His name has been thrown around a lot, and I've noticed a lot of other people asking about him without responses. Anybody have any info on this kid? Thanks!
Academy player for Aston Villa i believe....it makes sense he wouldn't be here as this is the new class at residency and since he already is in europe he isn't there. I guess he would presumably start if we called him in. No clue on position or anything.
Real good article from Top Drawer about him. http://www.socalsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7896&page=7
Adam interviewing Rob http://www.thisisamericansoccer.com/tias-special-guests/last-thoughts-on-youth-soccer/#more-131 "....And now, sir, your top players to watch in no particular order. I’m looking for names for our national team not in 2010, but given your expertise, more likely 2014, and of course this summer in youth world cups. William Trapp. Midfielder from Columbus, Ohio. CESA. He’s not big or a burner, but his feet is so good and he has such a good brain for it. he almost always plays the simple ball and plays it properly. He’ll hit some unlocking through balls and just watching him with the U14’s at Disney over thanksgiving against some regional teams, he just looked so smooth. He said he’s a big fan of international soccer, but the unusual thing is that usually when I ask the kid whom he likes its almost always automatically Ronaldinho, which is fair enough, but William was talking about a Stephen Gerard or Deco. He’s talking about the kind of players in terms of style that are similar to him, not the guys who every time they get the ball they are looking to beat six guys. Walker Zimmerman. Atlanta, GA. Defender. GSA Phoenix. He’s one of a handful of defenders at the U-14 level that show a real advanced mentality about stepping and reading. He doesn’t seem shy about defense and can be rugged when he needs to. He’s not a real big guy, but he is a real smart player. I think that’s going to be a big thing for the national team – that we develop players who are interested in playing defense, and that we’re not converting all of our players for defense. Charles Renkin. Midfielder. St, Louis. Scott Gallagher. He is a 1993, and is scheduled to join residency this January; he’ll be 13. Each time he has been with this group, dating back to when he was a U-14 a year and a half ago, he has been the top player in the camp. He is a little tall for his age, and definitely needs to fill-out, but his feet are so quick and he can beat players with decisions, that whether passing or taking a player on, are just quicker, mentally and physically. He had a great coach, Tom Howe, at his club. Tommy coaches really good passing teams, and I think Charles benefited a lot from that. He may be the guy everybody is noticing right now and most enthusiastic about. Sebastian Lletget. SF, CA. He’s Argentine. You can see an article I did on him on the website. He’s eligible for an EU passport as well, and thinking of joining West Ham’s development program. He tested well over there. He is one of those guys who have put everything together on the field very well. He might have some options as far as which national team he would want to play for, but he is in US development. Brian Leyva. Dallas. He can take the ball at his feet, with either foot, and make it do whatever he wants. He is really good. Greg Garza. He trained in Brazil on two separate occasions, spending six months down each time with Sao Paulo FC. You can just tell technically and his attitude about training that he is a very serious kid. He should likely start at one of the wing back positions. Zack MacMath. He’s a real solid goalkeeper. Josh Lambo. Another goalkeeper. He might join the youth academy at Everton once the season is over. He’ll be done with residency, and his father is Greek, so he is eligible for the passport. He’s been over there a few times, once with Man United, and always impressed. He has been injured, which has allow challenge from Zack. Jerrod Jeffries has to be in there. He’s become a really complete two-way midfielder, and that’s something we don’t seem to produce to many of. He is hard enough to win balls, and can handle the ball and sees passing lanes and attacks. He’s definitely a atop player/ Ellis McLoughlin. Striker. He’s had some great goals. He seems to do better when he travels actually. He’s scored goals in England and Argentina. He impressed me when he was just 14 because he was even then getting himself in the right position. His problem has always been finishing, and I was afraid at one time in his first year of residency that he wasn’t going to make it because his finishing rate was just not very good. But sure enough he picked it up and scored some big goals in big games, and now is a solid attacker. I know MLS is very interested in him. Jose Gonzalez. Northern California. His left foot is very good. He is a late bloomer, but has gotten a lot of attention recently. He’ll probably be one of those who ends up professionally sooner rather than later. So now what for these kids? Is our system, our coaches, serving them properly, or are they dead in the water versus kids the same age in other countries?"
u sound confident and i hope. i dont want to have another rossi to hear about. I hope he dosent state "i want to play and score goals like maradona in a finals" like giuseppe rossi stated about a previous rossi for italy.
There was a picture of Llegett wearing the latest USA national team training jacket and stuff. So he may decide in the future NOT to rep the USA, but currently, he is.
