In the 2015-2016 European season Christian Pulisic broke out from a player that Youth Yanks Abroad watchers knew to one that everybody now knows. And of course, that led to USMNT caps by the end of the year. Who will be the breakout U20 this 2016-2017 European season that'll be getting USMNT caps by the end of the year? Or will there not be one? Some choices...................[None of whom have USMNT caps yet.] Some more likely than others. Gedion Zelalem; Arsenal Mukwelle Akale; Villarreal Cameron Carter-Vickers; Spurs Josh Perez; Fiorentina Brooks Lennon; Liverpool Josh Doughty; Man United (Canadian-American) Matthew Olosunde; Man United Erik Palmer-Brown; on loan at Porto Kyle Scott; Chelsea (although looking to move) Abuchi Obinwa; Hannover Haji Wright; Schalke Weston McKennie; imminent signing at Schalke Luca de la Torre; Fulham Danny Barbir; West Brom McKinze Gaines; Wolfsburg Marlon Fossey; Fulham Will Pulisic; Dortmund Kai Koreniuk; Vitesse (Dutch-American) Timothy Tillman; Bayern (German-American) Antonee Robinson; Everton Timothy Weah; PSG If folks would like to extend the "breakout youngster" tag to uncapped U23s, there are plenty of options there as well. One interesting case is Joel Sonora at Stuttgart, for instance.
I guess the question is this: If Luca de la Torre advances to being a squad rotation player at Fulham (in the Championship), is that enough to get him a USMNT look? I'm not sure. I need to see more. I guess you could argue that Hyndman was a squad rotation player for Fulham last season, and he got some callups..................... My personal feeling is that de la Torre will be an important player for the US U20s, but won't advance to the USMNT in the 2016-2017 football season.
Yeah and that's completely fair. It's extremely difficult for me to pick out any player on that list and think they're going to breakout with their clubs this year. Someone probably will but it's almost impossible to know who right now, and I'll admit I don't follow our youth as closely as I should (although it's something I'm trying to work on). I'm just a huge LDLT fan, I think his speed in the midfield is going to be a huge asset for Fulham and the USMNT soon. He should be able to play a number of positions on the pitch, and it's not like breaking through at Fulham is too strong of a task right now. But that's about all the basis I have for my prediction, I could be wrong but I don't remember many around here predicting 17-year-old Christian Pulisic to become a regular player for Dortmund at 17 years old. Can't wait to see how it all folds out. E: CCV may be a decent prediction also.
I haven't heard of some of these guys... I think realistically, Zelalem, De la Torre, Palmer-Brown, and Carter Vickers have the best shot.... Possibly Tillman, Akale, Sonora, and Wright.
For me the answer is Zelalem, followed by CCV. Those are sorta the easy answers. Zelalem has already played for Arsenal, and if he indeed gets first team opportunities this season..........he'll get a USMNT call. Also we have to remember that he made his one-time switch to US programs from German programs. So he'll get a chance. CCV is still England eligible. If the USMNT staff is serious about retaining him, they'll keep calling him up. They may call him up to a meaningless WCQer (hopefully we have one here in this first round). However, I expect de la Torre to make his debut as well. That could be soon actually. The guy most people don't get to see or hear about at all, but is highly rated...............................is Josh Perez of Fiorentina. Hugo Perez' nephew. And yes, one thing folks should note is that there are a lot of intruiging U20 prospects. These are just the Euro-based players.
