Daniel Leyva is a player that I hear name dropped frequently as someone to watch. He's a late 03 that the Sounders brought along to a U-17 tourney and he still managed to be a standout despite the age gap. I believe he mostly plays w/ U-15s, anyways he's described as a technically gifted 10 but can also dictate game as an 8. Another player to watch perhaps, Nelson Pierre, an 05 forward w/ the Union, he's playing up a year (sometimes two) and it doesn't seem to be slowing down his production, found this blurb about him on Union site - "One player playing up, Nelson Pierre, continues to impress with his size and speed, but has additionally shown significant improvement in his game understanding and ability to finish." Scores a nice header ~19 mins in - http://www.ussoccerda.com/2017-u14-ereg-atlu-union
A little more background on Nelson. He’s about 5-7, 5-8 already and I’m told is focused, hard working and has a strong desire to learn. He’s currently commuting a long distance from Harrisburg to train a few nights a week so there’s no question that the commitment is there.
The tone of this rundown of some players in the Sounders' academy almost seems like satire when you consider some of the certainty about players people often use in this forum -- pretty much every evaluation is "time will tell." But there's some good info and names here. https://www.sounderatheart.com/thefuture/2017/11/9/16515442/sounders-2-player-recaps-academy
I didn't realize they played so many academy players throughout the season. 14 got playing time. That's also not including other youngsters like Azriel Gonzalez, Sam Rogers, and Shandon Hopeau who all played solid minutes. Very cool
There were a few games in the middle of the summer where they basically trotted out the U18 team in USL games.
Notes: Garces got his first start this weekend for Atlanta's United's U-19's. Gave up 2 goals on Saturday. Speaking of Atlanta United, their U-13's seem to be a very talented group. '05 Jonathan Villal has 19 goals, '05 Daniel Sebhatu has 14 and '05 Chance Gray has 12. All are averaging more than a goal per game. They also have '05 Alan Carleton who I've read is rather highly rated, brother of Andrew. He has 3 goals, but I believe he's more of a playmaker. It would be nice if the USSDA website listed assists, very often its hard to figure out who are the best attacking players if they aren't scoring a lot of goals. Part of the problem when you get a big academy having a talented group is that they don't get many competitive games. Atlanta's U-13's have scored 78 goals and given up only 7. 4 of those came in a 4-3 loss to NYRB. They don't even play their starters for the full game, they have two sides, one plays one half, the other plays the other half, yet the players above are still accumulating those stats. It would be hard to figure out logistically, but it probably is best for the development of these players to be playing better teams more often. Some of these games are completely uncompetitive for the big academies. How many competitive games do these kids get a season? Not all too many. '05 Nelson Pierre played off the bench today for Philly's U-15's after I believe he played yesterday for their U-14's and scored. He's playing up two years by playing with the U-15's. He's not scored yet, but he's very young for the level. He's over a goal per game (8 in 7) at the U-14 level, which still isn't even his age group, thats one year playing up. '00 Matt Hundley had 4 goals today for the Rapids U-19's. He was one of the last cuts from the U-17 WC team. Creative winger with some technical ability, I thought he might've made the team, but I thought it was the correct decision to leave him off. Either way, he seems to be a good option for the Rapids to sign. 8 goals in 8 games, although he's more of an attacking mid, so like I've mentioned before, assist stats would be helpful. '01 Marcelo Palomino played 90 for the Dynamo U-19's. We have heard from usaprospects that he might be on the move to Europe soon enough. He's a May 2001 birthday, so if he is, likely a waiting until after the 2018-19 DA season. For now, he's probably the only notable prospect in the Dynamo academy. 1 goal in 5 games playing up a team with the U-19's. '02 Owen Guske has started 8 games for the Timbers U-19's. Very few 02's are playing at the U-19 level. I don't know anything about him, but the fact that he's playing so regularly for an MLS team's U-19's is rather notable. He's listed as a midfielder. He had an '02 age group call up in January, listed as a defender.
