Youngsters in MLS (1993 or later)

Wasn't sure where to post this, but this is an update on the Dynamo academy's college players' first weekend of the season.
http://www.houstondynamo.com/news/2012/08/academy-college-report-august-20

 

This is the 3rd year now that MLS does its 24 under 24 series. I thought it was interesting to look at the list they compiled of players for each club that it is young enough(23 years old or younger on October 28th, 2012). The extremes are New York and Philadelphia, who have 4 and 16 players respectively who're age eligible.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/24under24/...nder-24-fan-voting-begins-monday-2012-edition

 

The team that surprises me is Colorado. They're a veteran team AND they're terrible.

Fans can sometimes understand when a young team like Philadelphia struggles. There are reasons to be excited about those young kids. But if you're old and bad..................then you can see tough times possibly ahead.

It would be interesting to somehow filter out the foreign players, and only see US-eligible players. For instance FCD has 14 players that are U23 (2nd overall).......but 5 of them aren't US eligible (Castillo, Pertuz, Leyva, Luna, Rodriguez...........plus Richard Sanchez). So for the sake of this thread in the US youth forums, only 8 of them are worth keeping an eye on.

 

http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=3081

Not that Conor Shanosky is eligible for discussion on this thread (as a 1991), but it is notable that he was named NASL defender of the week this week on loan with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. Guys who aren't close to playing time in MLS can still move forward and progress, whether they ever make it on the MLS team who signed them or not. Here's to hoping for the same for Luna, even if he isn't a US national yet. Obviously this is great news for Top, who is US eligible.

 

Speaking of Colorado, it's funny to see that YNT veteran Anthony Wallace is still eligible for that MLSsoccer list. Back in 2010, he was a starter for a team that won MLS Cup, but after so many injuries, you have to wonder if his career is nearly done.

 

And to think, I was almost proud of SH yesterday...thought it was a little strange he waited so long, and when 2 of his strikers were injured....but proud.

Then today I see he signed a 25 yo striker from the Argentine 2nd division....

 

I've had my fair share of arguments with Rapids fans on the MLS board. Smith basically left the team that was on the down-slope and starting to age quickly...the teams future outlook really isn't good. The ownership has shown no willingness to invest heavily in the team (aka no quick import fixes like other teams) and more importantly for this board.....they had completely neglected their academy for years. I mean I know Colorado isn't in a soccer hotbed, but the fact that before this year they were seemingly a third choice option for kids in Colorado was beyond embarrassing. Then again I more or less felt that way about San Jose last year....

 

Fwiw, I'd consider the talent pool from Colorado to be one of the best in the country. Certainly, if you take population into account, not many places can top it. Pity there isn't a D1 program in Boulder.

 

I don't know....................but their academy team did pretty well this year, right? Isn't their midfielder, Dillon Serna, supposed to be a really good prospect?

When we did our US soccer "Battle of the States" a couple of years ago............Colorado wasn't in the top 10. There were precious few pros from there compared to other states.

There were a few at the time: Mullan, Dunivant, Colin Clark, James Riley, Aaron Pitchkolan, etc. If any state was to claim Roger Espinoza, I think it would be Colorado. Maybe times are a'changing.

When it comes to this kind of argument......................it's California and everywhere else. It's not a stretch to say California could qualify for a World Cup by themselves. [If Texas had a goalkeeper, they could give California a good game. Midfield of Shea, Dempsey, Torres, and Holden is arguably better than California's.]

 

I don't think you should be upset by it. They've been looking for depth at forward for a long time after the Colombian, Perea, didn't work out at the beginning of the season. I mean, you can't have only two healthy forwards.....................regardless of who they are.

I like these moves for these reasons:

A) After giving Sealy a run, their inevitable conclusion is that he isn't good enough (something any one of us could have told them 8 months ago). And he also is having injury problems.

B) He's back in training, but they have concerns about Blas Perez' health and durability. He hasn't played for the club since May. And he wasn't known for being a bastion of health before coming to FCD.

C) I'd rather have Luna get significant playing time with San Antonio, than an occasional appearance for FCD. I like that loan. It was a long time coming. Now.................San Antonio has some good, professional forwards on their roster. Luna will have to compete for playing time there also.

I like the comments from the FCD staff on this one:

“The big thing for Ruben is games – meaningful games,” Hyndman said. “What we’re wanting to do is put him into a competitive environment where they are competing for a championship.”

Technical Director Fernando Clavijo echoed Hyndman, saying consistent playing time should help Luna develop.

“Ruben Luna is someone who we have not given opportunity enough to play,” Clavijo said. “I think it was clear [his playing time] was on and off.”

FC Dallas has the ability to recall Luna at any time if needed.

D) Until Jara gets settled, and Blas Perez is back to full fitness (which may or may not be against LA this week)............Jonathan Top is the guy. He's going to get significant playing time down the stretch whether as a starter or substitute.

 

Nat Borchers and Conor Casey also come to mind. So to go along with the first three names on your list, that's at least 5 active players who've earned a US cap from a state of 5 million people. Plus Espinoza.

An area like Dallas is considered a hotbed and has, what, six or seven million people? How many of its active players have earned a US cap? Or if you expand to all of Texas, you'd need 25 players with caps to match Colorado per capita. California would need 37, and I bet even it doesn't get up that high.

The only other state I know of with about one senior international per million people is Rhode Island, and other than Michael Parkhurst, they've got nothing.

 

I wasn't trying to make any comment about players per capita.................

When we did our Battle of the States thread we were trying to come up with teams that could actually be fielded. Colorado at the time had 5-6 good players, but zero depth to put around them.

I think I gave New Hampshire credit for Conor Casey, as that's where he listed his hometown on both the MLS & US soccer websites at the time. I didn't have time to go into the personal histories of each player. That would have taken forever.

I looked up that thread and it wasn't in 2008.......but 2003! Time flies!!!

https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/the-battle-of-the-states-usa-mls-style.592602/

Anyway, let's leave it at that because it's not too relevant to this thread.

 

Marky Delgado will officially be able to play for the Chivas USA first team starting this Saturday.
https://twitter.com/cdchivasusa/status/238347201716301824

 

That is really good to hear

Hmm Is he a defender or a midfielder?

 

You were responding to a post that said, "If you take population into account, not many places can top it."

Interesting thread, but for the record, that's 2007, not 03. Looks like you ranked Colorado at #11, even though you didn't give them credit for Borchers or Casey, who were two of our top 50 players at the time. If you add them in, Colorado would easily crack the top ten, which is awfully good for a state that ranks #22 by population.

Point is, the Rapids do play in a soccer hotbed.

 

When I saw him this spring he was playing in the "2" line of a 4-2-3-1.

 

Villareal gets the start for the LA galaxy in place for an injured Donovan for their CCL home match against Metapan

 

Awesome!

 

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/tracking-mls-home-growns-in-2012_aid25048

Nice review of some potential homegrown signings by TDS.

Hopefully we'll see a bunch of these guys in the league sometime soon.

 

Villareal did very well tonight. That kid has really good ball skills.

 

Great play, and hilarious to see him toast Hyndman's team.

 

Top didn't even make the gameday squad for FCD. Schellas is frustrating.

EDIT: And while Villarreal's ball skills are nice, what sets him apart is how quickly he sees the game. Doesn't always make the perfect play, of course, but he never dawdles. Typical of an Arena-coached youngster.