Zach Loyd is there too..........................and this is a big year for him. It's the last year on his contract, and he hasn't re-signed as everybody expected. Could be angling for a move to Europe..................... I liked what I saw from Yedlin at Akron, but I need to see it at the MLS level before I have much of an opinion on his USMNT future. [same can be said for the majority of these kids] And Mr. Dong is right. Andrew Farrell is a great prospect. Every year we have a defender or two show up in MLS and succeed that got few or no US youth appearances. Matt Hedges and Austin Berry last year for instance. Every one of our 1st three games is practically a "must win." Haiti is must win. And then Costa Rica is must win (at least "must not lose" as long as we beat Haiti in the 1st game). Then the quarterfinal game is of course a must win. The tournament doesn't allow for a single slip-up. In 2011 we won our first two games 4-0 and 2-0, then lost a really tight game to Guatemala in Guatemala.............and people think of that group as a "failure." But go back and watch our 2-0 victory over a good Panama team, and you walk away thinking.............."hey, not bad at all." Remember that Panama team beat Honduras in the quarters, and qualified for the World Cup. At the world cup they acquitted themselves very well also.
Luke Morley @LukeMorley89 FT #LFC U21s beat West Brom 2-1 at the Hawthorns - goals from Ibe & Teixeira. Victory overshadowed by serious leg injury to Marc Pelosi. Tough news. Wish him a speedy recovery. That will probably knock him out of the WC if the US quality. First Packwood now Pelosi. Damn. EDIT: In addition, I did a twitter search and it sounds like a West Brom player went two-footed on him at the end of the game as well. Disgusting if that's true.
How could any country have worse luck with leg injuries than we do? Anyway, Liverpool should be ashamed of themselves. They don't allow Pelosi to play in U-20 WCQ because he might get injured, but he gets injured by some English hack in a reserves game. Such hypocrites.
Injuries are part of the deal for every team. It's why you have to build up your depth over the two-year cycle by looking at a lot of guys. Ramos looked at over 70 players for this team. Liverpool has nothing to be ashamed of. This qualifying tournament isn't a FIFA tournament. They were perfectly within their rights to keep Pelosi. Liverpool is the club giving Pelosi a paycheck, so its up to them.
Don't turn this into a depth argument about US Soccer. The dude just got injured from a sickening challenge. Its really sad for Pelosi, but its also ironic that Liverpool won't release because fear of injury, yet they have no problem playing him in reserve games in the most physical league in the world. Hindsight is 20/20, but Pelosi could be preparing for a game tomorrow against Haiti, but instead he is recovering in a hospital because Liverpool chose to no release him to U-20 WCQ's.
There is nothing ironic about this, it's just very unfortunate. Hopefully Pelosi has a full and speedy recovery. And yes, I agree with Clint this again illustrates the need for depth, injuries can happen to any player, at any time. I don't see why LFC should be "ashamed" in this situation, either...
Its sad and unfortunate for Pelosi. Its ironic for Liverpool that they loses one of their best youth prospects for a year. The ironic part is that they thought that he was too valuable to play U-20 WCQ and possibly get injured, but he gets injured the same week by some moron in a reserve game. The depth argument is beating a dead horse. Fact is, we lost probably our best U-20 player. Depth doesn't replace your best player. In Packwood's case as well, we lost our best defender that is committed to the U-2o's. Its hard to replace your best players.
The reason Pelosi wasn't released had nothing to do with Liverpool's fear that he'd get injured with the US. THey didn't release him because they named him to their Europa League roster. With a couple of injuries/suspensions to their first team, it's conceivable he would have been on the bench for the next Europa League game. And injuries just happen every cycle. It's part of the sport. I feel bad for the kid, but it happens. Happens whether you're playing Man United (like Stuart Holden) or a West Brom youth team. Without actually seeing the play I can't comment about how "sickening" the challenge was. Every cycle we know that we are: A) Not going to get some of our best players for qualifying. B) going to encounter injuries throughout. Just part of the deal.........................whether you're Argentina or the United States.
Ok, let's direct this conversation back to the appropriate YA thread. U20 qualifying starts tomorrow, people!
That's really not much of a possibility. Their next game is only four days away, and even if they were to advance, the following round isn't until well after the end of the U20s.
Well, I guess I'm not gonna be able to watch any of these games live but I hope the guys do well and get the job done.
I can't argue with anything you wrote, but it will not change my view of young players going to England. Aside from, imo, the godawful brand of soccer they play, they have too many hacks that increase the likely-hood of injures.
I think it's a bit of a faulty assumption to say that the reason Pelosi wasn't released was because of fear of injury. I think Clint's reasons nails it, he was close to having to be on the bench for a Europa League game, and they have a NextGen knockout round game (which they put a pretty big emphasis on) vs. Sporting on Wednesday. Whether you agree or disagree with Liverpool's decision, they have zero obligation to release him, nor do they, or any other European team for that matter, give any sort of a crap about U-20 qualifying. That is the reality of YNT qualifying, every single cycle.
This is why I hope the DA-MLS-NASL all get on the same page with regards to youth development. Players with MLS clubs will always be released for these tournaments. Some players fall into the development gap right around the age for U-20 tournaments. Hopefully we can grow better domestic talent so the depth is built and overall quality rises.
For the bilingual speakers, univision deportes network will carry all matches. Fox will only show the US and Mexico matches, unless there's further confirmation. There's an interest from my part in seeing Canada and Nicaragua, Canada since supposedly they attack more and this group allows for that. Nicaragua eliminated Honduras, in a general sense I expect more order from teams that over-perform. Also by design or coincidence, we've moved away from speedy wingers (counters) in search of the elaboration of play. All in all if we have to outscore the opponent to advance I would take that outcome...