Back to the Altidore/Jerome comparisons... I had the opportunity to see both these guys play in South Florida since Altidore was a U11 at Boca Juniors/Schulz and Jerome was a U9 at West Pines/Schulz. Besides both being of Hatian heritage, the one main thing both players always had in common was the combination of size/speed/skill. Altidore always played the game with a bit more maturity for his age...i.e. the way he read the game, responded to fouls, communication. Altidore was also a better finisher. Jerome at 11, 12, 13, 14, though very talented and very dangerous, never had Altidore's composure/maturity. Remember these guys were targets that opposing coaches/teams always tried to neutralize...and I did say try. However both players made you like them simply by the way they played and entertained. Jerome was never shy about trying tricks and most of them worked. Both players would routinely take over games and even the opposing parents would appreciate the "show". One thing I must point out is that Altidore always had a better supporting cast than Jerome. For example, Altidore played on a U13 team that won the U14 State Cup playing a year up. The entire team played a year up and lost in the final four at USYS Nationals in penalty kicks to the eventual National Champions. That team was also the U14 runner's up at Dallas Cup losing to a team from Mexico. Jerome played on comparitively weaker teams but he made them winners. It makes me wonder how dominant Jerome could have been had he played on stronger teams. Also very intersting is the fact that both Jozy and Stefan played under the guidance of Schulz. If I had to pick one of these guys as my Center Forward...I would find a way to pick them both. It will be interesting to watch their progress over the next five years.
A player like Renken can fill out and be a really great central player with his range of passing and dribbling abilities, like a more attacking Alonso, Pirlo, or Obi Mikel. He'd be great in a U20 3 man cm, think: -----------Altidore ---Jerome------------Gyau -----------Adu ---------------Renken --------Duran/Wallace This would be a very fun team to watch at the U20 level. If Lletget, Koroma, Martinez and some others develop "losing" Altidore and Adu to the full team will not stop the boys from competing and then hopefully dominating at the U 17s. There was some very high level technical play going on with the starters. Martinez looked like a decent ball striker and finisher, which can get a player a long way. Gyau and Jerome are the flashy dribblers while Duran plays the Cambiasso role. It's an interesting group. The best part is that it looks like there is quality throughout most of the squad.
I think his point is more: Either style can be very successful if it happens within the framework of the game and the team. I'd venture to guess that he would even agree that if you can get one of each style working together in the same framework they will augment each other's styles. A Renken-type can not only read the game well enough to provide a perfect outlet for a stuck Adue-type... but can also gett he ball to the Adu-type where he is most likely to be effective.
jarome- is going to be really good renken- is going to be a flat out monster guya- is the next DB and lets not forget about martinez, that kid showed that he can fidn the goal no matter where he is on the pitch!
jarome- is going to be really good renken- is going to be a flat out monster guya- is the next DB and lets not forget about martinez, that kid showed that he can fidn the goal no matter where he is on the pitch!
Does anyone know what happened to Stefan Jerome? Back in this era (2008/09), the future looked really bright at the U-17 level, with three guys in particular looking like future stars - Stefan Jerome, Charles Renken and Joseph-Claude Gyau. Then, Renken suffered two knee injuries in consecutive years and lost the momentum that had him on a star trajectory. And Gyau has bounced around a bit in the 2nd Bundesliga without yet establishing himself. Jerome signed with Sigma Olomouc in the Czech 2nd division in 2011 and played a few games with them, but I don't know what happened to him since. I remember watching the Nike friendlies with the U-17 group and thinking how much potential Jerome had at a position of need for the US - striker. He looked to have all the tools - excellent athlete, pace, silky touch, finishing ability. Does anyone know what happened to him and whether he is still playing?
To point out, the Nike friendlies where Jerome looked good were all the way back in 2007, on a team that we call U17 but was actually U15. By 2009, he no longer looked like anything special.
I don't agree that national youth forums suck, but pinning hopes on 15 year olds sucks. These kids have yet to figure out what kind of adult they are going to be. In most cases their lifelong priorities aren't clear yet. We have no idea what kind of family life or support system that they have. All that happens if we pin hopes on kids is we look at them from a one dimensional angle as a soccer talent. That is why a kid like Bradley appears to suck at the under 17 level, yet excels at the full national team level. All the stuff that we are not looking at in the youth levels tend to be more important than the stuff that we are looking at. That is why nonathletic kids start to become athletic. Can't miss prospects miss. All we can do is teach them as well as we can and provide the best possible opportunities and let them decide with their effort and persistence who will become the best player - but they decide, not us. That was a fact that was hammered into my head every season that I coached. The other way that pinning hopes on 15 year olds sucks is that research shows that telling a kid that he or she is smart or talented actually serves as a demotivator. You may not mean to do it, but essentially you are telling a kid that the reason for their success has nothing to do with his effort or persistence, which research has shown are the primary factors behind long term success. You either have talent or you don't. You didn't win because you tried really hard, you won because you were born that way. If you didn't win, it was because you weren't born that way. Nobody would intentionally give a kid this message, but this is the message A LOT of kids get when they make all star teams at a young age. The best thing that you can do for kids is give them opportunities to work really hard at getting good, and then praise their effort and persistence toward, not just winning the game in front of them, but becoming a better soccer player. Even if they don't become a great player, they learn a valuable lesson about becoming a better person. If you listen to Klinsmann, he is constantly preaching about finding ways to get better, ways to "step it up", ways to "take it to the next level". He acknowledges talent straight up, but then he focuses completely on effort and getting better. Even at the national team level, this approach is what is best for our players.