This is the area in which they will have to find a balance between advancing top prospects AND keeping the other 95% of players in the Academy happy. If we are honest, those 95% of players who aren't on a path to be a professional have a huge role in the development of the 5%. These are the kids that have to commit to training everyday, and pushing themselves to develop, even when there is no contract awaiting them to sign. These are the kids that train with and against the 5% on a daily basis and without them, the 5% don't reach their potential. This is a new model for FCD and no doubt there will be bumps in the road - but as mentioned before, they risk alienating the majority if they aren't providing an environment that these 95% want.
True but do you think those kids and their parents think their kid won't be one of the 5%? Some may actually be late bloomers and be part of that. I even question whether it actually is 5% when those who go on to college are added in. Quite a consolation prize getting a college scholarship if you don't get a pro offer.
I don't think its a matter of whether or not they "think" they will be part of the 5% (by the way, that is just a number I threw out). If you are playing a sport, you should be fighting to be part of that elite group until someone says you aren't up to the level. I was not speaking about those going to college, but I agree, if you add the kids that go play in college to those that are identified as top pro prospects, the number is probably closer to 100% - especially at an Academy like FCD. I think we are saying the same thing. Yes, there are late bloomers that come out of nowhere every single year. But, I think that is part of my point. Knowing that there are late bloomers, both from a club and player/parent standpoint, if they mentality is to compete every day and reach the highest level your talent can take you - it shouldn't matter whether you are winning trophies or not. It's a culture that has to be developed. You may be a player that has average D1 college potential, but the fact that you go out everyday and give your best plays a big role in helping develop a Jesus Ferreira or a Paxton Pomykal, who are quite clearly more talented. However, the roles can and should be flipped when moving a younger kid up to a team - now they have to give their best, not only for their development but to also make you a better player. If the elite players don't complain about training (at younger ages) with kids less talented than them, I don't think anyone has a right to complain when younger kids are brought up who may not yet be at a specific talent level.
Of course MLS teams are going to want both, win and have their best talent playing up but that can get difficult, especially if the technical director is telling the head coach what player to play in a certain position for a certain amount of minutes. It can also create jealousy from guys that have to play with those players in a situation that sort of handicaps the team. A lot of youth players are used to playing on teams that have a bond. Playing in Academies will open their eyes to the fact that it’s a business.
You are exactly correct. If we, as a soccer nation can change from "creating jealousy" to "creating real competition" and "work ethic" - then we have some great things ahead of us. We hear about creating a bond, team culture and togetherness is our sports a lot. These things are important when you are in the first team and are fighting to win a league, a cup or avoiding relegation. However, you are spot on - this is a business and the sooner players realize they are only assets in the clubs mind, but assets they get a piece of the value from - the better we will all be. I want us to get away from a kid being upset or jealous there is a younger kid brought into a team - I want us to get to a point where that same kid realizes that he has to pick up the slack and perform at an even higher level than before because there is a young kid now in the team.
March 2-3 weekend: Jordan Jones ('05) and Nolan Norris ('05) both played their second and third games of the season for the FC Dallas U-15's. It appears like they've been promoted to the higher age group. I'll caution that promotions don't always indicate who the best prospects are. FC Dallas is a team where that example can be found, but it can be an indication, and these are two players who've been promoted recently. Pranav Dubroff ('05) got his first game of the season playing up a year with the U-15's in the second game of the weekend. Another thing I've noticed is that there appears to be a third Gomez brother in the FC Dallas academy. He didn't make the 18 for the U-15's this weekend, but he's listed in the boxscore among the available players for the U-15 squad, which bodes well for a player being highly rated. The third Gomez brother is named Victor Gomez ('05) and appears to be the starting goalkeeper for the U-14's. My apologies to all of them, if they aren't related, but Victor Gomez looks exactly like the two other Gomez brothers in the academy. Also on the FC Dallas front, Ivan Villatoro ('04) has been promoted to the Dallas U-17's on a more full-time basis. He's a holding midfielder. He's a little undersized against older players, but is a good player. I've