Mukwelle Akale at Villarreal

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad' started by Mario Balotelli, Apr 25, 2014.

  1. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    I wish he was starting for Barcelona, but he isnt that good right now. He is playing against men. He joined their youth program, was promoted to their third team, and now promoted to their second team this year. He signed a two year contract through the end of next season. I am pretty sure he isnt going anywhere until the end of the contract and not sure why people are surprised he is on and playing with their second team.
     
  2. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    Nope... That is why I included the caveat. If they do move up and he cant play, Id assume they would sell him or promote him to the first team (no reason to believe currently the this would happen, but if they thought he was close thought he had value, they might do it and extend his contract???).
     
  3. Scotty

    Scotty Member+

    Dec 15, 1999
    Toscana
    However, all of those guys went to college. In the '80s and '90s it was almost expected that US players wouldn't start seeing first team pro minutes until their early twenties, since the NCAA route was practically obligatory.
     
  4. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    Except Cameron who was in college until 2007. That was the landscape in the US back then, but somehow we still created talented players that would be in our player pool today.

    Instead of going to college, Akale has been in a system that is known for developing players. This is why I dont understand the views in this thread. My guess is that people are thinking about this too simplistically or because a poster they ran off offended them. There are people on this site that seem to be excited about Corey Baird who spent 4 years in college in this decade!
     
    don Lamb and twoolley repped this.
  5. Golazo69

    Golazo69 Member+

    Aug 2, 2017
    Corey Baird did spend four years in college, he also hit the ground running and featured in almost every game for RSL, winning rookie of the year, and has featured for the US twice, albeit in friendlies. I don’t think Akale’s C.V. comes close to that. It’s at least a little bit concerning to be a 22 year old pro, with 0 first team appearances to your name, a more apt comparison would be Lletget, who also spent years on reserve and youth sides, for a club with a storied history of developing young players. Coincidentally, Lletget was around Akale’s age when he came to mls. I’m excited by what I’ve seen from Akale, I’m sure others on here have seen more minutes of his games than I have, but I have definitely been impressed. That being said, eventually, he’s gotta be playing first team minutes somewhere. Villarreal have looked pretty damn bad in La Liga this year, maybe he’ll get his chance with the first team if they get relegated. If not, probably time to move on, you only get so many years as a pro.
     
    Lookingforleftbacks repped this.
  6. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    Corey Baird was an unused sub in RSL's first two games last year. In his first appearance he was subbed on for 24 mins on 3/17/18. Baird was 3 days older than Akale is today.
     
  7. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think I've seen a thread were someone has made four consecutive replies Its kinda weird. I wonder at what point Villareal cut Akale loose.
     
  8. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    It is weird that I replied to the people that answered my question? I find it much weirder all the people questioning this kids career. I find it even much weirder than you post so much yet rarely add anything to the discussion.

    Your deep thought is pretty binary in the short term. They either resign him after next season or they dont.
     
  9. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    This will be my second post in s row for those counting.

    For all you guys so upset about Akale's career path and objected to examples of players from the 80s and 90s breaking though after turning 22, let's us try a current example. Duane Holmes' birthday is a couple months earlier (January vs november) so a pretty close example. When he was 21/22 like Akale, he was similarly playing on the third division. When he was 22/23, third division and now in the season he turned 24, he is in the second division.
     
  10. Scotty

    Scotty Member+

    Dec 15, 1999
    Toscana
    But if McBride, Wynalda, Ramos, etc had joined a European academy setup in their teens do you think it still would have taken them as long as it did to make their first-team debut? We can only speculate, but I'm guessing no.

    Anyway, I'm not trying to dismiss Akale here; he's clearly a talented player and I hope his breakthrough comes soon. Just pointing out that it doesn't make much sense to compare his situation to those of the players you listed, since choosing the college soccer path always meant that a pro debut was going to be delayed.
     