Carter-Vickers. Maybe also Wright or Palmer-Brown. I try to take into account what the fans of the teams these players play at think of whether they'll make it at these clubs. The others Gedion Zelalem; Arsenal-I think he'll go out on loan. I don't think he's as good as some people do. Mukwelle Akale; Villarreal-I'm not so optimistic that he makes any first team appearances for Villarreal. Josh Perez; Fiorentina-Fiorentina doesn't usually play youngsters. He's good, I'm just not sure they'll give him a chance. Brooks Lennon; Liverpool-Don't think he'll make any appearances for Liverpool. RSL might have a new HG candidate next season. Josh Doughty; Man United (Canadian-American)-Don't think he'll make any appearances for Man United. Another candidate to sign with RSL? Matthew Olosunde; Man United-I don't think he plays any first team games this season. Maybe next season. Kyle Scott; Chelsea (although looking to move)-I think he'll be leaving Chelsea within the year Abuchi Obinwa; Hannover-Is he even at Hannover anymore? Weston McKennie; imminent signing at Schalke-He's doing well at Schalke early on, maybe next year, think this season is too early for a first team appearance Luca de la Torre; Fulham-I think he might play some first team games, but its Fulham, only the "breakout youngster" if he's starting every game and playing very well Danny Barbir; West Brom-Maybe he gets into a cup game or two. West Brom promotes their young players better than most Prem teams. McKinze Gaines; Wolfsburg-Not sure he'll make any appearances for the Wolfsburg first team. Marlon Fossey; Fulham-I think he's about a season or two out from the first team. He needs to defend better. Will Pulisic; Dortmund-I don't think he makes it with Dortmund's first team out of the academy, but even if he does, this season is too soon for that Kai Koreniuk; Vitesse (Dutch-American)-I'd predict a game or two. I don't believe he was playing preseason with their first team, so maybe he's not that close. Timothy Tillman; Bayern (German-American)-If Bayern wraps up the league really early, I think he might get into one of the last games of the season. Antonee Robinson; Everton-I think he'll go out on loan. If he makes it at Everton, he'll probably have had done well on loan this season, and next season or the one after he gets a chance at Everton Timothy Weah; PSG-A season too early. Maybe the season after he gets into a game or two.
CCV absolutely should get capped vs St Vincent, so he has to be #1. What about guys like Caleb Stanko, Russell Canouse, Lynden Gooch, etc. should they be listed here as well?
I just listed guys eligible for our current U20 cycle, which is guys born 97 later (so that includes Pulisic). Those three, plus Hyndman, Miazga, Rubin, Horvath, etc. were part of the last U20 cycle. Everybody should feel free to discuss whomever they want, though. I just consider that a guy like Hyndman has already "broken out." He has multiple USMNT caps. I was sort seeking teenage kids that will zoom out of nowhere to be capped by the end of the 2016-2017 club season. Sort of the same explosion onto the scene as Pulisic. A guy like Zelalem is obvious to everybody. Some might argue that he's already "broken out" and is seeking additional opportunities. But a kid like Weston McKennie, who apparently just served as captain of the Schalke U19s in the Ruhr Cup, could be on that kind of track. He's a kid known to US youth and development academy watchers. He was captain and best player on the FC Dallas U18s that just won the national title. I think he's OUTSTANDING as a box-to-box mid. Better of the defensive side of things than the attacking side of things at the moment. If he debuted for Schalke towards the end of this 2016-2017 European season, I wouldn't be stunned. Others will say its "too soon." However, nobody really thought Pulisic would be getting as many appearances as he did when the 2015-2016 season started. Most of us in the youth forum thought it was too ambitious to think he'd be getting any game time (particularly after Junior Flores really struggled to advance there.) Pulisic just impressed the coaching staff and vaulted up the depth chart. He took advantage of an opportunity when injuries and fixture congestion hit at Dortmund. Is it too much to ask for a rapid breakout like this every year? Maybe. But Weston McKennie isn't 16. He'll be 18 in a few weeks. He's older than Pulisic. That 18-19 year old frame is the age when kids break out in Europe. There are also MLS options in this age group. You know who's having a surprisingly good season? Just Glad of RSL. Centerback competition for this U20 team...................CCV, EPB, Glad, Redding, Barbir, Arellano, and others If only we we had that type of competition at every position.
FYI, Zelalem never had to file a one-time switch. His paperwork issue was getting the five-year residency requirement waived. If he had played in official games for German youth teams, he never would have been able to play for the US under any circumstances.
He may have one of the better situations to get on the field on a regular basis. Gonna keep an eye on him this season. Serve A is on beIn and Fiorentina ought to be on a fair amount this year.
Its actually a terrible situation. Fiorentina didn't play a player younger than 20 in a first team match all of last season.
Chances are that none of these guys break out, unfortunately. We have to remember that Pulisic was a very rare case in US soccer history. But, there's no fun in saying just that.... If I went with a complete uninown: I'll say Timothy Tillman.