only seen him play once, but he didn't look out of place, which I think for a player playing up in the most talented team in the country isn't a bad thing. He has now appeared in six games at the U-17 level, starting two. I've said before that I think Sacramento Republic has the best academy outside MLS. If there's a team who could be part of MLS's expansion that could be a good candidate to integrate youth players, I wouldn't look past Sacramento. This past weekend in a 2-0 loss to Seattle at the U-15 level, they used three players who are playing up a year, Ezekiel Cruz ('05), Aidan Vangelatos ('05) and Alejandro Zarate ('05). Cruz started, the other two came off the bench. Cruz has 4 appearances (3 starts) and 2 goals for the U-15's. Vangelatos has 6 appearances (2 starts) and 3 goals for the U-15's. He has 11 goals in 12 games with the U-14's. Zarate has 5 appearances (0 starts) and no goals for the U-15's. At the U-17 level, Rafael Jauregui ('04) started and scored playing up a year. He has 2 goals in 12 appearances (7 starts) with 3 goals in 3 games in his own age-group. Josemaria Barrera ('04) came off the bench for the U-17's. He has six appearances (one start) for the U-17's. Sacramento and Seattle also played at the U-19 level. Alec Diaz ('01) continued scoring goals by netting Seattle's only goal. He now has 13 goals in 10 games (8 starts). In most other academies, I think he'd already be on a first team contract. Hayden Sargis ('02), Mario Penagos ('02) and Erik Centeno ('02) all started and played 90 for Sacramento playing up a year. Penagos and Centeno have received U-17 NT call ups this cycle. Sargis has played 9 games (8 starts) with 1 goal this season for the U-19's. Centeno played his first game of the season for the U-19's, while Penagos has only played for the U-19's this season (10 starts in 10 games). Atlanta United had three players playing up a year in the U-15's, as well. The three players were Italo Jenkins ('05), Daniel Sebhatu ('05) and Ty Wilson ('05). Jenkins has played 4 games (2 starts) and has 3 goals for the U-15's (8 goals in 8 games for the U-14's), Sebhatu has 11 games (6 starts) and 6 goals for the U-15's, while this was Wilson's debut at the U-15 level (12 goals in 14 U-14 games). Jenkins started and scored, Wilson started, and Sebhatu came off the bench. Atlanta United also made some promotions in the U-17 age group. Efrain Morales ('04), Dagoberto Romero, Samuel Kolby ('04) and Nigel Prince ('04) all made their debuts for the U-17's playing up a year. Romero and Morales started, Kolby and Prince came off the bench with Kolby scoring. Gavin Krenecki ('03) made his first start in the SKC academy for the U-19's. He's playing up a year in the U-19's. SKC also has two good '02 keepers, so it is notable that he's leapfrogged both of them in the pecking order upon immediately signing, although maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise, considering he's a regular in his YNT age group. Iyke Dafe ('05) started playing up a year for the Dynamo U-15's. He has 2 appearances (1 start) for the Dynamo U-15's. Ricardo Garcia ('05) came off the bench. He has 4 appearances (2 starts) with 2 goals for the Dynamo U-15's. At the U-17 level, Kaya Ignacio ('02) scored. He has 11 goals in 11 games. Erick Monge ('03) and Isaac Acevedo ('03) both started for the U-19's playing up a year. Monge has 3 starts this season, while Acevedo has 6 appearances (5 starts) for the U-19's. Ricardo Pepi ('03) scored his first goal for the FC Dallas U-19's in his second game (first start). Tanner Tessman ('01) and Beni Redzic ('02) also scored.
Barrera, Jauregui, and Kolby have all been with the US U15s. Acevedo is a big (6-foot-3 or 6-4) keeper who got a US U16 callup a year ago when listed with RGV Toros. Atlanta's Morales seems to be somewhat established as a US U15 callup, though not necessarily a starter. He's 6-foot-1 and has been listed as both M and D on US rosters.
This stunner by Kobe Hernandez-Foster. 😱 pic.twitter.com/Jz44xVszSV— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) March 6, 2019
Right.......................but at Barcelona or Boca Juniors or Borussia Dortmund they do the same thing that FCD is doing now. The vast majority of kids at those academies "don't make it." Its a business. And every time that a young American moves to Germany (say a Pulisic or McKennie or Soto or Richards or Gloster or Sargent..................) they are taking the place of an existing youngster. An existing youngster is out of a job. Its a never-ending cycle of looking for the best prospects and cutting those that aren't up to snuff. Most kids at Barcelona are cut adrift and fade away to obscurity (see Lederman, Ben). The FCD U17s serve ONE PURPOSE, and its not to win U17 games. Its a stepping stone on the developmental ladder preparing kids to be FCD first team players. [Same as everywhere else.] I mean, seriously, if any parent ever came to me and started bitching that little Johnny's team can't win the FCD U17 title because all of the good players were promoted........................I'd tell them to get their head out of their ass. Maybe an MLS academy isn't right for them. [Keep in mind that I've never actually heard an FCD parent say that, so its a little bit of a strawman argument.]
