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Given that the season is over, it's time to start handing out post season awards. We'll have at least 1 post every day with a different awards we count down to the team MVP. Today's award is Young Player of the Year.
2014 End of Year Awards:
To qualify for the award, a player must be under the age of 25 and played significant minutes either as a starter or as a substitute. Here's is what the Once a Metro voted.
Austin Fido - Ambroise Oyongo
There’s a knock on RBNY that it doesn’t bring through enough young players, which is odd when you consider over the last four years we’ve seen Juan Agudelo develop into a guy too good to be allowed to idle on the bench, Tim Ream get USMNT recognition, and Ryan Meara and Connor Lade almost take a step into international play. And this year, Oyongo got back into his national team - Cameroon - with some help from impressive appearances for RBNY.
He’s still got some developing to do, but he’s been a joy to watch (when he’s not defending…) and will hopefully be rewarded for his work this season by getting the call to represent his country in the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Jason Iapicco - Ambroise Oyongo
The New York Red Bulls are equal part lucky and unlucky to have Roy Miller. Their lucky because he has become a top left back in MLS after his horrific start to 2013. They are unlucky though because he still has his bad moments and is also consistently in the Costa Rica national team picture. Thankfully, it seems the Red Bulls have a young player who can fill in and grow into a good MLS defender. He still has shown his youth during his limited playing time this year, but Ambroise Oyongo is a promising talent, and is hands down the best young talent the Red Bulls have at the moment behind Ryan Meara.
Matt Coyne - Ambroise Oyongo
Roy Miller was Mike Petke’s great reclamation project, turning the brain fart prone left back into one of the team’s best (and completely unheralded) players.
But the emergency of Ambroise Oyongo made us hardly miss him.
Oyongo showed a considerable amount of technical ability and speed while providing a spark off the bench and cover at both left back and left wing. With Henry gone, should the Red Bulls stick with a 4-2-3-1, Oyongo is the natural choice to slot in on the left wing.
If people don’t already know his name, they’ll know it soon enough.
Tim Dean - Ambroise Oyongo
Not that there was a huge pot to pull from here, but Oyongo is the clear pick regardless. The young Cameroonian international provided a nice burst of energy and speed to the wings that has been missing in prior seasons, as well as an adequate back-up for Roy Miller, which is something we’ve been needing for years. He’s an exciting player to watch, and one worth keeping an eye on in the next season.
Verdict: Ambroise Oyongo by a clean sweep.
Do you agree with the Once a Metro staff about Oyongo as Young Player of the Year? Let us know in the comments.