Wonder if this group of Sounders players have played against this group of Westham players in the Youdan tournament. Can't check on that myself at the moment.
To answer my own question, doesn't look they have faced off. But this group his a history of success playing against EPL academies at such tournaments as the Youdan Tournament.
I guess today's going to just be a Ricardo Pepi hype day... this piece of skill to beat his defender to create a shot is absurd and I haven't seen anything like it from a youth player pic.twitter.com/TBpa8wzH8p— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) April 19, 2019
The lack of respect Ocampo-Chavez gets at Seattle is something I'd like to see them end up paying for. I hope he signs abroad. To think that Leyva has earned a first team contract, and Ocampo-Chavez hasn't is hard to believe that those who observe his play in training and games every day have this opinion. Maybe he's very overrated and all the goals he scores and good play he shows isn't indicative of a high level pro prospect. That isn't a slight on Leyva either. I have no problem with Seattle signing Leyva to a first team contract, but to think that Ocampo-Chavez should have to "wait his turn" because of a small sample size of USL minutes (a league which often is a very bad indicator of how players can help the MLS team) is something I'd like to see Seattle end up paying for. Seattle has some very good prospects coming through their academy between Ocampo-Chavez, Diaz, Atencio, Sasaki, Martinez, but they've yet to show much in terms of using them in the first team, and their decisions with how they utilize these players look very questionable to me.
Too bad you willfully ignore evidence of the Sounders willing to give minutes to youth players and HGPs. If you watched and followed the Sounders preseason games etc, you would have seen Leyva fitting right in with the first team and impressing everyone.
You are missing the point. I don't care what they think. I can form my own opinion. To think that this kid should "wait his turn" with cameos in a lower league when others his age of a similar (or worse) caliber are playing MLS minutes should have him considering his options. I think signing abroad would be better for his career. Seattle is completely undervaluing him. Also, they haven't yet given a first team minute this season to a homegrown player under the age of 20. Of the 21 US MLS teams (I don't care to count the Canadian teams), Seattle is one of the 8 who haven't used a 20 or younger American player so far this season.
Thank god there’s a USL team in El Paso now. The talent there must be crazy. Just need a pro team to develop and give chances to youth. I’m sure they will develop a youth academy similar to what another Texan non-MLS independent USL team are doing in San Antonio
Seattle has proven they are willing to give minutes to under twenties. That's a fact that you blatantly ignore. Their leadership that has proven they are willing to give those minutes hasn't changed. So you can't just ignore their prior history.
Thats what we heard about the Timbers. The excuse was always that the Americans weren't good enough, but they were willing to play young players. Portland had the excuse of not having any talent in their academy, and not having that much young American talent on their roster. I also don't care if they play under 20 players, if they aren't American players under 20. My opinion is that Seattle's academy has a number of very high caliber prospects who are first team caliber players right now, and none of them are playing in the first team. How many times have you watched these academy players play and how do you think they stack up to their counterparts that are playing well in other MLS teams?
They have played American under 20s as well. You have unrealistic expectations and you over hype nearly every single player who catches your eye and you refuse to move your opinions one way or the other despite evidence to the contrary. Then you talk shit about the organizations or coaches or whoever. And you ignore any evidence to the contrary. Your schtick gets old very fast.
This is a very silly hill to choose to die on. Is it really your opinion that Seattle deserves to lose AOC because at age 17 and three weeks he hasn't been bumped up to an MLS deal yet?
Do any of these teams deserve players to stay in their academy? Plenty of players leave MLS academies to Europe. My opinion is based on how they are utilizing the many players I named.
I completely agree. I deserved to be personally attacked because I was willing to give an unfavorable opinion about your team.
I will add ... Have played sounds great, but the question on the table is which American U20's are playing for Seattle right now? A list of such players would be the much-sought-after evidence to the contrary. I see Danny Leyva on the roster but without any minutes played yet, apparently. Am I missing someone? Every young player's situation is unique, and with an uncertain future, each one must make an educated guess about the best path forward. It would be silly for a player like Ocampo-Chavez to go Europe punitively, just because Seattle has been slow on the trigger, but their relative slowness is a factor he should consider, and he should certainly consider his near-term prospects for first-team minutes with the Sounders.
