Atlanta leads 3-1 at the half. They've been a lot better than Seattle. Seattle didn't impress in the other game I saw of them. They only had a few good players, IMO.
Funny, I had the opposite impression. I only saw 20 minutes but literally didn’t see Atlanta complete a single pass. Every time they won the ball it was immediately booted down field. I get it, it works at this age when you have physically mature forwards, but it’s pretty terrible soccer.
4-2 Atlanta, FT. Will play the winner of Monterrey- LAG in final. Atlanta seems like a throwback to teams of the past that stacked their teams with early maturing strong, fast players. Maybe there will be a player or two who will develop, but the early maturers should turn their attention to American football.
Atlanta was terrible in the second half, but I think their team is getting an unfair reputation. There are two big and fast athletes in the team (Jenkins and Sebhatu), but aside from those two players, the rest of the team is very skilled, technical, and there is some speed and athleticism. None of their four goals came via the physical domination of either of those two players. Sebhatu isn't even that good at this level. Jenkins is and he gives his team some advantage because of his physical domination, but nothing unfair for this level.
That could very well be true but it’s hard to notice the skill when they don’t seem to attempt to play. I don’t blame the kids, it looks like they’re playing the way they’ve been coached to play. Maybe I just saw a bad 20 minutes but the only time their mids even touched the ball was when they won it defensively and immediately kicked it forward.
LAG 1 Monterrey 1 HT. LAG scored early, but Monterrey controlled most of the play and is unlucky not to be up more. The Galaxy are not bad, but the gulf in quality is evident. Monterrey's forwards are small, but quick, skillful and know how to play. They're shredding the LAG defense.
This game is wild. Gals now up 3-2, but should have had a PK against them. What was the ref watching?
I like seeing kids with beer adverts on their shirts. Mind you I wore an MISL give away t shirt 3 days a week with a Budweiser beer can exploding out of a volcano when I was 14. It cracks me up.
Monterrey wins in PKs. Reg. time ended 3-3. They deserved the win. The Galaxy were decent, but just faced a better, more skillful team.
Not enough skilled players on the Galaxy team to pass the ball from the back. With all due disrespect to Klejbans this team is nothing like theirs.
I watched all the games from the MLS teams in this tournament. These were the players I thought looked like prospects. Sporting Kansas City: Nati Clarke ('05): Very obvious comparison to Julian Araujo because of the sheer amount of tools from the CB position. He's incredibly fast, his movement is smooth, he wins headers, he's powerful. He passes the ball well, he can carry it forward and showcase better dribbling skills, and he reads the game defensively beyond his age group. He started out at CB and moved later in the game to RB. He has average height for a CB in this age group, so we can't say with certainty he will be able to stick at CB. It's not as if he's already 5'10-6'0. Clarke was the best player I saw play at this tournament. He looks like a potential star defender, but this is only U-14 football. George Akalu ('05): Akalu was very impressive in his own right for SKC. He was the #10 for Kansas City, and showcased incredible dribbling skills and high level playmaking and creativity. He was able to beat multiple players at time when dribbling the ball, and does possess above-average or better athleticism. His passing and decisions when to release the ball was good. It can always improve and we are talking about U-14 players, so they aren't finished products, but I thought the vision and IQ looked good. He also has some nice foot skills and creativity. He looks like a well-rounded and very high level #10 prospect that blends a lot of different attacking skills. I thought Akalu was second only to Clarke in terms of the most impressive American prospects at the tournament. Javier Zaragoza ('05): It was a little hard to judge the keepers in this tournament. I didn't see any huge standouts in net, but Zaragoza did look like the best keeper. He has good height (6'0 or taller), and made a few good saves. FC Dallas: Pranav DuBroff ('05): I don't know if I see huge tools in Dubroff's game, but he's a very smart player. He has above-average mobility, height and passing. What I think makes him a better prospect than his raw tools might suggest is his soccer IQ. He's very composed and makes good reads in all facets of the game. He mostly played CB, but was able to step into CM and play as a holding mid in one of the games. Jordan Jones ('05): Big box to box CM with good athleticism and passing ability in CM. He could be the next in line from the McKennie/Tessman tree of athletic #8's who are also capable of passing and providing some offensive ability. I didn't think he was as good as his tools might suggest he should be, so he might be more of potential over current ability player, but he's 13 or 14, so he's far from a finished product. Victor Gomez ('05): Undersized keeper, but high soccer IQ, good shot stopper and the best passing GK I saw in the tournament. Matthew Corcoran ('06): There were a number of 06's that played at this tournament. I'm not