It was always going to be just a matter of time for our players to be noticed once our youth system became somewhat organized. This is a great thing. Now, we just have to wait and see if USSF and MLS have the stomach for a fight. As our YNTs improve and have more and more professionals, these youth tournaments are window shopping for European clubs and other federations. The fight won't be won with tricks, it has to be won with $ and opportunities.
Sure but it might be even better for our best and the most determined to leave to actually go, because that opens up spots for the ones who remain where more and more players get opportunities to join MLS sides or go the USL route to Europe. We all lament how some players don't get looks or get opportunities against better competition, Reyna leaving gives another player a chance at NYCFC and so forth.
With regards to your comment on the backline, I don't know what you mean with "fit". This is how I see it: - Carrera is currently the backup CB of an extremely weak FCD U19 DA backline with only very few DA minutes this year and a handful of USL 1 minutes - KHF hasn't played many full competitive games in the past 3 months - Bello is returning from an injury and has looked questionable in the USL games I've watched Ironically, the closest of the 4 to match fit form may be Cuevas; however, he is also the youngest and the one who may not even make the roster. These four, have never played an entire game together. It's indeed adventurous and IMO, they are no better -currently- than the 2017 India WC backline who had played a ton of games together. I agree that adding Scally to that backline will compound the uncertainty and highlight the deficiencies of the two CBs further. To be clear, these five may have a ton of potential but IMO, they are currently far from ready to play together in a WC and not even close to the level of the 2017 India WC backline.
Sounds like there is a good chance this team goes to Brazil without Scally and Bello and will not miss them. That would have been crazy to think of not that long ago. Things change so rapidly at this age. Of course, it doesn't say anything about those players long term either. They very well could be on the U20 team in two years. Any of five players could start at LB in the first game. That is also amazing.
Why wouldn't we miss them? Do you think Armour or Anderson are anywhere near as good as them? I also think they'll both be there.
Scally and Bello just give the team such a different look, in different ways, at the wingback positions, if fully healthy. (And maybe even if only mostly healthy? Who knows.)
If Bello makes the roster (and I think he does so at the expense of Tolkin, not Armour) he has to show that he's fit and that he can do what Wicky wants and what fits the team. Armour is adequate everywhere he needs to be. He can defend 1v1 against good opponents, he's athletic enough to make plays, he combines well with teammates. Is he the next great FB on the MNT? Probably not. He's good enough for the U17 World Cup, though. Wicky is going to go with whoever he trusts to provide the best chance to win. I think Bello is going into camp behind Armour but he has the talent and the opportunity to make his case.
Bello has started 10 matches in the USL Championship since returning from injury and started 2 of the 3 matches ahead of Armour at the recent Four Nations tournament.
I know very little and have few good opinions in this age group... But plenty of guys I respect are talking about the possibility. Again, Bello and Scally could be on the roster. It is interesting, to me, that there is even talk they would not. Sounds like Anderson and Tolkin are currently in better form. But do you take the highest potential players or the best players now?
My problem with Bello, and I figure I'm in the minority here, is that even though he's played he hasn't looked all that good in USL this season. Sure there are flashes of quality but his play is soooo uneven. Poor first touches, defensively out to lunch. When he gets into the final third it's kind of anyone's guess whether he'll hit a cross into the corner flag on the opposite side of the field or play a useful pass. Basically, he's not been convincing, and John Tolkin (admittedly on a much better team) has looked more polished and more reliable pretty much all the way around. I figure the whispers are right and that Bello and Scally will both be on the World Cup squad, but I think the chances are pretty good that they'll both cost us goals. Scally's defending was consistently suspect in qualifying.
But if we’re comparing Bello to Armour, Bello is playing at a higher level. Armour has not seen a minute in the USL despite being on an academy contract with NCFC, and has played a whopping 2 USSDA matches so far this season.
Snip: 2019 FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; HOMETOWN; U-17 CAPS/GOALS) GOALKEEPERS (3): 21-Aaron Cervantes (Orange County SC; Chino Hills, Calif.; 4/0), 1-Damian Las (Fulham/ENG; Norridge, Ill.; 19/0), 12-Chituru Odunze (Leicester City/ENG; London, England; 7/0) DEFENDERS (7): 15-Sebastian Anderson (Colorado Rapids; Highlands Ranch, Colo.; 4/0), 13-Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 18/0), 3-George Bello (Atlanta United FC; Douglasville, Ga.; 8/1), 4-Nicolas Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas; 3/0), 14-Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 17/0), 5-Kobe Hernandez-Foster (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 23/3), 2-Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 19/1) MIDFIELDERS (5): 18-Maximilian Dietz (Freiburg/GER; Frankfurt, Germany; 2/0), 17-Ethan Dobbelaere (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.; 3/0), 8-Bryang Kayo (Orange County SC; Poolesville, Md.; 8/1), 6-Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.; 7/0), 16-Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 25/2) FORWARDS (6): 7-Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.; 15/7), 20-Andres Jasson (New York City FC; Greenwich, Conn.; 11/1), 19-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Merced, Calif.; 24/9), 9-Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas; 15/5), 10-Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; Bedford, N.Y.; 15/8), 11-Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 12/7) https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...-roster-for-2019-fifa-u17-world-cup-in-brazil
It's really a terrible move by NCFC. They're not even that good at LB, rotationally playing Caleb Duvernay and Aaron Guillen. While Armour may not be totally ready to go 90 against grown men, he should be making sub appearances when possible. NCFC does have a history of producing decent players, and has had YNT players here and there. If they can't turn them into successful pros it's not a good look.
