I sort of think maybe a few of these players should go the Devin Vega route and try and sign for a USL team at a young age. Not everyone can go to Europe for one reason or another and Dallas can only sign so many players like Runhard says. San Antonio, Austin, FCD2, Rio Grande, and El Paso are all teams in Texas in the lower leagues so that might be a decent path. Especially El Paso and Austin since they will be new teams and I'm sure those teams would love to show off a shiny young Texas player on their team.
If I had a kid in this type of academy, I wouldn't sign any sort of USL deal as a teenager. Only an MLS deal of a higher salary would keep me from a good D1 opportunity. Chris Richards money at the very least. And then yes, USL games for development. [We're not talking about the elite McKennie-type kids with Euro options here.] I mean, the salaries of USL teenagers must be REALLY low. Devin Vega can't be making more than if he quit soccer to work at McDonald's. I think he only signed a 1-year deal, and has only played in 8 games this season. Precarious.................... Devin Vega committed to Clemson. A good school and good soccer program. Was it the right decision to forego that opportunity for a USL contract? Hindsight is 20/20, but I think the answer speaks for itself.
Kids are not always told the unvarnished truth, or sometimes disregard it when they are. Parents and coaches should have a reasonably accurate sense of where a player stands in the soccer universe.
Worse players have been called into YNT's, but I am not convinced about his game from what I saw last year. He seemed to struggle a lot with his finishing. There looked to be some tools there, so maybe he's improved on his finishing. If so, he could be worthy of a YNT call up, but that '01 age group also has a lot of talented CF's, so its hard to get into the '01 age group at CF. Also, I think often times these CF's at the big academies get overrated. Dallas, Atlanta, LAG are going to score five per game most weeks (assuming they don't have an off crop like Atlanta currently has), so its not going to be that hard for the CF to rack up big goalscoring numbers.
Julian Araujo (@julian__araujo)Araujo recently made a move to LA Galaxy from Barca's Residential Academy. He's a CB with a very nice passing range and great defending. Here are some highlights. pic.twitter.com/MGBzC9plRH— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) September 26, 2018 His long dribbling runs into midfield are fantastic to watch. Good stuff @ShaftBrewer
Excellent style of play. If he can’t stick at CB, I’d much prefer him play as a #6 than as a right back. I think he could do well as a #6. He has the defensive game for the position, the building out of the back, the athleticism to cover ground and being about 5’9 isn’t such a hindrance in midfield as it is as a CB.
Check out @dallascup’s Tweet: How the Philadelphia Union have forged their identity through youth https://t.co/zs12Vb5ZUM— Dallas Cup ⚽️ (@dallascup) September 26, 2018 This just summarizes what has been discussed about the Union playing their youth, but it's still nice to see the professionalizing of the MLS academies, club by club. Now, if some of the laggards will get on board...
Wait why do you think they are that low? And is there a article saying it was a 1 year deal? Or are you talking about his San Antonio deal? I think you are making some assumptions about his situation that may not be true. Maybe he has been signing 1 year deals in hopes of going to Europe? I don't have a clue. But he has been playing on a professional soccer team with didier drogba this year and made 14 appearances in the USL last year against other pros. He is still only 19 years old and has professional experience. I definitely don't think you could say that he has made the right or wrong decision here.
Does playing one center back every day and another center back once in a while count as playing your youth? The Union lost a Cup final last night with one player on the field under the age of 23 (Jones subbed in so late he doesn’t count). Is the rest of the league really that bad at this that the Union keeps getting all this credit? Jack Elliott was drafted 77th and with zero investment in his decade long youth development was equally as poor as Trusty last night.
