ives, this post didn't show up on the RSS feed, at least not for me. Everything up 'til this post has. Not sure if it's something that should be looked into or if it's a problem on my end.

[dwbpnm]

This precedent essentially brings free agency to MLS for youth players. A top youth player can now solict bids from MLS teams for the player to come train with them thereby allowing the team to file a discovery claim and the player to circumvent the draft. Unfortunately Angulo gets the short end of the stick but now word is out and all youth players can act accordingly.

[Brian]

Steve - That's not what Elway did. he played baseball during summers when he was still playing football at Stanford. he threatened to concentrate on baseball, but the Colts blinked first and traded him away.

[kpugs]

Unbelievable. Some players can choose where they play (Adu, Beckham), some go through the draft, and some are told where to play by the league (Szetela, Angulo) regardless what the player himself wants.

This league is a joke.

[kpugs]

P.S. I don't blame the Revs either. What they did was perfectly allowed.

I totally agree the league is at fault here, as it always is with all of the dozens of ridiculous things that happen within it every season.

[Tony in Quakeland]

dwbpnm:

you beat me to it. This may be a way to get talented US players to STAY in the US, at least initially. It gives them a way to align themselves to the club of their choice. (Think Szetela and NY - he would have done this in a heartbeat.)

The way it was done sucks, but it could be very interesting long term

[gene]

I too do not understand how being assigned to the Revs makes Angulo's bargaining position any different than had he gone through the MLS Combine and been drafted. In either scenario, he can negotiate only with a single MLS team or go to any team outside MLS. It seems to me that the only dispute here is among the MLS teams and that it should not affect Angulo's position one way or the other.

I don't see why a non-MLS team would be willing to pay him more simply because he was selected in the MLS draft instead of just being assigned to an MLS team--the non-MLS team should pay Angulo on basis of his inherent value and what it would take to lure him away from the MLS team holding his rights (and any other non-MLS team seeking to sign him), not on the basis of "wow, he was a first or second round MLS pick so we should pay him more".

[Ted]

Nobody should be mad at the Revs over this decision. All they did was file a claim.

Direct your anger towards the league. MLS knows this kid wants citizenship and a future with the US national team system. They hold all the cards and leave this kid with no choice, unless he wants to play USL.

Bad move by MLS, bad precedent, bad everything.

[L Train]

This makes me want to set something on fire. Where is MLS HQ again?

[Dannyc58]

I hope he sues for his freedom, and gets a groundbreaking case in his favor.

[Tim F.]

Great piece Ives.

I couldn't agree more with your statement: "If league officials had some sense, they would reconsider their decision and prevent a very bad precedent from being set. MLS might also want to think about fixing a discovery claim system that can be best described as inadequate."

I can't figure out how and when discovery claims are used. The rules seem to change but perhaps I'm uninformed. Can someone provide me a link to them?

TSingletonVT points out that they may have changed with this quote from a prior report: "As I stated in the post about his training stint with New England, Angulo cannot be signed directly by an MLS team. As a player straight out of high school, Angulo must go through the MLS Draft, and must actually sign a pre-draft deal with MLS before even being eligible for the draft. If he can impress New England and Columbus coaches it will make landing an MLS contract that much easier."

Regardless given the current news, KingSnake makes a great warning: "Don't train with a team unless you have a contract, or you will lose all your bargaining power."

Great contributions by everyone.

[smokarz]

MLS still has some very stupid rules. Sometimes I still think they haven't realized the simple fact soccer is not an American sport and it can't follow the same path as the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.

Soccer talents come from all over the globe, not just America. Let the club signs the players that they scouted. Allow them to develop their own youths. Colleges/High Schools aren't the only sources feeding MLS. These drafts, allocations, and lotteries and plain idiotic. WAKE UP MLS, run it like the rest of the world, then you can be consider a MAJOR LEAUGE.

[Boo Hoo]

Oh boo hoo! Ives why are you such a Red Bull biased 'journalist'?

[JK2]

Hi all,
while i agree that this situation seems to be utterly rediculous (not that i'm complaining this time, i'm a revs fan), what needs to happen is for players like Angulo to be more involved in training professionally from a young age, not more prohibited, or punished.

every MLS team should have some sort of talent development and those players (as i've read some clubs have successfully done) are not availible for the draft. that said, there are hundreds of quality players who end up playing in college. I think the draft makes a lot of sense for these players, and perhaps for other players right out of highschool who were not able to train with their local professional team.

