Is Real Salt Lake defender Nik Besagno a bust?
After all, in the midst of his third professional season, the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick has played in just eight career league matches and only two this year.
It's a question with many gray areas, making it all a matter of perspective.
From an outsider's point of view, MLS fans can't help but view Besagno's career as a waste. With bonuses, he's making $111,500 per year and he's done virtually nothing while with the team. Internally, however, expectations about the 18-year-old are as high as ever, and it's hard to imagine RSL not picking up Besagno's two one-year options when his contract expires after the season.
"We've had our eye on him, and we think he's coming along very well, and with the impending retirement of Eddie Pope, his future looks bright," said Real coach Jason Kreis.
With that said, Besagno's past and present haven't been so rosy, and there are dozens of reasons why. First and foremost, RSL probably made a mistake drafting him No. 1. At age 16 he wasn't ready for the pro game, as evidenced that he's still adjusting three years later. Even though Besagno hasn't provided much return on RSL's lofty investment, five years from now he might still be heralded as a great pick.
"He's got a very promising future, because he's got all the physical attributes to be a central defender," said Real assistant coach Robin Fraser, one of the league's all-time best defenders. "He's very good physically, he's strong, he's quick, he's very good in his individual battles. Where he'll continue to improve is, and as an 18-year-old I'd imagine that would be the case, just a knowledge of the game and willingness to talk and communicate with others."
Fraser's comments reiterate several other reasons why Besagno is still a reserve player.
Besagno played central midfielder his whole life, and it wasn't until his second professional season that RSL's coaching staff began grooming him to play central defender. Like goalkeepers, central defenders must be very vocal players for organizational purposes. Besagno is inherently shy, unfortunately, so you can imagine his reluctance at barking out orders to the 30-year-old veterans in front of him despite the insistence of the coaching staff.
That confidence only comes from experience, something 18-year-old central defenders just don't possess.
"You've got to be yelling at everyone in front of you and basically be in control, and it's hard (for coaches) to give that much responsibility to someone at age 18," said Besagno.
The Washington native craves that responsibility, and no one knows it more than Besagno's predecessor — the retiring Pope.
Prior to the start of the 2007 season, Pope approached former RSL coach John Ellinger and requested to be Besagno's roommate on the road. It was a two-fold thought process on Pope's part. First, he was pretty sure 2007 would be his last year, and secondly he believes Besagno has a great future ahead of him.
"For me, I sort of did the same thing with Bobby Convey when he first joined the national team, and I wanted the same for Nik," said Pope in an interview earlier this season. "We have little conversations about little things, go back to the room, we talk a little bit about training and maybe positioning, and what he should've done on this play and that play."
It was also an opportunity to show Besagno how to conduct himself on and off the field, how to prepare for games mentally, and the teenager insists he's starting to view the game of soccer with a newfound understanding.
Even though there's no tangible evidence for fans to latch onto, the team insists it's there.
"When you look at it in the grand scheme of things, there's a lot of young players in the league, but there's very few that play that central role, if any," said Besagno, who admits he's frustrated with his lack of playing time. "I'll continue to work every day, and when I get my chance I'll be ready for it."
But when will that chance come? For a player who's been dubbed the "heir apparent" to Pope once he retires, you'd think Real's coaching staff would want to get Besagno as much playing time as possible to groom him for 2008. That hasn't been the case, and with the recent signing of Argentine defender Matias Mantilla, Besagno has been bumped farther down RSL's depth chart.
There's no guarantee that will change in 2008 either. Besagno will still be a teenager next year, and there's a chance the coaching staff might still be leery of handing him so much responsibility. Considering the rave reviews, that's hard to imagine.
"He's not just going through the motions, and I think the coaching staff will tell you, he's been at a different level this year, things we didn't really see last year," said Pope. "He's grown exponentially as a player."
Whether it's been enough to earn more playing this year and next is still a very grey area.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com