There are transfers that sting, and then there are moves that lay bare the complete absence of ambition and indicate a lack of seriousness for a club. Miami FC sending Jürgen Locadia to the Tampa Bay Rowdies just hours before the September 7 roster freeze firmly belongs in the latter category- it might be without precedent in American lower division soccer, considering Tampa Bay currently Topps the table and Locadia just started three matches in the World Cup.
It is an insulting white flag waved directly in the face of the few South Florida supporters that stuck with this once trend-setting club as it became punchline. They handed on a silver platter to the club’s fiercest in-state rival their best player at the exact moment Tampa Bay is running away with the Eastern Conference and chasing the Players’ Shield and USL title.
The sporting optics could not possibly be worse.
The Rowdies already sit atop the table (13-3-6, 45 points), having clinched their playoff berth with weeks to spare. Meanwhile, Miami FC has spent late summer treading water around the playoff cutline (5-10-8, 23 points), clinging to any shred of relevance in the Eastern Conference.
Instead of treating the final stretch as a scrap for the postseason , Miami’s front office opted to gift-wrap their most potent attacking weapon and ship him up I-75. Adding a striker of Locadia’s pedigree—a multiple-time Eredivisie champion with PSV, a Premier League veteran with Brighton, Bundesliga starter at one point and a World Cup starter for Curaçao who carried 10 goals in all competitions this season—is an embarrassment of riches for Tampa Bay head coach Dominic Casciato. Or Locadia could have been transferred somewhere else. ANYWHERE ELSE!
For the Rowdies, it is the final missing piece of a championship puzzle. For Miami FC, it is outright capitulation and the end of this season and potentially my interest in the club.
I completely understand the need or the want to sell play players. Even your best players. But when an organization ships their best player, their signature name to their biggest rival right at the transfer deadline when that rival is chasing multiple pieces of silverware It really should be the last straw.
Through the year, I’ve seen both the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Miami FC send high-end players down I-75 to Tampa Bay. It’s been going on for a dozen years. But NEVER has one transfer down I-75 approached this level of clownishness.
We will have more on Miami FC and why this move was made in the next week or two.