While you were eating ham or yelling at the TFC senior team’s backline, the Baby Reds were having their ass handed to them by the New York Red Bulls 2. The final score was 4-1 in a game that TFC2 was badly outplayed in for long stretches.
It was the first poor game for the Baby Reds and it illustrated a difference in philosophy between what TFC is doing with the USL team and what the Red Bulls are.
The Red Bulls started one homegrown player, Sean Davis. TFC2 started six homegrowns. Although the Red Bulls did have a few other interesting prospects (or one anyway in draft pick Leo Stolz) they also had a guy in his 30s on the pitch.
The Baby Reds? Well, they earn the “Baby” part of that nickname.
The line-up was: Alex Bono (94); Wesley Charpie (92), Daniel Fabrizi (92), Adam Bouchard (96), Mark Serjeant (96); Chris Mannella (94), Luca Uccello (97), Marcos Nunes (95), Jay Chapman (94) ; Mo Babouli (93), Jordan Hamilton (96)
That’s an average age of 19.5.
New York’s starters averaged 23.1.
So, yes, TFC2 lost the battle 4-1, but will their group of players be better at age 23 than the NY players are now? No way to know, but there are very few players at age 23 that become more than what they are. There are plenty of examples of teenagers that grow into substantial players.
Going young by itself is not proof that TFC2 is doing things the right way, but it’s probably best to fail to develop a star than to not even try to.
Regardless, the game illustrates how each USL game involving the 2 teams has to be looked at a bunch of different ways. Unlike the standalone teams the 2 teams will approach games differently depending on circumstance. So a win isn’t always the only important thing.
It’s never not important – winning is part of development at this level, but each result must be viewed through the long view.