Yesterday we executed a trade that sent Nico Colaluca to NE for defender Rob Valentino. We want to wish Nico the best of luck at his new team and thank him for his contribution to our organization.Here's a quick scouting report on Rob Valentino exclusively for you guys:
Rob will be a great addition to our already-talented group of defenders. I have personally known of Rob's talent since he was 17 years old playing with the Sereno Soccer Club in Arizona. He played on the same team growing up as Robbie Findley at RSL and Brandon MacDonald at San Jose. He went on to be Defender of the Year in the WCC twice while at USF and was in my mind one of the top central defenders in the country after his Junior season.
He has International experience with our Olympic Team and was under serious consideration for that group until he tore his ACL prior to his senior season at USF. We believe that Rob has tremendous upside and versatility. His best spot is as a central defender, but can also play as a right back.
He certainly has all the qualities to be a impact player in this league. He is big, strong, athletic and has good feet. His size makes him a dominant player in the air on both ends of the field.
The other thing that really impressed us about Rob was through our background check on him, all his coaches described Rob as a great competitor and teammate. This combination made our decision an easy one.
Thanks for taking the time to read; look for more inside information here on our team blog in the future.
-Paul Bravo
4 comments:
Paul, thanks for taking some time to explain the trade. This type of direct communication with the fans on player decisions is great insight.
This is exactly the kinds of things that I like seeing on this blog. Keep more of these things coming.
Welcome Rob
Thanks for the post. I think the concern is not the talent or committment, but the injury situation. Best of luck to Rob!
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