A bit of patience, please. The growing hype around Seattle's academy is based on a wave of talent that mostly begins in the 2001 birth year. This is the group that won the U17 DA championship last year. Many players from this group have signed USL deals and the younger half of this group are at the GA Cup right now. The oldest player in this group is 18 years old (Marlon Vargas), while everyone else is 17 or younger. Furthermore, the '02s (esp AOC) and Leyva (an '03) are generally rated higher than the '01s (Gonzalez, Vargas, Diaz) as a whole. I don't think it's particularly damning that Seattle isn't giving a lot of first team minutes to its youth wave given that the relevant talent is 16-17 years old. They aren't playing any U20s right now because they don't have nearly as many good '99/'00 players and in fact their best one is a GK, who are slower to develop. I also don't think any of their youth wave have shown that USL is absolutely beneath them at this point. Tacoma Defiance are near the bottom of the USL standings. I'll bet that Leyva makes his first team debut soon. I'll further place a bet that AOC is offered an MLS deal before the end of the season. Seattle has had a few good players come through their academy in the past, but they've never had to manage a wave of academy talent before. They have not yet proven they are good at it, but it is far too early to conclude that they are bad at it. When clubs make a point of signing players at ages as young as 15/16, you simply have to be prepared to be patient.
when you are talking seattle it seems like you need to talk pre and post lagerway. guessing his rsl academy track record was a not insignificant part of what made him so appealing to the sounders
This is not a matter if Seattle will be good or bad at integrating these players. The results will decide that over the next five years. I think any fan of our NT program would like to see them do a good job in that regard. A stance could be taken that its too early to make any determination or a stance could be taken that the early results don't show good results. For any of these individual players who are deciding where to sign at the professional level, they have to make determinations on a number of factors . Right now, I would say that the early work of Seattle in regards to integrating these players is not all that promising. I think we've seen some young Americans make the mistake of signing in MLS with clubs without a good track record, and it usually doesn't turn out well. Signing in Europe doesn't guarantee that they'll break through there, but I can't remember very many who've not been given a chance to break through. I think we've seen that happen more often with certain MLS clubs.
Agree that a complete evaluation of how the Sounders develop this generation of talent is still a long ways off, but.... I disagree on the point that they have done a pour job to this point. First, they have to be commended on the job that they have done in bringing these players together. Several of them have come from outside of the Seattle area, so we know that they have dedicated significant resources to scout and recruit in order to put this group together. Second, is not only the fact that they've won at the youth level, but that they have done so with a definitive style of play that the organization and coaching staff have shown a strong commitment to. In other words, the players are not just winning games, they are doing it the right way. Third, these players have continued to be challenged along the way with higher levels of play so that their development will not stall. They created a second team, and they have shown that the sole purpose of this team is to develop players without regard for results. These players are getting opportunities in the USL, and that is an appropriate place for them right now. The next step will to integrate them into the first team, but I don't see any one of these players that is ready for that jump yet. Based on how the club has handled the last couple of years with this group, I think it would be silly to hypothesize that they are not a huge priority with first team plans. The other part of this is Lagerway, who has a track record of integrating young players into a first team. I think we are at least a year away from the first players of this group being ready to play an actual role on the first team. That is not to say that Leyva and AOC couldn't get their feet wet with a debut before then, but they are not ready for MLS yet and have plenty to learn in USL.
Leyva just signed a first team contract last week at the ripe old age of 15. Both him and AOC are getting regular mintues in the USL championship. Not DA or ECNL but against grown men getting paid to win soccer games. They next step for those youngsters in the USL is to show they belong at the next level. Leyva has done this now it's AOC turn. The Sounders are an elite MLS club. If you're going to make the game day roster let alone make the eleven you're going to need to earn it everyday. If players want an easier path they should consider signing elsewhere.
I heartily disagree. On the YNT boards, we spent years discussing how the lack of a bridge between U19 DA and MLS was killing youth development. Seattle has created a USL team and filled it with talented 16-17 year olds who are getting valuable pro experience. This is a Good Thing that directly addresses the concerns of many of the observers/critics of the old system. It's also not just about the in-game experience of competing with adult professionals; it's also a time when very young players can truly internalize what it means to be a professional off the field. These kids still have much to learn and there is plenty for them still to absorb in Tacoma. If these players don't show signs of improvement, or if they improve but aren't given chances in MLS, I will be right with you with your concerns. At the moment, criticizing the Sounders for not giving a few MLS sub minutes to a just-turned-17 forward with zero goals in nine career USL games is totally hyperbolic. AOC is a promising prospect, but there is nothing wrong or improper about asking him to show a bit more dominance at the USL level before advancing him further.
.@LAFCAcademy finishes second in the MLS group at the #GACup U15 flight with a 3-1 record against Liga MX competition. Toronto FC wins the MLS group after going 4-0. TFC plays Chivas (the Liga MX group winner) in the championship on Saturday https://t.co/dEozhYP8fJ— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) April 19, 2019
The U15 division group stage of the GA Cup ends with MLS clubs holding an 11-4-1 record over LMX teams. The championship will be played tomorrow with TFC against Chivas. (TFC won the first match 1-0) The third place game is LAFC v. Leon. (LAFC won the first match 1-0) The fifth place game is Philly v. Monterrey. (Philly won the first match 2-0) The seventh place is NYRB v. Cruz Azul. (NYRB won the first match 2-1) @bballshawn Feel free to share with our Mexico fan friends on the rivalry thread. I'm not going back there.....