These games gave me some added confidence in Gio's ceiling as a player. One of the biggest questions in his play has been, "How good of an athlete is he, really?" The more I watch him the more I think he's one of those guys that's just a very smooth/non-violent runner, so when he's alone, he looks slow- but then when you see him running alongside defenders, he's leaving them behind.
I still say he’s not fast. He’s not slow, but I don’t see him burning past defenders unless he has the angle. I also think his lack of quickness costs him goal scoring opportunities. How many times have you seen him try to fake one way, then go another in and around the 18? He’s constantly trying to create space for himself. I think he’d be better off working on his vision and creative passing than trying to go 1v1. I think that’s where his future is.
I agree with your larger view that CONCACAF qualifying shouldn't be too tough, but I dissent in this: I've come to the point of view that the U17 level is actually a good way to gauge health, just an incomplete one. Because one year of development is so crucial at this age, it's really just a gauge of even-year players, with a few top odd-year players thrown in. Of the six FCD players you cite, four are odd-year players very likely to be overlooked by the biennial U17 structure. A fifth, Richards, was a player who came onto the scene late but was cut by a coach who seemingly valued roster continuity over player quality (just like Weston McKennie before him). 14 months later, he is on the cusp of joining Bayern permanently while Tyler Shaver just finished a season as a bench player in the NCAA, just as it didn't take McKennie long to definitively move ahead of guys like Eric Calvillo and Tommy McCabe. We did the "U17s are volatile so results don't matter" rationalization in the late 2000s and early 2010s and it turned out those groups of players totally sucked just like their collective performance suggested they would, so I have more respect for results now. The good news is that while this isn't going to be our greatest U17 team ever, the group does not totally suck and may in fact have a few very good players in there. The NT largely draws from a 10-12 year slice of players so avoiding a real stinker of a birth year or two really helps.
They had lack of chemistry similar to the Pulisic/Wright team. Maybe there's some way to improve before judgment day.
I took a closer look at Tayvon Gray, I took a closer look at Tayvon Gray, I finished editing the video, but it’s too late for me to upload it tonight. I can safely say I understand fullly why he was identified and has emerged as a starter on this team. His marking ability is impeccable. His defensive positioning and work rate are both great, too. He tackles well, and transitions from marking his man to helping when someone gets beat effortlessly. He’s fast, quick, is all over the field, and is constantly breaking up trouble before it starts. He’s the perfect player to play that pressing 4-3-3 we are trying to run at all levels. He shuts down any player around him, wins the ball, and wins duels. However, as good as he is defensively, he is at least equally irrelevant offensively. It’s bizarre, but it’s almost like most of his teammates act like he’s not even on the field. Busio and Reyna especially will try to dribble 50 yards themselves instead of work through him. At times, Stroud and Reyna seem like they will run right to where he is standing as if he’s not even there to receive a pass from the back line. He made a couple nice passes, but made about as many bad ones. He seems to panic in tight spaces and in the final third. He’s not an effective passer as a 6 out of the back because few if any teammates will even pass him the ball. They almost completely ignore him in the middle and attacking thirds. Another big problem is his movement when we have the ball is almost non existent. It’s amazing how much time he spends standing in and around the circle. I went back and watched a few minutes of the Turkey match. It wasn’t nearly as bad in that game, but it looks like the reason is because Turkey was sitting far deeper and leaving him open. Perhaps he will improve as he gets older and more comfortable on the ball, but he absolutely has to improve his offensive work rate.
Anyone hear why Masango Akale didn’t play? I was curious to see how his game translated to this level.
Was told that he was brought in a trialed at both outside back positions. Positions he has never played for his club. Must not have been a seamless transition.
Did you think Gray looked better on the ball against Brazil? I did, and thought he helped progress the ball forward at least 3 times that were laudable, but I've only watched the game once. This is a problem that may have something to do with Gray, but it also has to do with Reyna (and Busio, I guess). It might seem like a lazy comparison but I see a lot of Pulisic in Reyna. Elite at gliding past people on the dribble, but not great at playing combinations or seeing interesting passes.