Week 5: I feel like I'm mentioning the Sounders academy every week, but they are relevant, so its worth mentioning. At the U-15 level, Antonio Herrera ('05) scored his first goal of the season playing up a year. He's started 3 games and played in 4. Joshua Hardin ('05) and Reed Baker-Whiting ('05) also played in the U-15 team. Hardin started, Baker-Whiting came off the bench. Oscar Rincon-Rodriguez ('04) scored again. He might belong at the U-17 level. Patrick Bohui ('03) scored for the second game in a row for the Union U-17's. He's had a slow start to the season. Only two goals in four games, but he's starting to pick it up. He might've needed a few games to adjust, which isn't so bad, but a high level YNT player like Bohui should be scoring a goal per game or better at this level. The Union have a good '03 crop, but it seems like Bohui and Dante Huckaby ('03) are the only two 03's who played this week for the U-17's. Most of their best 03's seem to be in the U-16 squad, which is not in the DA. Selmir Miscic ('03) did not play this week, but also has some U-17 games. I saw this group of players play last season, and was very impressed. I believe I saw Huckaby, but I didn't notice his game. If I see the Union U-17's this season, I'll try to keep track of his play. He was at a recent U-16 NT camp. Matthew Hoppe ('01) is at 7 goals in 6 games with the Barca U-19's. Last season he had 27 goals in 36 games with the U-17's and 2 in 2 at the U-19 level. I believe I saw him play once during the playoffs, but he didn't particularly stand out from what I remember. Not enough that I remember much about his game. Austin Brummett ('04) got his first start for the Sounders U-17's. He didn't score and thats now 3 games and no goals, but I don't think the jump from U-15 level to U-17 level is that high. He probably just needs a couple games to adjust. The fact that he's playing regularly with the U-17's now likely bodes well for an assessment of his ability. Angel Martinez ('05) also started for the U-17's. He's playing up two years. This was his second start for the U-17's. Lomeri Torujo ('03) had a hat trick for the Sounders U-17's. He's now at 4 goals in 4 games after a not so stellar goal record last season. I've mentioned my opinion on system strikers before at these big academies. I have not seen this guy play, so I don't know if he's good or not, but I wouldn't rule out that he might be benefiting a lot from the system. LA Galaxy U-19 featured a number of 02's this week. Adam Saldana ('02), Cameron Dunbar ('02), Kobe Hernandez-Foster ('02) and Carlos Zuniga ('02) all played up for the U-19's this week. The first three all belong at that level, IMO. I've not been that impressed with Zuniga, but goalies play up all the time, so this isn't surprising, whether he's good enough or not. Hat-trick for the star of the Sounders Academy, Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez ('02), at the U-19 level. That hat-trick was in only 74 minutes on the pitch. He has 6 goals in 3 games splitting games between the U-17 and U-19 levels this season. Safe to say he's a professional footballer, and belongs in USL full time, if not the first team. Daniel Robles ('02), Josh Atencio ('02) also started. All three are now headed to a U-17 NT camp in Mexico. I like that the Sounders are giving a lot of the talented players in their academy minutes at the USL level and I think they have been one of the better academies in the DA over the last year or two, but I'd like to see a better plan here. They need to start playing their best youth players regularly in pro environments instead of this rotation policy. Ocampo-Chavez and Atencio are definitely professionals already, and gain little from playing against kids. Some of the others (Fowler, Robles, Vargas, Malone, Serrano, Gonzalez, Diaz) might need a regular pro environment, as well. I don't understand what Dallas's plan is for Bryan Reynolds ('01). He was playing at the U-19 level this weekend, but came off the bench at halftime. Is he coming back from an injury and could only play half the game? Otherwise, I'm not sure why a professional is only playing half a game in an academy game. What position was he playing? Still at RB? Or is he now back at winger/striker? Tanner Tessman ('01), Johan Gomez ('01), Nathan Toledo ('01) and Dante Sealy ('03) all scored in this game for FC Dallas. All four are highly rated players within their age groups. This should be a good season for Dallas at the U-19 level. This is a very talented group of players.
Reynolds played the second half at Right Back of the U19 game yesterday. He made little impact and looked to be going through the motions. FCD doesn't really appear to have any plan for all these HG they keep signing other than to sign them and let them practice with the first team. I guess the USL team could change all that. Was talking to some FCD parents yesterday and they were even agreeing it doesn't make sense for all these HG kids to sign and give up college eligibility to do nothing more than play DA. Hearing there will be another HG announced soon from the U19 team.
Reynolds has been the oddest one of all. He signed way too early. I really don't see the reason kids at any club should sign a homegrown deal at 15 like Reynolds did. Even at the clubs that have a great pathway to the first time (like NYRB has developed), kids shouldn't be signing deals at 15. [I completely understand why the MLS clubs would want them to. They want to sign them before they can bolt like all of the RSL kids just did.] He's been around forever, but he's still only 17. He's actually younger than Thomas Roberts. I mean, people probably don't know much about Edwin Cerrillo (the kid you feel is the next HG signing.). He's about a year older than Reynolds I think. I know people make a big deal out of position change, but I don't know why. As if FCD hasn't just demonstrated an ability to develop a homegrown right back. [Also....................harken back to Kellyn Acosta breaking thru with the first team at that position.] Did Bryan Reynolds prove so much at forward that people thought he was a "can't miss" at that position. I don't get it. I look at it as an opportunity. How much longer is Cannon going to be in MLS? FCD is going to have a really good U19 group, although they did already lose to SKC. But the U17s have started en fuego. After 4 games against SKC, Dynamo, Texans, and Solar...............they're 4-0 with a GD of +18. Egads Guess who scored another hat trick this weekend? Ricardo Pepi. He has 10 goals in 3 games this year. Ouch. As you say, the U19s have a ton of talent. Somehow they have to find a way to move Pepi up, though. He's not being tested at the U17 level.
