Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
The MLS Draft is at best a mixed bag, with MLS-ready players in increasingly short supply. And while that’s a good thing for the league, it has created a very strange situation for MLS teams. The draft is an opportunity to bring in young players, and within said draft, there is a further class: Generation Adidas.
There’s a lot of appeal to bringing in a Generation Adidas player. They’re supposed to be among the best and brightest of the entrants into the draft, and to support that, the league offers some financial benefits to selecting a GA player, primarily in that the players’ salary doesn’t impact the salary budget.
And so it is that we come to the subject of today’s player profile: Bret Halsey. He was signed in 2021 from the draft with said Generation Adidas tag. After Real Salt Lake’s dismal 2020 season, Halsey was picked 7th overall, and he played a position of at least a little need: right back.
2021 largely went according to plan, with Halsey playing with Real Monarchs for an extended period after recovering from an early season injury. From July 10 forward, he missed just one game for the Monarchs.
2022, less so. Injuries kept Halsey out of contention for Monarchs, now playing in MLS Next Pro. His time of returning to the squad was similar — July 11, playing three straight games — but he was swiftly loaned to Colorado Springs Switchbacks in August. He played just four games, appearing in three different positions (right back, right midfield and center back) and again succumbing to injury.
