FC Dallas has a bunch of 01's on their team. Not on their listed roster, but they are on the team. Some played last week. And I completely agree about SKC. I like what their academy is doing, but what FC Dallas has been doing is unrivaled, as far as I'm concerned. They were the best MLS team at the LigaMX U-17 tournament, and the second best team at the tournament after Pachuca who has the best youth system in North America. They probably have the second best youth system in North America right now, I'd just like to see them use these players. They produced McKennie, but he plays for another team. We talk about Pomykal, Cannon, Ferreira, but these guys don't play. I don't think anyone wants to criticize FCD, we'd like them to use these players, but right now they are not, and its bad for US Soccer that the best academy in MLS is not using their young youth products. Maybe Atlanta can keep up with Dallas over the long-term. Right now, they don't have anywhere near the depth of Dallas. Besides that, these teams are probably just competing for 3rd place among MLS academies.
Yes, important side note for people digging around rosters on the DA site: many teams list players in their "age appropriate" teams even if they routinely play up. That isn't always the case, obviously, but it's common. The DA site doesn't seem to have the capability to display a player and his stats on two roster pages at the same time.
I'd like them to add some heights, weights, positions (beyond just goalie, defense, midfield, forward) and highlights from matches. Is that really so hard to ask for? These games are all filmed by someone. Even if its not good video, it could help. And also, I'm sure all these teams have heights and weights for all their players, they also can provide the lineup in full, I'm sure its diagramed somewhere.
Having a great academy means SQUADOOSH if the players developed there don't have impact on the first team. FCD has two academy starters (Gonzalez and Acosta), one rotation guy (Ulloa). That's more than most of the league. For FCD it seems they've struggled with keeping the assembly line moving while also gunning for trophies. Its easier to give lots of playing time to youngsters when you don't have the expectations FCD had this year (like say....................what RSL has done this season with youngsters). If FCD misses the playoffs this year, they'll have one of the most interesting off-season of the year. Cuz they have a lot of talent on that team, and missing the playoffs would be viewed as a huge failure for Pareja/Clavijo to deal with. I hope they go back to the homegrown culture that got them there in the first place.
Altanta does have something imporrant: infrastructure. They're academy is currently not very far behind Dallas imo, but the culture that the first team is building will only boost the academy environment. Dallas have a nice academy, but they still can't rally the Metroplex to support them, which will hurt them in the future
The Union list all of their players as being from Wayne, Pa. even though none to my knowledge are and the academy/school/residency houses aren't actually in Wayne.
Not sure what you do in your real life but this sounds like a great opportunity for you to develop this. You spend tons of time on it already and would just need a network of local folks to keep you updated on a lot of what you're after.
Atlanta has already had sucess scooping up prospects from the around the south and funnelling them into their academy. Brought in Garces, McGann and Letts this year. Brighton is also from SC and was brought in last year. There U19 team will be loaded this year with Ascesio, Jones back from Bradenton plus the above additions. It will be interesting to see if they compete in any high end tournaments and how they fare.
Don't think I've seen this tweet posted yet: Hearing that @julian__araujo is on the U.S. U18 MNT roster for a camp in Spain in Oct. Araujo, an 01, will be playing up 2 years with 99s— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) September 21, 2017
I'll just leave this here................... This appears to be real. He's listed on their USSF DA page as having played four games for them so far this season. Here's to hoping he's the next Pulisic!!!!!! Gonna need that GPA though pic.twitter.com/xoCsAScev0— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) September 22, 2017
We caught up with U-19 player Chris Richards before tomorrow's Texas Derby match against @DynamoAcademy. pic.twitter.com/iuvI09TtOb— FC Dallas Youth (@FCDallasYouth) September 22, 2017
So is the Houston Dynamo Youth (ex-Texas Rush) like a B team for Houston Dynamo or what? Anyone know what the functional relationship between the side-by-side DA teams is?
