2019 U-20 World Cup Roster Discussion

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by ussoccer97531, Nov 23, 2018.

  1. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    We've qualified. Which players should be on the team to play the U-20 World Cup in Poland?
     
  2. Pl@ymaker

    Pl@ymaker Member+

    Feb 8, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  3. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    Konrad
     
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  4. la torre

    la torre Member+

    Dec 27, 2008
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    -What are the prospects for Pomykal and Servania getting playing time for FC Dallas next season? Pomykal in particular looks like he should be getting much more playing time than he's had so far.

    -Was there every any reason given for not calling up Durkin for the second round of qualifying? Hard to believe he wouldn't have been a major upgrade to Torres, Servania or Amaya in the center.

    -Konrad should definitely be given a look, and is most likely good enough to be on this roster. For whatever reason, it seems like this is unlikely to happen.

    -The competition we faced in qualifying was the worst I've seen in at the u20 level. I'm baffled by how bad Mexico was. Honduras didn't even try to play a real game against us, and Costa Rica was very poor. Any player evaluations based on this tournament should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.

    -There are a number of u-20 eligible players floating around MLS who were starting to get playing time at the end of last season. I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of turnover on the roster based on some of these guys earning starting spots for their MLS teams.
     
  5. Lookingforleftbacks

    Galaxy
    United States
    Dec 17, 2016
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ochoa
    Scott
    Garces
    Richards
    McKenzie
    Dest
    Lindsay
    Bello
    Gloster
    Servania
    Durkin
    Mendez
    Carleton
    Pomykal
    Llanez
    Amon
    Rennicks
    Soto

    That’s just the players I want to see off the top of my head. I don’t think the other mnt guys will play in this tournament
     
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  6. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I get why people want to see Bello. I really do

    BUT

    1) If he’s playing for Atlanta, do you want to pull him away from his club for 2 months to play in both the U-17 & U-20 WC? Each tournament requires about a month of time for each player.

    If that’s the case and I’m Atlanta, I only let him go
    to one WC.

    2) And if he’s playjng well for Atlanta, maybe the U-23 team for Olympic qualifying becomes an option instead of one of the youth WCs
     
  7. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    I am holding off speculating about a roster for the U20 WC team until we see a few things.

    *Which of the players with senior national team camps will be available to the U20 team? What happens with them, in terms of the senior team, if they don't get first-team minutes with their clubs?

    Which players who likely would've made this team but were hurt like Taitague and Ledezma be healthy and available (and sharp enough to be in the top 21)?

    *Which, if any, players won't be released by their teams in Europe, MLS or Mexico?

    *Will Edwin Lara start getting minutes in Leon and will Tab take a look at him, regardless, regardless?

    *What happens if players who didn't make this team like Sam Vines start getting MLS minutes?

    *Conversely, what happens if players that did make this team don't get MLS minutes early next season? (Jaylin Lindsey comes to mind.)

    *What college players turn pro, and how much do they play? What happens if, say, Rennicks or Perez start playing regularly while others at their positions don't?

    *Will other 01s emerge and get a shot? Which of the three 01s who were on this team will continue to be part of the team?

    Will (and this is doubtful) any college players who weren't looked at previously get a shot because of a strong 2018 season?

    There are a lot of variables and a lot of things could change.
     
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  8. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Preferred team:

    Scott, Garces, Ochoa
    Dest, Lindsey, Gloster, Richards, McKenzie, Araujo
    Durkin, Sands, Adams, Ledezma, Servania, Carleton, Mendez, Pomykal, Amon
    Sargent, Weah, Soto

    Keepers: Scott will be there. Likely the starter, I'd prefer him to be the back up, but a good keeper. Garces would be my starting keeper. I think thats a pretty clear 1-2 in some order. Muse or Lopez could compete for that third spot, but whats the point in taking another age-eligible player who is only going to be third? I'd prefer a 3rd keeper who can play next cycle. I don't think Ochoa is the best keeper eligible next cycle, but he was the back up in qualifying. He's good enough right now to be in consideration for a spot next cycle. I don't think his spot is solidified, but I'll list him for now. I think the clear starter next cycle will be Las, but I don't think we should be including U-17's on the roster.

    Defenders: Dest, Lindsey, Gloster is easy enough to figure out for the fullbacks. Dest and Lindsey can both play LB. Gloster is a natural LB. Adams can fill in at full-back or start there. Richards and McKenzie are the top two CB's. I think Araujo is the clear 3rd best CB here. He can also fill in at full-back and I think he could play DM well. If we need another CB, Durkin, Sands and Lindsey can all play the position. I'm not sure who would be next among fullbacks. Maybe Real? I don't think the options here are great. Akanyirige (would be playing up a cycle) or Keita (no U-20 call ups, playing college soccer) probably comes next at CB.

