You need more then an uncle or connection. Maybe your boy is not good enough? Bottom line, if he's great someone who knows futbol will help him. Or try his second citizenship,maybe there.
Although connections can get you looks, you still have to prove that you can play. Joshua Perez is considred one of the best 98" players in the nation, not sure why his talent is being questioned.
I agree Arsenal, my boy who played with him at chivas USA,swears that he is the best 98 in his position in country.
I got to see him play last year against our U16 academy and he was the best player on the pitch. Very impressive since he was playing 2 years up. Scored 2 goals, and could of scored 3 if not for a missed penalty. Don't have to be a great youth talent scout to see how good he is..
I'm excited about this current generation of players coming up, From the 99's through the 96's. I hope the USA federation can hire more coaches like Hugo Perez, love watching him coach. Its quite moving to me. I wish my son would've been coached by Perez. Best regards Arsenal.
According to AD Sportwereld (12 sep 2013, page 6) he signed a 5 year contract. On the same page Johann Cruijff, who is a Barcelona legend, isnot happy with that development. "It still is a young kid that has to pass his puberty yet. In general I donot like it."
I'll go a step further and say he's the best 98 at any position I've seen in the country. He just has it.
Well norcal soccer sells the fiorentina kool so guess who ran the try outs before the invite to train at fiorentina uncle hugo
? Are you serious? There really isn't much questions about this player. If he's not good enough, you should call Klinsi or Richie, Lepore and let them know right away so they can stop keeping track of his development. We dont want an overrated player in our system. Call them now and tell them Uncle Hugo set it all up....oh wait, you're opinion doesnt count. Moving on...
To get this back on track, Josh has been training with Fiorentina's reserves for the past 3 weeks. J.R. Eskilson @JREskilson Updated on 15-year-old Josh Perez MT @lafiore13: He's been training with (Fiorentina) primavera, which is the reserve team for last 3weeks
http://www.ussoccer.com/news/u-15-boys/2013/08/u15-bnts-joshua-perez-playing-game-with-style.aspx NFN, although Diego Fagundez is doing well on NE Revolution, I still am not sure it was the best thing for him to go pro at 15. As for Perez, there is a difference between being the best 98 vs. the best reserve or pro player. He had a lot of looks from Europe, and he's in Mexico as of August. I know a bunch of kids that get looks. Perez is good, but as usual, the only kids that he gets compared to are those in academy programs, and the best players aren't always in academy programs. I do think a player with international influences will likely do better outside of the US. If he wants to go pro instead of play for a top academy program, that's up to him, but he might regret it. You must find it coincidental that Klinsmann's son got picked from his club team without going through any regular channels as well. In both his and Perez' case, they certainly have a major benefit of "home cooking", just like Bradley did. Yet it doesn't always work out in the long run, see the Matt Kassel story.
If there are players better than Josh Perez on non DA teams, please list them here so we can all know who's good enough to be a European youth professional and should be known to MLS teams and US National team programs. I don't understand your statement that he may regret playing for Fiorentina and should play for a top academy program when Fiorentiana is a top academy program. Or do you mean he should play for a top US academy program which he's already proved to be too good for and doesn't have the best US players in them.
What should he have done? It certainly seems to have been the best thing for him if he wanted to excel at soccer.
Is he at Fiorentina or is he in Mexico? Was he looked at or did he join? I would think that Fiorentina would have a year-round program, not let their players pop off to other countries halfway round the world. No, he shouldn't play for a US academy, and the ones he wouldn't necessarily be "too good for" have the problem of too many poor competitors. There's a 1999 who was linked with all sorts of clubs, Man U, Chelsea, then the residential program, and now is at a USDA academy. Playing at his own age. Has a pretty website though. I guess I am trying to understand the difference between this kid's experience and that of the rich kids that I see at various academies, who are trucked around the world. Yes, he's gotten the attention of scouts and rightfully so. But is he in Europe or not? Do you think Mexico is as good as Italy, Germany, England, Spain for youth development? Last I checked, kids are leaving Mexican academies to play on DA teams. PS - Zelalem was not on an academy team, he was on OBGC (which I believe did just turn academy, after he left). He seemed to do okay - did he play against academy teams at all when he was in the US?
Fagundez had two years mostly riding the bench. Most players want to play. 314 minutes in 2011, 770 minutes in 2012, finally up to a respectable 2400 minutes this year. He didn't want to finish HS, he wanted to quit HS at 15 (I believe the youngest is 16 in the US to quit school). Don't think he got his GED yet, now he has to play and finish school. Think he would have been better off overseas. His salary is $55,000 per year. What would he make in Europe? NE wanted him as their first homegrown player. They got him. They didn't play him. It's funny how all of us with duffer sons seem to agree that Europe is the best place to develop the potential to be a pro, but none of these wunderkinds seem to be a done deal. Only Zelalem managed to get through, and most seemed pretty surprised, even though he had youth national team experience with Germany. Is it training that gets you where you want to go, or is it playing?
I'm reading some of these posts and just scratching my head. I just don't get the negativity about Joshua Perez. Nobody has said he's the 2nd coming of Messi, or something like that. However, there's a reason he's in Fiorentina's youth academy, and it's not because Uncle Hugo bribed someone. Why would Fiorentina have Perez train with the reserves? As a novelty? Like any other young prospect it remains to be seen how Perez develops and what his eventual ceiling will be. But right now he's one of the best '98s, and like SUDano says where are those phantom non-DA players that can run rings around Perez? Put up or shut up.
What are you talking about? He signed with Fiorentina and is waiting until he gets older so he can join them fulltime as per FIFA rules. 'Who is the 1999 you are referring to? Your ramblings make no sense unless you use a name. Yes Zelalem was not on an academy team and is a very good player......And.