If the cutoff was this year attackers I think will get capped soon after the WC for next cycle. Green Arriola Shipp Joya Holmes Rowe Fernandes McNamara Serna Over age: Cascio/Deleon. Guys already getting first team minutes and making an impact (exception is Green obviously). List will grow as time goes on. Damn our attack looks very promising post Dempsey/Donovan era. The team will play very attractive football.
With Green entering last night's game.........................we've now had 4 players eligible for the 2013 Olympics already get capped by the senior USMNT [Yedlin, Gil, Green, Brooks]. And 3 others have earned full USMNT callups [Cropper, Packwood, O'Neill]. We've definitely got a good "spine" of the team there. I don't think we'll have any further callups from this U23 pool until after the 2014WC. If you put a gun to my head and demanded that I pick the next U23 player to get a full USMNT callup I'd nervously guess Wil Trapp. Six months ago I would have said Paul Arriola, but I wouldn't say that now. Six months from now I might say Benji Joya. BTW, this looks to be an "inverted" cycle. I'm loving our options in defense with this group. Throw in Eric Miller, Kellyn Acosta, etc. and I'm happy. However, the forward group is looking thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin. Very few forwards getting first team pro playing time right now.
Over There @socceroverthere 19h Borussia Mönchengladbach II vs. Wattenscheid 09 Highlights http://www.socceroverthere.com/?p=16189 Here is Mario Rodriguez's goal from last weekend.
Not sure if he's part of this cycle or not, but Shaquell Moore is going on trial at Valencia...Levante is also rumored to be signing him. http://www.superdeporte.es/levante/2014/04/03/levante-tendra-prueba-joven-promesa/221672.html
That's interesting. We know he was training at FCD last week, and they seemed to suggest they wanted him in their academy. Of course what that FCD article didn't say was that Moore had accepted a place in their academy.
The Dynamo also have Eric Brunner, but he was out this week with an ankle injury. They may have no choice, save perhaps repurposing somebody. Seems like a good opportunity for Cochran to step up.
Houston just announced that Brunner had ankle surgery and is out for eight weeks, so good news for Cochran.
I would say a good opportunity for Cochran. I'm guessing he's not one who thinks a teammate getting injured is good news. (Or maybe he's a complete douchebag and he does. I don't know. )
Dennis Flores and Miguel Palafox both started today for Leon. They rested some players for Liberators but this is a good sign.
In case people haven't been following this saga, John Anthony Brooks keeps digging himself deeper into the Hertha Berlin doghouse: There are several reports about Brooks in German Media. According to one, they're not satisfied with his Ambition and workrate ("offers nothing"), according to another Brooks is more concerned about getting new tattoos on his back which prevent him from training while they are created. http://mobil.morgenpost.de/sport/he...and-Ben-Hatira-und-Ronny-muessen-zittern.html
Being able to handle the trappings of celebrity is one of the hardest things to predict, especially with young players... in any sport. They are given so much and so much is available to them and dealing with it is often more challenging than anything they deal with in training or games.
Also, I hear he recently started hanging out with some American kids. Those guys are a bad influence.
If Brooks doesn't pan out because of off-field issues, it will likely be the biggest waste of talent in American soccer history. Adu x 10,000 Of course, we 're a looong way from that
This is what happens when a player is in their early 20s. Either their character tells them to deal with all of the challenges and setbacks and get better or else they fall behind while others continue to improve faster than them. You just have to wait and see how they will react when things get tough and they get discouraged. Who knows how Brooks will react in the end, but reports of his current behavior sure don't sound like they are going to be helpful to him in establishing himself as a reliable pro. This is one of the hardest parts of player development because you don't know how a kid will react when things get tough for them and it isn't easy to predict. Hopefully Brooks will be able to turn his current situation around and go back to moving himself forward.
More tattoo-gate discussion here.............In German: http://www.morgenpost.de/sport/hert...iner-Luhukay-als-Krisenmanager-gefordert.html The headline of the section of interest is "Ärger über Brooks wegen Tattoo" which I believe translates to something like "Anger at Brooks for tattoo."