I'll watch the game again, but right now I'm left with a sobering reminder of how far we still have to go to equal the level of the top European players. Here we got a taste of what future pros look like at age 15. For all the progress we're making with the DAs, for example, we have to do a much better job at the very youngest ages. The Portugal players were physically more agile, more supple. Some of that can be trained later, but a lot of it is determined very early.
Granted, they're not terrific, but doesn't US Soccer try to assemble some of the best players in this age group? So, if these ain't the ones where are they, or is this what we have to look forward to with our '21 U17 team?
its hard to care too much about u15s beyond hoping that an entirely different set of kids gets called in from tournament to tournament, which im guessing doesnt happen?
Not even close to the two previous teams. Either bad selection or poorly coached. Probably both. A very easy group. There were 5-6 teams her better than ours.
That Portugal team was good and we basically lost 1-0 and gave up 2 empty net goals. We had a good amount of possession in the second half before whoever the coach is started making subs left and right and we even got a few shots away. A lot of the problem with this team is the lack of movement off the ball. The wings don’t look to move down the sidelines and the striker doesn’t run into the channels between defenders when Rotundo gets the ball. Pretty much no one ever shows for the ball or comes to it in possession. Everyone is still playing like they are kids and scared to move out of their zone, Rotundo included somewhat. But Portugal had their own problems. They kind of had a lack of movement in the attacking third and really had no ideas or creativity. Their one real goal came on a 40 yard cross where Martinez looked like he slipped. They had a lot of 25-40 yard shots that weren’t even close enough to be called prayers. I thought we did a good job of defending but didn’t play with the confidence or know-how to counter. That’s kind of a problem when you try to sit around and pass all game. You have to know how to counter if and when you can’t control possession. Overall, I thought this group was okay. Rotundo and Valdez showed some creativity but obviously have to grow. Valdez has to be tidier in all aspects. Rotundo needs to put on some weight and win some 50/50s and be tidier himself. Cisneros probably doesn’t belong on this team, much less starting. I was pretty impressed with Reynolds, and Leone and Martinez were pretty good. I wasn’t very impressed with the passing of Yohannes or Rodriguez. Actually, Rodriguez reminded me of a slower, less active Saldana, but I rate Saldana higher than most people so that’s not the level of insult it seems like. A lot of the ‘17 u15 starting team changed by the time they were U17s. It’s important not to read too much into this. At least 3 of the current best U17s players- Leyva, Pepi, and KHF, weren’t involved.
I stumbled into this blog a couple of days ago, read all of these comments and all I want to say is I love the passion. I hope to participate more in the future. However, after watching the Portugal match live, I am sorry to say that the game strategy failed these kids. The kids were defeated in the first minute when they start playing hail mary 50/50 balls from the goalie. Portugal had almost 70% possession and the US was just chasing the ball. What do you expect? When you have to take a water break, it must be a brutal weather to play in. I am sure when you chase the ball that much, you get tired and lack the mental strength. There was no plan to mitigate this gap and if you are a good coach that can read this weakness, you will change the strategy and play possession football by building from the back, keeping the ball and moving it around until you have an opening. It's not like the backs and midfield cannot connect. They have held possession successfully in the two other matches I watched vs Guatemala and Costa Rica. Portugal however was just too good, bigger in size, more fluid in their passing because they were not chasing the ball and knew how to conserve their energy and for that kudo's to their coaching staff. They played simple and capitalized on their chances while the US played a kick ball. US also had a size mismatch that was difficult to overcome with some players. I think overall, with the lack of adjustment, they held Portugal scoreless through the 45th minute or so and that should be commended. While the US team has potential, it will need size up front to challenge teams like Portugal in 2021. Most importantly, US Soccer must erase this kick ball type of soccer from the game strategy book. It is an old and weak strategy. To the credit of the US coaches, let's not forget they have won 4 matches with a winning strategy until Portugal. US just needs to build on it. I think the best is yet to come for this group with some additions and subtractions.
Let's forget those 4 matches. Three of them were against minnows (thank you Concacaf) and we were outplayed in the forth and scored two fluky goals. Absolutely no attacking ideas. Poor coaching.
Hopefully there are a significant amount of changes to this roster before December. This team would get shredded in the Nike Friendlies. Speaking of which, I wonder if Portugal playing in this tournament means they are out for the Nike Friendlies.
It's U15s. Anyone taking a lot away from that age level is making a mistake. If we see the same issues at the U17s, then it's time to take notice.
We sent a "C/B" team to this tournament. Craig, Toure, Slonina, Sasaki, Morales, Sullivan, Torres, were missing among players who I think are starters in this age group. Some of the better players were there (Rotundo, Reynolds, Leone, Hot) but there were too many who aren't good enough that keep receiving call ups for some reason (Yohannes, Rodriguez, Tanton, Cisneros, Martinez, Torres). This age group is weak in the back, and has no striker depth. I think the midfield is very good, but its a team without any big stars either. From this game against Portugal, its hard to expect much better. You start out with a midfield that doesn't have a player that can pass the ball. I understand that you are rotating, and I'm not going to criticize the coach for not running the better players into the ground with two games in two days during the summer in the Florida heat, but when you put out that lineup, what do you expect? You get zero from the CF, the wingers can't create, the midfield is chasing shadows, and half of your back line are liabilities. Martinez might be one of the better 05's, but he can't play at this level. He's proven this every game he's played against good teams in the U-15's now. This age group has also gotten bad results in almost every game they've played against good teams. I think the coaching of this age group has been bad, as have been the call ins to this team, but its also an age group that was incredibly overhyped early on, and is looking like a very average age group. They probably are better than their results in some of these games, but I would not expect a standout age group.
