Franck Tayou, North America's greatest active Indoor Soccer Player, unexpectantly walked out on his St. Louis Ambush teammates yesterday:
At age 34, it is doubtful that this is the end of the road for Tayou, but you never know.
Here are the current MASL standings:
There's your first hint of the problem. The Ambush are 2-7 and currently outside of the playoff race. They score enough goals, but they have allowed the most goals in the league.
Who is the leading scorer in the MASL? Interstate rival Kansas City Comets' Raian Marques, but Tayou is a respectable third.
So, what happened?
Suspect # 1: The Defense
Paulo Nascimento is the league leader in saves. If your goalie is facing almost double the shots of other teams, that's a problem.
Suspect # 2: Franck Tayou, himself
Every team needs an enforcer. Your enforcer can't be your lead scorer. Who's first in the league in fouls? Franck Tayou. That either points to frustration, or an athlete that has lost a step. As a 4-time league MVP, being the foul leader is a surprising stat.
Suspect # 3: Uzi Tayou
Older brother and teammate of Franck, Uzi is not a leader in any categories. Sometimes playing with your brother is a blessing. Sometimes....
Suspect # 4: The Empire Strykers
Coincidentally, St. Louis lost to the Empire Strykers 8-6 on Monday. The last time Franck Tayou was in the MASL Championship game was back in 2021 when he was with the Strykers. Maybe one of his old friends simply said, "you should come back and play here."
Could it be as simple as Tayou quitting one team to sign with another?
Suspect # 5: Father Time
Franck Tayou has a lot of mileage on those tires.
Maybe he's just done.
(Doubtful.)
Suspect # 6: LeBron James Syndrome
Listen, since 2010, Tayou has clearly been the best player in the MASL. But you know who else agrees with me? Well, Franck Tayou.
The Empire Strykers are only a half an hour outside of L.A. Does Tayou just not want to play in St. Louis anymore? The self-proclaimed King of Indoor Soccer may be angling for a better off-court situation, or a better on-court situation. Or both.
Suspect # 7: The MLIS
The SECOND best league in North America is the MLIS. It would be a major coup if they could land Franck Tayou.
Let me give you a hint though, as a fan of MLIS' Cleveland Crunch. The MLIS can't afford Tayou.
As you can already guess, I speculate he's going back to Empire, but I am not sure about the strength of the tampering rules in the MASL. The structure of the entire league is a bit more loosy-goosy than other soccer leagues with strict FIFA guidelines.
What does social media say? We will finish with the top comment at Facebook:
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