View From the Blues, Volume Two: A Welshman, the Master Plan and a Youth Wing

Meet Gareth Evans


On Dec. 21, 2010, the Los Angeles Blues of USL PRO signed Welsh international center back Gareth Evans as their fourth player on the roster.

Evans has played with several Welsh youth and senior national sides and has also played with the Austin Aztex (now Orlando City SC) and Real Maryland Monarchs.

"Gareth is a strong defender with vast USL experience,” said LA Blues Head Coach Charlie Naimo. “He was a first team USL2 selection this past season and we feel his knowledge of the competition, along with his abilities gives us a great head start on building a strong and versatile back line."

"I believe the experience I have gained so far has hugely benefited and developed my play in different, but positive ways," Evans said in an interview with the Blues.

"Each league and their coaches have different styles of play and different beliefs and having played under some great coaches I do feel blessed to have such experience at a young age which without doubt has helped develop me, and I hope to continue learning and gaining more experience and knowledge to become better and better."

Evans began his youth career at the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy at age 13. At 16, he made his debut with the Newi Cefn Druids in the Welsh Premier League. The next year, he moved to Wrexham FC making his debut with the first team as an 18-year-old in a game against Hull City in League One.

Over four years, Evans made over 40 appearances for Wrexham playing in FA Cup and League Cup games during this time. In 2009, Evans came to play in the U.S. and signed with the Aztex, making over 25 appearances with the team before landing with Real Maryland as the team’s top defender and captain.

Evans admitted that it was a learning curve for him, having to adjust to life playing in the States.

"It was a huge culture shock at first and it definitely took me a little while to settle," Evans said. "Firstly, I had never played a competitive game on field turf with about a thousand different lines before I came out to the U.S. plus the 100 degree temperatures in Texas didn’t help!

"But in terms of the style of play I think back home the approach play is a lot more physical and direct, where as in the U.S. you are told to play from the back keep possession and create your own openings, so in this way it is much more patient and it is also personally much more enjoyable."

The respect the center back has for manager Charlie Naimo and the success he had with W-League side Pali Blues made signing with the club an easy decision.

"I am extremely looking forward to working with Coach Naimo. He has a fantastic record in the Ladies game which I am sure he will transfer over to the Men’s side," Evans said. "In terms of LA Blues as an organisation, it’s exciting to be part of a new team again (having experienced it with Austin Aztex) I believe we have fantastic owners backing the team and I believe we will be able to attract, along with the guys already signed, some real great players."

As a defender, Evans looks to work with goalkeeper Oscar Dautt in making key defensive stops for his new club.

"I have worked with some really excellent goalkeepers in my career so far, including current England National Team player Ben Foster," Evans said, "and it is hugely important to have a great goalkeeper. Oscar has fantastic experience and will be a great leader for our team and I have nothing but respect for what he has achieved in his career."

"It will be fantastic to have the opportunity to work with him and I will be trying to learn from him as much as possible which I am very excited to do. I hope we can combine well and get a good partnership to get as many shut outs as possible this season."



Charlie Naimo and the long haul


Manager Charlie Naimo is hopeful that the Los Angeles Blues will come out of the gates early and fast in their inaugural year.

"The short term goal is to win," Naimo said in an interview with the club. "We have put first-year franchises on the podium before, why wouldn't we shoot for that again. There are great teams and coaches out there so it would be an amazing feat. We will always shoot for the stars around here. All staff and players will have to keep up."

Naimo elected to go with a defense-first philosophy this year. "We will be stingy with the ball and we will also look to put teams under pressure early," he said. "Our focus will not be on getting shutouts, but we will emphasis denying CHANCES. If we are good in those areas we should be successful—and that is entertaining."

With the open player combine coming around the corner, the need for players with a knowledge of the fundamentals with be pertinent to the club's success.

"In a nutshell we want guys that play quick out of pressure, defend one-on-one and have an open mind for whatever system we end up playing," Naimo said. "I am also big into signing good guys. Talent is not enough to win; we need to build a team full of guys that want to work for each other."

As a team competing in a market saturated by the Galaxy and Chivas USA, the need to get the name out will also be important to the team's survival.

"It is critical we get support to create the environment we want," Naimo said. "However, we have to create a team and organization worthy of it. We are having a few doubleheaders with the Pali Blues, as well as starting a youth program.

"We have big plans, so the more support the easier it will be to see them come to reality. I always say that ideas are great, everyone has great plans and ideas but those that EXECUTE are rare. I hope we can be just that—fans equal success."



Corona United, the youth club program of the Blues


On Thursday, Jan. 6, the Blues announced that Corona united will merge with its current youth club program as part of a move to great a pyramid structure for teams from top to bottom.

“We’ve said from the start we want to have an integrated pyramid structure for our organization and Corona United brings a successful and established youth program with nearly two decades of experience and multiple teams into the Blues Soccer Club umbrella,” Naimo said on the merge. “This will help us both develop players and further grow our grassroots base.”

“From the club side, merging our program with Blues Soccer will give us the brand recognition of being affiliated with a pro team, help us attract more players and give us access to pro players to help us in our development,” said Shayon Jalayer, Head Coach & Director of Youth Operations. “Having an alliance for our youth teams with the LA Blues and Pali Blues provides a lot of benefits."

“I think we’ll see the 14s and 16s as real developmental teams for both the pro and college ranks. while one key initiative from this merger will be our Premier Academy Team that will help us groom top players, assess talent and even use as a feeder team.”

The merge is expected to be complete before the 2011 season commences.