The CB playing CB (Dean) and the AM playing LB (Serna) got a ball played in between both of them that led to the goal.
If we qualify for the Olympics, LB looks like a must as of now for an over age player (Greg Garza, Chris Klute, etc.)
Ocegueda looked poor against Xolos. Not good enough on the ball or defensively. But he is naturally left footed, so he's got that going for him..
I just keep on thinking of Greg Garza and how people "didn't think highly of him". Now people think he is a viable option, I think Ocegueda will be the same way.
There were people who rather liked Garza before he went on his Traffic "walkabout" and fell off the face of the earth for several years. He'd show up for USYNT camps completely out of match fitness (like Gale Agbossoumonde as well) and really look mediocre.
Photo gallery of U21 camp: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2014/04/u-s-u21-mnt-vs-tijuana-photo-gallery/
Garza is a terrible example to use for bashing Traffic. http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/10/americans-abroad-spotlight-greg-garza.html Garza has now been with Xolos for 2 1/2 years, and while he has earned some minutes, the clock is probably running low on his chance to establish himself as a first-teamer. As for Ocegueda, he's coming to the end of his fourth and final year of U20 soccer. Needs to start getting first-team minutes somewhere soon.
Garza is much more skilled at same age imo, he was a solid LB option for the 2011 U20 cycle. Biggest concerns were and still are a bit with Garza is his athleticism.
Against Galaxy totally outplayed everybody on his wing including Landon and Zardes. Easily looked the best and most athletic American on the field. Why his athleticism is a concern is a mystery. Especially considering that Evans, Beltran and Parkhurst seem fine.
And who says those 3 athleticism is acceptable to begin with? Garza is 5'7" and really stocky, not necessarily quick or fluid hips. If he had Castillo's quickness, Greg might be going to Brazil. I do think Greg can become a January Camp type USMNT player. Would much rather have a natural LB if we have the over age LB option and no U23 player has distinguished himself at the position. Pelosi will always be a wildcard this cycle until he's consistently playing and playing at the level he was pre-injury.
His speed was good enough to mark Zardes out of the game and making him extremely dangerous going forward. His height 5'8" is normal for FB. Considering that Cameron would be better used as a CB and FJ is playing RB now (which is another disaster area), not much competition for LB. Just a couple of converter wingers. Should have been called to camps already.
People keep mentioning Pelosi, but none of us have actually seen him play a 90 minute game in years. They aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasume that since he's at Liverpool, then he must at the top of the pool. Frankly, I couldn't tell you the last time I saw him play a 90 minute game. It must have been with the US U17s....................... Maybe next season he'll go out on loan in the UK so we can actually see him play. Frankly I have no idea what his "best position" is as well. What people appear to do on this board is plug him into whatever position they can't figure out. Don't have a left back? Insert Pelosi! Need a central midfielder? Pelosi!! Need a player to work underneath the striker? Pelosi! He's like you say.....................a wild card.
I think Pelosi gets mentioned in a few positions for a few reasons: he's naturally left footed, was used at multiple positions by Liverpool, LB, LM and centrally. He played well when with the US U - 17 and was doing really well prior to his injury. It's easy to see why people get "hyped" about him. We have this huge " void" at lb that we cant seem to fill. I have read nothing to suggest that Liverpool will continue to try him at lb. If Pelosi continues to improve and becomes a good player at Liverpool I hope that we can use him at his club position. What would be nice is if we could start accumulated lb talent that is comparable to what we have at rb in our youth system.
Left back is a huge problem for many teams. About 10% of the population is naturally left-footed, and yet the athletic, technical, and tactical requirements at left back are essentially the same as they are at right back. It's not a mystery that it's hard to find good left backs, and it's a problem that is never going to go away fully.
This isn't exactly news since we have reports on who played, but it just occurred to me that Marco Delgado, who played the second half, wasn't on the initial roster and was the only 95 in camp. I guess he was held out of the U-20 camp, but turning up for a midweek camp in LA wasn't as much of a logistical challenge especially because he's suspended for Chivas USA's next match.
Video highlights of the Tijuana match here................... http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2014/04/highlights-us-u21-mnt-tops-tijuana-2-1/
Pelosi was doing very well for Liverpool, but since the injury we might as well wipe away everything as he's essentially starting all over again.
Yep. Pelosi injured his leg in February 2013 and he's just getting back to the field now. In that span of time, look at how much some of his top Olympic-eligible peers have advanced their careers -- Yedlin, Trapp, and O'Neill* were MLS players with zero experience and are now lock starters for their club teams and fringe USMNT players. On the other hand, Packwood also suffered a leg injury around the same time (Jan 2013), but fortunately he recovered fairly quickly and he has continued to progress. Also, Pelosi is a year younger than all the players I've just mentioned. But in light of what other players have been able to accomplish, the prospect of losing such a sizable chunk of development time is always worrying -- on top of whatever long-term physical effects of the injury may (or hopefully may not) be. *O'Neill actually had one four-minute appearance in 2012
This tidbit in Brian's recent article about Cody Cropper: http://americansoccernow.com/articles/cody-cropper-21-gets-to-train-with-the-big-boys U.S. youth technical director Tab Ramos has already said that he hopes that the U.S. U-21 team will play games in Europe this fall, and for Cropper that will likely be his next step in international play. [Seems to me that once the World Cup is completed, we'll start to see some activities with this U21 pre-Olympic team ramp up.]
The 2-week MLS break during the WC is perfect to get some type of camp going. Abroad players are out of season, MLSers have no games for 2 weeks (unless playing in an Open Cup game), and get a look at maybe a few college players.
Agreed but who would be in charge of the camp? Isn't Ramos going to be with the senior team? Maybe they can get Perez to run it (assuming they actually have a camp).
This is why I wouldn't be a huge fan of a camp. The USOC is the only opportunity a lot of our youth players are going to have to play competitive soccer this season.
We can still field a roster for an U-21 camp regardless. Also with this being during the 2-week break, MLS clubs might tend to take this round of the USOC a bit more seriously and not for experimentation purposes. What would be the harm with a camp anyways? There'd still be stronger players invited even if MLSers aren't there than what we're currently fielding at the U20 camp.