Generation adidas list

Discussion in 'College & Amateur Soccer' started by 3rd Degree, Nov 24, 2006.

  1. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    not that I would doubt anyone Lobo, but do you happen to have a link for that? I'd love to souce it.
     
  2. LoboLife

    LoboLife New Member

    Nov 10, 2006
    Maryland
    actually I gathered it from an online conversation that I saw between Charlie Davies and Mo Edu...

    so.. not exactly? :confused:

    my source is facebook again... so take that for what it's worth...
     
  3. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    any information is good. thanks.
     
  4. LoboLife

    LoboLife New Member

    Nov 10, 2006
    Maryland

    I've got some mutual friends with Chris Seitz and Omar Gonzalez, I'll see what I can find out
     
  5. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  6. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    Ryan Soroka to drop out if he makes the U-20s? Not clear. Sorry if this is redundant:

    Soroka still hopes to turn pro someday, and toward that end, he would like to earn a spot on the Under-20 U.S. national team next year. As of now, he has no idea whether he'll be invited to try out.

    “You're just not sure, and you can't get caught up in it because it's going to take away from what you're trying to do,” he said. “So if I do get it, I'm going to be glad.

    Hopefully, I'll take advantage of my opportunity and show that I should still be there. But you've just got to stay focused, and hopefully it will come.”

    If not, Soroka will be glad to stick around St. John's for another three years.

    “It's definitely awesome up here,” he said.​

    Link:
    http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/108-11182006-743905.html
     
  7. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    update: Seitz leaving school.
     
  8. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    He could be a starter in MLS. He'd make some rookie mistakes, but he's got all the tools.
     
  9. LoboLife

    LoboLife New Member

    Nov 10, 2006
    Maryland
    wow... well, it's not as though we didn't see that coming... for the past 2 years...
     
  10. LoboLife

    LoboLife New Member

    Nov 10, 2006
    Maryland
    He could be a top keeper in the MLS. He will go overseas, where he will develop into a top keeper. I see him being a spectacular piece of US mens soccer for years to come.

    He already has the makings of a great player. His weak points basically deal with getting caught out of position on crosses and coming out on breakaways, which can be corrected with work.
     
  11. Ted Eck

    Ted Eck New Member

    Jan 24, 2006
    Sorokas comments could be the first time the words awesome and Queens have been in the same breath/sentence
     
  12. flyingfrog

    flyingfrog Member

    Dec 22, 2006
    Kind of new to the GA thing. If a 'top prospect' is offered a GA contract is it something they usually take? Or if they stay in college are they hoping for a better deal later or a college degree? Also is the MLS trying to get HS players with it's GA or young college players?
     
  13. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    1. Yes to the 1st. GA contracts are only offered to "top prospects".

    2. The longer they stay in college, on balance, the less likely they are to get a good deal (or even offered a developmental slot, for that matter). The 4 year players typically try and hedge their bet by getting their degree (or at least having only a handful of credits remaining).

    3. Using the GA approach, MLS is trying to get players younger than about 20, regardless of whether it's high school or young college.
     
  14. flyingfrog

    flyingfrog Member

    Dec 22, 2006
    Dsocc- You sound knowledgeable on this topic. Under what circumstance would you rec. a HS player doing the GA thing? I think several did last year with mixed results.
     
  15. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    I'm not Dsocc, but I'll answer anyway. Based on the way the system is currently set up, probalby one of the most important factors to consider is the player's maturity.

    A teenager who's not physically precocious (a la Altidore) or comparatively otherworldy in terms of skill (a la Adu) or some combination thereof will probably find the MLS setup tough going and they need to be prepared to wait in the wings for 2-4 years before they start getting serious playing time with the first team.

    It's something to shoot for, of course, but still they better be able to deal with the concept -- as well, of course, with the idea that people on BigSoccer will be all over them as "washouts" by the time they turn 20.

    Personally, from an average player's perspective I think a year of college can make some sense. It may lower their value financially if they don't dominate out of the gate but it also gives them an idea of what it will be like to play with people a few years older and more physically mature than them day in and day out. That said another alternative might be to try PDL or even high-level men's amateur leages (where available) as soon as possible for that same reason.
     
  16. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think that if your goal is to play professional soccer, you would probably be better off going the Gen Addidas route. It's going to be an overall better development process for most players. With inclusion of the reserve team and expanded rosters, the league is doing a much better job of developing younger players then even a few years ago. However, in some cases a year or two of college wouldn't hurt. Plus the way the offers are structured you also receive money for college. So if you don't make it after 3 - 4 years, you have the funds to get your college degre and move along with your life. But your always going to have a few players that are going to be late developers and go four years and still have a impact in the league. But you don't get very many like Chris Rolfe.
     