At least Atlanta U13 has a deep squad that can challenge each other in practice. Part of the issue with finding competition is that Atlanta is stacked across the board, but most DA are not. Quality 13 year old will play up for those DA, but are blocked in Atlanta. For instance a coworker has a U13 that play U15 DA and starts. If he played for Atlanta then likely he would play U13, but he doesn't, so he plays up weakening their U13 team making them less competitive with teams like Atlanta, but strengthening their U15 team.
Since FC Dallas weren’t in the playoffs I decided to spend a couple hours watching the FC Dallas academy teams playing Lonestar SC this weekend. I watched the 2nd half of the U16/17 match and then all of the U18/19 match. The U-16/17 match was played at a pretty high technical level. He’s been in a couple of Youth National Team camps, but Beni Redzic is a name to watch. He had fantastic control and was able to dribble in very tight spaces. He had some Messi-esque runs and created opportunities out of 1 v 3 situations. He was playing as a wide left attacker when I was watching. He really stood out. He grabbed three goals and led to many other chances being created. The other standout for me was a sub, Tanner Tressman, who played about 25 minutes but really embraced a Mascherano-like roll. He’s bigger than most of the others but he shut down anything that Lonestar SC tried to build thru the middle. He also rarely misplaced a pass and was quick to cover for any midfielders getting forward. Match finished FC Dallas 5, Lonstar SC 2. The U18/19 match was the marquee matchup and featured some new talent playing up an age group. Gibran Rayo (2001) got a start and played 75 minutes. This guy can really fly, but he also has a first touch that forces defenders to close down on him quickly. His shot is developing, but he had some chances to get on the end of crosses but mistimed his run. FC Dallas built most of their opportunities through the left initially with Alex Bautista (LB) and Edwin Cerillo (LW) doing the leg work. Both are class of 2000. I was more impressed with Bautista as I found Cerillo to be a little less tactically disciplined, even in the free flowing system FC Dallas played. The big names that made appearances were Brayan Padilla (2000), a forward, and Bryan Reynolds (2001) fresh off the U17 World Cup. Padilla has great control of the ball, as well as an eye for runs thru the channels. The service wasn’t always there. He took his chance well on a (I think) set piece opportunity just before halftime to score a goal. I don’t know how he’d do against a more talented backline, but if he had been given service for some of the runs he was trying to make he’d have grabbed another goal. I didn’t really get a chance to see much of Reynolds, but what I did see was a little bit of rust due to his time away from club with the national team. He was good in the air and was able to create some space for others to run onto as he drew defenders onto him. Very talented, but rust was evident from the time away with national team. The Lonstar SC goalkeeper had a really good match. He made 3-4 really good saves, including one off a rebounded follow up that was a pure reflex save with his palm after diving down to save the initial shot. First time watching academy soccer and enjoyed it, despite the wind making it feel like it was in the low 50’s.
What did you think of the two U-17 CB's? I like both of their games. And what did you think of Letayf? I believe he was probably playing as a #6, but might've been the #8. He wore #6. On the U-19's, any thoughts on the RB (Almaguer), CB #4 (Richards), the keeper (Avilez) , Cappis (I believe he was likely playing as a #8, also wears #8), as well as Thomas Roberts who came on as a sub (probably playing as a #10, he was subbed in for Jalen James)? Those are some of the guys I'd be watching out for, based on what I've seen. Thanks for the review, very informative.
I watched the U17 match from the opposite side of FC Dallas goal so didn't see them up close except for on set pieces. They went in hard on Gaines when he got the ball and tried to cut in from the left wing. Smart since that kid is stick thin. If I remember correctly, #6 for U17 had some good interchange with the forwards and was able to actually help assist in building the attack. Didn't remember much about him beyond that. I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN WRITTEN NOTES! I'm really mad that I didn't, but again, freezing cold. As far as the U-19's, I will say the #4 was very effective at covering behind Cerillo and the other full back. He also didn't just boot the ball forward. He tried to restart play by playing a 1-2 with the keeper. Good positioning too. The keeper for FC Dallas was very talkative. I don't know if that's typical of this age group, but he was constantly yelling, even when the ball was literally nowhere near him. He loved to scream, "PADILLA!!!". He was confident on coming for balls in the air, as well as decent with the ball at his feet and pressure from forwards. There weren't a ton of shots by Lonestar SC. #8 Cappis is an awkward, but effective player. He reminded me of what you'd get if you married Thomas Mueller's awkwardness and height with Aaron Ramsey's control and dribbling. He was very composed and smartly used his size to create space (his arms would do an impression of a bird flapping his wings everytime he got the ball). Great passing and never seemed rushed. Roberts got a quick run out and looked confident on the ball, and to have good dribbling skills. He made some decent passes, but wasn't too involved. I'm excited to go back out for the next round of matches in Frisco.
