U20 MNT Camp 1/3-12 at Lakewood Ranch, FL

Joel Señora, glad to see him in the roster.

 

I, too, am pleased to see Señor Soñora.

Anybody know birth years for Felipe or Roldan?

Quick stats: I am at 46 players called in so far -- 32 '95s, 10 '96s (and two unknown). Four GKs, 20 (perhaps more) professionals, and one who was called in last cycle (Acosta).

 

Is Acosta injured?

 

Steffen was on the U-20 WC team. Its two from last cycle.

 

Injured.

 

Cherry-picking this one -- I once had a coach whose opinions I respect very much tell me his general rule was to hold young attacking players back a bit (to let them express themselves, see themselves succeed and teach themselves techniques that work, and be able to grow into the speed of the adult game) but to push good young defenders as far as they can stand (to train them to make good decisions even faster).

At high levels of American soccer -- including, to some degree, the MNT and MLS -- it sometimes seems like we do the opposite, holding back defenders until we are "sure" they are ready, pushing attackers as far and fast as their natural ability takes them and waiting to make position switches until we are absolutely certain they are not panning out as strikers or central midfielders.

Of course, this was just one coach and my own observations -- the latter, at least, worth less than the proverbial two cents. I've not done a study of this, of course. And there are some pretty obvious recent exceptions, Yedlin and O'Neill arguably among them. Still, it does seem like a thing that happens pretty frequently.

 

Haven't seen that many of them play, but this is my attempt at a best 11:

GK: Zack Steffen
RB: Shaquell Moore
CB: Matt Miazga
CB: Trevor Haberkorn
LB: John Requejo Jr.
DM: Marky Delgado
DM: Herbert Robinson
LM: Amando Moreno
RM: Zach Pfeffer
AM: Joel Sonora
CF: Rubio Rubin

Complete guesses on LCB, LB, LM and RM. Those seem to be the weak spots for this cycle.

 

You're best 11 template should be a 4-3-3. The last two line-ups

4-1 loss to Hellas Verona Primavera
1-Ethan Horvath (12-Santiago Castano, 46); Marco Delgado (2-Shaq Moore, 46), Matt Miazga (14-Mattias Fracchia, 46), Conor Donovan, Kellyn Acosta (13-John Requejo, 46), Lynden Gooch (20-Amando Moreno, 46),, Russell Canouse (Kristian Scott, 46), 10-Romain Gall (24-Junior Flores, 46), 7-Rubio Rubin (18-Omar Thompson, 46), 19-Ben Spencer (9-Benji Lopez, 46), 11-Zach Pfeffer (21-Kainoa Bailey, 46)

4-1 win over Atalanta Primavera
USA: 12-Santiago Castano (1-Ethan Horvath, 41); 2-Shaq Moore, 4-Matthew Miazga, 5-Conor Donovan, 15-John Requejo Jr., 8-Lynden Gooch (24-Junior Flores, 30), 6-Marco Delgado (capt.), 10-Romain Gall (16-Kristian Scott, 74), 11-Amando Moreno (21-Kainoa Bailey, 54), 19-Ben Spencer (9-Benji Lopez, 71), 7-Rubio Rubin

 

My best U20 ::


GK: Ethan Horvath
RB: Shaquell Moore
CB: Matthew Miazga
CB: Michael Amick
LB: John Requejo Jr.
CM: Herbert Robinson
CM: Joel Sonora
LM: Rubio Rubin
RM: Marco Delgado
AM: Zach Pfeffer
CF: Amando Moreno

 

was pretty close to be honest

 

Novakovich has been injured since Oct.

 

Cruzeiro put out a piece on their website about Luis Felipe's call up that included his DOB: 1/29/96

I don't have any info on Roldan either. Saalih Muhammad is a 1995, but anyone have his exact DOB?

 

Jalen Markey is a Sounders Academy Graduate and been called up to the U-18s and U-16s in previous years I believe. Maybe some other players have ties to Academy teams that aren't listed as well.

 

8/25/1995.

 

Do you know when he's expected to be fully recovered?

 

Wow, Horvath over Steffen? You probably know better than 99% of us, but I was sure that Steffen was a can't miss prospect that was probably the first name on the team sheet with this group. In your opinion, is Steffen overrated or is Horvath a lot better than he gets credit for?