Teams should develop their scouting systems, especially locally as most MLS teams won't have to compete with other MLS teams in their own area (sorry LA). They should then do something to bring the recognized potential into the organization, a few ideas: invitation only camps (see basketball), a youth system, a academy system that partners with a local highschool, a reserves team that plays in the local men's leagues (i'm sure there are more great ideas out there).

[boo hoo]

"The precedent being set here is a bad one. What will prevent recent high school graduates from skipping college and the draft, choosing instead to make the rounds looking for a contract?"

WELCOME TO WORLD FOOTBALL.

WHERE HIGH SCHOOL AGE KIDS SIGN PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTS rather than go into some stupid draft system.

[Michael B]

I have been lurking here for awhile, but feel the need to comment here.

While the rules might stink, what team has been better at developing young players then Nichol and the Revolution over the Rev's run here the past 6 seasons? Nobody has done a better job of developing their own players then the Revs.

Angulo wont have to jump and play right away as he can sit behind and learn from the good attacking players in front of him. Players like Noonan, Twellman, and Raltson. All top MLS players. Plus the two kids who they brought in last season who developed into nice role players,soon to be full time starters, Wells Thompson and Adam Cristman.

Might not be fair for the rest of the MLS, but he has the best chance to become a real player with the Revs compared to whoever else might have drafted him.

[Tim F.]

Red Bulls filed a discovery claim on Marcus Tracey and Patrick Nyarko. They both trained with the club last week and the Red Bulls are negotiating with both of them to sign with the team.
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Not true obviously but this is what this crazyness of discovery slot usage could become right? Even worse, as Ives points out; it could hit seniors or juniors in high school not just underclassman. This is crazy.

[groove]

They need to dump the whole dumb-ass concept of a Super Draft. Why do they keep insisting on forcing American mindset and models on an international game. Remember the clock format of the early years and the shootouts. God - still makes me cringe.

[Johnny]

Sorry this off topic. But I just read this article that says Eddie Johnson could be going to Derby. Ives please tell me this article is totally false. Why in the hell would he go to a doomed team like Derby. The article also mentions that Reading are in the running.

http://www.soccer365.com/english_premiership/story_4108190806.php

[Matt]

Keep in mind Angulo dropped out of school to pursue his soccer career. Considering that, he is not a student of any kind. He's no different than a 25 or 30 year old guy deciding he wanted to play professionally and trying out with a team. It just so happens that the guy we're talking about is really young.

[EastLAChiva]

Whatever New England or the rest of the league does, STAY OUT OF SOUTHERN CALIFONIA!!

We have crap players with no talent!!

Please don't come looking for HS players over here.

Seriously, this is how Chivas USA has built it's academies throughout the state. It's virtually fertile with talented and
skilled players.

[Ives]

Hey Mr. Boo Hoo, try reading the article before commenting. My piece had NOTHING to do with the Red Bulls. It isn't about the Red Bulls. Ultimately, the Red Bulls had Angulo in training and he looked awful (he was admittedly out of shape and hadn't trained in months). They told him not to bother coming back so nobody should feel bad about them missing out on him.

The point is that either you have a draft and make high school kids go through it or you don't. The league's setup has made players coming out of high school sign a Generation Adidas contract and go through the draft for years now. All of a sudden the league makes an exception for Angulo.

And I'll say it one more time. It is not customary in any other part of the world, as far as I know, for a team to secure the rights to a player by simply having them in for training. They must first reach an agreement with the player on a contract. That's pretty simple to understand but some folks insist on ignoring that to make a point that isn't valid.

Lastly, to TSingletonVT, I spoke to MLS officials last summer and was told that a player in Angulo's situation would need to go either into the regular draft, or a discovery draft. Now, several months later, MLS has decided that it won't bother with that and will grant New England's Discovery claim.

[Mikemike]

This would be less irritating if NE had an academy. And it would even sort of make sense if they did, just make them use one of their two spots.
It seems like the league is allowing NE to circumvent the academy system much in the same way it allowed LA to grandfather in a DP.
More like MCLS if you ask me. Majorly Crazy League Soccer. Thats right. I went there.

