He is a different type of player to Weston/ Haji you have to be patient with him and Schalke seems to be doing that.
Gloster, Mendez, and Ledezma all starting in the Jong Ajax v Jong PSV game with a big bench debut for Pynadath! Our squad 👊#JAJJPS— PSV (@PSV) September 16, 2019 🚨 Team news -> #JongAjax vs Jong PSV! 🇺🇸 Mendez in starting XI 🇧🇫 Bandé in the squad #jajjps pic.twitter.com/4NDLqZQISC— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) September 16, 2019
I do think that Berhalter is completely overmatched in his role but I will say he might have been ok if it were four- five years from now.
Top class💯 @aleexm21 @richydezma @chris_gloster pic.twitter.com/kyWCjAfSIL— Sr. Ulysses Perez Llanez (@ULlanez) September 16, 2019
It's why getting US pro academies up and running is so important. The US often has enough top end talent to play with teams, but it never has enough depth. Ever. Either we couldn't field a true quality XI in a "weak link" sport, or we were a decently talented team that suddenly became subpar when we lost a few guys to injury or a run of bad form. There was simply no one who could step up when one of our better players went down. Compare that to Mexico right now, which probably doesn't even know it's Best XI. Much less a team like France. EDIT: changed tenses; think we are still thin but hope for the future.
I found Ledezma retweet Gary Kleiban's tweets (dismiss USSF and promote duo players). Seems like He, Alex Mendez, Uly Llanez (and his father) have a very good relationship. Will our USMNT program ignore them for being connected with this guy?
Report here that the FMF has contacted PSV dual national Richard Ledezma about potentially representing Mexico. The answer was positive, according to the report, and the player is open to coming into a Mexico camp. #eltrieng https://t.co/qUP2qwUvOU— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) September 17, 2019
And now let’s hear from the usual Fed apologists that we never lose anyone important. Amazing how many of you reflexively give the federation the benefit of the doubt. Based on what? As of this past weekend, LEDEZMA HAD NOT BEEN CONTACTED in any way by Berhalter or Kreis or Stewart. This is a fact. Don’t know how to make it more clear.— scuffed (@scuffedpod) September 17, 2019
I mean we still haven't really lost anyone, it doesn't change the fact that we could still lose someone in the future. Those two things are not related.
Kid is just keeping his options open at this point. He's basically said nothing that guys like Sebastian Soto or Sergino Dest haven't. I mean, I rarely hear any of these dual nationals say "I'm committed to only play for the US. That's it. Country X shouldn't bother even calling." That's not what these kids do. Do I find it shocking that we haven't been in touch with him AT ALL? Yes, I'd be very surprised and disappointed by that. Did Kreis not just try to call him up for the U23 team? I'd be surprised if Kreis didn't try.................. I think we need to separate the job of U20 coach and youth technical director. We need somebody at the USSF full-time scouting & checking in on these dual-national kids. We expect Ramos to wear too many hats. And let's be fair, Berhalter has just had an extended USMNT camp and matches. We can't expect him to be calling teens every night when he has training and matches with the senior USMNT. Right now he does after the camp is over. Berhalter and Stewart were both just at the FCD game in Chicago. Surely they can also give Ledesma a ring.
I actually think Tab might be one of the only ones trying to do the right thing. The tweet made no mention of him. Let’s also give Berhalter the benefit of the doubt for the hell of it since he’s probably all tuckered out from all that strategizing. I called a guy I haven’t seen in over a year today to touch base and see how he’s doing. It just so happens I might be able to hire him at some point down the line. Took five minutes out of my (minimum) 12 hour day. I am constantly in touch via email or LinkedIn with people who I may never hire or seek employment from. You’d be surprised how easy it is. I don’t know what Earnie or Kreis or Berhalter x 2 earn but it’s a damn sight more than I do. I am absolutely tapped out of good will when it comes to USSF. I see no reason to extend any benefit of the doubt to any of them. If our most talented duals opt to play for us, it’ll likely be out of friendship with their teammates and that is fine. But if they opt for the other nation I can almost guarantee it will be because the other Fed put in the work ours was unwilling or too incompetent to do. By the way, that guy really appreciated the call. Just saying.
