

Posted by

Kamal Hylton ,

February 5, 2015 Email

Kamal Hylton

On Twitter:

@KamalHylton

Outside of how well the three Canadian MLS teams do this season, and by extension how their newly formed USL PRO sides do in their respective inaugural campaigns, one player that Canadian soccer fans will be following the progress of very closely is Cyle Larin. The Canadian Men’s National team prospect and 1st overall pick in the 2014 MLS Draft will have some pressure on his shoulders, attempting to live up to the growing amount of hype he has been recieving over the past year.



However, in my opinion, there’s something his new club could and should do in an effort to tone down the expectations and help him develop. It's something I'd like to call the “Dom Dwyer Model”.



Prior to the 2013 MLS season, nobody (outside fellow RNO writer Aaron Nielsen) knew the first thing about Dom Dwyer. The 16th overall pick in the 2012 MLS Draft was not on anybody's radar until he was loaned out by his parent club Sporting Kansas City to their USL PRO affiliate Orlando City. With this affiliate program between MLS and USL PRO still in its infancy, it was a complete shock when Dwyer exploded onto the scene. The native of Cuckfield, England went on an absolute tear, scoring 15 goals in 13 games and becoming the first player to win a USL PRO championship and MLS Cup in the same season when he was later recalled back up to MLS.



There was even the weird situation when these two teams met in the US Open Cup, as Kansas City decided to recall all its players from Orlando City (most notably Dom Dwyer) only to lose to its "little brother" 1-0 in the 4th Round clash. Dwyer developed at such a rapid rate for SKC that he forced coach Peter Vermes to bench his team’s Designated Player in forward Claudio Bieler, ultimately pushing him out of the team altogether with the Argentine being released a few weeks ago.



Looking at Larin’s current situation, Orlando City coach Adrian Heath should seriously consider going the same route with the promising Canadian talent by sending him down to their new USL PRO affiliate, Louisville City FC. The Louisville franchise purchased the USL PRO rights from Orlando City when the Florida-based club secured a move to MLS. In doing so, the Kentucky-based club has become their affiliate. Competing in what looks like a tough Eastern Conference that will also house the likes of TFC II, FC Montreal, last season’s USL PRO finalists Harrisburg City Islanders and veteran franchises like Charleston Battery and Richmond Kickers, Louisville could definitely use a budding prospect with a nose for goal like Larin.



A tall and strong center forward who is 20-years-old, he has already proven himself at the college level with the University of Connecticut as well as with one of Canada’s highly rated academies in Mississauga-based Sigma FC at the League1 Ontario level. Needing a player to market themselves through and for fans to gravitate towards, Larin could not only build himself a nice following in Louisville but be in a nurturing environment with the express purpose of making him a better player.



With such a move, Larin will also be in a system that's tailor made for him to learn Olando City's style of soccer. Louisville's coach is James O'Connor, a former player and assistant with Orlando City the last few seasons, so there's likely nobody better for him to soak up what it takes to make it on an Adrian Heath coached squad.



Heath, like Vermes in Kansas City, is known as one of the more cerebral tacticians, with an eye for developing young talent. This isn’t to say the Brampton native will be fast tracked at a similar rate to Dwyer, but sending him down to work with O'Connor, using Larin in USL PRO games and during the US Open Cup is a steady way for Larin to grow into a higher level of competition. At this early stage of a career the best thing for any player, but especially a Canadian player like Larin, will be to get numerous games under their belt and develop a rhythm that could be carried over to the Canadian national team.



The last thing he or any fan of the red and white wants to see is another Canadian player logging more minutes on the bench (or spending time watching the game from a suite in a suit) than on a field in meaningful games. It won’t matter to Benito Floro if he’s a 1st overall MLS draft pick. If Larin isn’t playing he’ll lack the sharpness needed when Canada is up against CONCACAF opposition. And Orlando will only benefit if Larin earns consistent call-ups and gains significant experience competing in high level matches at the International level.



So at this point, with the season only creeping closer, the best case scenario would be for Larin to spend as much preseason time with Louisville City as possible, gear himself towards developing his skills at the USL PRO level, constantly picking the brain of O'Connor and “staying ready” because there’s always the carrot of being called up to the Orlando City at any time, just like Dwyer was two season ago.