Thanks for the report! Very informative! Rayo is an amazing case. Mexican youth teams called him up before most on these boards, even FCDophiles, had heard or seen much of him. It speaks to their scouting network........................... BTW, every time I've watched the U16/17s the player that's REALLY stood out is Beni Redzic. I totally agree with your assessment. He's an 02, so we should see him with the next US U17 team. Lots of skill on the ball with that guy. We should want to keep him in the pool as I think he might be a dual-national. Serbia? I can't remember. Anyway, I used to follow his father's twitter feed which was in some Eastern European language. He doesn't seem to post much anymore. [Yes, that's how much I stalk FCD youngsters. I follow their parents' twitter feeds. Sometimes that's where you get the best info.....................]
Bosnia, he has a Bosnian and US flag on his instagram account profile. We have to make sure we get him into the US fold before Bosnia does, we can't have another Alvarez situation. He has one US call up I believe back in late 2015, but Alvarez had some US caps. We can't lose quality dual-nats raised in the USA to other countries. Losing Alvarez and Redzic from the same year at attacking mid would be a big blow to our '02 age group. Not having Alvarez is already hurting the AM. With Alvarez, I think we'd look at this age group a lot differently.
4 more goals for Sebastian Soto today. That's 17 total in 8 games - he's had a hat trick at least in 4 of the 8.
Notes: I might've mentioned him before, but '04 Nigel Prince seems to be the next big name at Atlanta United to keep track of. He's a defender who's a regular starter in the U-15 age group, so he's playing up a year. I don't know much about him, but he's a big CB. '04 keeper Dagoberto Romero also plays for the U-15 side, he splits games with an '03 keeper. I don't know if that means he's not as entrenched as Prince or they just have a philosophy to rotate keepers to get them game time, but he has played no games with his regular age group. He's another player to keep track of. '04 winger Mateo Bargagna also seems to be another highly rated '04 within that academy. We know about '03 Martin Killeen with LAG, but another two 03's who might be worth keeping track of are Marcos Isidoro and Edward Castro. Both have 10 goals in 10 games for the U-15's. It would be crazy to make too much of the play of an '06, but Philly might have another really talented goal scorer a year after Nelson Pierre. Dominic Wilson had 16 goals in 7 games in the U-12 age group, and has 7 in 8 games in the U-13 age group, playing up a year (only started 4 of the 8 games). Time will tell, but he is scoring a lot of goals. '05 Marcelo Mazzola is also putting up good stats in Philly's academy. 8 in 8 in his normal U-13 age group, and 2 in 4 playing up a year with the U-14's, including one this weekend. irondeepbicycle already mentioned Soto. Ridiculous stats, should get a HGP contract IMO, but a player he may be blocking from minutes right now is '01 Ben Ortiz. He's a CF who has 9 goals in 7 games at the U-17 level, maybe he's ready for U-19 minutes? He has YNT call ups in his age group. Ortiz scored on Saturday, but in the same game another '01 attacker with YNT caps (including the recent U-18 camp) scored, Luis Arriaga. The main names from RSL in that '01 age group seem to be Booth, Ochoa, Ortiz, Arriaga. Its an impressive group of players for RSL. Can it match their '97 crop (Glad, Acosta, Lennon, Saucedo)? That would be a tall task. Atlanta's U-17 team is rather weak IMO, given how strong their academy is. The player who I'd watch out for on that team though is '01 Edson Candela-Perez. I didn't watch them that closely at the LigaMX U-16 tournament, but I didn't think they were particularly good from the little I did see. Candela-Perez was one of their standouts though, and he has 8 goals in 10 games, he's an attacking mid. He's trialed before with West Ham. A YNT call up for this kid would not be a bad idea. No '02 Gio Reyna this week at any level for NYCFC, but '02 Joe Scally did play, so I wouldn't think its YNT related. Hopefully not an injury before the Nike Friendlies. '00 James Sands got into a game for the NYCFC U-19's. NYCFC's rivals NYRB have an '03 with their U-15's who can't stop scoring. Another two for '03 Thomas Bulgar. Thats 17 in 12 games. I don't know anything about his