    Midfielders: Durkin and Adams are locks, if released. I think Servania has earned a spot. Gives us an athletic #8 option, and another option as a #6. I think Ledezma will likely make this roster as a versatile player in midfield, but I don't think he definitely has a spot. Sands gives us a back up holding mid who can also play as a CB. If we are adding another holding mid, I think next up is Taylor Booth, but I think right now he's not in the best 21. He's eligible to play next cycle, and should play a big role with that team.

    I think Carleton, Pomykal and Amon should be locks, if released. I'll list Mendez here for now. I think a couple of months ago I'd have listed Taitague or de la Fuente ahead of him, but he had a very good qualifying tournament. de la Fuente might be more of an option for next cycle, despite being the top '01. A lot of competition in the attacking mid spots. Same thing for Llanez. If Taitague can stay fit, I think he has a chance to sneak onto this roster, but he still might not be able to make it. His stock has fallen.

    Forwards: I think the 1-3 is very straight-forward, if all are released. The hard part is picking who would play and who comes off the bench. There's a good chance two, maybe all three, will not be released, so the other options could factor in here. I think the next option should be Jesus Ferreira, assuming he gets his citizenship at the end of the year. He gives the team a different style of forward than we'd have with Sargent, Weah and Soto. If two of the three aren't on this team, I think Rennicks comes next. I don't think he's a high-level prospect due to his inability to score goals, but he works hard and can fit into the team play well. If all three aren't released, Akinola wouldn't be the worst 3rd striker we've used at the U-20 WC before.
     
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  9. ShaftBrewer

    ShaftBrewer Member+

    Jul 18, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think the biggest variable is whether Tab will be the U20 coach for the WC. That'll change a lot of things.
     
  10. TarHeels17

    TarHeels17 Member+

    Jan 10, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think Tab to Dallas makes a ton of sense, in which case, who would the federation hire? There almost aren't any coaches left in the system.
     
  11. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I think Sarachan.
     
  12. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    :eek:
     
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  13. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    I’d pick Shaun Tsakiris. I don’t think of him as part of the Cabal at Soccer House.
     
  14. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    The U-20 team isn't the senior team. Its a much easier team to coach. Sarachan didn't do as bad of a job of some think. He brought through many of the younger players in the pool. He didn't try to pad his own resume by playing the veterans. He also coached the team during one of the toughest years schedule-wise for our NT. No coach would be expected to get good results against some of the teams we faced. His teams were well organized defensively. Leaked very few goals. They were anemic offensively, but a lot of that was due to the lack of offensive talent.

    He's not much of tactician, but I don't think Ramos is either. Ramos tried to be a great tactician at the 2013 U-20 WC, and the team was awful. He looked way out of his depth coaching at that tournament. Since then, he's set them up with a very basic approach, and got out of the way (for the most part). Sarachan can do the same thing. All the players also say good things about him. It might just be saying the right thing, but the same things weren't always said about the previous two NT coaches. He now has experience coaching some of the younger players, so it wouldn't surprise me if Stewart put him in charge of a team that could have players he's coached at the senior level like Adams, Sargent, Weah, Amon.
     
  15. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #16 bshredder, Nov 23, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
    If needed, the best pick to replace Tab is Omid Namazi who left his gig in Iran last week. Omid and Tab are very close and very similar.

    Omid knows these players better than anyone besides Tab. Not sure if Omid’s sudden departure from the U-18 gig earlier in the year went over well with the others at the Fed. But Omid is a good coach.

    If it comes to it, it’d be best to find someone who knows the players & the team. There isn’t much time to rebuild this team. You want someone who can continue what Tab has been doing

    It’ll probably go to someone like Brian Bliss, who was Tab’s assistant in Florida this last month. But Omid is still the best choice
     
  16. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Jun 9, 1999
    I know nothing about the specifics of the situation, but I'd be shocked to learn that U.S. Soccer held a grudge against a guy for leaving a non-FIFA tournament YNT job for a first-division club gig under all but the most unusual circumstances.
     
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  17. kingshark

    kingshark Member+

    Mar 3, 2006
    I think Ledezma and Mendez compete for one spot. Now Mendez has advantage here because Ledezma are still on his road to recover from injury. If both are healthy, I'm not sure who is better. Even Gary Kleiban praised Ledezma, make me guess he was really impressive :inlove::inlove:, and based on RSL Academy's game clips, he did stand out.
     