  17. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    Probably true in that I think Rolfe is potentially an exceptional player.

    But you have to admit that if not for the roster exemption the Generation Adidas designation gives players, you would probably see quite a few more guys like Rolfe on MLS rosters if for no other reason than there are a heck of a lot more guys graduating college each year than are in GA at any given time and MLS only has so many roster spots available.

    Along with a better reserve/training struture and youth setups, college scouting is another thing MLS can improve.
     
  18. Yankee Hybrid

    Yankee Hybrid New Member

    Dec 28, 2006
  19. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    hum interesting. I am 99% sure a Generation adidas player can't be assigned. One wonders if this is some kind of new rule or if TFC will be forced to take him #1 like Freddy?
     
  20. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  21. JoeSoccerFan

    JoeSoccerFan Member+

    Aug 11, 2000
    I don't think TFC has the ability "to reserve" a player unless they're committing to take him #1.
     
  22. Bill Archer

    Bill Archer BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 19, 2002
    Washington, NC
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of course, as you well know (but the inquirer may not) we need to draw a distinction between "High School players" and "Bradenton/Edison graduates".

    While I'm certain that someone will immediately point out an exception (always happens on BS, so you have to hedge your bets) I cannot recall anyone who went directly from Our Lady of the Dented Fenders HS directly to MLS. 17/18 year old draftees come out of the U17 program.

    And while Parade magazine insists on including Bradenton grads in their soccer High School All Americans list, there's precious little resemblance between living and training at the U17 National Program and ducking fifth period study hall to go neck with MaryJane Grabcrotch out back of the gym.

    To me, the answer to the question of whether MLS drafts "High School students" is "no, they don't". They do draft high school aged players. but it's not he same thing, IMO.

    And of course that's how it's supposed to work. If you a very, very special, elite soccer talent, then everyone - USSF, MLS, the USMNT and American soccer fans - wants you to travel the ODP-to-Bradenton-to-MLS highway.

    And in a handful of cases, with players like Adu, Szetela and Altidore, they can move up a level without waiting around to turn 18.

    The real question is whether the U17 Nats-to-MLS leap is a bit too big for most players. To me, the answer to that is yes.

    A year ago Oforie Sarkodie, having graduated from Edison/Bradenton, spent the Fall in camp with the Crew. He was considering his options as he had both committed to Indiana and expected a Gen/a offer (which of course he got). Sigi advised him, as apparently he advises everyone in his situation, to spend a year or two in college. Sig feels very strongly that physically and emotionally the leap from U17 to professional is a tough one and spending a year playing NCAA Div I soccer is a helpful transitional experience. Instea of going straight from playing 16 and 17 year olds (however talented they may be) to playing against 30 year old professionals, you can use that year to ease into it a little.

    That extra year doesn't really cost you much in terms of on-field development anyway: you can play wherever and for whomever you choose until your schools' NCAA first practice day, play on into November, go celebrate the Holidays with your family and then get drafted into MLS in late January and go right back to work.

    The major complaint people have about college soccer is that it limits your practice time to three months in the Fall and a couple weeks in the Spring. But, as in the case of a kid like Sarkodie, if you only go for one year, as a transitional period from U17 to MLS, you've barely missed a beat.

    And frankly, judging by their on-field performance in their first year, guys like Adu and Szetela certainly wouldn't have suffered much, and might well have gained something, by taking the short detour through NCA Div I.

    And as I've discussed with several BS College board posters both on and off line recently, the better college coaches are quickly learning to adapt to this paradigm; they'd obviously like to have the super-talented kid for four years, but they know that ain't likely, so - as coaches in other NCAA sports have done - they're gettig used to the idea that they may only get a year or two out of them before they're gone.
     
  23. flyingfrog

    flyingfrog Member

    Dec 22, 2006
    ok now i'm a little confused. How could a player be on the 2006 and then play college? Also if you sign a GA contract and then don't get drafted what happens? Are you still a pro?:confused:
     
  24. MLSUnderground

    MLSUnderground New Member

    Dec 29, 2006
    If a player is signed GA, clubs have already shown interest in the player.

    In addition, there contract is subsidized by Adidas and therefore less money accounted for on a team's payroll.

    In the case of Sarkodi, he was a MLS target for Generation Adidas. Sarkodi never signed on to be a Gen Ad.

    So, he never lost his eligibility.

    I don't think there has ever been a player who signed Gen Ad and then was not drafted.
     
  25. 3rd Degree

    3rd Degree Member

    Feb 6, 2000
    Dallas
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    every Ga player has a MLS team "on the hook" that will have to take said player in the last round if said player is still available.
     

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