Nicholas Lindsay Primed for MLS Success

[powerof11]

On a day in which supporter unrest collided with yet another draw at home, the former Toronto FC Academy forward gave fans some hope for the future and delivered a performance that impressed both his coach and his teammates. Jacob Peterson, who scored the Reds second goal from a cross delivered by Lindsay, believes that the new Toronto winger has everything required to succeed at the MLS level.

We spoke to Lindsay after the Columbus match:

http://www.rednationonline.ca/Lindsay_Primed_For_MLS_Success_october_17_10_news.shtml

[thescottc]

I'll say this:

In a sea of underperforming/overhyped imports, Nick Lindsay was the best player in TFC sweater yesterday. That says a lot about where this team is and where it needs to go.

[Keegan]

I'll say this:

In a sea of underperforming/overhyped imports, Nick Lindsay was the best player in TFC sweater yesterday. That says a lot about where this team is and where it needs to go.

Amen. The scouting and signings by Mo and Preki were really shocking... was there one good signing? Mo brought in DeRo which was inevitable so he cant really be credited... he brought in Serioux who was good until the injuries but OH WAIT he traded him away right away before so scratch that. He drafted Frei and Edu. And thats it. Then you look around the league and see quality signings slip right through our fingers. Adrian Cann was his best move.

[TFCRegina]

Amen. The scouting and signings by Mo and Preki were really shocking... was there one good signing? Mo brought in DeRo which was inevitable so he cant really be credited... he brought in Serioux who was good until the injuries but OH WAIT he traded him away right away before so scratch that. He drafted Frei and Edu. And thats it. Then you look around the league and see quality signings slip right through our fingers. Adrian Cann was his best move.

I'd say Maicon Santos and Adrian Cann were two gems. But for every Cann, or Santos there was a Pablo Vitti or a Jacob Peterson.

[buckley17]

If Cann was his best move then that is not saying much. Not because Adrian has been anything less than great for TFC this year, but because he basically fell into TFC's lap. Cann's time in Denmark had run its course and he wanted to come home, which as a Toronto boy is Toronto. He best moves were his drafts and the team has Stefan left from those - and who knows for how long.

Amen. The scouting and signings by Mo and Preki were really shocking... was there one good signing? Mo brought in DeRo which was inevitable so he cant really be credited... he brought in Serioux who was good until the injuries but OH WAIT he traded him away right away before so scratch that. He drafted Frei and Edu. And thats it. Then you look around the league and see quality signings slip right through our fingers. Adrian Cann was his best move.

[Cheeta]

If Cann was his best move then that is not saying much. Not because Adrian has been anything less than great for TFC this year, but because he basically fell into TFC's lap.

...

Ironic, isn't it? That Cann, who was there to help make up the "quota" has turned into an absolute gem for TFC.

Have to admit I like players who knowing their limitations play within them and to the greatest effect. Says something about a willingness to exercise that most important muscle there is in footie, the one between the ears.

[BearcatSA]

^When Cann was first signed I remember the reaction here which was pretty underwhelming. I knew he would be good in the air but he turned out to be a solid player, playing within his capabilities, hence no Velezesque cranial cramps.

As for Lindsay, he had a really good showing last match and hopefully will continue his form until season's end. Ironically, the guy he has replaced in the line up, Gala, also had a good run of starts at the end of the franchise's first season four years ago, but unfortunately has now become a forgotten man and I really can't see him being around for year five under a new regime.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The Gala example from 2007 definitely points to why people shouldn't get carried away about a young player after a couple of games. I'm not totally convinced that moving up to the senior roster so quickly was necessarily the best move for Henry and Lindsay (Henry's signing in particular looked like a PR move at the time) but with a reserve team in place again next season maybe things will work out better for players left on the fringes of things in first team terms.

[Macksam]

The Gala example from 2007 definitely points to why people shouldn't get carried away about a young player after a couple of games. I'm not totally convinced that moving up to the senior roster so quickly was necessarily the best move for Henry and Lindsay (Henry's signing in particular looked like a PR move at the time) but with a reserve team in place again next season maybe things will work out better for players left on the fringes of things in first team terms.

