Basically what I was saying. There are going to be too many prospects coming out of Cali for MLS to corner the market. And some will turn out to be better players than every player in the MLS academy at the same time. Doesn't mean the MLS team is always the one at fault.
I agree that it's unrealistic for MLS to try to corner the market, but at a minimum, it's important to actively engage in identifying talent. It'd be nice to know why teams are opting out of Alianza and whether they'll reconsider now that Mexican clubs are having some success with it.
I could be wrong here but Mexico hasn't had a ton of success of picking up 17/18 year old players and turning them into exceptionally talented players. At least off the top of my head I can't think of many. I also realize the trend of players heading south has really taken off in the past couple years so the jury is still out on several of them. My point I guess is if I am a player or a parent it is not like joining a team in Mexico is clearly a better development option.
With MLS it still comes back to where kids are going to play. The Galaxy II offer a solution to that, and DC's young signees seem to be thriving with Richmond, but elsewhere in the league, U21s still aren't getting many minutes, let alone U18s who've outgrown the DA.
Watching the stream of RSL against Stoke City in the Gen Adidas Cup, my general impression is that the technical ability of the sides is pretty even, with Stoke perhaps having more bad touches and poorly hit passes. Stoke did have some superior athletes, however.
RSL goalkeeper (and U-18 international) Christian Herrera made a save in the pk shootout, which RSL won after the game ended 2-2. Some thoughts on the RSL players: leftback Diego Silva was impressive at times. Sebastian Saucedo wore the 10 shirt and is clearly trying to be more of a playmaker now after playing number 9 at younger levels. Justen Glad is a good player of course. Tate Schmitt, who played right midfield, I thought showed nice composure and good decision-making.
The player to watch in the RSL academy, though, is their #10 on the U-18 team -- a true talent, high work-rate on the pitch, and a likely future professional IMO.
I don't generally question a midfielder for his size, but that guy is tiny (and for the sake of clarity, you're talking about Hernandez, who is too old for GA Cup) Any word on why Brooks Lennon isn't there?
Idk where brooks is but it's clear he has left the program. He probably got some type of training deal with Liverpool.
On a different note, the formation of MLS youth academies in Florida and Georgia alongside expansion in the next several years I think has the potential to be a big help to development in the southeast. The low number of players from the southeast on youth national teams in recent years really shows that the region is lagging behind at youth levels, even as several Florida-raised players continue to contribute to the full national team (Altidore, Bedoya, Zusi, and EJ). I would stereotype Florida and Georgia players as generally good athletes with deficient technical ability, while North Carolina players tend to lack high-level physical or technical tools and rarely show the kind of talent needed to play for any of our national teams. We need better player production out of the southeast, where the weather is favorable and levels of raw athleticism are high, and MLS academies I hope will be a major step in the right direction at least for Florida and Georgia.
I'm thinking Saucedo will test the European waters. He's done so well on trips overseas with various YNTs it's hard to imagine he doesn't have interest.
NYCFC announce affiliations with 8 local NY clubs that will feed into their academy. BW Gottschee (DA member) Downtown United Manhattan Soccer Club Met Oval (U14 DA member) New York Soccer Club (U14 DA member) South Bronx United State Island United World Class FC (U14 DA member) http://nycfc.com/News/Latest-News/2014/April/Affiliates
Selfishly I hope he has overseas interest like other MLS HG prospects and still signs with RSL to develop and learn the game from Javi Morales. I want to actually watch prospects as opposed to read nebulus reports of development from some faraway European youth league.
Over in the Generation Adidas Cup............ Generation adidas Cup 2014: FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake, Flamengo, Stoke City book semifinal spots http://www.mlssoccer.com/generation...e/2014/04/17/generation-adidas-cup-2014-day-3 Flamengo 6, New York Red Bulls 1 Real Salt Lake 6, LA Galaxy 1 FC Dallas 2, Chivas Guadalajara 0 Stoke City 1, Toronto FC 0 Both semifinals will be played at Toyota Stadium and will be broadcast live on MLSsoccer.com. • April 18, 7:30 pm ET: Flamengo vs. Stoke City • April 18, 9:30 pm ET: Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas God's gift to soccer development in North America, TFC, was the only team that failed to gain a single point in the international division/competition. May they continue to bless us with their holier-than-thou nonsense.
Not sure how under-strength TFC's team is, but now probably isn't the time to try to kick them when they're down. Canada's U16s just knocked off France, and a TFC player scored the game's only goal. EDIT: Now may be a good time to pick on the Galaxy, though . Here's the quote they ran on their website after their only Dallas Cup win: "We will continue to establish ourselves as the top youth academy in North America,” LA Galaxy Academy Director Pete Vagenas said. “Today was simply an affirmation that we are well on our way. Today was a testament to our club and the resources put into our youth development." The next day, the self-declared top youth academy in North America lost 6-1 at GA Cup to RSL.
Well to be fair, Stoke's youngsters looked pretty good against RSL the other day. That one striker they had was a handful. I am more disappointed that the Red Bulls got demolished by Flamengo when NYRB have good players. I know Flamengo is really good, but still. I am also pretty happy Dallas beat one of the best Mexican academies.
I will always kick TFC when they're down. They're Canadian, hence you can count on me to revel in their failures. Just like I took great joy from the demise of Chivas Guadalajara in both the GenAd Cup and the Dallas Cup this weekend.
I suspect that Chivas sent a team of 98s to play up at this tournament. Their top 97s are named Dominguez, Aguayo, Godinez, Jimenez, Cruz and Ortiz, and none of them appear to have played. The big thing from my viewpoint is just to get these kids a few really difficult games, and in that sense, NYRB facing Flamengo was worthwhile. They gave up as many goals in one game as they've allowed in the DA all season (6). By a similar token, the Galaxy have only lost once in the DA all season, and that was in a game where none of their top 97s played. It's good to face an opponent that exposes your weaknesses (and it's good that they'll face RSL again soon).
Will Parchman @WillParchman · 25m From @si_soccer, Barcelona is opening a youth academy in Florida in August. http://soccer.si.com/2014/04/17/fc-barcelona-youth-academy-florida-august/ …
To be fair also they had ample opportunity to beat Anderlecht in the first game but couldn't finish. Not like they were played off the park in the other two games. I agree with you that some of the boasting from Pete is ridiculous, though.