That's true, I've seen some FC Dallas U14 games and a guy who could become a good prospect is Anthony Ramirez '05 and he has not been promoted to FC Dallas U15 He was born in India, I do not know if he has the American nationality, but he seems to be a good defender.
As one that watches a ton of games within the Frontier Division of DA, I can tell you that FCD continues to be an assembly line of midfield and CB talent. Go down the line of midfielders with Cerrillo (promoted to first team), Letayf, Villatoro (04 playing with U17), Jones (05 playing with U15, and Cochran (06 playing with U14). All of these players are potential centerpieces of our YNT set up. The CB crop is also very good with Carrera (I am not completely sold quite yet), Che (03 with the U17), Medill with the U15, Dubroff and Aguilara (both 05s) and also Brandon with the 06 age group. The winger, striker talent drops a bit below the U17 level, but these are positions where kids sometimes just come out of nowhere. An extra yard of pace and some confidence easily could bring some of their attacking talent to the forefront. What I mean is, there doesn't seem to be a Sealy, Pepi, Gomez type in the younger age groups, but these kids are too young to try and accurately predict the future. There are plenty of other top prospects running around Frisco, but the names above are well above their own age level, which is probably the reason for promotion. I'm not sure of the exact number but I've been told the U13 and U14 FCD teams each have a GD approaching +50 in 10 or 11 matches played. In this division, the 05 talent pool is relatively weak outside of FCD. I haven't seen a U14 player on any other team that could get into the FCD set up. But the U13 level is stacked with a couple of fantastic players with Dynamo, Lonestar, Solar and Dallas Texans. Gonzalez with the U13 Dallas Texans is a player that has really caught my eye the times I've seen him play. Players can seemingly change overnight at these younger levels so it should be fun to continue to watch these players. The best thing about watching these younger age group is you really can't get it wrong from a scouting or coaching standpoint. If you get one right, then great, but if you get a player wrong, you can always fall back on...."well, you can never really be sure at this age."
Such spirited and copious defending of all things FCD. But no need to aim the big guns at me....as I am not anti-FCD. They get a lot of my interest, time and money both from the youth side and first team side. Just don't understand why there isn't a plan to deal with the holes created by the "stars" leaving that would make the teams more resilient to changes like this. You wouldn't think that an elite juggernaut of an academy like FCD would be so talent shallow. It is something you would expect at Solar or Texans because they don't get the players FCD does. It just seems odd as I can't imagine it looks good from a PR standpoint. Take away 4-5 players and turn into Solar (no offense Solar!). Either they were caught without a plan, they really don't attract the quality from top to bottom we are lead to believe, or they are not really developing them across the board. Okay, light me up for the heresy! I will have a bucket of water handy to put out the flames.
Solar was close to the level of FCD with all their better players present. Now that FCD took away David and Pepi, I would expect Solar to handle FCD pretty well. To the larger point, I agree the achievement of these teams at FCD is meaningless if their goal is to develop first team pros.
I don't think anyone disagrees with what you are saying, nor are they blindly defending FCD. You made some very valid points that FCD as a club will have to figure out how to handle. Remember, this model is just as new to FCD as it is for the players and the parents. Before, there were maybe 1 or 2 kids per age group that were signed to HG deals and taken from the Academy. That said, even the Pomykal's, Ferreira's and Reynolds's of the world were with the Academy in Dallas Cup and the playoffs after the signed their deals. The addition of the USL side basically opened up 10-15 spots for kids that without it, would still be playing somewhere in the Academy. This is all new, and I don't think anywhere near the final model. If we are honest, every team in the world is as good as their 4,5,6 star players are. Barcelona is average if you take away Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique. You have seen what taking away one player from Madrid has done. The list goes on and on. You have brought up a legitimate issue FCD and other clubs that move toward this model will have to contend with. Some will get it right and some will get it wrong.
