The whole Dallas region seems to be at another level right now. Their teams dominate the South East and I don't think that the rest of the region is too bad at all.
Alot of people have (rightfully) praised the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas academies for awhile now, but LAFC is one to keep an eye on 🚨 @LAFCAcademy Update:U12 game 1 : LAFC 0-0 GALAXYU12 game 2: LAFC 0-0 GALAXYU13 : LAFC 4-2 GALAXYU14: LAFC 5-0 GALAXY— Heart of LAFC (@heartoflafc) March 24, 2018
I'm pretty excited that we now have two MLS teams in both New York and LA. Competition is a good thing and we need more production out of LA in particular. Now if we could just get Chicago, Houston, NE and DC in a better place. I'm cautiously optimistic about DC going forward given the new stadium. Also happy with FC Dallas (putting aside no USL team), Philadelphia, Atlanta and what I imagine Miami will do to round out the top 10 markets.
Andrew Carleton Last 12 months: #10 in Iniesta mold Andrew Carleton Prior to Last 12 months: More of a Neymar style player. A lot of dribbling, individual displays. The passing, technical ability, IQ was there, but he used it less. I think everyone would prefer he was Messi, who is a combination of Neymar and Iniesta, but so far Messi speed hasn't developed in his game, and the Neymar style game won't be effective without more speed, so he's developing into more of a #10 in the Iniesta mold. Alan Carleton plays in that Iniesta mold already. So if he's going to transform his game, it won't be the same way his brother did so. Alan Carleton plays as if he had 360 degree vision. He always knows where his teammates are and where the opponents are. There is no sneaking up behind him and tackling the ball away, he knows there's a defender there, and will spin out. Highly elite field awareness. The footwork is also a few levels too high for U13 players. His quick feet and creativity what to do on the ball allows him to with regularity own players with skill moves. Sometimes, he uses it too much, but he should learn when better to own a player and when to make a simple play as he moves up the development ladder. His passing ideas are already well beyond the U13 level, he plays like a maestro, although the passing accuracy isn't there yet. I was trying to figure out why. How does someone already control a game with playmaking ideas at 12/13 but not have the accuracy? I figured that its due to the speed of the U13 game. U17 and U19 DA matches are closer to pro matches in speed than U13 is to U17 or U19. There's just a different pace and level of directness in thought you need to have U13 teammates be on the same page as you, so I think that part of his game is too good right now for his own teammates. He might be better suited in a U15 or U17 match, as far as his overall ability, but physically he's better suited for a U13 game. Looking at the weekly boxscores, he wasn't showing up much in the goals column, so I was wondering if he wasn't as good as his older brother, but I think early on he's developing towards a similar level, just a different type of game to how his older brother developed initially. Not as many goals, more of a playmaker. More similar to how his older brother plays right now. The kid has played U13 matches and one U14 match, so its pointless in predicting his game towards the pro game, he might not even get to that point, could quit, could not develop into a good enough player, but at the U13 level, its a similar type of game and impact to his older brother.
Been researching this kid and watching lots of (bad) DCU u16/17 games and came across this post from Thursday on reddit. I realize I’m quoting posts from September so forgive me if this has come to light already but I’ve fallen behind on the DA tread and didn’t want to catch up tonight. Apparently, Nyeman is from Liberia and DCU and US Soccer are working to get him his US passport. Funny, the way he navigates tight spaces kind of reminded me of Nagbe. Don’t know how much time he spent in Liberia but Nagbe was I think less than 1 year old when he came here. Maybe he’s what Nagbe could have been if he had a coach pushing him and a DA setup to train in, cuz Nyeman looks like he will be much better than Nagbe. https://www.reddit.com/r/DCUnited/c...a_cup/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list
Good work finding this stuff out, though it's still odd to me that he hasn't been in camps when non-citizens have been called into camps before
Sure hope this doesn’t effect him(or his parents): http://abc7.com/news/trump-gives-liberian-immigrants-1-year-to-leave-or-face-deportation/3271117/
This FC Dallas U13 team is so impressive, as they just got the Dallas Cup U13 Champion, scoring 24 goals with only 3 goal against. Watched their full games and highlights, thought they are not just dominant, but also dominant in a beautiful way. They have a very organized team system, and nearly every position stand out playing the best of the age for the position. Their coach is Peter Luccin, who did a wonderful job.
