After a contentious breakup with Boavista in Portugal, American international Reggie Cannon is joining Queens Park Rangers as a free agent.
Right-sided defender Reggie Cannon, 25, stands five feet eleven inches tall and was born in Chicago. He has scored one goal in 28 total appearances for the USA. He is the great-grandson of Dr. Warren Washington, an atmospheric scientist, authority on early climate change, and recipient of the Nobel Prize.
Cannon was a young member of the FC Dallas youth system before playing a year of college football for esteemed UCLA. He was the only freshman to participate in all 20 games for the squad in the 2016 campaign. After a year, he returned to Dallas to play in the MLS. He made his league debut against the New York Red Bulls in September after making his US Cup debut against the Tulsa Roughnecks in June 2017.
With 34 appearances in 2018 and his first career goal against Vancouver in May, he established himself as a regular. In 2019, he appeared in 29 games and scored twice. Shortly after, he signed a four-year professional deal, but Dallas was not one of the teams that resumed play following the Covid suspension.
After kneeling in protest of racial inequality in the US, Cannon received death threats from fans. The team was attacked with bottles by their own supporters as a result, and Cannon’s description of the fans’ behavior as “disgusting” stoked the ire of the supporters even more. Dallas wrote an apology letter for his social media accounts, but he chose not to post it, which caused a rift with the team. It’s worthwhile to read this profile from the Guardian.
Cannon joined Boavista in 2020–21 for an undisclosed amount, reportedly in the neighborhood of €3.5 million. He made 30 starts and one substitute appearance. Following that, he made 20 starts and one substitute appearance in 2021–2022, and 26 (4) last season. Over the course of his three seasons in Portugal, they placed 12th, 11th, and ninth. This summer, after cancelling his contract due to unpaid salaries, he became a free agent. The charges have been refuted by the club’s president, who has pledged legal action. “For someone who said in a very recent interview that they wanted to be captain of Boavista,” Vtor Murta commented
I’m shocked to hear this news about the upcoming season, but it is the player’s choice, which he will have to support in court. Boavista is entirely composed and has received his wages on time.
He was a member of the national team that won the Nations League and the Gold Cup in 2021, however due to competition from DeAndre Yedlin, Sergio Dest, and Shaq Moore for his position, he was not chosen for the 2022 World Cup roster.
He agreed to a four-year contract on a free transfer, pending approval from FIFA, the FA, the EFL, and other international bodies.
I’ve always wanted to play in England, so this is a fantastic chance for me to do so. I am eager to begin my career with QPR because it is a very storied club. I’ve always wanted to play international football because I believe that’s where the top players are and how you can improve. I firmly believe that doing this will help me become the best football player I possibly can be. I received Gareth’s assessment on my potential. He is aware of my skills and shortcomings, has a thorough understanding of who I am, and his comments genuinely inspired confidence in me. I adore those people because I believe they can understand me.
what makes people tick. I’ve occupied a variety of backline positions. I enjoy moving forward, being able to defend, and being able to do both. Gareth claimed that he wanted to use me to get behind the opposing defense while also using my strength in one-on-one situations. Although I have good defensive skills, I also enjoy moving forward and being on the counterattack. I believe that this is one of my strong points. — Reggie Cannon
We battled fiercely to get him, and I think Reggie will be a valuable asset to us. He can play as a right-sided center-back as well as a wing-back on the right side of midfield, so he will bring genuine competition for positions, which is what we need. He may need some time to get up to speed because he was without a club throughout the summer, but I know he is eager to start playing for us. I am incredibly grateful to Lee Hoos for all of his efforts in bringing Reggie on board. We certainly had a great window, in my opinion. Gary Ainsworth
The development of a hybrid system, which switches formations while in possession and when not, puts our players in the best positions possible and plays to their strengths, was one of the most impressive aspects of the turnaround carried out by Gareth Ainsworth and Richard Dobson between the Watford disaster and the victory at Cardiff.
Osman Kakay has always been more at ease playing on the right of a back three rather than a full back in a four, Kenneth Paal is better suited to play as a wing back, and we’ve generally been much better playing with three centre backs than two for several years. This helps cover Steve Cook’s lack of speed and Morgan Fox’s shortcomings, and Sam Field and Jack Colback’s protection allows Andre Dozzell to suddenly start hinting that he might fulfil his potential
This may all sound a little “well, derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,” but take a look at the tactical disasterclass at Vicarage Road, or even the 4-4-2 with Sam Field playing the left wing Ainsworth acquired from Neil Critchley. It’s a major step forward for our club, and it certainly surprised Cardiff and Middlesbrough before the international break. Boro had been the last team to profit from that terrible Critchley set up in his final game in charge.
However, as usual, teams have examined, observed, and begun to find the system’s numerous flaws. In recent weeks, a player or two in particular have made it much harder than usual for me to rate the players. Osman Kakay and Paul Smyth are at the top of that list because they both exhibit flashes of brilliance, typically while moving the ball forward, and other instances of utter stupidity, typically when required to defend. It’s challenging to reduce their 90 minutes to a random score out of ten. Sam Edozie of Southampton visiting their team 500,000 times in a single afternoonwas a tiresome, drawn-out experience, and the Saints are by no means the only team we’ve faced recently that has targeted the space between our three center backs on the right in an effort to get behind Smyth when he’s under pressure and attack Kakay as a potential weak spot. Swansea and Birmingham both attempted a similar maneuver between Fox and Paal last week, with moderate success.
That’s a significant flaw in the system. Pushing Paal and, in particular, Smyth, who has been superb in attack, forward gives us many advantages, but it invariably creates holes behind. But there’s also the staff: Smyth isn’t a defender, Kakay is a capable infantryman, but you shouldn’t rely on him for 46 Championship games, and Fox isn’t really that excellent, in my opinion. The move to recruit a right-sided defender in free agency should not come as a surprise, just as it was not shocking to see the limited summer budget we had spent on coagulant for the center of the midfield and defense (plus a new goalie) in the wake of last season’s disasters.
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