Right...……………….but even for nations that WIN the U17 World Cup, the majority of those players disappear only a few years later. The turnover we have between U17 and U20 cycles is normal. And its as normal for us as it is for Argentina, Spain, and Mexico. Its an easy analysis to do via Wikipedia. I think your analysis is right that "real stinkers" can lead to problems down the road. For the US one of them is obvious. 2009 U17 World Cup squad was poor. 20011 and 2013 U20 teams were poor. 2016 U23 team was poor. 2018 USMNT was poor. We can call that pathway thru the USYNT/USMNT landscape as the Luis Gil "Trail of Tears." But its not "stinkers" in terms of sheer results. Results are secondary. Its stinkers in terms of player development. Our 2015 U17 team struggled at the CONCACAF Championships, and then finished last in their group at the 2015 U17 World Cup. But we could see talents there like Pulisic and Adams. The team was re-infornced, and then we did really well at both the 2017 CONCACAF Championships and World Cup. And that was without Pulisic, McKennie, Haji Wright, Keaton Parks, and others who were age eligible. And MANY of the youngsters currently breaking into the USMNT were part of that 2015 U17 age group. So those sheer results with the 2015 U17 team were an isolated blip in the pathway. There are nations with consistently good senior national team programs that rarely do anything at the U17 level. Croatia was just in the World Cup final. They've only qualified for the U17 World Cup three times, and have only made it out of the group stage once. All I'm saying is that the best gauge is the U23 level (where we've REALLY struggled) as those are supposed to be full-time professionals. Then its U20 success...………...and then least important is sheer results at the U17 level. And even less important than CONCACAF Championships and World Cup results...…………...are the sheer results at meaningless competitions like the Nike Friendlies. These are opportunities for the coaching staff to experiment with player selection, tactics, etc. We have to give them all (both the coaches and players) an opportunity to "try stuff" and fail.
Yes he did as Alex Yi and Nelson Akwari were the centerbacks. Onyewu was extremely rough back then. Maybe because he was forced to right back.
It seems like they usually do. For example, Vinicius Jr was on Brazil's roster two years ago as an '00 against our '00s. Those guys rarely play up or skip youth levels. I'm not as sure about Turkey and Portugal, but I'd assume it's the same. It seems like European countries are becoming more invested in U17 and U20 levels now.
Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that he's a burner. Just that he's fast enough that I think he can be an effective player at the senior level. I agree with the last part for sure. I think with his confidence on the ball, ability to control it in tight spaces, and movement off it, the central midfield could be where he ends up in a year or 2.
I didn’t really track Gray in the first two games because I was watching other guys. I noticed him doing well the first time I watched vs Brazil, so I wanted to go back and look. Most of my opinion on him so far comes from that match. He has the ability to make some very nice passes. You’ll see in the clip his pass down the wing that sprung a counter from Reyna was fantastic. He does a very good job of using his body to shield off defenders, too. A lot of what I said about him standing in the same spot isn’t something that will show up on the clip I’ll post. I try to post videos that need no explanation, and him standing around would just look like I made a mistake by adding that clip. He also seemed to fade in the second half of this game. He still played well, but he wasn’t nearly as active. 3 games in 5 days will do that
It wasn’t as much Busio as it was Reyna. But I know what you mean about Reyna. It seems like every time he touches the ball, he wants to score or make the final pass. It’s exactly how Pulisic is. Neither of them ever wants to make the easy pass to keep possession.
He has the same type of game that the Fed seems to want out of a 6, tho. They seem to value the desire to press and win the ball along with defensive work rate more than anything else
Which is why we struggle stylistically, retaining possession of the ball. Someone called for Latayf to get a look into the squad if/when he becomes eligible - he’s the type I’d like to see in the 6 role.
Also one reason why we struggle to score goals. I like Letayf. I like Atencio, too. But these kids are 17 and they’ll grow a lot as players in the next year or two
Holy moly, I wonder how many fouls and cards Brazil had? Just from that touches video it looked like Brazil could've had a couple guys booked for consistent infringement! Lots of shoulders, elbows, and kicking/stepping on feet/ankles! What a physical game!
Nobody as dirty as Brazilian junior teams. And they weren't targeting Gray. Busio might not have had a great game, but just fouls on him should have been worth 3 yellows.