I think there's enough talent there that a couple will. I think there are potentially 5 guys (at least) that will have future USMNT caps amongst that group of 2017 cycle U20 kids. We already have the one with Pulisic. I wouldn't be surprised if Zelalem is capped by the end of 2016, with CCV not too far behind. One can argue that CCV doesn't play a position of need at the moment. Two-way central midfielders like Zelalem are always in need. If he stays at Arsenal this season (or goes on loan to a relatively big club), he'll be called up for a Euro-based friendly. Klinsmann has always seemed like he WANTS to give young guys a chance. He's just been frustrated by the lack of quality in the group. So many of the last U23 cycle have fallen off the face of the Earth. Where art thou Luis Gil? Where art thou Junior Flores? Maybe he'll see some quality in this next batch of youngsters........................... The question of how many will break out at elite club like Pulisic is a fair one. Let's remember that Pulisic has played a grand total of 12 career games, most as a substitute (according to wikipedia anyway). One can even argue that while he's made an introduction, he hasn't established himself at that level yet either. I just think we have more kids with a chance to break out at "big" European clubs than we've ever had before. There's a whole batch I didn't put on the list above. Kyle Gruno at Leicester leaps to mind as a kid I left off the list. I thought he was too young for it (but I did include Timothy Weah for the shock-and-awe value). I've really been impressed with Gruno every time I've gotten a chance to see him. I see a wave of prospects on the way that's different than we've had before. Another batch of 2017 U20s have recently de-committed from the NCAAs. Goalkeeper vom Steeg seems to be on his way to Europe (recently trialed at Kaiserslautern), Jeremy Ebobisse has been trialing in Europe, Emmanuel Sabbi is no longer listed on Akron's recruiting site..............the list goes on ad naseum. What's changed is partly the increasing quality of the prospects. What's radically changed has been the scouting and player identification initiatives of foreign clubs. The willingness of foreign clubs to bring in American prospects has changed dramatically. Its something MLS needs to respond to PRONTO. There's a talent drain away from the domestic game at the moment. Its highly visible at the U20 level, where our best 25 players might all be playing abroad. [Right now the only domestic player I have in my 18 is one CB. One of Glad or Redding to back up CCV and EPB. There could also be a domestic keeper in there.] That's not a problem from a USMNT/USYNT point of view. We want our prospects "reaching for the stars." But its a problem from an MLS point of view. Jordan Morris is the exception, when he chose MLS over a good Germany opportunity.
The only thing that really can be stated is the 97 and 98 ages are probably the deepest talent ages we have ever produced. Schalke Dortmund Liverpool Arsenal Fiorentina Manchester United Porto Villareal Agree. I personally believe Tommy Redding has had the best year for growth out of anyone. We also shouldn't rush to judgement about failures until these players are 23 years old. Pulisic could see little PT this year with Dortmund but that will have little effect on how good he is "6 years from now" when he is 23-24 and the same goes for Gedion, CCV, Mukwelle, Brooks, EPB etc. They all are in great clubs who have proven development structures, it now all depends on their individual professionalism and frankly luck.
Competition for wingers and creative midfielders isn't far off of the center backs... Pulisic, Akale, Lennon, Perez, Yueill, Saucedo, Gedion, Young, etc... Love it.
It's no fun, but I came here to post the same thing. Let's hope CCV impresses so much that they can't keep him on the bench.
Wasn't pulisic's case really rare in WORLD soccer? He's currently listed as worth 5 mil euros on transfermarkt, basically the highest 98'. I think of all the other attacking players at good academies around the world (his age) and none of them made that much of an impact at a pro level to raise their price like that. So maybe we are just lucky this one guy who did this is American, or maybe these young American kids just have a killer instinct when they get into Euro academies? I think it's the first haha
It was rare for a kid that had recently turned 17. Most of the kids on my list above are 18-19, which is when elite youngsters tend to break thru. Gedion Zelalem is 19. We should have kids in that range break thru into first teams in MLS, Mexico, and Europe if we're improving as a soccer nation.
In reality only true world class players breakthrough at 19 or younger and I am not saying Pulisic is world class he had a lot of factors go into play. 20,21,22 is when elite players breakthrough.