I had heard about the citizenship news, but I wasn't going to reveal it. Thats why I specifically stopped mentioning Nyeman in the U-17 thread, but maybe he'll be eligible for that team before the end of the cycle. If he is, I think he's instantly the best field player on the team. If not, I think the good news is that the two best Liberian players already play for the USMNT, so I wouldn't worry about Nyeman playing for Liberia. I also wouldn't be worried that the best footballing prospect in the country will get deported. Thats just not going to happen. There are always some exceptions to these laws, and I would think that DC United has enough pull to work something out (if this law went through and it directly effected Nyeman). I don't think DC United's going to be so welcoming about Trump's soon playing for their academy if Trump's administration deports the best player they've probably ever produced.
I'm pretty sure that DCU will at the very least sponsor Nyeman for an employment based visa. They managed it with Andy Najar so I can't see this being harder.
Yeah I think as I was looking up random youth games I came across a Dallas u12 game which must be the same group. They were destroying Tigres , I was like this can't be real lol.
That U13 team at FCD is coached by Peter Luccin. He's a former long-time pro in France and Spain for clubs like Marseille, PSG, and Atletico Madrid. He had a cup of coffee in his last pro season with FCD in 2014, and has since gone into youth coaching. I don't worry too much about sheer results at the U13 or even U14 DA levels. There are is some play from those teams that make you jump off the couch, though. [If people do want to know scores, the FCD U13s are undefeated since September.] I also think home field advantage really helps these younger teams at the Dallas Cup and GenAd Cup. This isn't a vacation for the FCD boys. They're focused and committed to this event. The Dallas Cup/Gen Ad Cup is really the culmination of their year across all age groups. Not the DA playoffs. People can criticize FCD for all sorts of things...............but their owner, general manager, and head coach went to watch an FCD U13 team play. Do we think that happens in New England? Do we think the Krafts are out on a Saturday morning watching a Revs U13 team? Its not just the monetary investment, but the time commitment these men put into the FCD youth programs that impresses you. Its why I get defensive sometimes when folks bash them for one thing or another when it comes to youth development or first team opportunities for youngsters. 980300807642992640 is not a valid tweet id
Travis Clark and JR Eskilson are paid actual money to give this opinion. I'd trust 99% of big soccer posters to do a better job than this. TopDrawer is back with their final ranking of the Class of 2018. #ATLUTD players include:4) Andrew Carleton8) Chris Goslin17) Justin Garces32) Charlie Asensio40) Rayshaun McGann70) James Brighton100) Will Crain102) Russell Shealy#ATLUTD https://t.co/o3HsXwLJIo— ATLUTD Prospects (@ATLUTDprospects) April 2, 2018
People who are paid to have an opinion may have done a little more research than the average person, but that doesn’t mean their opinions are necessarily better or that they are even more qualified to give them than the more ardent supporters. Tds probably writes articles like that to entertain the average college player’s parents and they probably haven’t heard of 98% of the players on the list.
I don't think TDS is that knowledgeable about top prospects because in the past they catered almost exclusively to the college market, but that appears to be shifting with so many of the interesting prospects bypassing college at this point. I still think the lack the depth at the high end especially on younger and American Youth Abroad prospects as occasionally they will know almost nothing on a player that is a consistent U17 call-up for example, but then recall everything about the 2nd best player on a marginal college women's soccer team. They have consistently not been that high on Carleton. They are the foil to @ussoccer97531 in that respect.
Clark always seems to be making excuses when Carleton plays well. I think it was @barvsenal who questioned him after Carleton dominated Paraguay, and the guy was still trying to downplay the performance. His opinions amount to something like Carleton is too creative, as if we need less, not more creativity in our teams. Really bizarre. Same guy who was talking up Vassilev for the U-17 WC, but had near nothing to say about Booth. I'd say the Aston Villa/Bayern Munich difference there ridicules that. The knowledge that website exhibits on young American players is rather low. You routinely hear them make basic mistakes in the information they give out that most posters here wouldn't do. They seem more in tune with college soccer, I agree.
About every year or so I look into the site and think about subscribing. I’ll click through some of the pages, hoping to have a place where all of the prospects we talk about are laid out in an organized fashion. When that never happens, I’ll read an article to see if they have a different way of presenting in depth analysis. Every year I’m disappointed. High school and club sports are a big business. softball, volleyball, even aau basketball are huge with high school kids and their parents. Tds clearly hasn’t adjusted with how much the academies have changed the landscape of soccer. Or maybe they never did know what they were talking about.