Lotsa interesting information. Here's an excerpt from an article from Top Drawer: Santa Clara Sporting star Sebastian LLetget gets official invite from English Premiership club West Ham by Robert Ziegler 9/6/2006 "Things have always come quickly for Sebastian Lletget. Still, recent events related to the player’s introduction to the world of top-level international soccer must have even this prodigious talent’s head spinning. LLetget, a remarkably-skilled midfielder for Santa Clara Sporting in Northern California, has received an invitation to join the youth setup at English Premier League club West Ham. The invitation came after a successful 2-week training visit earlier this month when LLetget turned a lot of heads while training with the London club’s 17 and 18-year old youth players. Sebastian Lletget is 14. “This is his dream,” Sebastian’s father Francisco said about the recently-received invitation from West Ham Youth Academy Director Tony Carr. “When I see how much passion he has for the game, it brings tears to my eyes.” Sebastian gets this passion honestly. While he was born in the U.S., his parents are from Argentina and his dad admits to being a fanatico for the game. It became apparent to him early that his son was carrying on in the family tradition. “He started kicking the ball when he was 2 years old. That sounds unbelievable but it did happen. He would be lying in bed and playing with a ball,” Francisco LLetget said. “I tried to teach him as best as I can. We would go to the park to play, even when it was raining, when he was 5. Even if it was cold, it didn’t matter. He wanted to go. The passion was already there.” Sebastian began playing in a league at age 5 and immediately began to stand out. Francisco said the important thing to him at this point wasn’t so much about winning games, but that the player continued to develop while enjoying the game. “Most of the people watching noticed he could use both feet, that he could dribble and pass, but he had started doing those things when he was 2,” Francisco said. “The most important thing to me is the passion. He really loved this sport. I told him he could be a good player but mentally he has to be strong and he has to keep having fun. You have to have discipline and love the sport.” To get a better idea of where Sebastian stood, Francisco took his son back to Buenos Aires when he was 11 and managed to get him a training date with his favorite club, Argentine giants River Plate. “I took him to River Plate just to see the level, the difference there. The kids there play because they have no other choice, they feel it’s the only way the family can keep up, the same as Brazil,” Francisco said. “There were 60 guys at a tryout and they were only taking 5, and my son was one of the 5 they invited.” Sebastian’s parents, Francisco and Sarita Murruni decided this opportunity was coming a little too early for their 11-year old son and he returned to California where he lives with mom, dad and sisters Vanessa, Valeria and Viviana. Francisco mentioned it was a big help to his son’s development to find the Santa Clara Sporting youth soccer club and coach Carlos Brasil. “Too many coaches told me he had to play in his own age group and that was holding him back,” Francisco recalls. “With Sporting he had a chance to grow by playing against the bigger boys (Sebastian is a September ’92 birth day).” Carlos Brasil recalls the first time he saw Sebastian play. “I saw him playing at U11 playing with another club and he was unbelievable. Technically he’s at another level,” Brasil said. “His talent is like that of a professional player. He can’t compete with that size of a player yet, but he’s that good. He has superior vision and the way he hits it with either feet is really impressive. Plus he’s a very good kid. He’s just so humble for being that good. The parents make sure of that.” Brasil said LLetget made the Cal North ODP team last year but his parents withdrew him upon learning of the cost associated with the team playing in 2 tournaments. He didn’t try out for ODP this year. He was, however, called into the U15 National Team for its early August camp in New Jersey, and made a very strong impression there, particularly for his individual trickery and his passing vision. U.S. assistant coach Tony LePore said LLetget, who put on a very entertaining and sensational juggling display for his teammates after an early training session, started somewhat slowly but rounded into top form by the end of the camp. “In the first couple of days it was a really new situation for him and you could see he was a little bit nervous and feeling his way through. I think by day 3 he had a really good day. You could see he had some moments on the ball when he was a little bit special,” Lepore said. “He had a great last game and scored a great goal and I think it was just a matter of time for him to settle down. He’s a player with the creativity and imagination that we always look for. He was definitely in the top half of the group and we’ll look forward to seeing how he does at the Nike Friendlies (in December). During the camp, LLetget partnered effectively with another highly-touted youngster, Scott Gallagher SC forward Charles Renken, a 12-year old who recently returned from an overseas training stint of his own at 1860 Munich, arranged through the new United States FC venture. “Both on and off the field there I got along really well with Charles. We play pretty well together,” Sebastian said. “There were a lot of skillful players there and it was a lot of fun.” The national team experience served as a good primer for what was coming next, 2 weeks in London with the older West Ham Academy players. Sebastian said he was excited about the opportunity, but didn’t expect anything momentous to result from it. “Everybody said it was just for experience of it. I didn’t expect them to invite me,” he