I don't understand what you're talking about. FCD has promoted a whole bunch of kids to their MLS squad and the USL squad over the past half year. What they've done is then push younger talented players up to fill the gaps. So now they're in the process of finding a new equilibrium. That's all that's happening. How is that being "talent shallow?" Its the opposite, they're talent rich. You can do a position by position analysis. At the #10 position you need to find playing time for US U20 Paxton Pomykal, US U19 Thomas Roberts, US U17 David Rodriguez, US U17 Beni Redzi, and on down the ranks. You need to keep pushing kids, keep challenging them, keep providing opportunities. If you promote the five best players on the U17s to the USL team (David Rodriguez, Ricardo Pepi), MLS team (Dante Sealy), and U19s (Diego Letayf, etc.) are they in danger of losing to Solar? Maybe, but is beating Solar at the U17 level the goal? Not even the slightest. And you also have to have confidence that the U15s that you're promoting up to the U17s will learn, develop, and improve. I mean, without the USL team in place to promote kids to over the past couple of season.....................there wasn't space in the DA squads for US youth internationals like Jamie Dunning and Charlie Kelman. They left. That won't happen this year. There can be MORE opportunities.
A couple things I’ve noticed recently. ‘02 is the best goalie year I think we’ve produced. There are so many good goalies. The depth here is outrageous. ‘03 is a lot better than I initially thought. IMO, it’s going to be no worse than a good year, and might develop into a year that could rival ‘00. After some weaker years (‘01 and ‘02), I think the early indications are that ‘03 and ‘04 will be a lot better.
I still don’t think 01 and 02 are as bad as you think they are. Maybe the 01s, but I think the 02s will have some good players. So far I really like the 03s, but I don’t know much about the 04s yet.
'02 and '03 have a problem that is that there is no depth in the forwards, although they could stand out with the midfielders and the defenders. '04 I see it the same, they have a lot of talent in the midfield but there are very few decent strikers. '01 I think it is very questioned but I think they could become something decent, unlike the other years, this year if they have some depth with the strikers (Konrad, Balogun (although he is still with England), Kelman, Llanez, Hategan, Diaz, Gomez, Segal, Stojanovic, Gonzalez, etc). So I think that if the next cycle U20 plays with a mix between '01 '02 and '03 it could become something interesting.
I think 2002 has the front three players, but I think it lacks in the creative midfielders. That might just be due to how I view some of these players compared to how others view them. I don't see Reyna and Busio as #10's only, like some people do. I'm not sure about the best position of either player. I also don't rate what Fuentes brings. I see a real lack of players who can move the ball forward into the attacking third, keep possession and create chances between the lines. I'm not very worried about the midfield or attackers in 2003. There might be a lack of CF depth after Pepi, but I see some depth in all positions with Nyeman, Freeman and Perez at CAM, Sarver, Bohui, Sealy, Miscic, Cowell at winger. If there are any problems with this age group, I'd say the weakest position is goalkeeper. I don't know if there are any who are that good. I also think depth in holding midfielders and #9 are minor concerns.
I just think it's too early to say. Before the WC in '17, we had seen Carleton, Sargent, Durkin, and Weah play something like 10-15 times together and chemisty played a big part in their success. We haven't seen even close to that with the current group of 02s. There are obviously some players who have some talent and have showed they deserve to be watched, but we don't know how they will progress. I think there are good signs that teams are giving guys like Busio, Bello, Scally, etc looks with the first teams, and I think there is more depth in this group than there was with the 00 group. The 00 group also didn't get this many looks at this early of an age and most of them didn't get to play as many minutes in the USL as the 02s. How good the top end talent from 02 will be still seems like it should be up in the air.
Thats fair, although I disagree with some of this. The '00 age group had a lot of depth, but due to some players being entrenched in the residency program, there wasn't as much turnover in the roster as there should've been. That was the biggest problem with the residency program. Also, while I agree that the '02 age group does have more players getting first team and USL minutes prior to WCQ (and the U-17 WC), I think thats due to improvements in the system. Does this difference mean that the 02's are improving more than the 00's because of this or is this difference mostly meaningless? I understand both viewpoints. I also think if you look at an age group like '03, they haven't had a full U-17 cycle either, and they are a lot more promising. They have difference makers at nearly every position. As has been discussed before, the 02's have some very good players scattered throughout, but they largely don't play the most important positions on the field, and have at least one big weakness in their game. The depth at some important positions with the 02 group is also very questionable. Hopefully we see improvements. I think that the 02 age group was hyped very early, and while part of the issue is losing one of the top talents to Mexico (maybe the best talent), the early hype doesn't currently match the results.
