So Bremen have him scheduled to be with the main team after next year's summer? that is a bold statement.
Didn't he get the memo about all US juniors going to Schalke? It would just be much more convenient for him to be there for all of us YA fans.
I'm not quite sure that's what we should read into those comments. I think its very possible that due to Josh only being able to sign with Bremen in late February, that he's missed the registration window in order to play actual matches during this club season for any Bremen side. So he's training with the U23s this spring, and then will be a proper part of Bremen (whether its the U19s, Bremen II, or the first team) able to play in matches starting after that.............................. Josh went on a tour of German clubs a while ago. One of those teams was Schalke. From some of his comments today, he simply felt like Bremen was a great fit. Josh training with FC Schalke ⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/XtTbYc3VpV— Jeff Sargent (@JeffSsarge64) January 28, 2017
If I read that translation right, he'll join up when he's 18 and be with the U23's. That's huge. Gives him almost half a year to adapt to the culture and system.
Loaned to Sandhausen in Bundesliga II and has been getting playing time. Started this past week. Hallo aus #Aue! Mit dieser Elf gehen wir heute an den Start!#SVS1916 #AUESVS pic.twitter.com/4biU0kiGyh— SV Sandhausen 1916 e.V. (@SV_Sandhausen) September 22, 2017 Has scored his first pro first-team goal.. .@HajiWright opens his account for @SV_Sandhausen #usmnt pic.twitter.com/rQupPtTbjX— Dallas Cup ⚽️ (@dallascup) August 19, 2017
Reasonably well. The last few games Sandhausen hasn't been able to create any attacking chances for him. The prior few games, they were, and I thought he was getting really unlucky with facing some incredibly good keeping on the shots he was taking. Only one goal so far, but he's shown he belongs. He could show more, I'd like to see him run the channels more and get into the middle of the box more.
As predicted McKennie WAY out in front. Not just looking good in the reserves, not a promising prospect loaned out to a lower division, not training with or "in the squad with the first team", not stuck in limbo between MLS and European suitors, etc. Playing (competently) for a legit Bundesliga team. It's happening.
I actually think Jonathan Gonzalez is in the lead and giving McKennie a run for his money. Sad thing is that he wasn't even mentioned as a candidate until page 7 of this thread, at which point he was already performing well in Mexico.
He would be second in my book and rather than it being sad I see it as cause for celebration that we can no longer count all of our legit prospects on one hand.
Sigh, I just hope the rumor mill is not right about Gonzalez. Starting for team leading in Mexico and twice named to team of the week.
Shrug. The hype train moved out of the station sooner with McKennie as we'd seen a lot of him with FC Dallas youth teams. His FCD U18 team two seasons ago was arguably the best team in the history of the development academy. Folks had seen a lot of him during televised events like the Dallas Cup, DA Playoffs, etc. We don't watch Liga MX youth teams, so how were people supposed to have an opinion about Gonzalez until he started playing with their first team? And most folks feel that just playing in Liga MX at this point doesn't automatically make you a better prospect than an MLS player. You kinda have to see a player a couple of times to know. Its amazing to consider that neither McKennie or Gonzalez were on our recent U20 World Cup team. The starting midfield on that squad was supposed to be Tyler Adams (who's been awesome recently for NYRB) and Zelalem. Unfortunatly, Gedion tore his ACL in the first game of the tournament........................ Consider if you will that both Adams and Gonzalez are still eligible for our NEXT U20 World Cup team in 2019.
I think it just goes to show as well that we fixate on a handful of prospects based on club affiliation without really knowing who will break out. Same reason we were all watching Jonathan Spector and John Thorrington at Manchester United, Zak Whitbred at Liverpool, and Frank Simek at Arsenal in the early 2000s. Also, McKennie was not included on the U-20 world cup largely due to his club wanting him for the U-19s and then to play one senior level game. Frankly, I think Schalke didn't want to risk their investment in McKennie for a youth tournament. Same was true of Wright and Taitague. I can understand why they would discourage it, but I don't believe it was due to an omission from the US side.
Gonzalez wasn't picked for the team because he wasn't good enough. Of course, he would've been playing up a cycle, but still, a few players in his age group did, and he was in contention for a spot, just didn't do enough to get one. No one even suggested he should make the U-20 WC team. I wouldn't say it was because we were fixated on players at big clubs. Don't get me wrong, I think Gonzalez is a talented player who has NT potential, but I think we tend to overreact to players who are early to first team playing time. Sometimes its as simple as one player gets lucky with an injury at their position or a coach who is known for playing young players or the team having a lot of games, while other players have to wait it out another few years.
That's definitely true in general, but that's what makes Jonathan Gonzalez's experience interesting. He's playing at a very young age for a good club AND it's clear that it's not a desperation move by Monterrey. He's keeping Jesus Molina on the bench. It would be very easy for Monterrey's manager to not give Gonzalez playing time, yet he chooses to do so.
