Colombia has made some major changes since the Sudamericano. And so far in 3 friendlies those changes have led to 8 goals including a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia and 3-1 over Mexico.. We have to see if the offensive boost can continue once the tournament starts but I think Colombia has as good a chance as anyone to make it to the Semis on that side of the bracket if they can just keep scoring. If they do get into a drought again then you may be right.
This season, FC Dallas has 2.14 ppg when Pomykal goes 90 minutes, 1.00 ppg when he goes 45 minutes or less, and 0.25 ppg when he doesn't play. That doesn't tell the full story, but the results are fairly compelling.
The changes are notable, but involve a significant change in the style the team plays. Cucho Hernandez is a pretty big name for a U20 World Cup, but if teams can manage to isolate him I see Colombia having similar struggles as in the Sudamericano. Beating Mexico 3-1 may not be impressive as it sounds, as New Zealand managed the same feat. Saudi Arabia is an also ran. (though they drew Mexico 1-1) Both Senegal and Colombia have no business losing to the other teams in their group, so the head to head matchup will probably decides who moves on.
I wonder if our historical problem against European teams in this competition is mitigated by the fact most of our team is either playing U20 in Europe or playing against adults in MLS. There are no college kids on this team.
Haven't seen Ledezma but am excited to. I'd add in Richards, De la Fuente and Pomykal. Is Weah no longer a prospect because if he is he's up at the top. The best part is they all play well together and look like they enjoy playing together.
I think he’s more of an 8. Willing to get stuck and he doesn’t have elite quickness with or without the ball. I’m probably projecting too much, so it’s more like I hope he can be an 8
I'm skeptical of our defense, but we'll see. Just not sure how Richards, Gloster, and McKenzie will do against this level of competition. Everyone seems much higher on Richards than I am. Adding Araujo puts my mind slightly at ease about depth on the backline, but I'd be pretty uncomfortable with Keita or Real on the field at any point. Not to beat a dead horse, but Sands for Keita would have been an obvious upgrade that would have made the team significantly stronger. I do think our midfield is probably the best we've had. Forwards, definitely not(Altidore, Adu).
I would definitely take the Altidore-Adu pairing over any two from our current group. Who on our roster is better than those two were at the u20 World Cup?
You mean outside of the kid that has had professional games with PSG, the kid that has first team games with Hannover or the kid riding through the ranks at Barcelona.....
He was a regular during the U-17 cycle, and played for the U-19's. Ramos does not rate Sands, so he didn't play any games for the U-20's this cycle. I don't think its fair to say that he's the top CB in this player pool. I don't even think he's a CB, but thats only my opinion.
Jozy finished third in scoring at the u20 World Cup. I'd be pleasantly surprised if any of our players match that. Maybe Weah could if he has a good tournament? I don't think Soto was the third highest goal scorer on our team in qualifying against a bunch of minnows... If you think any of the players on our roster are better than 2007 Freddy Adu at the u20 level then we are just going to have to disagree(and I'll assume you didn't watch that tournament). Freddy was pretty exciting back then (and subsequently SUPER disappointing). I do think Weah, Soto and De La Fuente are good prospects. I just don't think they are currently as good as Jozy and Freddy were back then. Maybe they will be better professionals, though, which is what really matters.
I’ve seen plenty of Freddy, and Jozy. We will disagree here. Jozy was a very solid talent and at that tournament he was just flat out bigger than everyone else and it showed. Freddy was always show
Don't forget that Sargent could be here but has already played in a U20 WC and would rather be with the full team for the Gold Cup. How many goals had Adu and Jozy scored for the full team when their U20 came by?
And he’s been good with NYCFC lately, putting it mildly. Especially at CB. I think his best position is as a CB in a 3-man backline.
Eddie Johnson won the Gold Shoe as the top scorer in the 2003 U20 World Cup. So its not like a youngster has to be the second coming of Lionel Messi to score at the U20 World Cup. Our forwards should be just fine here. People think Weah can score against adult professionals at Celtic (and PSG), and not be able to score against Qatari teenagers? I'm much more worried about the defense than the attack anyway........................... And I still have some questions about our keepers too.
That 2007 U-20 team had a very potent attack and a strong starting midfield. Say what you want about their later careers, but Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore were a dominant forward pairing at the U-20 level in 2007, and keep in mind that both were 18 years old at the time -- they were playing up a cycle. I'm bullish on Tim Weah, and cautiously optimistic about Sebastian Soto and Konrad de la Fuente, but Adu and Altidore were lights out at that tournament 12 years ago. Our starting midfield that year was also very strong, even if depth was lacking. Michael Bradley and Danny Szetela were our starting central midfielders. Bradley was on the verge of the senior team at the time (his Dad played him in the Gold Cup that year), and Szetela was a heralded prospect at the time who I thought had a wonderful tournament. And our wingers also played very well - Robbie Rogers was at Heerenveen at the time and would go on to play a MLS Best XI caliber season a year later in 2008, and Sal Zizzo parlayed a good tournament into a move to Hannover 96. I thought the weakness of the 2007 team was in defense, and the overall squad depth of our 2019 group is far better than in 2007. But the starting line-up we fielded in midfield and the attack in 2007 still holds up pretty well in terms of quality (at the time, not in terms of long-term prospects).
Mykolenko, the star defender for Ukraine, has been dropped from the roster for some reason. Maybe someone mentioned that elsewhere. If so, apologies, but it's big news. He's a lock starter for Dynamo Kyiv and the senior Ukraine national team, and he would've anchored Ukraine's likely 3-man backline. https://tournament.fifadata.com/documents/FWYC/2019/pdf/FWYC_2019_SQUADLISTS.PDF
Now Qatar has to drop their best player and everyone is even! Sargent, Chuckewedze, Mykolenko, and let's go Qatar.