I don't know anything about TDS business, but perhaps it is a successful model that is geared towards a separate audience than people that post on this forum. They are trying to capture the college soccer, women's soccer, broad based men's and women's soccer recruiting, youth soccer, etc and get subscriptions from people in that circle. Now they can shift gears and focus more content on the top tier of players in the pipeline and they have done that to an extent, but there is already tons of content on Josh Sargent and Andrew Carleton, so you are not bringing a ton of value there that you can't get for free. Expanding and focusing on the next tier of players would be more interesting for people like us, but not sure that people care enough to pay for good content on the the Indiana Vassilev or Carlos Asensio types. I don't know for certain, but perhaps they are in the right sweet spot for a business, but that spot isn't really what people here want.
I've watched the FCD U-17 squad a number of times now this season between the GA Cup and the DA showcase. This is where my opinion on this team is at. Letayf: The best player on this team, IMO. He plays such an understated role (a Wil Trapp style role). He gets less hype than he should. He doesn't even get to start all games. Big, physical, reads plays really well on both sides of the ball, good defensively, and an excellent passing range. I also wouldn't doubt he could develop into a #8. Runs the show in CM. Redzic: Has some Pomykal in his game, but with more directness and less of a possession game. Maybe not as good of a prospect yet, but has time to develop his game. Pomykal wasn't the best '99 right away either. In terms of differences between the two, I'd say the differences its mostly Pomykal being more of a #10 and Redzic more of a winger. I was surprised that they are rather similar players though. Skilled, but not going to try to put a defender on his highlight reel every play. Uses skill enough, decent playmaker, underrated speed. Good footballing IQ. He's not a star attacker who dominates games, but I would say he's starter level on the U-17 NT, and is top 10 or so among 02's in the country. Toledo: Another good prospect. Really rugged CB. He has a similar build to Carter-Vickers. He's maybe not 6'3 or 6'4, but he plays like it, as a 6'1 or so CB. Average/slightly above average mobility, and his passing is better than you'd think, given his style of play. Very physical player, as well. Captains the side. Wilson: GK who has good size, can use his feet and has above average reflexes. I haven't seen many mistakes from him so far, which is impressive, considering his age, and he's made a lot of big saves. As of now, I think he's the second best GK in the '02 US player pool, and FCD's top keeper prospect since Gonzalez. Escribano: Raw RB with skill and athleticism. Luchi Gonzalez supposedly said he's a player that he thinks should/could play for YNT's, so supposedly he's eligible. He could learn to read the game better defensively, and pick his spots better when to go forward, but going forward, he's very good, and has significant upside. Like Letayf, he's gotten very little top level exposure (he barely plays for the U-17 team), but his potential is high. Sealy: Doesn't stand out, but he's still playing against older players, so that needs to be considered. I don't see game dominating ability, but a Jesus Ferreira wide forward type of game using speed, finishing instincts, and above average skill, I think he might have that type of profile. Pepi: Big target forward. One of the best 03's in the DA I've seen play so far. He works very hard, already has a good hold up game, and has a decent scoring record. He moves well enough, not a great athlete, but not a bad one either. Hard to know how these types of players will develop, but I see a bigger impact right now in his game than Sealy's. Thats about it for the players I think have NT upside (if they reach their ceilings). Burns could be an MLS'er, probably more likely as a full-back or #6. Mobile kid who reads the game well and can defend. Passing is iffy, as is his height for the CB position. Hinajosa can play both FB positions well enough. That has its value, but I've yet to see him standout. Luchi Gonzalez had mentioned Nicolas Carrera as a player who's game has improved of late. I've only seen him play once. He's another (like Letafy and Escribano) who barely plays, an '02 (younger of the two age groups), but I was not impressed. Bigger CB who moves well, looked overwhelmed by the pace of the game. If Tessman can stay at the #8, he can play as a pro. He's a tower (must be like 6'4) and moves very well. There's value in that, even if the rest of his game is average. Not the most talented group, IMO. I've been disappointed in what I've seen. They play some pretty bad football for such a good academy. Very direct, often bypass the midfield completely. Don't outplay teams they should be outplaying. Is it just a bad crop? I don't even think its a bad crop, I'm starting to agree with @butters59 that the approach at the club recently isn't making much sense. I think there might be the need for a change in management.