[inkedAG]

Isn't it ironic that it's not the Galaxy we are talking about when it comes to circumventing and exploiting the rules??

[Matt]

Jose Angulo is not a high school athlete. He is not a college athlete. He is an unemployed professional soccer player. He earned that distinction by dropping out of high school and signing an agent. Therefore, no team is exploiting any rules to invite him to a try-out and then file a discovery claim on him. It's unfortunate that Mr. Angulo chose to drop out of school before really having anything in place. To me, that's more concerning than the league's actions. But based on his decisions, his situation was no different than any other 20-something unemployed soccer player looking for a team.

[BigSoccerNut]

Dropping out of high school and hiring an agent does not make him a professional. Playing in a professional game or a scrimmage between two professional teams does-- has he ever done that? No, as far as I can see.

[Joamiq]

Oh - I don't think that paragraph was there when I posted my second comment, but maybe I just missed it.

By the way, yes, this is the league's problem. It's a loophole that needs to be closed. But pardon me for being a little irritated at the image of the NE front office snickering about how they don't need a youth development program because they can just do this. Taking advantage of loopholes is smart but that doesn't make it right.

[Joamiq]

Matt: You're right, his situation was no different. So why should one team get his exclusive rights for having him train and then filing a paper? If he's an unemployed soccer player he should be a free agent, free to sign with any team, not forced to negotiate with one. The discovery claim system is pure BS.

[tk]

This is bad if this kid does not want to play for New England. Otherwise, so what. He'll train with NE and get paid more than an average HS drop out. He'll get some reserve games and see some first team action but, by the time he is ready to produce on the field, he will leave for Europe on a free transfer. Does anyone remember the names Szetela, Adu, or Bradley. Although talented none made a mark in MLS on the field.

By the way, New England does not develop talent. That line is the biggest load of crap repeated in the echo chamber that we call the American soccer press.

The reason that New England has so many draft picks playing on their roster is because that is the only place they get players. The cheapskate owner runs the team like a NFL franchise that does not want but "free agents". Please give me the names of the seasoned players that the Revs have brought into their squad.

Christman and Wells get playing time on the Revs but are not any better than average players. And not likely to get much better.

[patrick]

uhhh, well TK i know they signed and developed andy dorman out of BU. And Jeff Laurentowicz ( i know i butchered his name) from dartmouth.... Thats two. I'm sure theres more but in truth, I like nothing related to boston. Oh, and twellman too.

[tsingletonvt]

Ives,
Thanks for the response. That is what I assumed had happened and why I mentioned that MLS rules must be written in pencil. Thanks again for the follow up.

On a side note, best of luck with the new website and keep up the good work.

[CRSvideo]

I'm confused on how this happened. Had he played professionally before somewhere? If not then I thought there were only 2 ways of a player comming into the league. He could go into a draft or he can join a youth accademy and wait 2 years until the team can take him. What's to stop a team with a youth accademy from brining a kid up to the senior team by "discovering" him after only one year, or heck maybe just one month, rather than waiting the MLS required 2 years? I don't have a problem with the Revs getting a player, but the method used seems to circumvent some of the structure MLS is trying to put in place.

[Haig]

"This would be less irritating if NE had an academy. And it would even sort of make sense if they did, just make them use one of their two spots.
It seems like the league is allowing NE to circumvent the academy system much in the same way it allowed LA to grandfather in a DP."

Cutting and pasting this because it is EXACTLY correct.

As tiresome as conspiracy theories are, I wonder if this is the "quo" in some quid pro quo that first saw Kraft and the Revs acceding to some other reform (perhaps by voting for the academy system proposal).

[Lee]

I dub this: The Age of Discovery.

One day we will look back fondly on this time.

[NateP]

I agree that this is a fishy decision, even if I do like that it benefits the Revs. Contrary to Matt, I'm not ready to see the draft system scrapped. If this precedent is allowed to stand than all HS or College kids would just need to "go Pro" and they would avoid the draft altogether.

That said have all previous "kids" gone through the draft? I know that Gaven, Adu, Besagno did (even if the Adu pick was rigged in advance and not a true draft pick); but didn't others go to a lottery (Szetela? Sesay?) and I know that the Revs signed a fringe U-20 (Miguel Gonzalez, since waived) a year ago but don't remember any lottery or draft for him. It seems they have possibly had some other loopholes in the "all non-pros must be drafted" rule.