said. “Even after I played good I still didn’t expect them to ask me to come play with them, but the scout that brought me over (Mike Leigh), said he had talked to the coaches and “’they want you to sign with the club.’” “Sign” in this case doesn’t’ mean a professional contract because English clubs are prohibited from signing players to pro deals until they turn 17. FIFA rules prohibit the transfer of players overseas until they are 18, but Lletget is able to make the switch as Francisco and Sarita have parents from Spain and Italy respectively. He expects to have his European passport sealed by next spring and the family plans to travel to London in April. For the well-spoken Sebastian, the 2-weeks training with the club were a real eye opener. “I was training with the U18s because the U15s were on a break, but I was surprised I still did really good. They were all bigger kids, but I fit in pretty well,” he said. “They were very nice. Nobody treated me bad and they all respected me.” As to the on-field difference, LLetget said he noticed everything was more serious, and faster. “You really have to think ahead. Everything is just faster. I could do everything with the ball they could, but if you don’t know what you are going to do ahead of time, you’ll lose the ball every time. The other thing I noticed is that the coaches won’t say what they expect twice. They expect you to listen and do it correctly the first time.” Sebastian managed to play a couple of training matches during his stint, once with U16s and then with U15s, playing well and scoring a goal in the process. “I played attacking center midfield and everything came out pretty good,” he said. “I felt very comfortable.” LLetget said he enjoyed taking meals with members of the West Ham 1st team, including recent signing and young American professional Jonathan Spector. “He was really nice,” Sebastian said of Spector. “He told me about the club and a lot about the national teams. It was fun being around all the 1st team players." The 14-year old American even got to serve as a team ball boy for their opening Premiership match against Charlton in front of 35,000 spectators. In the invitation letter sent to Sebastian’s parents, West Ham Youth Academy Director Tony Carr cited the player’s maturity, attitude, technical ability, passing vision, ability to use both feet and his quickness in tight situations. As an area of instruction he cautioned the player to be more thoughtful about when and where to use his considerable bag of tricks, not discouraging the use of such but encouraging him to “use them more strategically.” Sebastian, who admitted to being a little homesick when he first traveled to London, said his goals are the same as most other top American youth players, to play professionally in Europe and to play for the national team. Francisco LLetget said he is confident all this attention won’t distract his son from doing the work needed to continue realizing his potential. “He plays inside the house all the time. Day by day this is going on. He walks to the kitchen kicking one ball. He walks to the bath kicking another ball. There are soccer balls all over the place,” Francisco said. “I tell him to keep his feet on the ground. To be a soccer player or any sport, you have to be competitive and have goals, but you have to take it step by step, and you have to keep loving it.”
About to watch BOca face AC Milan play live on TV....great article ...thanks....The kid being humble despite his obvious talent is good....the fact that he met Spector and wishes to play for the US...well that's friggin' awesome.... Lletget, that name seems have a Led Zeppellin ring to it, doesn't it? .... Hopefully WH is his "Stairway to Heaven" and for the USNTs as well.... (sounds corny, i know...early in the day, plus the coffee )
hi all, i have marked and played against lletget in the central midfield many times in northern california leagues and tournaments. He has incredible vision, is somewhat strong, and extremely calm when he plays. I have a few details and insights on him, and if if you have any questions for me email me at... Scott scottster92@hotmail.com
Why not delete your e-mail from here and post your details and insights right here. Thanks in advance.
I'm sorry I don't have a video of him playing, but if you have any questions about his style of play etc. then put them on this forum. By far and away he is the most outstanding player on the Santa Clara team, which everyone is quite good on, but that still speaks a lot for him. My opinion is that he for sure the best player in california at his postion. I have no idea about any other states, but ever since I have started playing against him five or six years ago, he has been an automatic standout. And it IS West Ham. Go Gunners
From what i heard; when he first arrived at the academy he started off playing vs the 17 and 18 year olds(which he is 14) and the report was that the coaches said that he "turned heads" in amazement.
Sebastian is the only U.S. youth national player whom I've seen who struck me as a must-be national player. Every other national player I've seen, sure they could play, but so can a whole lot of other kids whom nobody has ever heard of. But Sebastian, hoo boy, my son came off the field and said, "He's better than me." He's never said that before or since.
here's a whole thread about him at west ham in the yanks abroad forum: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=393459&highlight=Sebastian+Lletget
Different players-- very complimentary. Should be a good show in 2009 with the next U-17 team. These two supposedly play well together.
Can you elaborate please?I saw C.Renken and liked he was quiet ball mover with very good touch, not going to run past many, 2-footed, makes the right pass. What type of player is Lletget. All Ive heard is he somewhat of a trick machine to of his detriment. Good athlete?/