Seattle has a fun academy to follow. '05 Angel Martinez is playing regularly for their U-15's. He's started most of their games. I know nothing about him, but an '05 in the '03 age group is something to follow. Oscar Rincon also plays for that team, an '04 who has gotten some hype in the past. Haven't seen him play, either, but he does seem to be highly rated. '05 Nelson Pierre of the Union academy has gotten some time with the Union U-15's, and is the leading scorer for the U-14's, scoring over a goal per game, hasn't even played all the games, and he's a year younger than most those players. Again, don't know much about him, but his stats are something to follow. '00 Sebastian Soto is scoring over 2 goals per game (13 in 6) for the RSL U-19's. Time to get this guy a pro contract, whether its RSL II or RSL. He nearly made the U-17 WC team. He's too good for the U-19 level. Soto and Booth should both be on pro contracts with RSL by the start of next season, IMO. Ochoa and Arriaga might be players to consider for HG contracts in a year. '02 Balthazar Saunders leads the U-17 league in goals scored with 12. He's now at NYRB after being at NYCFC prior to that. He has 12 in 10 games, probably a player who should be part of the Nike Friendlies group with the upcoming U-17 group. '02 Jake Charles Means is another player doing well, 9 in 7 games, he could also get a U-17 call up. He's playing with Real So Cal's U-17's. @Giggsy1986, do you know anything about '02 Eric Contreras with Minnesota Thunder? He has 6 goals in 5 games. Selmir Miscic leads the U-15 league in goals 14 in 8 games, he's with the Union academy. Just behind him is Samuel Sarver of the Crew Academy with 12 in 6, he actually leads the league in goals per game, but has played two less matches than Miscic. I've read some good things about Sarver.
RSL U19's last three games: vs. Arsenal, 8-0 @ Barca Academy, 6-0 vs. San Diego Surf, 8-0 These three results all came without Taylor Booth, too. They also beat Nomads 9-0 earlier this year and overall have a 34-3 goal differential across six games. The Utah/Casa Grande separation has historically resulted in close to zero USL minutes for academy amateurs. That can and should change now that the whole operation is in SLC now and U19 DA opposition doesn't seem to be enough of a challenge for this group. Plus, as @ussoccer97531 notes, there are probably several guys worthy of a pro contract anyway.
It may be indicative of a separate issue. RSL U19s have played 6 games this year - a close loss to the Timbers U19s, a close win against the Sac Republic U19s, and 4 blowouts of over 6 goals apiece. I know pro/rel is everybody's favorite argument to have, but I wonder if it's needed for the DA. Looking at their schedule, they won't have a truly competitive game until the game against Pateadores on January 27. That's basically 3 months of teams not at their level. Is this helping someone like Soto? He had 4 goals yesterday. He pretty clearly is ready for a new challenge, but the Monarchs won't kick off til March.
Separating the existing group of DA clubs into tiers means more travel for everybody. That's a hard sell. It makes a lot more sense to just promote players who are too good for the level. That necessitates bumping up some of the better U17s, who are then challenged at the U19 level and the best U19s are now being challenged at the professional level. The lack of alignment between the fall-spring DA and the spring-fall pro leagues is a mild hindrance, but MLS preseason begins in late January. Bring in Soto, Booth, and whoever else and have them training full-time with the first team and then assign them to RSL or Real Monarchs as appropriate in March. A couple more months of demonstrating continued dominance of the U19 league won't kill them. Since the DA schedule slows down over the winter, there are only four games + winter showcase between now and that Pats game anyway.
Solid Player - I would describe him as a true goal scorer - He still has a lot to work on but I am very curious as to how the next few years play out for him. He has essentially averaged a goal per game over his DA career. Bold and underlined is Games Played Bold is goals scored PLAYING HISTORY Season Position Team GP GS S% G YC RC 2017-2018 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-16/17 5 5 71.4 6 1 0 2016-2017 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-14 2 2 10.5 4 1 0 2016-2017 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-14 3 3 100.0 1 0 0 2016-2017 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-15 11 10 55.6 11 1 0 2015-2016 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-13/14 3 3 100.0 3 0 0 2015-2016 Minnesota Thunder Academy U-15/16 10 10 62.5 10 0 0
Gio Renya!!!! Doing what he does so well! 1-0 U19s vs Empire United in the 70min. pic.twitter.com/4VFJjtQVHv— NYCFCAcademyTV (@NYCFCAcademyTV) November 5, 2017
I could see him playing anywhere in the attack. The kid is really big for a playmaker, must be like 5'10 or 5'11 already. He's strong and deceptively quick. He's more of a player who assists goals than scores them, but can score them, also. I've changed my opinion on this a few times though. I initially thought he was only a #10, but then I changed my opinion to thinking he could play as a winger, and recently I thought he could play as a CF.
Thomas Tulgar '03 striker at NYRB is piling up the goals, as is Mateo Bargagna '04 (I believe winger) with Atlanta United. They are both playing in their normal age categories. A player who's playing up a year who seems to be very highly rated is Nigel Prince an '04 (I think CB, but definitely a defender) at Atlanta United.