If he has the ability, why not. Besides, you can just tell there is clear difference in skill between Gala and Lindsay. Lindsay is quicker, faster, more agressive and composed on the ball than Gala bar none.

[Jeremy]

TFC aside, is he a potential NT player?

[RS]

TFC aside, is he a potential NT player?

U-20 NT, yes.

I'd say he's at least 3-4 years from challenging for a full NT spot. And that's only if he continues on this trajectory. A lot can happen between now and then, but I'd definitely say he's one to look out for in the future.

[TFCRegina]

TFC aside, is he a potential NT player?

Maybe, maybe not. We'll see. He looked damn good on Saturday but he's still young.

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Maybe, maybe not. We'll see. He looked damn good on Saturday but he's still young.

I can see him getting capped at the NT level at anytime, but holding down a spot is out of the question at this point Hart I think has sorta found his wingers in Simpson and Jackson, plus a list of guys behind them.

You never know though, current form and player availability could thrust him into a spot for the NT for a couple of games, long term not a chance at this point, to young.

But capping young kids is never a bad thing to think if we could of capped some of the kids now who are on the fence about playing for us, cap them young, why not?

[Guest Ed]

Christ. One half decent appearance for one of the worst teams in the MLS. Give the kid a couple of years. Start with an invite to the U20's before we bench Simpson.

[loyola]

I like what I've seen from this kid but it's way too early to say if he'll get on the MNT roster anytime soon.

If Mr. Lindsay can play like he did on the weekend during a whole MLS season, then he will be in the MNT pool for sure. Until then I would like to remind everybody that Andrea Lombardo had a great outing early on with TFC assisting on a game winning goal if I remember correctly and then.....

[RS]

Christ. One half decent appearance for one of the worst teams in the MLS. Give the kid a couple of years. Start with an invite to the U20's before we bench Simpson.

Three half decent appearances, actually.

[Macksam]

I like what I've seen from this kid but it's way too early to say if he'll get on the MNT roster anytime soon.

If Mr. Lindsay can play like he did on the weekend during a whole MLS season, then he will be in the MNT pool for sure. Until then I would like to remind everybody that Andrea Lombardo had a great outing early on with TFC assisting on a game winning goal if I remember correctly and then.....

Really? I always thought Lombardo was dreadful from start to finish. His one goal against Villa was the only bright spot.

[Cheeta]

U-20 NT, yes.

I'd say he's at least 3-4 years from challenging for a full NT spot. And that's only if he continues on this trajectory. A lot can happen between now and then, but I'd definitely say he's one to look out for in the future.

Has a bit of vision in him. Love seeing that in the younger players but as has been mentioned the sample size is waaaay too small to draw any reliable conclusions.

But...I'm encouraged if not overwhelmed. I doubt that he's experienced the best development environment so far, things being what they are around TFC the last season or two, but that all could change on a dime any time now. If he's done this well under less than ideal circumstances what will he show if given a better opportunity under more positive circumstance?

Hard not to agree that he's worth keeping an eye on. At the least.

[loyola]

Really? I always thought Lombardo was dreadful from start to finish. His one goal against Villa was the only bright spot.

The game I'm thinking of is the oneTFC played the day after Canada U-20's played Argentina and Lombaro played very well in both games. I think it was a 3-1 win over Chicago.

[Keegan]

The Gala example from 2007 definitely points to why people shouldn't get carried away about a young player after a couple of games. I'm not totally convinced that moving up to the senior roster so quickly was necessarily the best move for Henry and Lindsay (Henry's signing in particular looked like a PR move at the time) but with a reserve team in place again next season maybe things will work out better for players left on the fringes of things in first team terms.

Why wouldn't it be the right move? They still play with TFC academy and now they get to play some MLS games

I think Lindsay was awesome on saturday... 2 assists in 2 games, results speak for themselves so he deserves to start next match

[RS]

Why wouldn't it be the right move? They still play with TFC academy and now they get to play some MLS games

I think Lindsay was awesome on saturday... 2 assists in 2 games, results speak for themselves so he deserves to start next match

Neither of them play with TFC Academy any longer. They are now considered members of the full first team only.