going to mention all of them, but obviously playing up a year at a big tournament does mean a player is held in high regard. Corcoran was a big #6 who moved pretty well, had some defensive ability and could pass the ball. Not a standout performance, but he looked like a good prospect. Christopher Sanchez ('05): There were very few fullbacks that impressed. Sanchez looked like the best of the bunch. He was the RB for Dallas. He showed a good combination of above-average athleticism, defensive ability and skill going forward. There was nothing great in his skillset, but a bunch of good facets of the game and he has a very good work rate. Seattle Sounders: Angel Martinez ('05): One of the few players in this tournament that I had seen play before. Martinez didn't hurt his stock. He came in with the reputation as one of the best 05's having played up a year with the U-15 NT at a recent tournament where I thought he struggled, but the fact that he was playing up a year at his age showed that he's very highly rated. Martinez looked to read the game better against his own age group, which should be expected. He didn't dominate defensively, but was very good in this aspect of the game. He's a very good passer with average mobility and above average height. He was used as an attacking midfielder in the second half of the Sounders final game, and showed technical ability and creativity that CB's often don't have. I think he'll be a CB or DM. He's not a #10. Reed Baker-Whiting ('05): Baker-Whiting is another player I had seen play before. He played for the victorious Sounders U-17 team at the GA Cup, but played sparingly and wasn't very influential playing up two age groups. For this team, Baker-Whiting was excellent. Baker-Whiting is a CM capable of playing in all three positions, but he's most likely a #8. He has good athleticism and height to go along with very good passing and more creativity than you'd think. He's also a very good defensive player. I try not to use a comparison for every player because some aren't obvious, but I thought he looked like a more polished version of Tanner Tessman watching him play. He was one of the best players at this tournament. Joshua Hardin ('05): Direct winger. Good speed, some skill and end product. Not a great prospect, but there weren't that many good wingers at this tournament. He was one of the better wingers. LAFC: Robert Willcot ('05): Very fast striker who does possess some degree of skill on the ball. There was also a lack of good CF's. Willcot wasn't bad and has potential, but nothing too high level. JR Verastegui ('05): Good skill and speed from the wing. Often was able to beat his man easily, and create attacking chances. Soccer IQ looked a little questionable. Diego Ceja ('05): I thought Ceja was the best LAFC player in a team that didn't look to have that many good prospects. I haven't been all too impressed with the talent in either the U-15 or U-14 age groups for LAFC. Ceja's game is very reminiscent of Marcelo Palomino. He shows a very creative ability to advance the ball from a #10 position without high level athleticism. I also thought he showed some of the better passing vision in this tournament. There might be enough offense in his game to play as a #10, and avoid the obvious issues of defense and athleticism that would crop up if he was played as a #8. Atlanta United: Elijah Buford ('05): One of the better keepers at this tournament. He made the best reflex saves, and didn't make too many mistakes. He had about average height and I didn't notice any problems playing out of the back, although I wouldn't call it a strength. Mathieu Brick ('05): I don't know if he has the best tools, but he can pass the ball out of the back to go along with above-average height and reading of the game. He wasn't slow either. Played CB and captained the winning Atlanta side. Alan Carleton ('05): I had watched him play a few games last season. He played a lot less risky of a game in this team, and it could be in part due to a more defensive role. I've seen enough to say that he isn't as good of a prospect as his brother, but he's still good. Extremely hard working player. His athleticism, height and speed is a little below-average, but his work rate and very good soccer IQ makes him passable defensively at the position. He's a good passer. I've seen some more incisive passing than he showed in this tournament. In this tournament, it was a lot of high percentage passes to the open player. He has the footwork and poise to take his time to find passing options. Also capable of getting into the attack where he showcased some very smart give and goes, a few goals and a few other goals he should've scored. Jonathan Villal ('05): I was incredibly impressed by Villal's play in this tournament. His game reminded me a lot of Cameron Duke. Slight in stature, but good speed and quickness. Excellent attacking ideas and ball skills. Very good playmaker who had some of the better vision in this tournament. A lot of players in this age group take a second or two too long to release the ball, but Villal almost never does. His decision-making with the ball is high level. He might be slightly more of a #10 than Duke. I didn't think he had a great work-rate, but it could've been due to how the team was set up where he played further forward among the two shuttler CM's. Ty Wilson ('05): The most dynamic of the wingers