Zev Taublieb Signs with USL Pro Sacramento Republic

agibson · March 06, 2015, 02:04:14 PM

The tradition seems to be that pro soccer players get their own thread?

I'd been meaning to post about the (also great) news about our two Jamaicans in camp for Olympic Qualifiers. But, I'll leapfrog it with breaking news.

Zev Taublieb signs with the USL Pro champion Sacramento Republic FC!

[tweet]573934609894801408[/tweet]

agibson · March 06, 2015, 02:22:08 PM

Of course, the news broke yesterday on twitter. That's what I get for not keeping up with my feed, I guess.

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I notice Republic hosted the NY Cosmos last Saturday. I wonder if Zev was there?

Unfortunately, Zobeck seems to have picked up a bit of a knock, as they say, and wasn't traveling with the team.

agibson · March 06, 2015, 02:36:42 PM

I really am slow on the pickup. I'd not heard that Zev was even in Sacramento. Sounds like he's been on trial there for a while
http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/sacramento-republic-fc-hosts-invite-combine/
and might even have been on the roster for the Cosmos game, if he'd not picked up an injury.

Glad they signed him despite the injury! (Maybe he _did_ play in some of the other pre-season games. They don't seem to have full reports available. Though there are some match replays...)

okinawatyphoon · March 06, 2015, 07:03:18 PM

Very cool! Best of luck to him.

swiftmutiny · March 07, 2015, 07:37:39 AM

Zev is a great guy, I'm glad to hear that he's doing so well!

agibson · March 24, 2015, 10:29:52 AM

Zev's apparently been dealing with an injury (or more than one?). Was reportedly out for much of the pre-season. Conflicting reports about whether he might have started at least one pre-season game.

He was listed as injured for their season opener this last weekend, @Seattle 2 (in their debut match). Don't know if he traveled with the team - he's got some history with the Seattle U23 organization (as per the link in valpopal's nice photo tribute
http://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=1558.msg58280#msg58280). So, I'm sure he was sorry to miss out.

Hoping to see his debut sometime soon! USL (I guess they dropped the "Pro") has free streaming video for every match, it seems. The quality for the Seattle game was impressive.

valporun · March 25, 2015, 10:02:14 AM

Any link for the USL streaming? I would google it, but not sure how USL would respond in a Google search.

agibson · March 25, 2015, 12:09:16 PM

Quote from: valporun on March 25, 2015, 10:02:14 AM
Any link for the USL streaming? I would google it, but not sure how USL would respond in a Google search.

Heh - it googles OK for me. And "safe for work".

Generally speaking, it's pretty easy to find on gameday. I'd start from the Sacramento Republic FC page, or their schedule. Or probably the USL home page will have links too.
http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/
http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/matchday/schedule/
http://www.uslsoccer.com/

I think they're all through youtube, so this probably works too
https://www.youtube.com/user/USLPRO

All that said, it looks like for Sacramento they keep the streaming video for the current/next match at
http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/matchday/
(Saturday, 7:30 PM PST, against La Galaxy II)

valporun · March 27, 2015, 11:56:41 AM

Sounds good. I'll have to keep this in mind.

agibson · March 31, 2015, 03:50:07 PM

Zev was still on the injury list last weekend...

agibson · April 08, 2015, 09:48:08 AM

Near as I can tell, Zev's continued to appear on the injury list each game.

But, looks like he's at least _partially_ fit!

Pretty sure that's him heading, in the middle.

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agibson · April 13, 2015, 04:12:05 PM

Zev made it in off the bench this weekend and definitely looked like he belonged on the field. No lightning in a bottle, no magic, not yet delivering game-winning assists, etc. But looked like a very reasonable start to me.

I don't know his role on the team - I'll be very curious to see if continues to come in off the bench, or gets a starting spot quickly, or what.

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mvandersee · April 15, 2015, 08:37:05 PM

Zev starting tonight for the Republic against Vancouver Whitecaps 2

https://twitter.com/SacRepublicFC/status/588514822003642368

Game available on their YouTube live streaming channel at 9:30CT here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1XWNvFsrg0

vu72 · April 15, 2015, 09:34:18 PM

If this guy is this good, why hasn't our team won a Horizon tourney title?? Just sayin...

VULB#62 · April 15, 2015, 11:13:01 PM

Takes 11.

mvandersee · April 15, 2015, 11:55:23 PM

Quote from: vu72 on April 15, 2015, 09:34:18 PMIf this guy is this good, why hasn't our team won a Horizon tourney title?? Just sayin...

