Ottawa Fury FC made a few announcements today, all of which were interesting, but none of which lived up to the hype the club had built up throughout the day on Twitter.
Nevertheless, there were things worth talking about, the most important of which was the release of of midfielder Patryk Mysik. The Canadian U20 player is the casualty of a formerly injury-ridden midfield coming back to fitness. Mysik could not be expected to break through the logjam created by Richie Ryan, Julian de Guzman (despite being away for at least two weeks for the Gold Cup), Nicki Patterson, Siniša Ubiparipović, Philippe Davies, Brandon Poltronieri and Mauro Eustáquio, and suffered the consequences.
The release of Mysik is a good barometer of where the club finds itself in terms of quality, but also exposes a problem we see with the development of young Canadian players. The Fury is good enough depth-wise to release a promising young Canadian, but the Canadian system itself has nowhere for this type of player to develop. The only option at this time for a player of Mysik’s age and talent level is to go to USL or hope to attract attention in the depths of the lower leagues of another country. Although I don’t know if this was ever an option for Mysik, it could mean that the NCAA might have been a better choice than turning pro.
The second announcement of the day was to highlight Julian de Guzman’s selection to the Canadian National Team’s Gold Cup 2015 roster. You can’t blame the Fury for touting this, as de Guzman’s signing remains a feather in their cap, and to have him continue to represent Canada while playing in Ottawa is a boon for NASL. However, there is no doubt that his reputation goes a long way towards his continued selection in Canadian head coach Benito Floro’s side. For example, one could argue that Phillipe Davies has done more than enough to get a look at one of the national team’s camps. The fact that he nor any other NASL canuck has been called up (save for Hanson Boakai – did not play) has to come down to Floro not fancying the league.
Finally, we come to the announcement that ended up irking Fury supporters: the announcement that Romual Peiser was named NASL player of the month for June. The announcement itself wasn’t the problem – Peiser is fully deserving of the award as he’s currently on an NASL record-breaking shutout streak – no, the issue is rather that the team hyped a big announcement that ended up being an NASL press release. When supporters hear “big announcement”, especially when it is teased, they expect something tangible that will add to the team’s success, not a subjective award that was pretty much expected. Nonetheless, a big congrats to Peiser on his streak and the award.
Head coach Marc Dos Santos has promised new player signings in the period between seasons, and the Mysik release paves the way for it to happen. The team needs an infusion of offense, and any observer of the team knows that this needs to come in the form of a striker. The Fury is excellent at build-up play, but conversion of chances has been abysmal. The challenge, as always with strikers in the NASL, is that scoring goals is the most difficult thing to do on the pitch, and those who do it well tend to get scooped up by teams in leagues higher up the pecking order (see Ibarra, Miguel).
What have Dos Santos’ contacts unearthed for us now? After a day where their emotions were toyed with, Fury supporters are on the edge of their seats in anticipation.
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