  18. Pl@ymaker

    Pl@ymaker Member+

    Feb 8, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ledezma is competing with Pomykal and Llanez.
     
  19. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #20 Clint Eastwood, Nov 25, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2018
    Really difficult to know what the situation is for all of our FCD youngsters without knowing the identity of the new coach. We can talk endlessly about the depth chart, players currently out of contract, expansion draft possibilities, etc. etc...………..but its really hard to say what it means. Counterintuitively, if FCD appoints a coach with a real desire to develop those players, that's great for their careers (what we want). Maybe that actually makes them LESS likely to be released.

    I also have heard no update on Chris Richards' situation. Will he still be in Germany? Will he be in MLS? No idea. I believe the end of his loan period is in about a month, so we'll find out soon.

    When a qualifying team performs as well as this one just did, I tend to think we should have less turnover than on a qualifying team that squeeks thru. So it could be that some of these "obvious" replacements like Amon, Durkin, and company could actually be with the USMNT in the summer instead (like Adams, Weah, and Sargent). That's likely to be a very young Gold Cup team.
     
  20. kingshark

    kingshark Member+

    Mar 3, 2006
    Ledezma is a playmaker, who is not a dribbler who can run past denfenders, different than Pomykal and Llanez.
     
  21. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #22 Clint Eastwood, Nov 25, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2018
    I also WILL NOT be surprised if by the time squad selection comes around...…………..we aren't talking more about Thomas Roberts of FCD.

    I haven't seen Taylor Booth or Blaine Ferri play on a consistent basis, or at all recently. The downside of waiting around till your 18th birthday to move to Europe. You don't gain momentum anywhere. But I'm not ruling either out.

    Another midfielder I never see. Indiana Vassilev of ASton Villa.

    It won't surprise me if all three of Sargent, Weah, and Soto are unavailable...…………..

    I'd put money on both Sargent and Weah being with the USMNT at the Gold Cup instead. [The USMNT will also have League of Nations and friendlies in the summer/fall of 2019. Lots of games.] Soto is advancing rapidly at Hannover, and who knows. Could we get the "Novakovich treatment" on that one? Maybe.

    So identifying who the next group of strikers are for this team should be a pretty big priority. Akinola has his moments, and based on the likelihood that we aren't going to get our "top 3"...…………..I almost think of him as a near certainty for this roster. Gotta cast the net for attacking players. All have question marks.

    Last cycle we had Josh Sargent move up from the U17s, and I don't see a similar player at forward for these U17s. Don't get me wrong, there are good prospects in that group. Reyna, Busio, Lopez, and company. But nobody ready to take that step up to start for the U20s. Maybe I'll think differently after we see the U17 CONCACAF Championships.

    I've heard nothing on Jesus Ferreira's citizenship timeline. No updates there for a long time. We had heard he needed to wait until his 18th birthday before becoming eligible for citizenship. So that's in about a month from now. Will they jump on the application right away, and how long will it take to process? I don't know, but what I do know is.………………….these things always take longer than we anticipate.

    By the way, I'll leave this name here just because I don't believe anybody else has yet. Cole Bassett. Will probably get a chance in a camp to show what he can do. If you can play at an MLS level, which Cole Bassett has shown he can, then you've earned that.
     
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  22. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I wouldn't want any strikers to move up from the U-17's because I believe they should play in their own age group, but I think Ocampo-Chavez is as good of a prospect as Sargent was at the same point in the cycle. He might even be better. At this point last cycle, Sargent wasn't a big name. His game started getting more credit at the 2016 Nike Friendlies.

    Bassett should play in his own age group. If Taylor Booth can't get into the team as an '01, I don't think Bassett will, due to doing good job in a handful of MLS games at the end of the season. Thats not to say what Bassett did wasn't impressive, but he's yet to even be called into his own age group and I think we underestimate what others could do if they were given the chance that Bassett was with Colorado.
     
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  23. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would like the U's to become training grounds for hot shot assistants to become future head coaches. If Tab makes the jump then maybe others will use it as a stepping stone too. So ... who are the best assistants who need any kind of head coaching experience to be considered for a future MLS gig?
     
  24. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Josh Wolff? Is he in the frame to take over for Berhalter in Columbus?
    I can see that kind of guy being looked at. Pat Noonan. Ezra Hendrickson. There are a bunch of these youngish assistants around the league that might want to take the plunge.

    I like your train of thought. But young coaches like working on a day-to-day basis with players, as opposed to the sporadic coaching opportunity of USYNTs. And the pay isn't all that great either anyway.

    Ramos SHOULD get a job in MLS. He's earned it. So I think this particular coaching issue with the U20s is going to become a big discussion point over the next few months.
     

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