A few basic observations: We called in 86 guys (across 15 opportunities including the Finals) by my count. I had 62 last cycle. We can probably stop worrying about whether closing Bradenton would shrink the pool, which I kind of always thought didn't make much sense anyway. I have 31 guys with 1 callup. None are at the Finals. I don't know if this is an important number, because on one hand you'd like to see a wide net, and on the other you'd like to see them calling in guys worth calling back in. Probably not worth comparing this to Bradenton numbers. Three guys with 3 callups made the Finals roster (Anderson, Carrera, Dobbelaere). All three joined the pool in July. Leyva had 4 and joined in April. Dietz had that January callup, disappeared for a bit, and then came back in July. I have 72 '02s, 7 '03s, 10 GKs. I count 27 pros called in at some point during the cycle, though it's possible I missed a few, including possibly guys on the Finals roster. Axel Alejandre is the only guy with 13 callups not to make the Finals. Fuentes is the only guy with 12. Judge and Stroud had 10. I will probably not continue tracking this group past this point unless guys are added pre-tournament, but if anyone wants to take ownership of this and add data -- pro contracts, MNT caps, etc., let me know. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a3vgwj19yp3KgCTIQ9gfBUaOfJ3IMCSigjcnv-hY-6U/edit?usp=sharing
For the sake of debate: Is Pynadath the biggest snub in US youth national team history? It would be easy to make that case.
Told you so. From what I heard, whether they'd be fit in time was never a big issue and Wicky expected them on the team, as long as they didn't get re-injured. Form might be a problem though for both players. I don't think we can say that either player has taken a step forward this season, but I still think both will start, and be key players for this team. This is still U-17 ball, and they are two of the better players in this age group.
Thank you, not only for raising the question of snubs (SNUBS!), but for putting it in the most dramatic context possible.
19 of 21 correct in my prediction, and I'm no expert. It shows how easy this team was to predict. Very little turnover in the last six months for this team. Of the 18 field players, I'm come up with a count of 8-10 who are not good enough IMO, so I think its a long list, and I don't expect success, but I'd like to be wrong. It's U-17 football, so results aren't always easy to predict. I suspect this roster will produce some of our least NT players of big youth competition rosters we've been putting out in this generation of talented rosters the last few years. I've already voiced my complaints with the individual players on the roster, so there's no reason to rehash the complaints about the ability of the individual players.
Amazing how fast things have changed when we’re worried about some of the players form for this roster when the last 11 cycles was the team scrimmaging themselves all year in the same setting and not playing many competitive matches. Was anybody worried about Chris Gloster’s form going into 2017 as much as they are with Bello’s?
Since we're about to end the cycle -- who, if anyone, on this list is already on a pro contract? Dobbelaere Ethan Gray Tayvon Hernandez-Foster Kobe Jasson Andres Reyna Giovanni "Gio" Akale Masango Alejandre Axel Alphin Trace Ameres Emmanuel Anderson Julian Barragan Michael Camara Aboubacar Carlson Simon Centeno Erik Daley Amir Dowd Bryan Dunbar Cameron Dunning James "Jamie" Falsone Sebastian Farnsworth Zackery Flores Luis Forbes Jahlane Gaines Julian Garcia Cesar Goeggel Maximillian Gomez Jonathan Guske Owen Hagan Cade Hanes Aiden Harms John Tyler "JT" Hernandez Ruben Imperato Jack Jones Noah Judge Mason Lopez Antino Mangarov Daniel Nielsen Kenneth Oladapo Kashope Penagos Mario Puckerin Marzuq Pynadath Joshua Ramsey Joshua Redzic Benjamin "Beni" Reilly William Robbins Wasswa Robledo Harrison Rogers Louis Quin Rouse Anthony Santana Soares Pablo Stroud Peter Tolkin John Tomkinson Jonathan Villaneuva Alex Wady Ethan Weaver Aiden Wilson Seth And is anyone who ISN'T on this list supposed to be? Maybe I've marked some guys as pros I shouldn't have. I'm generally cautious with this since we've even had players tweet things like "Signed a pro contract!" just for USL academy deals, and not everyone in a European academy is a pro.