This one could be a stretch, but bear with me. I was poking around the Y-A site and I saw this blog entry about five confirmed players for the May U-20 camp. A couple comments mentioned a kid by the name of Josh Gable of CSA Legacy (Tyler Polak's club in Nebraska), who apparently trialed at Lazio. The mention of large Serie A clubs always grabs attention, but I couldn't find much on him. A google search did turn this comment on a myspace page up: Something to keep an eye on.
As noted by Ceres in the Johann Smith thread, it seems Gable is now trying out in Denmark: Amerikanerne Johan Smith og Joshua Gable testes i dag for Vejles reserver, der møder OB i reserveholdsturneringen. http://www.bold.dk/nyt/Vejle-tester-amerikanere It seems there is some YouTube on him: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ayn-CVwFSM"]YouTube - US SOCCER- Josh Gable- young american talent[/ame] Still, he's somewhat hard to research. It looks like he graduated high school in 2009 and was generally considered one of the top players in Nebraska during his high school career. I'm finding very little about club, ODP or YNT experience, or even a birth year.
Jesus, I have been looking for this guy for EVER! For those of you that have had the pleasure of playing against him it really is an amazing site! He does things that would be difficult for Ronaldinho and C.Ronaldo in full speed. I always imagined him at arsenal or some big european club and hands down one of the best american players in the world. I used to live in the same state as this kid and through a friend I guess that it was the Danish 2nd division and he was too good for it and left after the 3rd day. No clue on Johan...
Welcome to the board Mr. Gable. It is always nice to have a parent here. Just asked Jonathan Spector about it.
lol this guy thinks im Josh's dad hehe. No, just a friend of a friend. What did you ask Jonathan Spector about? and are you Johann Smith by any chance?
Too good, eh? If you leave after the third day of a trial chances are you're not "too good". Sounds like a terrible attitude to have when trialing for a team. Even some of the best started in lower league teams. If you really know this kid, and he's as good as you say he is, tell him to get his foot in the door and not worry about being "too good".
Jreadusaf. Dont worry about Josh, worry about yourself. I just wanted to give him a little praise because he is a blessed player. nothing else so be cool
I am going to give you some advice that will surly help you. Over the years we have has many posters who are close to a player who has a thread. People are going to bash what you say, bash Josh, and have way different opinions that you. It will happen. It's going to happen, especially if Josh is as good as you say. Give factual updates about his progress and people will love you for that but say away from grand proclamations. Just a piece of advice.
You have me all wrong DONTREADONME_USA. I am a big supporter of American soccer, to include all players plying their trade overseas (to include your friend). There is no shame in not getting signed by a team, sometimes things just don't work out. If being a professional soccer player was easy everyone would do it. What I was doing was offering constructive criticism to what you had said and the action of another. When someone labels another as "too good" you invite those kinds of actions.
I can back this up that he is indeed playing overseas. I am a good friend teammate of Josh's since we started playing together on our high school team. He is on the Lazio reserve, and was training with Standard Liege in Belgium for several weeks this winter. To reply to "Donttreadonme_USA", he is not as good as you are saying...that is a little exaggeration. He is a very good player, with the right coaching and work ethic he could become very successful. He is the best natural athlete I have played with/against. He is extremely fast and quick with his feet to turn heads, but he is no CR7 like he said. I definitely think he is suited for higher leagues than nebraska soccer and us club to reach his potential.
No problem. He told me in middle january that he would be going back to Lazio to train with the reserves on either the 21st or 28th of January. The exact day I do not remember. I do not doubt this truth anymore after talking to him.
JK2010 he might not be as good as " CR7" or "Ronaldinho" but you know exactly what I mean having played with/against him. He measures up better than any current US National team player with his skill. Yes, I agree that he is well suited to play in top European league but he has to start somewhere in order to get there.
He does seem to have some good advertisers. There are a bunch of videos out there of him on youtube and the like entitled "Josh Gable Best Young Talent in America." He looks like he has some talent. Good luck to him at Lazio.
I don't give hightlight videos on youtube any credibility. They don't show consistency or the opponent's level of play But Josh's video is more entertaining than most.
jk2010 I was part of the Des Moines Menace academy in Iowa. Only once did I play against him at a showcase but I have seen him play numerous times.
Well, I can say after playing with him for all these years all the time. I can say he was nothing close to what you were putting him up to be. I havent played with him in a year, but im sure he is making more progress than ever now...but has a long way to go. I dont mean any of this to diss on him, its just the truth. I have grown up with him so i know. And its one thing to be super fast and quick with your feet, but the main thing is consistent execution in big game with other people as good as him, which sets the EPL players apart from him. Cuz the level you were playing at is nothing close to the level you are setting him at. This is american youth club soccer, not some prime academie from europe.
Agreed. you know his game better than I do. I'm sure he is making progress to reach his full potential which will be exciting to see. He's one to watch.
i also wish him good luck. Kid clearly has talent, but saying "He measures up better than any current US National team player with his skill" is a bit of a stretch at this point
Polak must have been playing a few years his senior bc i think Gables an 87 or 88.. that vid was like 3 years ago. Which sucks because he'd be a player to consider on the U-23 roster in the 2012 Olympics