Richie’s words: “He [Torrado] contacted me and he just asked me how I was doing,” Ledezma told SBI. “Obviously I’m not going to be rude. I’m not going to close doors, you know? So I answered back, said I was good. He was asking me how was PSV, and stuff like that. It’s good hearing from a legend, obviously.” That’s what work looks like. Also, fwiw: Ledezma’s discussion with Torrado came before he was left off the recent U.S. Under-23 national team camp roster, a roster that included his current club teammate Chris Gloster, and former U.S. Under-20 World Cup teammate Alex Mendez. “I was kind of upset, but it happens,” Ledezma said of being left out of the U.S. U-23 camp. “I was really excited. Chris (Gloster) went and I was really happy for him of course. Maybe we have a camp next month, so we’ll see if I go to that. https://sbisoccer.com/2019/09/risin...ican-federation/amp?__twitter_impression=true
I have no clue why Ledezma would be left off of that roster due to a coach's decision. I mean, he does play a similar position to guys we had at that camp. Keep in mind that the #10s we had at that camp............Mendez, Mihailovic, Aaronson, are also dual nationals. Right? [I guess Mihailovic of the Fire is captied.] We only had one game in that camp. Maybe Kreis didn't want to expand the camp to include too many players. I don't know. Maybe it'll be a different group next time (Ledezma, Pomykal, Amaya, etc.) I just am not going to get worked up after seeing those comments from Ledezma. I know we're prone to over-reaction when we hear that Mexico is in contact with a player. As far as I'm concerned the kid said what we'd expect him to say..........................
Agreed, he does not look well. Maybe he has lost some weight or its just the picture but doesn't look healthy there.
I’m so tired of hearing “we overreact because it’s mexico” it has nothing to do with Mexico. Nothing to do with him saying he’s keeping his options open. It has everything to do with no contact being made. No extra work being put in. People misinterpret the argument every time it comes up.
I think it's an optical illusion based on the Ajax kit. The wide middle stripe sort of looks like all of him and the darker red outside stripes kind of disappear. he still needs to put on some weight and muscle but so do most kids that age.
Ledezma himself says he hopes there's another camp soon and he hopes he gets called up to it. I think he was a bit behind the other U20 midfielders mostly due to coming back from injury and his new season not starting yet (at the time of the camp) or just barely starting. Kreis said he is trying to get a look at as many players as he can because he doesn't know who will be released. If there's another camp there will probably be a bunch of players not involved in the first camp and Ledezma would be a prime candidate for a call-up. I'll keep my powder dry until he doesn't get called for that one.
To me it's pretty simple. How hard it is to give a call in late June or July to Richie and say something along the lines of, "Really impressed with your play against France. I know you missed a lot of time due to injury and so this year you'll be trying to pack two years of development into 1, but I just wanted you to know that we are really proud of how you represented the US at the CUP, and we know your play was a key ingredient in what might have been the best US U20 result since beating Brazil 12 years earlier, except you did this in the knockouts. Great Job, now go kick butt like we know you can at PSV." That's like a 90 second voice mail. How hard is that? We seem to spend literally 10,000x more energy communicating about and to these prospects on this forum and twitter than the ---hats paid six figures or more to actually do so. It's infuriating, unprofessional, pathetic and dinosaur era tactics when it comes to recruiting. There is ZERO justification for it, and defensiveness about it being Mexico, or us only losing 1 guy ever is all a load of manure to me. Be a --- damn professional. You guys are running the program and these guys are the equivalent of 5 star prospects that could change their freaking hats on signing day if you don't wake your dead collective ---es up. WAKE UP. PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE. HELL, TEXT. ANYTHING. We need to comb college sports for some great recruiters and hire them since these idiots clearly aren't up to the task. Anyone who spends any time at all researching what great recruiters actually do learns in about 5 seconds why they get paid well for it. There is a massive world of difference between quality recruiters and the self-satisfied hacks in charge of our program. The Great one's stay in touch via every app teenagers use, text, phone, show up in person, all of it. They build a relationships, Mexico gets this despite not having the multi-billion dollar business involving said recruiting business right in their own backyard (like we do with college football/basketball etc). They just get it. Why don't we?
No one mentioned that Dest started for Ajax in the Champions League? What he's accomplished this season is incredible. He's getting regular minutes for a team that was in the UCL SF last season. I thought he was a talented player, but I wasn't sure he'd ever make it into the Ajax first team. Credit to him.
Pretty sure that they did. In fact, they were criticizing Berhalter for starting Cannon over Dest at RB.
For our abroad youths, their YA thread on BS (especially when playing 1st team) is where all the posting occurs.