game, but he is scoring a lot of goals for a good academy. '00 Ben Mines also had a brace, that was with the U-19's. On the other end of this game, Isaac Angking scored for NYRB. He's an '00 who had a number of caps with the U-17's this past cycle. He has 12 goals in 11 games, despite being a midfielder. He's listed at 5'10, and seems to play a two way game in midfield. Could he potentially be the next McKennie Orlando has a rather bland academy, but a player who might be worth tracking is Sahyd Nevado-Masso. He's an '04 forward who scored this past weekend for the U-15's, so he's playing up a year by playing on that team. He has 3 goals in 4 games (3 starts) for the U-15's, and 4 goals (5 starts) for the U-14's. He scored 22 in 21 in his age group last season, so he does seem to have a track record of scoring goals. Speaking again about Philly Union who has a sneaky good academy, I want to highlight three players of note. I continue to not understand why '01 Kris Shakes has 0 YNT call ups. He was part of first team training during preseason, splits time between the U-17's and U-19's. '01 Michael Pellegrino who I believe got into a USL game earlier this season and plays as a #6 scored for the U-19's this week. He's had YNT call ups in the past. '00 Jeremy Rafanello has 14 goals in 11 games for the U-19's. He has a good track record of scoring goals in the DA, last season he had 20 in 24 for Continental FC Delco's U-16's.
Kyle Holcomb '00 at Pateadores is showing up near the top of the scoring charts for the third year in a row. 2015-16: 22g in 31gm (U16) 2016-17: 26g in 27gm (U18 playing up) 2017-18: 17g in 10 gm (U19) I know nothing about him from a scouting perspective. I've just seen him post big numbers on the DA website. He's committed to Wake Forest.
He puts up video game numbers, and its every year, not just one great year. I've watched some highlight videos of him, his goals are posted on his hudl page (I don't know how to link the videos here), he seems to have decent size, and some craftiness to his play. He's intelligent and can finish. There seems to be some Sargent to his game, how exactly he would stack up compared to Sargent, who knows? Does seem like he should get a call in to a YNT camp or two purely based off his well he scores goals in a league where most of these players earn their call ups from.
Holcomb and Soto look like they'll be neck and neck for the DA scoring lead all year. The RSL-Pats game on January 27th should be terrific.
I just recently watched him...............Huge fan. The commitment to Wake Forest will essentially end his chances of reaching his potential.
McKennie committed to UVA. I get your point though, hopefully he can sign pro terms somewhere. This is one of the big problems in our system where a pro ready player from a non-MLS DA doesn't have the option of a pro contract from the academy he's played in for years, and instead has to play the college soccer lottery where maybe if they are lucky (like Ebobisse or Yueill), they can get an MLS contract after a year or two.
I think there is another path, which is to join an MLS academy, stay for a year, then sign through the HGP route. Elijah Rice did something like this for RSL - though he didn't end up getting the contract. If Holcomb is an '00, he should have another year of eligibility after this one. I don't think anything would prevent him from joining, say, LA's academy for next year, and being eligible for a HG deal by summer of 2019. Doesn't detract from the overall point, which is that this is all really dumb, and he should be able to sign wherever he wants.
Portland signed '99 Harold Hanson to a USL deal last year, straight out of FC Golden State in the DA. It remains to be seen how his case will be handled if/when they want to sign him to an MLS deal, but it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. The addition of academy and USL teams has added an extra layer of complexity to MLS transactions. The league is making up rules and regulations as they go along, so in this case fortune favors the bold. You never know if a player is willing to accept USL money and an uncertain pathway to MLS vis a vis league rules, but it'd be worth a shot for one of the clubs with a USL team.
I wonder if there's some kind of lag time between signing from USL to MLS. Could Portland have signed Hanson to T2, then signed him to the first team... like, the next day?