End of Season Report Cards: Part III

Continuing our series of end-of-year player evaluations, we look at the last 3 regular starters and start in with the first of the not-so-regular players.

Marlon dos Santos

Final Grade: A+

Marlon made his presence felt almost immediately, well, after 86 minutes at least, scoring the late equalizer in the season-opening 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay. He added 8 more goals and 2 assists over the course of the year, ending up 4^th on the squad in the combined category. His ability to play on both wings gave the Legion some previously unavailable flexibility, not to mention some much needed speed. Given that he was the league’s second-most fouled player it is remarkable that he missed only 1 game, and that due to yellow card accumulation. And he ended the season as the PK taker of choice.

Juan Agudelo

Final Grade: B-

Juan joined the team to great fanfare about 3 weeks into the season and started off well, scoring in his first game against Hartford (and getting a yellow). He was playing with a somewhat gimpy knee for a while, granted, but didn’t score again for 7 games and finished the year with just 7 goals. His promised high-volume shooting never transpired, ranking only 4^th on the team. He was deployed in the end more as a false 9 than as an out-and-out striker, logging a creditable 6 assists. He’ll be 30 this month and has a rumored heavy budget hit. Will he be back next year?

Prosper Kasim

Final Grade: B+

If Prosper had a better right foot, he would probably not be playing in this league. He did score once with that foot this year, but 7 others were with the left (tying the entire rest of the team in that stat) and 1 more with his head. The 9 goals were his best in a season with the Legion and tied Marlon for 2^nd best on the roster. Switching wings with Marlon gave him more opportunity and better angles to use that left foot. We’ll likely see much more of that next year. He stands at 109 total Legion appearances, leading all players.

Bruno Lapa

Final Grade: B

Given that he seemingly disappeared for a few weeks, it is perhaps a little surprising that Bruno ended with 31 appearances this season. However, only 18 of those were starts, and he was subbed out in 16 of them. Despite his brilliance in distribution, he seems to have lost his preferred playmaker status. A great rookie season, an injury-hampered year in 2021, and now an underutilized talent. His future seems a little in doubt. Despite the struggles, he did score 6 goals, 3 of them in one game, the only hat-trick in Legion history.