August 8th, 2013 – Toronto FC announces that they have signed their eighth academy graduate in the club’s history, an Argentine-born Canadian, Manuel Aparicio. So begins the curious case of this player, so highly touted for making his case with the first team and perhaps becoming a star for Canada in the near future.
Fast forward to the end of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, and Manuel Aparicio finds himself out of contract and looking to reboot his career. Two loan spells with mixed degrees of success and zero first team experience, it is evident that things did not go as planned for the TFC Academy star. So just where did things go wrong?
Signed in the final days of the Kevin Payne era, Tim Bezbatchenko was handed the general manager position just over a month after Aparicio was signed. Was his signing simply one that went against the ideals of the new regime? Did his name get shuffled down the deck as more glamorous signings like Benoit Cheyrou were made? Or, does it come down to the change of tactical formations along with Greg Vanney succeeding Ryan Nelson?
Yes, it certainly is true that TFC do not utilize an attacking midfielder in the sense that Aparicio is akin to. Defensively, Aparicio is definitely not the first player that comes to mind, his diminutive 5’7” frame simply not suited for the role. This is why players such as Jay Chapman or Marky Delgado were slotted in front of him in the depth charts when the injury crisis struck in 2015, not to mention the pedigree associated of their names outweighing Aparicio’s likely contributing to this.
It is not a case of the MLS of old either; by the time of Aparicio’s first full season, TFC had established a loan agreement for him to join the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL. It’s not to say that he had a bad year; in fact, he turned quite a few heads with his silky passing and creative abilities when on the counter attack. This, however, could have contributed to his present status. Being limited to such a one dimensional role, perhaps Toronto did not see much use for him in a squad in critical need of defensive-minded players.
Expected to make the first team in 2015, Toronto went ahead and signed three players who occupied central midfield along with Collen Warner and Michael Bradley: Benoit Cheyrou from Marseille, Jay Chapman out of college on a shrewd Home Grown deal and Marky Delgado in the Chivas USA dispersal draft.
No harm done though – TFC II had been announced, and this would be the opportunity Toronto fans had been dying for to see their future first team players up close and personal. Yet, Aparicio was lacklustre, if not average in most matches he partook in. He was arguably usurped by former FC Edmonton midfielder Massimo Mirabelli in one of the attacking midfield spots.
The real kicker though, was when TFC II captain Chris Mannella was given preference to him both for club and country. Aparicio must have seen his opportunity coming to an end by this point, sliding further and further down the chart.
Despite this negative slump he found himself in, for such a promising midfielder and home grown talent, why was he not given another chance to prove himself?
Currently out of contract, one would assume that he will be given a USL level contract by another one of the Canadian MLS sides, or, suit up for an NASL side such as the Ottawa Fury or FC Edmonton. Ottawa as a destination would make sense as several stalwart midfielders were released, most notably Richie Ryan.
But at the end of the day, one must ask what the point of a USL side is in the role of player development if in cases such as this they fail to address the key issues? Perhaps Aparicio will be given a USL contract in the coming weeks, and all will be clear. He’s definitely a player with potential, just not ready for the spotlight of MLS. Yet again, if the USL cannot serve as the ideal stream, then what will prevent this from happening repeatedly in the coming years?