Sealy would not be a smart signing. I'm not sure he'll even make it to the professional game. Thats not a slight on him as he's a decent prospect. He's a 15 year old who is not an elite player in his age group. Too early to tell how he'll do as a footballer. I agree that Cerrillo will be the next signing. As for Reynolds, this discussion has mostly been exhausted. Some of the comments surrounding his development don't make some fans think they care much about his development. An opposite view can be taken. I tend to think it doesn't make much sense, but its been discussed a lot already. I'm merely pointing out that I don't know why a first team player is a sub in the U-19 team. That makes no sense.
Yes. This is a reason that the USSDA changed the schedule this year to lower the number of league games, so these bigger academies can schedule more tournaments with higher level competition. The Sounders Academy Player Development Manager also said their is discussion of breaking the USSDA into further divisions based on quality, so these players and academies are not traveling long-distances for noncompetitive meaningless games. An example of an overrated player who scored a lot of goals is James Brighton from Atlanta United. He almost lead U17 group two years ago in goals and then scored a lot of goals at U19 level. Got a USYNT call-up as well. Now a FR at Clemson and doesn't even play despite Clemson being bad at offense. Perhaps he is injured, tough getting any news out of college soccer. Not saying Brighton will never be quality or can't develop into a pro prospect, but just looking at his scoring at the DA level you would think this guy would step right into college and make an impact.
Speaking of ‘03s, Walls, Gavin Krenecki (Sacramento), Dante Sealy (FC Dallas), Jack McGlynn (BW Gottschee), Andre Zuluaga (Kendall), Luc Granitur (Orlando), Luca Ulrich (Bethesda), Addison Hicks (Seacoast) have firmly established in U19 level. #usynt— Joey (@USAprospects) October 3, 2018 The Orlando academy staff are high on Granitur from what I've heard Speaking of signings, Seattle had two this week and SKC signed ‘03 attacker Tyler Freeman. Watch for ‘03 Casey Walls (San Jose) to be the next HG signing. #usynt— Joey (@USAprospects) October 3, 2018 Walls is a solid prospect but worth noting San Jose already have a lot of CBs on the roster including '01 HG Akanyirige Gio Reyna (2002), Jake LaCava (2001), Cameron Harper (2001), Marcelo Palominio (2001) & Uly Llanez (2001) are no longer listed with any DA side. They’ve all had interest from European sides in the past #usynt— Joey (@USAprospects) October 3, 2018 Reyna and Llanez were a given but Palomino no longer on a roster is news to me
Llanez's situation concerns me. He won't turn 18 until 4/2/19, so what will he be doing between now and then if he's no longer with the LAG? The hope is that he's on the verge of signing somewhere (please, not Chivas), so once he's affiliated with someone he can at least start training until he reaches 18.
He's a good example of that. Their current CF, Jackson Conway, looks like another example of it. LAG has had some of those players. Negrete, Estrada in past seasons. Jorge Hernandez (not a CF) could be another example of this. Padilla from FC Dallas might be another one. I think it might also apply to some other attackers on these teams. I look at the very talented Seattle academy teams from last season, and some of those players do not seem very talented. Azriel Gonzalez is a good example. In his YNT age group, he looks very average. With Seattle, he's a world beater. Same for Ray Serrano. World beater for Seattle, average in his YNT age group. I think this is because all these players have ability to an extent, but when you play in a team full of good players against teams that might have one or two players at the level of the whole starting XI of these teams, its very easy to look much better than you are and compile these big stats.
These are very good points. Knowledgable scouts will look beyond a player's stats to see what they're about. So, for example, if a CF scores a bundle of goals but mostly due to having a dominant set of players that provide service and support is he really someone worth pursuing if his qualities don't project him to be a difference maker?
I've watched a little bit of LAFC's youth teams, and have been super impressed too. Best thing to ever happen to LA Galaxy may be LAFC arriving to push them.................... Extremely impressed by LAFC's U15 team, its highest academy offering so far. Absolutely blitzing teams, including a 4-2 win over the Galaxy on Sept. 15. Interested to see which team has more first team minutes from their academy in five years between LAG and LAFC.— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) October 5, 2018
Completely agree, but how could that be? I was led to believe by a cantankerous twitter feed that Kleiben and the Galaxy are the only ones doing anything right in youth development in the entire country, let alone in their own city.
Easy to believe until somebody pops you in the mouth............................ I believe that LAFC is participating in the GenAd Cup for the first time at the U15 level. That'll be an interesting national test for them. First game was today against RSL and should be complete. Haven't seen the result.