So what kind of player is Luis Miguel Escalada? The Argentine striker received alot of fan fair in South America after playing for Emelec and LDU Quito, where he scored at a torrid pace (29 goals in 40 games in 2006, and 16 goals in 38 games in 2007).More recently there were reports of a lack of fitness that came out of Argentina and even in training camp with Real Salt Lake. There also has been a recent lack of results playing in Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador in 2008. Only time will reveal his current form, but what type of player/person is he?
Here are some brief comments that I was able to pick up from around the web:
"Escalada likes to play off the box some, behind the big striker, a la Tevez. So he is more of a complementary player." - Newells.theoffside.com
When asked whether his style was similar to that of Carlos Tevez, the player said: "Tevez is one of my references, I also have a great friendship with him." - La Capital
"Do you feel any pressure on you?
My move cost a million dollars, and people expected me to do the same, or slightly better than it did in Emelec (where he was scorer of the league). Things so far have not led to expect." - El Universo
"Do you miss Marcos Mondaini?
Marquitos played for me and it helped me a lot. But it is something that I put aside because I'm in another situation, but in future I want to play with him." - El Universo
"Emelec and Boca Juniors have close ties. So a few times Emelec has gotten youngsters from Boca's youth system. 2006 I believe, Emelec got two of them, Escalada and Mondaini. They both worked wonders together and Escalada had a great yea scoring a lot of goals. Next year he was bought by Liga de Quito but Mondaini went back to Argentina...
Escalada had an Ok year but didn't shine too much, scored less and was loaned out cause Liga needed something better. So he wasn't part of last year's Liga's glorious run.
I dunno how he has done all of 2008 while he was on loan and I don't know how many teams he played in that period either. But his last team was Gimnasia Y Esgrima de Jujuy (maybe he has been there all of 2008 I'm not sure), a modest first division team in Argentina.
He is an average player for South American leagues standard.
For MLS he should be more than fine though, and should even shine." - Big Soccer poster, Spencer
"The thing is that he's still young...22 years old and still developing his skills...at Liga he scored a fair amount of goals, but nowhere near his previous year's tally...I know he was loaned to Botafogo, GyE Jujuy, and I think Rosario or Newell's? But, he's a pretty effective striker inside the box, has pretty good pace as well and for the MLS, he'll definitely have no problem settling down scoring goals." - Big Soccer poster, LDU4ever
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thoughts on Luis Miguel "El Toro" Escalada
Saturday, January 31, 2009
CONFIRMED: Luis Escalada to Real Salt Lake
For several days, word out of Ecuador was that Luis Escalada was close to a deal to come to MLS. Yesterday Garth Lagerway confirmed that IF Escalada came to MLS he would be property of Real Salt Lake. Today we have confirmation from Ecuador that he has now agreed to play in MLS. The story comes from ElComercio.com which has been the source of much of the information coming out of Ecuador. It sites a conversation on Radio Quito with Esteban Paz, the boss of LDU Quito, which currently holds his rights. Please note that the article is still speculating that the club is RBNY, although Keepin' It Real has been able to confirm that he would come to Real Salt Lake because the team filed first discovery on the player.
Roughly translated
In conversation with the sports team of Radio Quito, the leader albo, Esteban Paz, confirmed that 'Toro' Escalada in the United States agreed to play for next season.
Paz said that currently only being formalized documents evidencing the transfer of striker to MLS.
Still has not confirmed that the club will play league American Escalada, however, the CRE site announced that it would be the Red Bulls of New York.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Player Profile: Fabian Espindola
Position: Forward
Date of Birth: May 4, 1985 (22)
Place of Birth: Merlo, San Luis, Argentina
Height: 5 ft 9 in
Weight: 160
Previous Clubs: LDU Quito, Aucas, Talleras, Boca Juniors
National Team Exp: none
Jersey Number: #9
Current Status: Senior Roster (International)
How Acquired: transfer
Personal summary: Born in Argentina. Best known in Salt Lake for his backflip after scoring a goal against Kansas City.
Professional summary/highlights: Played at the age of 20 with Boca Juniors. Then moved to another Argentine club, Talleras. After a year there, he played for 2 different Ecuador teams, Aucas and LDU Quito. Joined RSL in 2007 along with fellow Argentines, Javier Morales and Matias Mantilla.
Webpages/Myspace/Facebook:
Youtube/video links: Kansas City goal
Other links: MLS Player profile: Fabian Espindola/MLSnet, Wikipedia Page: Fabian Espindola/Wiki
Keepin It Real Expectations for 2008: To me the race for the second forward (after Deuchar) is a 3-way race between Findley, Espindola and Movsisyan. I have selected Espindola despite Findley seemingly being the lead candidate after winning the Golden Boot for RSL last season, and despite Yura having a seemingly stellar preseason. Why? Primarily his left footed ability and his crossing ability. Also, Findley may be more effective bringing his fresh legs and speed at later stages in a match. I could really see this one going any one of the 3 ways, but since I had to make a pick…
Fans Scorecard Ratings: Espindola Rating
Interesting Fact/tidbits/quote:
