I will say that I feel much better about the next cycle right now than I did about the 2013 cycle two years ago. Kellyn Acosta, Marky Delgado, Rubio Rubin, Zach Pfeffer, Joel Sonora, Junior Flores, Amando Moreno, Romain Gall, Emerson Hyndman, Paul Arriola, Julian Green, Trevor Haberkorn, Matt Miazga, Kainoa Bailey, Ben Spencer
Just to keep things in perspective, Balerion did the first post of this thread in April 2011. Here were the guys mentioned. And of course, he did an awesome job, but its just illustrative of how much can and does change in two years. GK Bernabe Magana Cisneros -- 1993 -- Pumas UNAM (Mexico) Cody Cropper -- 1993 -- Ipswich Town (England) Jon Kempin -- 1993 -- Sporting Kansas City Daniel Medina -- 1993 -- Tigres (Mexico) Cropper the only real factor. Kempin had a few call ups, but not on qualifying or WC roster. DF John Anthony Brooks -- 1993 -- Hertha Berlin (Germany) Sean Cunningham -- 1993 -- Molde FK (Norway) Hector Delgado -- 1993 -- Club America (Mexico) Jaime Frias -- 1993 -- C.D. Guadalajara (Mexico) Juan Pablo Ocegueda -- 1993 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Gonzalo Orozco -- 1993 -- Puebla (Mexico) Will Packwood -- 1993 -- Birmingham City (England) Danny Potts -- 1994 -- West Ham United (England) Ralph Smith -- 1994 -- Kaiserslautern (Germany) Most viewed this as the strength of the team at the beginning of the cycle. Due to injuries (Packwood, Cunningham), nationality issues (Potts), and not being ready to commit (Brooks), we know what happened here. Ocegueda I thought underwhelmed big time. MF Matthew Dunn -- 1994 -- FC Koeln (Germany) Luis Gil -- 1993 -- Real Salt Lake Joaquin Hernandez -- 1994 -- Indios de Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) Fabian Huerzeler -- 1993 -- Bayern Munich (Germany) Tyrone McCargo -- 1993 -- Greuther Fuerth (Germany) Zach Pfeffer -- 1995 -- Philadelphia Union Victor Pineda -- 1993 -- Chicago Fire Charles Renken -- 1993 -- Hoffenheim (Germany) Gil and Pineda the only two factors. Renken was viewed as a potential centerpiece but I think only got called in for the first camp in Germany. FW Kevin Hoyos -- 1993 -- Estudiantes (Argentina) Jerome Kiesewetter -- 1993 -- Hertha Berlin (Germany) Uvaldo Luna -- 1993 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Edward Martinez -- 1993 -- Club America (Mexico) Jack McBean -- 1994 -- Los Angeles Galaxy Jamie Reid -- 1994 -- Exeter City (England) Jesus Rochin -- 1994 -- Tigres UANL (Mexico) Omar Salgado -- 1993 -- Vancouver Whitecaps William Suedois -- 1993 -- LASK Linz (Austria) Jonathan Top -- 1993 -- FC Dallas Kieswetter made qualifying. McBean and Top were called in multiple times but couldn't quite crack the roster. Salgado never got healthy which is a shame because we really could have used some size up top. US U-17 team GK Fernando Pina -- 1994 -- (Houston) GK Kendall McIntosh -- 1994 DF Andrew Souders -- 1994 -- (Columbus) DF Kellyn Acosta -- 1995 -- (Dallas) DF Nathan Smith -- 1994 DF Mobi Fehr -- 1994 -- Tokyo Verdy (I guess?) DF Joe Amon -- 1994 DF Zach Carroll -- 1994 MF Matt Dunn -- 1994 -- FC Koeln (Germany) MF Esteban Rodriguez -- 1994 MF Alejandro Guido -- 1994 MF Marc Pelosi -- 1994 MF Dillon Serna -- 1994 (Colorado) MF Tarik Salkicic -- 1994 MF Jordan Allen -- 1995 FW Alfred Koroma -- 1994 FW Mario Rodriguez -- 1994 FW Andrew Oliver -- 1994 FW Jack McBean -- 1994 -- Los Angeles FW Paul Arriola -- 1995 McIntosh was the backup but was never seen in a competitive game. Acosta made WC team but didn't appear. Pelosi was a key figure until the injury. Serna made qualifying team. Rodriguez was the biggest factor from the U-17 team, and I don't think anyone saw that coming. So out of the 50 guys mentioned, only 7 made the qualifying team, and 7 made the WC team.
Tab and US soccer might not have been aware about Hernandez, but Balerion was. BALERION FOR HEAD COACH!!
How many of those guys have good first touch, vision and can pass very well? If none, then forget about it.
I count 8 on the WC team, but the points stands. Yep. We all like to talk about the U-17s and the guys in the professional ranks, but the rate of attrition is high in both. There's always a large contingent that comes out of the HS/DA/NCAA scene, which makes sense given the sheer numbers involved. Plus, the U-17s are mainly just a bunch of kids who mediocre talent evaluators thought were good when they were 15. The overseas guys are just one of dozens in their academy, most of whom will fail. It's not a recipe for a high conversion rate. I think it makes sense to look at top U-17s and prominently-placed overseas players as a starting point, but only if you are committed to thoroughly mining the ranks of the academy (earlier in the cycle) and NCAA (later in the cycle, as most U-20s matriculate). The "starting point" POV was the intent of my original post two years ago. If our original list (largely of U17s and Euro/Mex players) had more overlap with the U-20 team, I would take it as a sign that our U-20 coach was a very lazy scout.
2013 WC Roster Members Kellyn Acosta, MID/DEF, FC Dallas Zack Steffen, GK, Maryland 2013 Provisional WC Roster Members Russell Canouse, MID, Hoffenheim Julian Green, FWD, Bayern Munich U-18 Player Pool http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/youth/us-under18-men/player-pool/2012-player-pool.aspx U-17 Residency Roster http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/youth/us-under17-men/residency-roster/spring-2013-residency.aspx
There's also all the liga mx players who haven't gotten looked at for the u18s and future HGs we don't even know about yet to add on too Germerica's list...looks very promising. I'd expect this cycle having been introduced to the 433 system to get used to will help out a lot too.
The goalkeeping depth for this cycle is drastically better compared to 2013. Steffen, Horvath, Marcinkowski, Caldwell, Castano are the top choices, and that's just right now
His full name is Joaquin Alonso Hernandez Garcia. At the time, I only knew about him through the FeMexFut database, but now that he's made the first team it appears he often goes by his middle name.
More complete selection below...willing to take guesses on how many of what will become the Final 20 are listed here. As always, your answer will be saved for all posterity. FW: Julian Green, Kosta Koukladas, Romain Gall, Ben Spencer, Amando Moreno, Paul Arriola, Benji Lopez, Rubio Rubin, Caleb Calvert, Jason Romero, Daniel Olea MF: Junior Flores, Joel Sonora, Marky Delgado, Emerson Hyndman, Kainoa Bailey, Russell Canouse, Kai Henkel, Zach Pfeffer, Omar Thompson, Chris Lema, Kellyn Acosta, Brian Iloski, Kris Scott DF: Jordan Allen, Matt Miazga, Trevor Haberkorn, John Requejo, Tommy Redding, Desevio Payne, Shaq Moore, Michael Amick, Suli Dainkeh GK: Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Jeff Caldwell, JT Marcinkowski, Santiago Castano
As of right now, once again the defense looks weakest, at least from the standpoint of having many in a professional environment. As it is, Miazga is the only pro, although Acosta may end up playing in the back and Moore will probably have a pro deal by the end of the summer. The midfield looks really deep - much deeper than in past years. Whether any of them develop into excellent pros is debatable, but there are a lot of them who are impressing for their current teams. Forward is similar, although perhaps not quite the depth yet. All in all, I think any improvement in terms of how the next group of U-20s do will be dependent primarily on the quality of the coach and how many defenders get into pro systems and are actually developed.
Any word on how Nicholas Gaitan is progressing at Boca Jrs? Edit - Saw that he's played some with Albertson in the USSDA this season
I guess I'm gonna try to follow the new U20 cycle. Sucks that by the time the next U20 World Cup gets here I'll be in my 30s.
Believe Per Big soccer he is no longer at Boca, something to do with improper paperwork? I believe he is back at Albertson and looking for a new club.
It's fun to peer into future but its way to early to narrow down. 2 yrs at this age is an eternity. As Wenger says between 17-21 is the most stressful physically and mentally and those who traverse that period successfully will be top pros.
Of course there will be plenty of new names. It just gives us a decent starting point for what players are eligible for the next cycle.
Die KlinsMannschaft@klinsmannschaft2h One to watch for next U20 cycle: '96 defender Juan Espinoza (formerly of Chivas) is now with CF Monterrey
jgreenSTPAjerry green26 Jun Julian Green, FC Bayern Munich plays with first team today! #USMNT @fussballsusie pic.twitter.com/xSDNfHs7j2