Steven DeRoux moves to Montreal Impact

Photo by Jeremy Olson

The Minnesota Thunder will announce today that they have lost out on the services of midfielder Steven DeRoux who took advantage of a buyout clause in his contract so he could move to the Montreal Impact. Manny Lagos, team president for the Thunder, said that the clause in DeRoux’s contract was the only one of its kind on the team and was an integral part of getting DeRoux here in the 2008 season, when they competed with Vancouver to sign the player.

The Thunder front office knew it was going to be tough signing DeRoux for another season. “We knew heading into the offseason, with the type of season he had, that this was a strong possibility,” said Djorn Buchholz, General Manager of the Minnesota Thunder. “However, we were very happy to have Stephen’s services for last season and wish him the best moving forward.”

Manny Lagos had similar thoughts but expressed disappointment in DeRoux’s choice of purchasing his contract. “We will obviously miss Stephen and are not happy that he opted to buy out of his contract. He did tell us that he loved playing here and really wanted to stay, but the lure of playing in the CONCACAF championship in February was something that he felt he could not pass up.” Lagos went onto say, “We wish Stephen the best, and realize he is going to be tough to replace, but one of our goals for building and shaping the team for 2009 is to get more athletic while still stressing the tactical and technical quality type of player which will make this team even more competitive in 2009.”

I’ve had some time to think about all this and here is my personal take on it.  First off, losing a player to another team is of course always disappointing but is also just part of the business. Dean Johnson and Henk Habbers, owners of the Minnesota Thunder, may have deeper pockets than the former owners but that doesn’t mean that there’s an endless supply of money. After all, this is soccer in America, and USL soccer as well. Not exactly the most cost effective business venture to be in. Signing DeRoux would most likely have made him one of, if not the highest paid player on the team. In Montreal he will get extra money for playing in the CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal currently sit in 2nd place in Group C with 11 points.

Photo By Jeremy Olson - www.digitalgopher.net

So would keeping DeRoux have been worth it? Last year DeRoux seemed to have a hard time adjusting to the USL after coming from DC United, but did better after interim coach Donny Gramenz unleashed him in a 3-5-2 formation, allowing DeRoux to be the left outside midfielder who would fall back into the left back position when the team defended and looked more like a 4-4-2. DeRoux would surge forward with the team, often making runs down the left flank and sometimes cutting in at midfield and dribbling straight at teams’ defenses. There was an excitement about DeRoux’s runs that would electrify Thunder supporters and leave opposing fans concerned. However, with all his runs and dribbling, and at the end of the season with 29 games played, DeRoux only had 1 goal and 2 assists to show for it. That’s not a lot of production from an offensive attacking minded player.

DeRoux was certainly one of my favorites on the team because you never knew when he was going to explode for something special, but all too often the exciting and frenetic run would end with a too frenetic pass that never found it’s targeted destination. There was also a minor attitude problem that one could often see on the field. Earlier in the season, when subbed off by then coach Amos Magee, DeRoux would often not sit with his teammates but sulk along the sidelines. At the time, I didn’t give it too much thought,  because the team wasn’t playing well collectively and sometimes I didn’t understand myself why DeRoux was getting pulled as he [in my opinion] was playing better than many of the players on the team. However, the attitude was sometimes seen on the field as well. Some of my soccer friends would often comment that he wouldn’t work hard to get back and play defense or if he got beat on a play wouldn’t hustle back to win a ball. That is not to say that DeRoux always did this. He didn’t and most often worked very hard, but there was always a moment or so in every game where you saw the attitude pop up. This was crystalized in the final game of the season at home in the playoffs against Vancouver. Behind and scrapping to get another goal, DeRoux dribbled along the flank and lost the ball. He fell to the ground where he sat appealing for a foul even though none had been committed as it was just a good hard tackle by Vancouver. Ricardo Sanchez came over to support and forced Vancouver to lose the ball out of bounds for a throw-in. With time waning, Sanchez, who went through an attitude epiphany himself during the season, implored DeRoux to get up so he could throw him the ball and start another attack. DeRoux just sat there looking at Sanchez and the referee. Sanchez threw the ball into another player and the team drove down the field while DeRoux slowly got up and joined back in with his team.

He did tell us that he loved playing here and really wanted to stay, but the lure of playing in the CONCACAF championship in February was something that he felt he could not pass up.
-Team President Manny Lagos-

My biggest concern with losing DeRoux is the fan appeal of the player. Not since Johnny Menyongar, the Tiny Ticket, have the Thunder had such a dynamic and exciting player. Fans love to see players who can dribble one-on-one and make things happen. While DeRoux could do that, at the end of the season he didn’t have the numbers in his stats that Menyounger had most years. But still, supporters identify a team with an exciting player. They know that even if the team doesn’t do well in a game, they may at least see a flash or two of genius or pure athletic endeavor from a particular player, so at the end of the day, they can say, “Did you see that run by….”.  Wins and losses are most important, but even an old soccer fan like me wants to be entertained during a game, and DeRoux certainly could entertain. Thunder supporters could often be heard chanting, “DeRoux, DeRoux, DeRoux is on fire!” My hope is that the Thunder front office will strengthen the squad with the money gained back by the loss of DeRoux, but that they will also consider working to find another dynamic player that Thunder fans can get excited about.

Notes:
Steven DeRoux, is from St. Mary’s, Jamaica and came to the Thunder after spending 2005-2007 seasons with DC United where he signed a development contract in 2005 following his college career. There he made 10 appearances with no goals. He played in 29 Thunder games this past season where he had 1 goal and 2 assists. He came to DC United from Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland where he was named to the Division III Junior College First Team and All-Mid East team. He was also named a NSCAA Second Team All American in 2002. While at PGCC, he scored 15 goals and 26 assists, earning All Conference honors.

The Thunder press release also says the Thunder have released midfielder Andrew Barron who is pursuing soccer in his native New Zealand. Barron played in 11 games for the Thunder in 2008 logging 723 minutes.