Alejandro Zendejas at Club America

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad' started by BostonRed, Jun 23, 2016.

  1. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. Pl@ymaker

    Pl@ymaker Member+

    Feb 8, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This sucks
     
  3. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why would an MLS team sell a USYNTer to the ONE club globally who makes it a policy that their players can't suit up for our NTs at any level?

    I'd get it if they offered some real money for him and it was just too good to pass up, but for 500K?

    That's chump change.
     
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  4. Mt Stone@

    Mt Stone@ Member

    Apr 30, 2016
    USA
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
  5. Brotheryoungbuck

    Jan 24, 2015
    parts unknown


    Interesting....
     
  6. bballshawn

    bballshawn Member+

    Feb 5, 2014
    Delaware
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    this move makes no sense. so confused
     
  7. barvsenal

    barvsenal Member

    Apr 19, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
  8. DeAndresHaircut

    DeAndresHaircut Member+

    Jul 24, 2015
    Pennsylvania
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Benedict Alex
     
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  9. vexco

    vexco Member+

    Nov 2, 2013
    I don't understand this right now?

    Maybe he saw they lost 7-0 and figured he had a better chance with Mexico. :rolleyes:
     
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  10. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  11. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Chivas is trying hard to make sure everybody knows Zendejas was born in Juárez. Any remember the SCANDAL when it came out that Jesus Padilla was born in California?

    I don't really understand how Luis Martir slipped through the cracks and played for the US last cycle. I suspect that it will be more difficult for Zendejas because Martir was a prospect that nobody seemed to care about very much. Zendejas is of a higher caliber and will be watched more closely.

    I'd at least hope they won't make him file a one-time switch right away.


    But as people have said before, when you go to Chivas, you know what you are signing up for. Ultimately, this was Zendejas' choice.
     
  12. NCFan

    NCFan Member

    Dec 11, 2014
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Because MLS doesn't give a crap about the USMNT except as it pertains to making SUM money. USSF also appears to prefer to avoid using Hispanic players if possible so they'd like to replace players like him with some white suburban kid who will draw in more suburban soccer moms and hipsters.
     
  13. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #13 bshredder, Jun 24, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2016
    $500K is a lot of money for a very young player with very limited first team experience in MLS. That certainly ain't chump change.

    Second, FC Dallas shouldn't care about the USMNT. Maybe as a distant concern but certainly FC Dallas should care first and foremost about FC Dallas. This was a good offer and they took it. That is what any club in the world should do. You want a grown-up MLS with teams primarily concerned about business and winning and a league that don't just exist to serve the national team, this is what it looks like. It healthy.

    It also looks great to the Hispanic market in Texas - if you're a young player with Mexican roots, the team isn't going to stand in your way of Liga Mx if the right offer comes along.

    Add this to the growing, and often ignored, list of evidence that MLS isn't some sort of "trap" that young players can't get out of.
     
  14. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Huh? This post makes no sense.

    It's Dallas who made the choice to sell Zendejas. MLSHQ doesn't initiate, they only sign off. The USSF has nothing to with this.

    In the meantime, Dallas will continue to use white suburban kids like Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta, Tesho Akindele, Jesse Gonzalez, and a host of Latin Americans.
     
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  15. ttrevett

    ttrevett Member+

    Apr 2, 2002
    Atlanta, GA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Anything from the boy himself in terms of his nationality? He has played for the US youth set up a ton.
     
  16. gtstock

    gtstock Member

    Jun 6, 2014
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Curious if he's considering switching national team allegiances.

    I'd hate to see him leave, but I actually would be curious if he would consider this simply due to depth reasons. I'm not sure of the Mexican NT youth midfield prospects, but the USA is really stacked with promising youth players who more or less play the same position as he does.

    Were he to break into the future USA NT, he would be competing against:

    1. Pulisic
    2. Zelalem
    3. Hyndman
    4. Akale
    5. Luca De La Torre
    6. Kellyn Acosta
    7. Any of the promising upcoming u17's in the midfield
    8. Many other promising prospects that are very talented, but I'm not quite as familiar with.

    That's not to say that he can't do it, and I know most competitive athletes relish the competition, but the youth national teams really do have a huge pool of talent coming through at midfield. It's unfortunate he doesn't play fullback.
     
  17. barvsenal

    barvsenal Member

    Apr 19, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    So what are our chances of retaining him at this point?
     
  18. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, we're not going to agree on that. Young league, investing in academies, the commissioner has spoken about MLS' need to produce better players for the NT, the commissioner has ripped Jurgen time and time again for perceived criticism of MLS, which tells me the commissioner and MLS believe both the NT program and MLS have great responsibilities to one another, and going back to it being a young league, I've said repeatedly I'd much prefer seeing a Bund/DFB type relationship where they work side by side, where the most important factor for both is the development of the domestic player both for the league and the Fed.