The hype doesn’t match the results, but it’s still early. Considering this 02 group is going on it’s 3rd coach and we still don’t even really know what the core of it is, much less what their formation or tactics will be, I’m guessing we aren’t going to really be able to make much of a decision on them this cycle. I think this season will be interesting for them, though. Most of the domestic players will be getting minutes in USL and there’s an opportunity for some to get some MLS and Open Cup minutes. I think this may be a time for some of them to set themselves apart. Some of the best 02s may not even be playing with the U17 group. Ledezma, Soto, Richards, Mendez, Edwards, Keita, all emerged after the last U17s WC. If we’re being 100% honest, we don’t even really know how good those players are yet. Really, the best players will improve until they’re into their 20s and we believe the level has improved, but we really don’t know for sure. The only thing we know for sure is that McKennie and Adams are good.
I’m really enjoying the last few pages. Lots of thought going into posts and though there is some disagreements they are polite and no one is claiming surety.
March 9-10 weekend: I watched Barca academy vs. RSL from last weekend. Not the most exciting game. I wanted to see if the stats of Matthew Hoppe ('01) are fluky or if he's a very good prospect. I liked what I saw. He didn't score in this game, but he did a lot well, and looked like the best prospect on the field. I had only seen him play once or twice before, and it was prior to this season when he wasn't a big name. From what I saw in this game, he looked like a smart and hard-working CF with good size, some athleticism, passing and good decision-making. I wasn't able to judge his finishing, but he does score a lot of goals. There's some Sargent to how he plays. Not the most skilled or athletic striker, but there's an old school approach to his play at CF. I liked what I saw of Bryce Duke ('01) from RSL. He was playing as a #10, and showed good dribbling. He was able to make a lot of good plays to create chances, but there wasn't any end product there. No one else impressed me in this game, and there were numerous players who I think are real prospects, including some players on first team contracts. To this week's matches: Hoppe might've not scored last week, but he scored a brace this weekend. He now has 18 goals in 14 games, leading the U-19 DA. At the U-15 level of Barca's academy, Diego Hernandez ('04) scored twice and now has 12 goals in 13 games (12 starts). The Union have done a good job of integrating young Americans into the first team without possessing any of the big youth talents in the 17-20 age groups. They do have some of the bigger talents in the younger age groups. That includes Brandan Craig ('04) who has 3 goals in 6 games for the U-15's. I don't know what position they have him playing, but considering he's not an attacker, those are good numbers. He scored again this weekend. He's too good for this level, and should be playing in the U-17's. Quinn Sullivan ('04) scored a brace, and has 9 goals in 12 games (10 starts). He's a skilled winger. Another player whose game I like. Million Evans ('05) started playing up a year. He has played 9 games (8 starts) at this level and has 3 goals. His nationality is listed as Ethiopia. I know there are some people who read this thread that follow that team closely. Is he an American citizen or in the process of becoming one? Atlanta United U-15 won 6-0. Italo Jenkins ('05) scored a brace, Daniel Sebhatu ('05) scored a goal, and Ty Wilson ('05) got his second consecutive appearance. Joining them were Remi Okunlola ('05) and Alan Carleton ('05), who both got their U-15 debuts off the bench. 4 of the 5 came off the bench with Sebhatu the only one to start this weekend among the 05's playing up a year. At the U-17 level for Atlanta, Samuel Kolby ('04) got his second appearance in a row playing up an age group, and James Spurlin ('04) got his first appearance playing up an age group. Both started, and eventually were subbed out. I saw two games from this Atlanta age group a year ago. Wilson didn't play in the games I saw. He must've been injured, and Jenkins wasn't in the academy a year ago. Sebhatu was skilled and athletic, but way bigger than everyone else, so it was hard to tell how good he actually was. He looked like he should be playing in a higher age group because of his athletic advantage. I didn't notice Okunlola much, although that could've been an oversight. Carleton and Jonathan Vilal ('05) were the two standout players in the team, IMO. Vilal is one of four other 05's who are listed as on the '05 roster, so his debut at the U-15 level could be coming soon. He has 20 goals in 19 games this season in the U-14's. Kyle Linhares ('02) is a player who is rarely talked about, but he's having a very good season. He scored again this weekend. He's playing at Players Development Academy, and has 14 goals in 11 games between the U-17 and U-19 age groups. His stats in both age groups are similar. He has 7 goals in 5 games (5 starts) in the U-17's and 7 goals in 6 games (5 starts) in the U-19's. He's a player who probably has earned a call ups to the U-17 NT, and a player that NYRB should be signing up immediately for their academy. On the other side of things, Patrick Bohui ('03) scored a brace in the same game for the Union U-17's, and has 11 goals in 12 games. He's having a good season.