[tk]

pat

I guess I don't know what you mean by develop. First, ginger Jeff and Dorman are average players and Twellman had spent some time in the Bundesliga before he came back hat in hand.

Besides, all those guys you mentioned were in their twenties when they arrived at the Revs. Not exactly in their "wonder years".

[Eugene]

I agree with the post on just "discovering" academy players. Didn't the Red Bulls try to do this with Johnny Exantus in 2006 and get rejected by the league, even though Exantus had been training with the senior team?

I don't really see how Angulo's case and Exantus' case are that different. If Exantus couldn't be discovered without going through the draft, I would think Angulo should also go through the draft. That said, what's the difference then with a Jorge Flores situation where a player wins Sueno MLS out of highschool and then eventually gets picked up as a discovery?

St. Benedict's Prep in Newark frequently produces top prospects like Angulo and Gabe Ferrari. If this is the new MO in MLS, the Red Bulls should invite the whole St. Benedict's Prep team to train and file discoveries on all of them. Sounds a bit ludicrous to just file discoveries on all high school players in your area, but on the other hand, to the team it's a free option on each player.

[dl]

Sounds like a hint of bitterness from NJ. Good luck to Angulo.

[Patrick]

TK,
I'm not sure how you can classify them as average players. Dorman just left for scottish premiere (not EPL but not bad in itself) and from what I've seen from Jeff, hes a rather solid player defensive player with some nastyness and not bad on the ball either. What did you have in mind regarding developed? More along the lines of Szetela? WOuld you say that the revolution developed Clint Dempsey?

[david]

i wouldn't say new england has all the leverage here.. regardless of whether he is a 2nd round pick or a player whose rights were assigned, in the end it is up to the player whether or not to sign the k ... i'd also like to know how long New England retains the rights on this player for mls purposes (months, season.. etc?) if the two sides fail to reach an agreement

[Hincha Tim]

Here is how European (and rest of the world) soccer differ from the MLS.

1) Since the Bosman decision, for the rest of the world, any player (including VERY young players 9-10 years old, like Messi) are free agents until they sign a contract with a club. If they want a professional career in soccer, this, eventually is their only choice. The length of the contract, how much is negotiable. Barcelona got burned with Fabregas, who they signed when he was very young, but when his contract expired when he was about 17, was free to sign with Arsenal.

2) A kid in the U.S. has same this option to go for (for overseas teams).
However, he also has the option to stay in the U.S. and try to finish his education and play highschool and college soccer which are competitive outlets that are not in the rest of the world. This can be a tough decision, since I think the NCAA and most state highschool associations have pretty strict rules on hiring agents and dealing with pro teams, which forever would disqualify the player from ever going the college route once they take one step down the agent/pro route. I honestly don't know why a good player would sign a "developmental" contract with the MLS for 20 grand a year and pass up a free scholarship to a university worth 30k or more a year, and develop just as well in a good college program as the MLS "developmental" system, but that's me.

Unlike Europe, the MLS is a single entity, like a single team who negotiates and then disperses its players among its "sub-teams" by draft or whatever. This is purely supposed to be a cost saving measure for league teams so they don't compete against each other, only against other nation's teams. Its monopolistic/ anti-labor :').

I agree with the poster who said that this ruling actually undercuts the single entity MLS and makes it more like the European system (free agency), because a player can shop around to all the MLS teams to see who will give him the best deal if he goes and trains at their grounds.

[ejs]

Maybe this is the leagues way of trying to let all teams scout and sign their own players. The way players enter the league is all screwed up, and im sure it does not help when a kid decides for MLS or Europe

[papa bear]

"The precedent being set here is a bad one. What will prevent recent high school graduates from skipping college and the draft, choosing instead to make the rounds looking for a contract? "

totally disagree in a sense. :) I think that is exactly how the system should work. What shouldn't happen, is one of the teams that he tried out for shouldn't be able to 'claim' him as their own.
Other than that, kids should be able to shop for contracts like sports in this country USED to be like. It won't damage the cap and they can still give allocations to garbage teams but let's dump the draft. I'm sure many will worry that it will cause NY, LA, Chicago to have an advantage but so be it. Let's have clubs fight to acquire their players by putting forth competent FO's and coaches not being handed players in a draft.