Look for Oscar Cordon to be the next Academy kid to be signed to the first team once MLS rosters expand to 30 players in the new year. He's younger than both Henry and Lindsay, and oozes potential as a longer term project. At 16 he is already too good for the CSL, so the timing of the returning MLS Reserve League couldn't be better for him.

[Guest Ed]

Three half decent appearances, actually.

That last one was decent, I should have given him that. I think the kid has had a terrific start and wish him all the best. But it's early days for him.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Why wouldn't it be the right move? They still play with TFC academy and now they get to play some MLS games

Beyond what Rudi pointed out above I think there's still a missing piece to the puzzle in the development process. The CSL works reasonably OK for U-16 and U-18 players but there needs to be something genuinely professional beyond that (9 players on $3k a season each is really not much different from being amateur) to provide plenty of competitive games for players in the 18-22 sort of age range who don't go through the NCAA scholarship process and who are not quite ready to start regularly for the first team at MLS level. That's where there would be a niche for the NASL as a AAA baseball type setup because last time around MLS reserve league games were not much more than low key training session games any time I hung around after first team games to watch them.

Having an NASL team loosely affiliated to each MLS team so that half a dozen or so of the most promising Academy players could be farmed out on loan deals could make a big difference in getting future Gabe Gala type players to develop into MLS and beyond quality level players by providing the sort of environment young Canadian players like Peschisolido, DeVos, Radzinski, Aunger, Watson, Bunbury and Mobilio had in the original CSL in the late 80s and early 90s. Unfortunately it looks like the boardroom politics of Canadian soccer might get in the way of what is genuinely best for developing CMNT players in future because the underqualified and unprofessional people who tend to run the soccer associations and their affiliated leagues at the moment primarily crave power and control rather than trying to do what's best for the future of our sport.

[RS]

That last one was decent, I should have given him that. I think the kid has had a terrific start and wish him all the best. But it's early days for him.

Agreed 100%.

Lindsay was considered the best of his "class" at the Academy this year, after a bit of a tumultuous first couple of seasons with the team which saw the coaches give him the "shape up or ship out" speech just a year ago. He capped off his Academy career with a hat-trick against Colo Colo's "first team" (a mix of starters and reserves, really) in a friendly back in June or July.

The kid deserves all the credit in the world for putting his head down and earning a spot on the big team, but it'll be at least a year until we can rightfully talk about where his career is headed (if not longer).

Beyond what Rudi pointed out above I think there's still a missing piece to the puzzle in the development process. The CSL works reasonably OK for U-16 and U-18 players but there needs to be something genuinely professional beyond that (9 players on $3k a season each is really not much different from being amateur) to provide plenty of competitive games for players in the 18-22 sort of age range who don't go through the NCAA scholarship process and who are not quite ready to start regularly for the first team at MLS level. That's where there would be a niche for the NASL as a AAA baseball type setup because last time around MLS reserve league games were not much more than low key training session games any time I hung around after first team games to watch them.

I agree that the old MLS reserve league was a mishmash of serious young players on the cusp (like Chris Wondolowski) and a bunch of local nobodies thrown in to make up the numbers, which doesn't lead to a very good environment for development.

I'm taking a wait-and-see approach, but everything I read on the subject leads me to believe that MLS and the clubs realize just how important the reserve league is and that this time around -- with new regulations requiring all players to be under contract, thus avoiding situations where front office staff are suiting up -- they will be more serious in their approach.

I think the league sees the value in the reserve league now, if only from a "you only realize what you had after it's gone" sort of way, and if it allows more late bloomers like Wondolowski to stick around and develop then it's definitely a worthwhile pursuit, IMO.

If anything, it'll keep all of the glut of academy signings from around the league training with the first teams and actually playing games against other young pros rather than rotting on the bench. Players like Ibby Ibrahim and Gabe Gala sorely needed that middle step over the past two seasons.

[Keegan]

Neither of them play with TFC Academy any longer. They are now considered members of the full first team only.

Look for Oscar Cordon to be the next Academy kid to be signed to the first team once MLS rosters expand to 30 players in the new year. He's younger than both Henry and Lindsay, and oozes potential as a longer term project. At 16 he is already too good for the CSL, so the timing of the returning MLS Reserve League couldn't be better for him.

If you check the CSL thread Henry played in TFC Academy's recent match