 

My go at the best 11 from this camp(hard decisions).
GK: Zack Steffen(Horvath)
RB: Jordan Allen(Moore)
CB: Matt Miazga
CB: Amick(Haberkorn)
LB: John Requejo Jr.
DM: Marky Delgado(Lickert/Hayes)
CM: Herbert Robinson(Lipe/Harkes)
LM: Rubin(Thompson/Najem)
RM: Moreno(Pfeffer/Iloski)
AM: Joel Sonora(Roldan/Basuljevic)
CF: Lopez(Muyl/Lopez-espin)

Although there might be a few snubs(Thompson for one) still a really strong squad. Makes me feel better for the qualifying team next year. Still a really decent team. Still some more players could get a look namely Tommy and Arce Jr. But we'll see. Some euro attackers missing from here who would definitely be in the final squad: Ariyibi, Flores, Gall, Gooch, Spencer, Scott, Bailey and of course Arriola in Mexico.

 

Steffen
Moore — Miazga — Donovan — Requejo
Marky — Robinson
Moreno — Señora — Rubio
Benji
​

 

So Jalen Markey, an MLS academy player. doesn't play a minute for UNC this fall but he gets a call up. That's way too similar to Javan Torre!

Also, curious that Travis Wannemuehler , who just happens to go to the coach's alma mater, gets called in as a forward despite not scoring any goals or assists as a freshmen. (Also curious he's listed as a forward while Jordan Allen, who was productive as an attacker, is listed as a defender.)

 

Interesting to note the influence of the MLS academy teams among the players who aren't pros yet. Of the 13 players still in school who played college soccer this past fall, 9 are from an MLS academy or affiliate.

Michael Amick (UCLA; Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Andrew Brody (Louisville; Orlando, Fla.) - Salt Lake
Sulaiman Dainkeh (Maryland; Reston, Va.) - D.C.
Ian Harkes (Wake Forest; Fairfax, Va.) - D.C.
Jacori Hayes (Wake Forest; Bowie, Md.)
Brian Iloski (UCLA; Escondido, Calif.) - Los Angeles
Trevor Haberkorn (Furman; Roanoke, Texas)
Jalen Markey (North Carolina; Renton, Wash.) - Seattle
Alex Muyl (Georgetown; New York, N.Y.) - New York
Adam Najem (Akron; Clifton, N.J.) - New York
Cristian Roldan (Washington; Pico Rivera, Calif.)
Zack Steffen (Maryland; Downington, PA) - Philadelphia
Travis Wannemuehler (NC State; Evansville, Ind.) - Chicago, via affiliate

(Plus Jordan Allen, who was at Virginia last fall, just signed a HG deal with Salt Lake.)

Of the 8 current HS seniors who got invited to this camp, 3 are from MLS academies. (I put the college program they have reportedly verbally-committed to after their club and hometown.)

Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake AZ; Escondido, Calif.) - Stanford
Arun Basuljevic (New York Red Bulls; Mahopac, N.Y.) - Georgetown
Jeff Caldwell (N.C. Fusion; Todd, N.C.) - Virginia
Conor Donovan (Capital Area RailHawks Academy; Fuquay Varina, N.C.) - NC State
Grant Lillard (Chicago Fire Academy; Hinsdale, Ill.) - Indiana
Ricardo Lopez-Espin (Shattuck-St Mary’s; Miami, Fla.) - Creighton
Shaquell Moore (IMG Academy; Powder Springs, Ga.) - Likely going pro but doesn't turn 18 till fall.
John Requejo Jr. (Real So Cal; Carpinteria, Calif.) - UCLA

So only 9 amateur players who weren't affiliated with an MLS team got invited.

Of the 15 professional players, 7 are from MLS academies and 5 grew-up abroad.

MLS pros.
Jordan Allen (Real Salt Lake; Rochester, N.Y.),
Santiago Castano (New York Red Bulls; Union City, N.J.),
Marco Delgado (Chivas USA; Glendora, Calif.),
Benji Lopez (Real Salt Lake; San Diego, Calif.),
Matthew Miazga (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.),
Amando Moreno (NY Red Bulls; Morganville, N.J.),
Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia Union; Dresher, Pa.),

Foreign-based pros.

Luis Felipe (Cruzeiro Esporte Clube; Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais),
Ethan Horvath (Molde FK; Highlands Ranch, Colo.),
Eric Lickert (SC Freiburg; Glotteral, Germany),
Saalih Muhammad (Dinamo GNK),
Herbert Robinson (Club Santos Laguna; Monclova, Coahuila),
Rubio Rubin (Unattached; Beaverton, Ore.) - has a verbal deal with Utrecht pending his turning 18
Joel Sonora (Boca Juniors; Buenos Aires, Argentina),
Omar Thompson (Unattached; Miami, Fla.)

All told, that's a grand total of 12 players who grew up in the US and weren't/aren't affiliated with an MLS team.

 

OWTY :: Background on Herbert Robinson :: http://owhentheyanks.com/2014/01/04/us-u20s-debutant-herbert-robinson-garcia/

 

Steffan might have more upside down the road, but right now I think Horvath is more composed.