[tk]

Pat

Well, they gave Dempsey an opportunity to play. Of course you know that Dempsey was on the U20 World Youth Cup team the year before he played in MLS. Not exactly a lump of clay.

What about Peter Nowak he developed Bobby Boswell, Josh Gros, Brian Carroll, and Troy Perkins into all stars and national team players. It's how it works in MLS. Every team has a handful of young players that blossom into good players. It is not unique to New England.

I call development taking a player in his teens; Not yet physically mature; Is several years from first team action and grooming him for the big stage. Can you name any teenager that has passed thru New England that has gone on to the national team or moving to a bigger club? I can't.

Most players that Nicol brings in have played at least three years of college and are ready to contribute. Not a bad strategy, but not development either.

If New England had a "development" philosophy they wouldn't be one of only two teams that don't have an academy. If they had a special touch they would be mining the youth market of NE for next Jeff Laurentowitz.

[Ted]

To draft bashers,

Whether or not you like the draft is not the issue here.

The issue is that Angulo, who wants to be in the draft, is not being allowed because he trained with New England for a week.

He never signed an academy contract or anything with NE, he just trained with them. It's fairly common all around the soccer world.

We all want better academy and youth systems in MLS, but the draft is what Angulo wanted to be a part of, and he is not being allowed.

And saying NE has a 'development' philosophy is BS. Dempsey, Larentowitz (sp), and Dorman were all developed by the time they joined the Revs. They have improved since then, but they developed other in other places. Very few MLS clubs have developed any players (Altidore, Adu, Szetela are some of the few that have been). Much of that burden is placed on Youth National teams and the college system. I'm not saying thats how things should be done but that is the way it is.

[Haig]

"Sounds like a hint of bitterness from NJ. Good luck to Angulo."

This is nuts. RBNY had no rights to Angulo. The objectionable issue is that MLS has thrown its rules and precedents out the window to honor this discovery claim, which is not in the least bit fair to the player.

The real test of legitimacy is whether any player who merely trains with a team for a week, and still isn't out of high school, can be subject to a discovery claim and pulled from the draft/lottery pool, or if this is an absurd one-off. I suspect it's the latter.

[Milo]

WTF? I guess Metro better satrt inviting half the nation to train with them thus pulling a Cbus!

[Dominghosa]

What I'm wondering is what does thois mean for Angulo's salary?
Will he get paid less because he's a "discovery" player? If he was eligible for the draft, he would have signed a Generation Adidas contract and get paid more than the average draft pick.
Also, Angulo isn't that young. He's 19. Older than Jozy even.

[kpugs]

"Boohoo," another noob who doesn't know what journalistic integrity is and is too much of a wuss to sign in with his real name/email.

Honestly I think this site should require email confirmation. I may be a moron, but at least I'm a moron who sounds off while leaving his contact info.

I'm sick of reading this stupid posts by people who have no concept of the game but can post whatever they want anonymously. And sometimes they attack people with completely valid points.

Bunch of cowards.

[Ted]

Ives, do you have any information on the following topics?

Are there any special rules applied to discovery player salaries or is it just an open negotiation with the club?

How long does the club retain their MLS rights if the two parties fail to come to a deal?

[TK]

Won't read the whole thread but I am going to be an MLS cynic here.

IMO MLS is doing this because they know the kid loses all bargaining power now. He wamts citizenship he has to stay here, pay for the Revs, for whatever they will pay for as long as they want.

If he doesn't want to sign then he is screwed.

I have defended, or just accepted, all the unusual MLS moves of the last 12 years because sometimes that is needed and happens in a growing entity. Do what you need to in order to grow and then set strict rules when you are safe.

This decision is just horrific/dangerous/insane/confounding in so, so, so many ways. My defense for the league is waning and turning as we move forward.

Just so dumb it's not even funny.

I think contract talks between the players and MLS is gonna be just nuts. I wouldn't rule out a strike. Might be real bad for our game here. Sad stuff.

[johnson]

who gets the rights to his teeth?

[GoUSsoccer]

BigSoccerNut - you might want to ask the NCAA what they think about an athlete who hires an agent. I do believe by their definition you have then forfeited your college sports career. That is true for potential basketball players who want to enter the NBA as underclassman. As long as they don't hire an agent they can go back to college if they don't get picked high enough.