I should've explained further. I've already watched Gonzalez play a number of times before he started getting game time with Monterrey's first team, and I simply never evaluated his play to be on par with a Pulisic type of impact or even a McKennie one. Thats not at all to say I thought he was bad or not a good prospect. On the other hand, some people don't bother watching these players before they play in MLS, LigaMX, European first teams, and thats fine, thats their choice. They probably draw more conclusions about a player's first team playing time than I do, and thats because everyone evaluates players differently. Of course, I'm not claiming to be a genius who knows everything about all these players before they start getting playing time. I just try to watch as much as I can, obviously there are some unknown players who really surprise and some known players who show something radically different with more development and thats taken into account, but Gonzalez was a known quantity before his Monterrey first team playing time. I also have been able to watch him a few times for Monterrey's first team, and he looks about as I'd expect. He's keeping up, which is good, hopefully he shows more as he gets older. I think there's a big misconception about young American players right now. Some seem to think that a guy getting playing time at a young age for Monterrey or maybe its the equivalent MLS team or an equivalent team in another league must mean they are the next NT stars, which is a mindset I'd have agreed with about five years ago. But now, I'd argue that all our decent prospects that people know about should be able to keep up at a LigaMX/MLS level, while the stars should ascend to that level in these lower level leagues rather quickly (which is what someone like Justen Glad is doing). I think this new level of player we are seeing from around the '97 age group on is of a higher caliber, and thus is more capable at a younger age. I just think there hasn't been that proper adjustment yet within MLS for this improvement (and LigaMX has a similar problem with youth player development). Thats why I personally do not get overexcited to watch a player play first team minutes who I thought should be capable of it, but wasn't necessarily an immediate NT star in the Pulisic or McKennie mold.
Or, because Tab Ramos has a history of making silly decisions in this very position. I am going to go with the latter. To each their own.
No, it was because no one considered him as a possibility for that team. Take a look at the YNT section, there were pages and pages of discussion about the team. And he wasn't some big unknown. He was at qualifying, not one opinion stating he was worthy of a spot, so unless EVERYONE was wrong, Gonzalez wasn't really on the radar to make the team.
I think if we go and look at the Youth threads after squad selection, nobody was criticizing Ramos for leaving out Gonzalez. This is a "hindsight is 20-20" kind of situation. That's sort of my criterion for whether we should be outraged or not by a USYNT selection. I don't want to be too much of a hypocrite. I'll give another example. Those of us that have been around for a while remember that in 2007 nobody criticized Rongen for leaving off Neven Subotic. That was because he was a gangly 18 year old CB (who'd have been playing "up a cycle") that was coming off of an injury. His performances in U20 camps in 2006 didn't make folks think he was an automatic selection. People made a note that he was a potential call-up that didn't get selected, but nobody made much of a fuss. A year later those same folks were lighting torches to burn Rongen's house down. By the way, not only did Adams score two goals for NYRB last night...............18 year old Fire midfielder Djordje Mihailovic did as well. That's a kid we never talk about that's quietly made ~15 appearances for the Fire this season. He's another that could have been selected for the U20WC team, but wasn't. Jackson Yueill, another midfielder, is now getting playing time for San Jose. He wasn't selected either.
By the way, Jonathan Gonzalez is so young that he was just named to a US U18 squad for a tournament in Spain. [Whether he's released or not is still to be determined.] https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/clu...8-mnt-roster-for-friendlies-in-spain_aid42826 Other midfielders in this U18 squad are Juan Pablo Torres (who's made his debut for Lokeren in Belgium), Paxton Pomykol (who's made his debut for FCD), Jose Carranza (who' s made his pro debut with North Carolina FC), Christian Cappis (2016-2017 U18 DA player of the Year in the Central Conference), Brandon Servania (who's been playing extremely well for Wake Forest)........................among others. There are a lot of interesting, young midfield prospects out there.
I totally get what you are saying and it is a fair and valid point. On the other hand, guys like Ramos and Rongen are paid for what? It is entirely fair to criticize them for missing on talent, whether we knew it at the time or not, it's their job.
Actually I think that is an extremely good question! What are they paid for? We complain an awful lot about our olympic failures and other failures as well but the criticism depends partly upon what their job is. Is the job to win? or is the job to develop US players for the national team the best possible way? If we look at it as developing players, the argument could possibly be made that some players (McKennie for example) would have been held back in their careers by being chosen for a youth team rather than staying on the path to the first team with their club. I am not saying that is the case with McKennie or that it was Ramos' reasoning with McKennie but I think it is an interesting thought. If, however, he is being paid to win than he needs to choose the players that are best NOW, not in 2 or three years. In that case, leaving off McKennie would be pretty hard to defend. (in my opinion). The fact that some players (Gonzalez et al) may be further along in their careers during the present, does not necessarily imply they were the best at the time. Unfortunately looking back in hindsight only works for the development aspect and there are too many variables for anyone to be expected to get it right every timwe.