With Joshua Wynder almost certainly leaving Louisville City for Europe this summer, Coach Danny Cruz needed a succession plan. Jordan Scarlett (Twitter/Instagram) has emerged as the one to be occupying the imminent CB opening on the roster. The 6’, 27-year-old Jamaican played for Iona College (2013-2016), Reading United AC (2015), and Lehigh Valley United (2016) before being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft and subsequently signing with NYRB2. He made over 60 appearances for the Baby Bulls before heading south to the Rowdies in 2020. Scarlett made over 80 appearances and scored five times for the green and yellow. He was a regular for the Rowdies and made 26 starts in 32 matches in 2022 (per SofaScore).
Just looking at player ratings from last season, Scarlett (FotMob: 6.96, SofaScore: 6.74) appears to be comparable to Wes Charpie (FotMob: 6.96, SofaScore: 6.76). Player ratings may be an oversimplification of a player’s performance, but they can at least provide a ballpark skill level. The USL doesn’t have his 2022 stats on their site despite his regular play, but below are his 2021 numbers.
LouCity is gaining a defender with a great amount of experience from solid clubs (Baby Bulls were not always as bad as we most recently remember them) and entering his prime years. This backfill reminds me a lot of the Jonathan Gomez to Amadou Dia transition. A young high-ceiling player departs for Europe with an experienced player at an ideal age filling the void. That one worked out well, so I have high hopes for this one as well. Coach Cruz has a solid track record of picking talent and there isn’t much evidence to suggest this pick won’t be a net positive for the club. He will have tough competition with Charpie, Sean Totsch, and Wynder (while he is still here) for one of the two openings in a back four setup but with the potential increased usage of a back three on the horizon, that could open up some more CB minutes.
I’ll leave you with Scarlett scoring on Indy, some highlights, as well as a few callouts from John Morrissey (aka USLTactics).
Current 2023 Louisville City FC Roster
Forwards: Jorge Gonzalez, Wilson Harris, Cameron Lancaster, Enoch Mushagalusa, Brian Ownby, Ray Serrano, and Issac Cano
Midfielders: Paolo DelPiccolo, Tyler Gibson, Dylan Mares, Niall McCabe, Carlos Moguel Jr., Elijah Wynder, and Rasmus Thellufsen
Defenders: Wes Charpie, Owen Damm, Amadou Dia, Oscar Jimenez, Manny Perez, Sebastian Sanchez, Ian Soler, Sean Totsch, Josh Wynder, and Ramzi Qawasmy
Goalkeepers: Danny Faundez, Kyle Morton, Oliver Semmle
Parting Thoughts
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