in the tournament. Wilson has excellent pace, very good dribbling ability and the skill that I think will translate to some higher levels. Atlanta had a few athletes who were bigger and faster than everyone. Wilson was faster than everyone, but faster and more skilled usually will play at higher levels in a way that bigger and faster won't, if its not combined with soccer skill. His decision making was highly problematic. He struggled to find passing options to his teammates, but he has talent, so if he can refine his decision making and passing, he could be a very good winger prospect. Italo Jenkins ('05): Jenkins was the biggest and most overpowering player at the tournament. There are parts of his game that obviously won't play at higher levels, unless he grows to be much bigger and stronger than everyone else. Despite him dominating due to size and speed, I also thought he showed good hold up ability as a #9, some level of skill on the ball and soccer IQ. I don't know if he's one of the better prospects from this tournament, but I think he has potential to be a good player. NYCFC: Mark Cajamarca ('06): Cajamarca was the best '06, and one of the better players. He has a lot of talent as a #6, but he was one of the smaller players at the tournament. He's an excellent passer, very composed, possesses skill and creativity on the ball, a good soccer IQ, good mobility and defensive effort, despite his lack of size. His game will likely play somewhere in CM. There's a lot of talent in his game, so which central midfield position will likely depend on his physical development. Junior Tellez ('05): NYCFC didn't posses much talent, but their three CM's were all good players. Tellez was the most athletic of the bunch. He possessed above-average athleticism and dynamism going forward, along with some passing ability. I wouldn't say he was a huge standout, but there looked to be some potential there. Tyler Morck ('05): Like Cajamarca, Morck is an undersized CM, but plays a very up-tempo style of game with quick passing, good decision making and a good work rate. He might lack the offensive ability to play as a #10, and as of now is too small and slow to play as a lone #8. LA Galaxy: Demitrious Tanks ('05): There's an obvious comparison here to Dante Huckaby. Tall and very athletic, but raw at the CB position. There's some soccer skill to how he plays. He's not only a good athlete. I liked his passing, and he can make some very good defensive plays, but there's a lot of positioning errors and not making the simple play when its required. U-14 players aren't finished products though, so I thought Tanks was one of the better prospects at this tournament. Miguel Gonzalez ('05): Gonzalez was the other CB, and looked like the only other real prospect in the team. His game is more about smart reading of the game, but he does have above-average mobility, passing and height. He lacks flashy attributes of his teammate Tanks, but was one of the better CB's at this tournament.
So are SKC, Atlanta, LAFC, LAG, Dallas, NYCFC, and Seattle the "big 7" MLS academies to the outside world? I guess I can see the logic considering they probably spend the most on development, but it's disappointing to not see RBNY, Philly, and RSL there. Maybe they're considered the low budget teams with good academies and they aren't part of the high roller club.
Long week at this tournament watching many of our talented youngsters. @ussoccer97531 has a very good list of players, most all of which I agree with, so I won’t go down the player path. Hats off to Atlanta for winning this tournament, it’s not an easy thing to do. That said, I feel they were outplayed in their quarter final, semi final and final match. They are a handful and can score goals when needed. In the end, that’s the name of the game. For me, the two best teams were LAFC and FC Dallas, followed closely by Seattle and then Atlanta. Only one team gets to lift the trophy and Atlanta is that team. Congratulations to them. I look forward to watching these players and teams progress over the next few years.
Sounders quasi U20s played 2 friendlies today in Zurich. Beat U20 Boca Juniors 2-1, goals by Alec Diaz (assist by Marlon Vargas), and Alex Villanueva (assist by Peter Kingston). Tied Swiss team FC Blue Stars first team 1-1, goal scored by Marlon Vargas (assist by Alec Diaz).— Colin Lamont (@ChamberiSeattle) May 28, 2019 Some warmup games before this U20 tournament starts. Follow the Twitter thread for roster and age breakdown for the Sounders.
I've wactched full match of FC Dallas U14 vs Atlanta United U14 at Man City Cup. I was impressed by three players in FC Dallas: #36 Diego Hernandez, #51 Anthony Ramirez, #28 Jordan Jones.
Did Pickering play in this event for FCD? He's absolutely torched the U14DA. Something like 22 goals in 25 games. I don't think they've moved him up to the U15 level yet. Perhaps one to keep an eye on as he advances next season.
.@austinfcacademy has selected its first roster in the history of the recently formed club! Congratulations to our young players. #AustinFC Learn more on our website: https://t.co/dUpXUOKZm9 pic.twitter.com/PRcbHSsgM6— Austin FC (@AustinFC) May 29, 2019
He did. I didn't see much in the way of an attack from the FC Dallas team. I think thats why their play often looked better than their results. They possessed the ball well, but they didn't have attacking ability.