Preferred 23: GK: Slonina, Alguera, Brady/Carrera DF: Reynolds, Duenas, Leone, Morales, Stephens, Cortez, Sasaki, Lau MF: Craig, Flax, Hot, Pukstas, J. Torres, Rotundo, Lima, Sullivan, L. Torres FW: Toure, Oliva, Valdez Keeper: This looks a little like the '03 age group at keeper. Two weak keeper age groups in a row. There isn't a high-end keeper, and the depth doesn't look great. Slonina has a lot of hype, but has been shaky for club and country in the games I've seen. Alguera looks like the better keeper now, but will he be tall enough to be a professional keeper. Defense: I think this age group isn't that bad at the fullback spots. Reynolds is good, but not dynamic. He isn't Bello, KHF, Gomez, Cuevas, but he might be Gloster-level, which is good. I don't know why this coaching staff has not called Sasaki into the last two tournaments. He's looked brilliant in the games I've seen of him for Seattle. Duenas and Lau have impressed me as the back ups for those two. Leone is one of the better CB prospects we've had at a young age. Aside from that, we do lack a little depth. I think Morales is a raw prospect, but has impressed enough. Cortez is not a bad depth level CB who can also play LB. Stephens is raw, but could be good eventually. Midfield: This is where I think this team is best. I think the #6 spot is reminiscent of the #6 spot from the '00 age group where they had Durkin and Sands. Craig and Flax is that caliber of holding mid depth, IMO. I also like the #8 options with Hot, Pukstas, Torres. The attacking midfielders are also very good. Rotundo, Sullivan, Torres, Oliva are all high-end attacking mids, and I might add Lima into that category, although I'd need to see more. Valdez adds depth centrally. I think he could be used as a back up false nine. I'd list the two back ups to Toure as Oliva and Valdez. Oliva reminds me some of Reyna. I'm not yet convinced he's not a CF. Striker: Toure and nothing else. How can there not be an average back up CF in this age group? Some of the weakest position group depth I can remember in any recent age group. Slonina Reynolds-Leone-Morales-Sasaki Craig-Hot Rotundo Sullivan-Toure-L. Torres
Unless I'm mistaken against Costa Rica he was subbed in in the second half. With fresh legs he wasn't able to chase Costa Rican left wing and pulled him down from behind eventually. Although that left wing was the best player on the field.
Do you have any statistics to back up your selection? It would help having some stat to compare players success or failure instead of personal likes or promotion of some players. Would like to see these numbers for all of the 5 games they played Such as: -Club position -National Team position -Minutes played -Pass success percentage -Lost balls -Assists -Shots per game -Aerial duels won per game -Distance covered -Mistakes causing goals -etc... Until you have something to compare at the basic level some statistics, all these selections are biased in my opinion and can't be taken too seriously. There are a lot of these kinds of projection in the U17, U20 and all the way to the first team without tangible statistics. I wish there was some numbers kept we can see to evaluate strength and weakness of players. Granted numbers are not always everything.
No, I don’t. USSDA and USSF don’t provide any in depth stats for lower levels. I’m a fan who tries to watch the best young Americans coming through the system. I’ve seen all these players play and I specify if I don’t have enough knowledge on a player, which is why I added a slash between two options at third keeper because I haven’t seen enough to settle the difference between the two. I’ve seen some of these players about 10 times now (Rotundo, Leone) and some of them only once (Toure, 3rd keepers). I don’t know any of these players and have no affiliations to any of their academies. I don’t know why I’d be biased, but feel free to disagree with me.
This reminds me of the commercial where the neighbor asks another neighbor to background check, compare prices, etc. for a plumber that she asked about. You're probably just going to have to watch games and follow these players for a while on your own in order to make your own judgements. Just use @ussoccer97531 's notes as a starting point.
I don't always agree with ussoccer97531's opinion but he's never claimed anything he says is anything but his own opinion. He also may watch more of this level of player than anyone else so he is a great starting spot and has been for years. I'd add that without Bradenton the national teams are not used to playing with each other at all and if playing a country where they players train together more they will compare poorly. Luckily it doesn't matter in the long run. Players will be replaced with better players (mostly) and they will get longer camps for U17 and U20 and also gel during those tournaments.
I am actually quite impressed with the level of knowledge of ussoccer97531 about these players. Seriously, who really follows U15's and know the name of each player? LOL. Granted he is knowledgeable, backing some of this stuff with some statistics gives his opinion even more weight. I think.
Thanks. I will. However, asking for better factual reference point such as statistics as noted above is not a dish on anyone as you make it sound like.
It is clear that you know these players more than I do but I think having some stat by position would help with your conclusion. Just saying... I will follow these group and will try to engage in the future. It will be too preliminary for me to have an opinion after just watch a couple of matches this cycle even though I have made some mental notes on some of these players already. Didn't mean to imply anything and apologies if so.
No offense was taken. I think if you follow these age groups enough you’ll find that US Soccer does about everything they can to make gathering information on players much harder for fans.
This doesn't bother me at all. Its the U15s. They made the semifinals. They lost to Portugal. Really, we should spend very little time worrying about the U15 national team. This is just a "jumping off' point for these kids when it comes to national team programs. I'm happy the competition now exists and kids get this opportunity. The result really doesn't mean anything. Do I want us to win? Of course. Does it bother me if we lose at this level? No. At this level, failure and learning from mistakes is part of the process...…………………….