It takes more than a good defensive midfielder to build a great team. While he was at Valpo we beat a couple ranked teams which is more than a lot of the sports programs can say, but honestly the conference tournament is kinda a crapshoot just like most mid-major conferences in most sports.

Also he's playing in the 3rd tier of soccer in the US (roughly an equivalent to AA in baseball) so it's not like he's a star, but still a great guy and representative of VU

valpotx · April 16, 2015, 03:04:45 AM

Congrats to Zev. Hopefully he, Stefan, or Zobeck can break into MLS someday!

agibson · April 16, 2015, 07:41:26 PM

Quote from: mvandersee on April 15, 2015, 11:55:23 PMAlso he's playing in the 3rd tier of soccer in the US (roughly an equivalent to AA in baseball) so it's not like he's a star, but still a great guy and representative of VU

3rd tier, even if they'd like to stake a claim for 2nd. And, for a team that, in their second year (in existence, in USL?) sold 9,000 season tickets. In Sacramento. They had to expand the seating in the stadium to satisfy demand.

So, it's a small market in a not-in-the-top-three sport. But, it's a little bit of a big deal.

AA's probably about right, in some respects. But, are there many AA teams with 9,000 season ticket holders?

valpotx · April 17, 2015, 02:53:25 AM

I believe that Sacramento is one of the places that is being considered for MLS expansion in the future, as well.

agibson · April 17, 2015, 11:21:21 AM

Quote from: valpotx on April 17, 2015, 02:53:25 AM
I believe that Sacramento is one of the places that is being considered for MLS expansion in the future, as well.

Yeah, sounds like the city and club are _firmly_ behind the idea. Seeing it, perhaps, as a big part of the growing culture of the city (which isn't tiny... almost 500k?).

I imagine they were a bit chagrined by the Minnesota expansion announcement. That, and Beckham's continued (contractually protected) efforts in Miami would seem to keep Sacramento on the outside looking in for a while. But, it won't be any surprise if MLS announces further expansion plans/possibilities in the next year or two.

As centralized as the league is (rather level playing field; no free agency!; league contracts), being granted an expansion franchise might seem like a fairly plum deal, so they probably feel the need to be protective. And, of course, for image control, etc.

agibson · April 19, 2015, 02:21:13 PM

First professional goal last night!

valpopal · April 19, 2015, 04:22:16 PM

Here is video of Zev's first professional goal:

https://instagram.com/p/1qqBE2omxP/?taken-by=sacrepublicfc

IndyValpo · August 20, 2015, 01:53:18 PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (August 20, 2015) - Sacramento Republic FC have released midfielders Zev Taublieb and Gabe Gonzalez by mutual consent of the club and players.
Taublieb appeared in 13 matches as a rookie for Republic FC, including nine USL matches. Taublieb scored two goals and added an assist in 564 all-competition minutes. He scored his first professional goal against Portland Timbers 2 on April 18 at Bonney Field.

Gonzalez appeared in ten matches for Republic FC, including six USL matches. Gonzalez scored a goal against Sonoma County Sol FC in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on May 20.

VULB#62 · August 20, 2015, 02:48:21 PM

Wonder what's next in store for Zev?

agibson · August 20, 2015, 09:51:11 PM

I fell away from the team for a few weeks, and, checking back in a week or so ago saw him not making the gameday 18. That's happened before, without him being listed on the injury report, and it turned out that he _was_ injured, and it was somehow just late to be reported. Or, anyway, he somehow ended up on the injured list for the next game.

But, somehow, this time I wasn't so sure it was the case. And, indeed, Sacramento is no more for Zev.

At times he seemed pretty close to breaking into the starting 11. And put in plenty of good shifts, with quality stuff on attack and defense. Frankly, I'm pretty surprised to see the cut. I wonder what developed?

He did seem to miss more than his share, maybe, of games to injury. Dating back to the end of his trial with the team.

Without Zev in Sacramento, I'm left without a Youtube side to follow. Don't know what I'll do. Maybe I can get into the Chicago Red Stars...

And, Preki, the manage when he joined, is gone. So, maybe that's a lot of it - different management visions. (Has it ever been made clear where Preki landed? Was he the manager-designate for an attempt to buy a British club, and the purchase hasn't yet come to fruition?)

I hope to see Zev land somewhere else soon. And, from what I saw in games, that seems entirely possible e.g. at the USL level. Sacramento was a very good gig, but there could be others.

But, I suppose, at the USL level, you never know how long a player wants to stick with it. The average squad player, say 12-18 on the roster, can't be making a lot of cash.