    MLS apparently doesn't think that way. And for me, that's a shame as given its youth as a league, it's far easier now to put that sort of a blueprint into the works.

    But people from Garber to Pareja to Paulson to Vermes don't get to stand up and whine about Jurgen and tell him how to do his job, complain about what he is or is not doing for MLS, then turn around and suggest MLS shouldn't care about the NT, especially when they ride the NT's coattails into tv deals which would produce considerably less revenue for the league without the NT as willing participants in that.

    As for this being what any other club globally would do, please point to a single club elsewhere who's sold a promising youth NTer for their country's NT's to another club who's policy is to not allow players to suit up for that country's NT. I don't have a problem with selling Zendejas. I have a problem with selling him to the one club who doesn't allow USNTers in its squad as a policy.

    But as I've said, it's preference. MLS trends far more towards the EPL than the Bund and neither is right or wrong, but the latter has far more intention of producing players for its NT, a partnership, and that's my preference.
     
  19. sidefootsitter

    sidefootsitter Member+

    Oct 14, 2004
    I think it's a lot simpler. The kid probably got an offer into the six figures and decided he wanted to go. Should Dallas care about the USMNT? Probably. Should it care more about the kids on its roster? Definitely so.

    As to Zendejas, is he as good as Moises Hernandez?
     
  20. vexco

    vexco Member+

    Nov 2, 2013
    I guess my main question is...does this mean he is OBLIGATED to accept call-ups from the Mexican YNT? If not, then maybe he will just decline all call-ups for a while.
     
  21. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, unless he files a one-time switch, he can't accept any call-ups (except for a camp, I suppose).
     
  22. sidefootsitter

    sidefootsitter Member+

    Oct 14, 2004
    I don't think anyone is obligated to play for his NT.*

    *Unless your NT is North Korea and the alternative is to be executed by a Naval gun.
     
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  23. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And FIFA requires he be made available if the US calls him up (assuming he doesn't decline), but Chivas might be willing to punish him in some way if he does accept a call up. Matches sitting on the U15 bench come to mind.
     
  24. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #24 Clint Eastwood, Jun 25, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2016
    I'm sure they wouldn't have sold Zendejas to Chivas if the kid didn't want to play there. He sure seems happy about the move.

    FCD has to do what's best for their business. The USMNT is a secondary concern. Zendejas moving to Chivas bugs me too. It really bothers me, because the USSF has invested a lot in Zendejas. However, if the USMNT/USYNTs can't convince kids to play with them....................that's their problem. Not FCD's.

    We can also think of this regarding his position. Folks seem to think that he's developed into more of a #8 than a #10. If that's his position than FCD currently has two prospects in their U18 team that many FCD-youth watchers think are potentially better than Zendejas. That's Weston McKennie (just called up to the U20s) and Paxton Pomykol (recently called up to U19s). McKennie and Zendejas are very close in age. When asked recently to name an academy player he KNEW would play for the first team, Oscar Pareja responded with Paxton Pomykol. That caught me by surprise.

    Daniel Robertson, who I guess we can call an "FCD insider," said this on twitter yesterday:
    746421180643475456 is not a valid tweet id

    It sure seems that Coy Craft has moved ahead of Zendejas in the "young player we need to find minutes for" category. A few weeks ago, prior to any rumors of this transfer, I was lamenting the fact that there didn't seem any path forward for Zendejas with the FCD first team. I was hoping for a loan to their USLPro affiliate for minutes. However, they received a good offer from Chivas.............so they let him go.

    We'd all be absolutely thrilled with this move if it was Tigres or Santos Laguna or Club America instead of Chivas. We know that. But maybe Chivas' policy is easing due to years of suckitude. They did let Luis Martir attend a USYNT camp a little while ago.
     
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  25. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    We've had little chance to see Zendejas against adult professionals. Its hard to say.

    Last year it seemed like Moises Hernandez had won the starting left back job. Something happened. I don't know what. And now Pareja seems to try everybody on the roster at left back other than Hernandez. Despite not having a natural left back on the roster, they shipped Moises out on a season-long loan to Rayo OKC.

    Pareja recently said that if he can't help Moises "make it" as an MLS player, that will be his biggest failure as a coach. He has all of the talent. There's maybe something going on between the ears there...........................

    I will say this, FCD's record with regards to attacking homegrown players is really poor. Leyva, Luna, Garcia, and now Zendejas. None impacted the first team. Hopefully Coy Craft and the next wave can "make it."
     
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