Not gonna lie, with the Gold Cup provisional roster coming out and people coming face to face with how bad our pool and the depth thereof is, it feels like these guys have a little more pressure on them now.
Plus Kreis said in his interview with @bshredder that the U23 team will be "a young team" aka lots of these guys.
I have my doubts that Colombia will get that far. Not a good team by their standards and they couldn't score goals in the CONMEBOL U20s. Senegal is a more likely group winner in my opinion. New Zealand is also a potential runner up in their group. They have more talent on this team than is typical and they've gotten out of their group the last two U20 World Cups (and played the USA in both). Uruguay and Norway have the best chance of winning the group but either could drop points against NZ and end up 3rd.
Snip: CHICAGO (May 21, 2019)—U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos named defender Mark McKenzie as the team’s captain for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. The USA kicks off the tournament on Friday, May 24 against Ukraine (2:30 p.m. ET; FS1, Universo). https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...mark-mckenzie-named-captain-for-u20-world-cup
I'm a little surprised Ochoa has passed up Brady Scott. Iirc Scott was the next big thing at keeper for a while. And yes I know he's been injured but from all reports he is healthy.
If our guys have a good tournament I wonder which players will see more playing time for those in MLS? For example, I don’t see McKenzie getting more time with the way Elliot and Trusty are playing. However, I could see Rennicks getting more time even though I’d expect him to be a sub.
This is what I'd like to see on Friday. Other than Ochoa over Scott, which I don't feel terribly strong about, I think the only controversial parts are in the midfield trio. I give Ledezma the nod over Pomykal because Pomykal is working back to fitness. Maybe Paxton is fully fit, in which case I'm sure he starts over Ledezma. The key thing for me is Cerrillo over Durkin. I think the biggest danger we'll face in this match and likely the other two group stage matches is the counterattack. Even though Durkin is probably a higher-level prospect than Cerrillo, Cerrillo is better-equipped to handle a counterattack. He's quicker, he's tougher in the tackle. One argument against this is that we'll miss Durkin's ability to play balls to the wings from the 6, and while I acknowledge that, I think Mendez will be able to pick up some of that slack, Ledezma (or Pomykal) will be able to advance possession plenty well, and I believe we'll be winning the possession battle in this game.
I just don't really buy that a guy playing u19s in Holland is in better match fitness than Pomykal who has been going 90 in MLS and has missed a couple of games. You don't lose all your fitness in 2-3 weeks nor gain full match fitness playing a couple of youth games. If Pomykal is healthy enough to dress he should start. If he tires in the 2nd half we can make a substitution.
From all indications, he's healthy enough to play. Being healthy enough to play isn't the same thing as a player who is playing well. Scott hasn't played much football recently due to a knee injury. You have to wonder how healthy he actually is. He might be healthy enough to not have to be subbed off the field with an injury, but is he healthy enough to play well?
I think its important to keep in mind that Durkin hasn't struggled much at youth level defensively. I know there's this viewpoint from some that he's some sort of defensive sieve due to his lack of quickness and some positioning issues he's had for DC United, but none of this has ever been brought up as a problem for any US youth team. I wouldn't be sure that what is a problem in MLS will be a problem in a youth tournament. I also would not be sure that Cerrillo is tested out as a player capable of playing as a lone six ahead of two attacking CM's. He's not been aligned in that formation for Dallas without having some combination of Gruezo, Hayes, Acosta, who are all good defensive players or at the very least more defensive minded than Pomykal, Ledezma and Mendez. The only time he played this season without any of those three, he played a two-man holding role along with Pomykal, but that was also against Colorado, so I think there's a question there whether he is better suited to provide defensive cover than Durkin.
Can anyone tell me more about Mark McKenzie? Like what’s his overall potential? Style of play? Could he potentially make it overseas on a big 4 league? Just trying to see what individual players we should be keeping an eye out for.
In my opinion, McKenzie's an above-average defender, very mobile, strong for his size (6'0), average passer. Ceiling likely isn't so high, but could play in Europe. Best prospects on this team (in some rough order): Richards, Araujo (if played centrally), Durkin, Soto, de la Fuente It's a good team without any huge talents, so its hard to pick out a few players exactly for the best prospects on the team. There aren't many guys who aren't good prospects. The players on this team who I don't think are all too good are Ochoa, Dos Santos, Real and Rennicks. I think Servania and Keita are talented players, but both are not getting MLS minutes yet. Cerrillo is considered a big prospect by some, but I don't see big talent. Hard worker with good athleticism, but I see a lack of anything elite for a CM, so I see him as a very borderline talent between the good and not good category. I think he's closer to the average category. Servania and Keita might also fit into that category, as could Rennicks and maybe Ochoa. Real and Dos Santos are the only players who I think are bad.
This team is loaded with high end prospects: Pomykal, Mendez, Dest, and Llanez could easily be added to the list of top prospects. All of these players are still too young to make huge judgements on one way or the other, but they all have potential with a very high ceiling.
I’d like to see Weah and Konrad used as wide forwards and have us play Paxton, Mendez and Ledezma behind them, Durkin behind them. The speed up top with the decision making and decisive passing of our 3 CMs would be really run to watch. I like Soto but Paxton is used in attack pushing forward for Dallas a lot. Keep him up there as a CF in the Pulisic role and have 2 wide super fast winger/forwards ahead of him. Diamond shape midfield with Weah and Konrad making the runs
I'd say wins and positive results are a more telling stat based on the way Pomykal plays. He's not really depended on to provide goals and assists for FCD. Also, there is the issue of gauging by stats like these because the exact same level of play from him might lead to more goals and assists or wins and draws for one team than for another depending on the personnel and setup around him. Boiling a player's impact down to stats like that is simplifying the game too much, imo. In other sports you can tell more about a player's performance based on stats, but they are mostly useless in soccer. A player could play 90 horrible minutes but score two goals on a tap in goal and a set piece goal while another player plays a great game on a team that is overmatched, therefor racking up no impressive stats. Soccer players have to actually be watched to really determine how they played. Another way to look at it would be to ask, who are the other players in Pomykal's position that are putting up better stats than he is? This is all to say that I also think that Pomykal should be with the full national team in the near future (as soon as his schedule allows after the Gold Cup).
Not only can be, but should be. I think in the case of Mendez, Dest, and Llanez, they are the top prospects on this roster. Add in Ledesma as well.