If that is the situation, like Matt said above, then that does change my perception of the situation a bit. Yes, the kid is young and perhaps has received some bad advice from others, but help me understand how he lost significant leverage; are you telling me college players drafted even in the first round have a lot of leverage?? I don't think so. Their rights are assigned to a team - period end of story. If this is about the kid being a 'free agent' and wanting to avoid the draft and getting hoodwinked, then that is different, but I haven't heard that here. If Angulo wants leverage then he better get a team in a different league interested in him pronto (or find any other alternative). Those without options have no leverage, no matter the situation.

[J]

This definitely exposes a major loophole in the system. A previous poster is right, what is to stop teams from having expensive academy systems and just let the NCCAA or HS/Club teams do all the grunt work, invite the kid(s)into camp and file a discovery claim? While they are changing this rule, they should look into changing the absurb academy rule regarding promotion of players and the ability to poach from other teams. Ridiculous.

[the10shirt]

You know, I too found it "baffling" and "ridiculous" when Roberto Donadoni, Lothar Matthaus, Juan Pablo Angel, Adolfo Valencia, Youri Djorkaeff and Claudio Reyna ended up wearing the New York colors. And those guys (even though they did not pan out) were much more of a sure thing than some high school kid. How did Freddy work out for DC United or RSL, and he was the biggest phenom there ever was in the U.S. I have two words for you Ives, B-o-o, H-o-o. On the other hand, congrats on scooping the Boston media once again!

the10shirt

[Joamiq]

the10shirt: If you found those things baffling or ridiculous, that says more about you than it does about MLS.

And shame on you for pimping your blog here as you insult Ives.

[the10shirt]

I meant no insult to Ives. My beef is with NY fans who are critical of this move by the league. This is yet another shady deal by a league that changes its policies at the drop of a hat. My point was that usually those transactions are designed to benefit NY and LA at the expense of the smaller market teams. It's no baffling, it's obvious why the league does it. But it also imbeds those teams with unfair competitive advantages and made a mockery of the salary cap in the pre-DP era.

[Carl]

Ives, isn't there something really important that we're overlooking here that it seems like you just forgot. I seem to remember you talking about Angulo trying to get US-citizenship in one of your past articles about him.

I have no idea what country he's supposed to be from, but if he's not a US-citizen, well then doesn't that make him different than all the other players in the MLS-draft? In a very crude way isn't Angulo the equivalent of a player Nicol found in Argentina?

[J]

10 Shirt...you lost me on your arguement when you included JPA and CR were in some way added around the league rules? These two players were both added through use of the dp system. The Revs have a dp slot, they just chose not to use it. I don't think RBNY fans are mad with the Revs nor is Ives, they used this rule to their advantage. The article merely points out a loop hole that should probably be looked at a little closer and hopefully closed.

[Joamiq]

the10shirt: You meant no insult to Ives?

"I have two words for you Ives, B-o-o, H-o-o."

Also, your examples make no sense. Reyna? Angel? Djorkaeff? What problem could you possibly have with their acquisitions? Sounds to me like you're the one who's crying. Your whining about the past is irrelevant anyway. The bottom line is that the discovery claim system needs to be changed.

[Bababooey]

Ah well. Who needs him anyway.

[Voros McCracken]

You're right that this is a pretty inconsistent decision by the league, but you;re wrong when you think this affects Angulo's interests at all. With SEM, Angulo only has one interested party anyway as soon as he decided to join MLS. This won't cost him a dime and in truth might actually save him money if he were to somehow have a poor combine showing.

The youth system ought to fix a lot of this anyway.

[Ives]

Hey Voros, nice to see some BigSoccer royalty in the house.

How could the decision not affect Angulo? Instead of having the chance to take part in the MLS Combine and create some interest in himself he is forced to try out for New England and either accept or reject whatever offer the Revs make.

Yes, Angulo can just as well go to some USL team, which is an option, but again, he has been prevented from having the same chance to improve his stock as any other player preparing to enter the league in 2008.

And I think I've stated a few times that the bigger issue is what the decision means long-term for the league and future prospects than what it means for Angulo. You can read some other comments I've made for my take on that.

As for the youth system fixing a lot of this anyway, how on earth is the existence of 13-15 youth systems in a country the size of the United States going to address the issues that this precedent creates? It won't. MLS needs to establish better rules and guidelines in this area, plain and simple.