  11. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    That is a fair point. I would think at least some would have broken out earlier and maybe some wouldn't have. I'd also think they would have been much better players.

    I threw out a better example in another post. Duane Holmes has a lot of people intrigued playing in the Championship at 23/24. It just goes to show that some players break out at 17, some at 20, some at 22, and some later.

    If Akale does break through in the next year or two, he will be on a similar trajectory as those guys. It is a huge advantage he has by getting the education he has gotten from a young age.

    One of the challenges he has is his size. Ultimately, I dont think it will be an issue, but can see it being something that has held him back a bit up until now. While watching his last game, he reminded me a bit of Tyler Adams physically. With his quickness and ability to cover ground, he could be TA's older, smaller brother.

    The other thing I dont think people keep in mind when talking about players like Akale is does a players skill set translate to higher levels, who are the other americans in the pool, and what needs do we have. Akale's technical and tactical ability and physical tools lead me to believe that he will be able to be effective at higher levels. We have very little depth currently with attacking mids and wingers. We just played Ebobisse, Baird, Arriola, Roldan, and Mihailovic. None of them impressed me except for thinking that Mihailovic is an interesting prospect. If when we have all players available and these types of players are in the mix, I'd ignore where Akale is currently playing and invite him to a camp to compare him to the players in training.
     
  12. ChuckMe92

    ChuckMe92 Member+

    Jun 23, 2016
    Columbus, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #2037 ChuckMe92, Mar 10, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2019
  13. DirectK

    DirectK Member

    United States
    Jun 27, 2018
    Duane Holmes' thread was 20ish pages long and was mostly made up of team sheets until he made his move to the Championship.
     
  14. chrome_vapors

    chrome_vapors Member+

    Oct 15, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    This thread had weekly 1080p match highlights and often full matches featuring Akale from, 17yo on. There was actual football being discussed.
     
  15. Eighteen Alpha

    Eighteen Alpha Member+

    Aug 17, 2016
    Club:
    Stoke City FC
    ChuckMe92, Gacm32, Winoman and 1 other person repped this.
  16. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    Only watched the first half. Played right midfielder in a 442. It was a more subdued half but had a couple nice plays and did solid work defensively where he really is a pest.

     
    Tom Collingsworth and ChuckMe92 repped this.
  17. bsky22

    bsky22 Member+

    Dec 8, 2003
    I wasn't comparing threads. I was just pointing out a player who is just starting to break out at 24.
     
  18. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did he stop playing in March? Should we expect to see him promoted to the first team next season?
     
  19. GiallorossiYank

    GiallorossiYank Member+

    Jan 20, 2011
    NJ/Roma/Napoli
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What year is it? 2017, 2018? 2016 even?
     
    UnitedBorn and kba4life1 repped this.
  20. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In the six games since March he's had one start, one sub appearances, and was four times an unused sub.

    Villarreal B have one more game in their league, but they've qualified for the convoluted promotion playoffs.

    I don't have any particular insight in Villarreal's depth chart, but it seems rather unlikely that a player who can't hold down a starting role for the reserve team will move into a first team role.
     
  21. comoesa

    comoesa Member+

    Aug 13, 2010
    Christen Press's armpit
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS is calling.
     
  22. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Minnesota United specifically. Would he struggle with the physical aspects of playing in MLS?
     
  23. GiallorossiYank

    GiallorossiYank Member+

    Jan 20, 2011
    NJ/Roma/Napoli
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    USL””””
     
    frankburgers and Pl@ymaker repped this.
  24. soccerndo

    soccerndo Member

    Jan 16, 2012
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Yeah you don’t have any particular insight which is good for all the prognosticators on this young man’s career. I know he’s doing well!
     
  25. Luksarus

    Luksarus Member

    United States
    Jul 27, 2018
    MLS is becoming more physical and seems to be difficult to adapt after playing at lower levels.
    I can think of players like Zelalem or Josh Perez who are struggling to adapt to MLS because of their small body.
     

Share This Page