Didn't even know he filed NEWS: FIFA has approved a one-time change of association request from attacker Tyler Boyd, clearing the way for him to represent the #USMNT. Welcome, Tyler! 🇺🇸⚽️MORE >> https://t.co/HRkTtDY7fv pic.twitter.com/QjygILbL7P— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) May 18, 2019
Awesome! I like this dude. However, he is already 24 years old, this next year is going to be huge for him at the club level in terms of his ceiling. I think he’ll be around the 11 and definitely in the 18 for the time being. Thumbs up to Earnie and Gregg.
Nice pickup. We are in desperate need of wingers. Hopefully will make the gold cup a little more watchable.
I would presume this means he was promised a spot in the Gold Cup to compel his signature. It's the same difference. Interested to see what he can do there, more so than I was with Kenny Saief. This guy seems like he has really dynamism that we can use. Not just another tweener who we're forcing into a creative role. And he's not a mercenary either.
This is great news. Our current winger pool really is sparse and uninspiring unless Christian Pulisic plays out wide. I haven't seen a lot of Tyler Boyd yet, but I have to imagine he is a significant upgrade over someone like Corey Baird, and I'm guessing he is at least on part with Paul Arriola (who is one of the best wingers in our pool currently). Boyd looks to be a wide player with a nose for goal, and that should set him up well as a wide player in Gregg Berhalter's system. Think about the role Ethan Finlay played for Berhalter in Columbus, or the role in which he employed Jordan Morris (who is not a winger) and Baird in recent friendlies earlier this year. The jury is still out on another recent one-time switch in (Kenny Saief), but whether due to injuries or lack of quality or fit, Saief hasn't imrpessed me yet when I've seen him play. Boyd helps improve our depth, and based on the rest of the winger pool, he should step right into our 23 for the next couple years until we see how our younger prospects develop.
Good news, considering a number of our attackers, who featured recently, would struggle to make the 1990 World Cup team.
Seriously. I'm wondering if some of our attackers projected to make this roster would start for Canada or Jamaica.
He's dual-footed and can play LW. That alone already sets him apart from someone like Baird. Boyd's 7.29 WhoScored rating puts him 6th among all attacking mids/wingers in Turkish Super Lig action, just behind 35-year-old Robinho at 7.30. The Super Lig is ranked 10th in UEFA coefficient. Boyd has 5 goals and 4 assists in 1157 Super Lig minutes. Arriola and Baird, combined, have 4 goals and 4 assists in 1731 MLS minutes. Arriola and Baird have a combined 7 USMNT caps in 2019. The article didn't mention it but not only did he spend his childhood in Santa Ynez, CA, but also his mother is American. So he's clearly American by any reasonable definition. He'd probably be NZ's second-best attacker behind Chris Wood but clearly prefers the US.
Will be interesting to see him play. I haven ever seen him, so have no real idea. Came up through the A League, transferred to Portugal but struggled there, had a good half season loan to a bottom of the table club in Turkey. I never really watched Ankara play much during my 2+ years living there (was a Besiktas fan), but he had a nice second half of the season for one of the weaker Superliga teams. Let's see what he has, although not really ready to say he is better than any other p;layer at this point.
Don't know much about Tyler Boyd - in fact, I will confess to often confusing him for Terrence Boyd when I'm skimming an article on American players - and I was curious as to why he hadn't broken through at New Zealand, which - all due respect to the Kiwis - is not exactly a national side that's over-capacity with young talent. So I did a little Googling. Details are thin, but it looks like Boyd made his senior All-White debut in March 2014, and then his senior All-White exit in March 2015. He played in all six of the Kiwis' matches in that timespan, but they were all friendlies. After spring of 2015, he was never called up again. This was also the same time when he left New Zealand and its one significant professional team, Wellington Phoenix, for Portugal. Despite being viewed as one of their promising academy talents, he hadn't been getting much playtime at Phoenix, with only 16 starts in 3 seasons. Since then, he's basically been in exile from the New Zealand squad, and no one is really sure why. There's speculation that it's either self-imposed or perhaps due to a conflict with Anthony Hudson, then-national coach - or possibly a combination of both. Boyd refuses to discuss it, and New Zealand Football is equally cagey. Anthony Hudson resigned in 2017, after failing to qualify for the World Cup, (shortly thereafter hired by the Colorado Rapids and recently fired a couple weeks ago with 8 wins over 18 months). The new coaching staff reportedly reached out to Boyd in 2018, but he apparently informed them he would be staying "off-White" for now. I wonder if the timing of his leaving Wellington Phoenix and being exiled from the New Zealand team is not a coincidence. The relationship between the two organizations is fairly close. Perhaps he'd fallen out of favor and decided to leave - or, alternatively, his leaving the Phoenix pissed off the New Zealand coach who decided to punish him. Or maybe somewhere in the middle. In any case, it feels like his leaving New Zealand - club and country - was more off-the-pitch reasons than on it. He still misses New Zealand, apparently, and wants to go back - but it won't be in a white jersey.
I was about to say he did a Johansson but if his mother is American that certainly changes the picture. I'd hate to see another guy sitting at home watching his Kiwis at World Cup while USMNT does another fail. With Aussies in Asia, I guess Kiwis are best bet to represent Oceania if they can win their play off game. I wonder who it is this cycle.
Boyd has 4 goals and 4 primary assists in 8 starts for WS of 7.62 at LAM/LF. Only two players have averaged a higher WS in at least 8 starts in any of WS's 12 recognized positions.. He should slot in nicely at left forward.
Curious that the USSF official page promoted this news, that me says he is in the picture this summer. They usually run a pretty tight and coordinated marketing ship. Don’t want to go all Josh Gatt here....but a couple nice YouTube clips is all I’ve seen. Step overs and all. Just sayin.. Definitely intrigued, and for Gold Cup hell yes. No need to see the same guys....we know the ceiling of Baird, Zardes, Arriola, Saief, Morris, etc. let’s see what he’s got.
Possibly because NZ's regional competition consists of Tahiti, Vanuatu and American Samoa. Nice places to visit no doubt but those games don't pay much because regional TV rights aren't worth a bucket of warm spit. And the travel back and forth to Europe can't be easy. On the other hand, with the impending expansion of the World Cup, NZ will be guaranteed a spot. Then again, so will the US, and the US has at least a chance to go farther. NZ is a three-and-out side.