Those rosters go a looong way to helping me forget about Brazil. Whereas the depth on that roster was weak, it turns out we have at least another squad of players who could have performed better. There is a lot of talent in this U17 class. Compared to other U17 cycles, it seems much deeper, yet the group at the World Cup seemed much less like a well functioning team than others. Is that the Bradenton effect, or is it much more complicated than that?
I would describe the '02s as having more depth than most of the previous U17 teams, as evidenced by all the "names" on the Nike Friendlies roster, but top end talent is lacking. In any case, it will be interesting to see who among this team and the WC team will make it to the 2021 U20 pool. We can speculate for a while about the cause of our poor performance at the WC. Was it poor player selection (read: some of the Nike Friendlies 02s should have been selected instead), was it poor coaching, was it not enough time to gel, was it some combination of the above?
For anyone who is within shouting distance of this area, I encourage you to attend. I went last year (my parents live down there and I was preparing to go on a cruise with them and other family members). I went with a cousin on 1 of the days and had an absolutely FANTASTIC time. Games going on all over the place, youth stars of tomorrow (there was this Portuguese kid last year who annihilated the Brazilian team as I was watching) and just a generally great atmosphere. I even had a chance to greet Cory Gibbs, who was down there scouting. Seriously, check it out if you can make it.
Last year it was in conjunction with the DA showcase. This year it is not, the DA showcase and DA cup is in another month. It might not be as festive down there.
The '02 roster is a joke. It's a recycling of names who came close to making the U-17 WC team, but weren't picked. Most of those players aren't any good. A few belong (Ramsey, Wilson, Arce, Alejandre), but most are no better than players who played at the U-17 WC. It's not a great age group, but the scouting of this age group has been abysmal, IMO. The '03 roster is pretty good. It's only missing a few names. I'm assuming Chifamba isn't eligible (and not close to it), so I'll give them a pass there. I don't know where Garcia and Roou are, but aside from that, it's much better selected than the '02 roster. I see Sealy is still there based on reputation. He needs to be filtered out. The main gripe I have with this roster is the keepers. '03 is weak in net and Jones is injured, but this is punting the age group at keeper, instead of giving some the chance to emerge. There has to be a few quality keepers in the age group. Slonina looks to be getting the early star treatment, despite not deserving it, IMO The kid is a quality enough prospect for his own age group, but I think he'll get exposed playing up a year. I wouldn't even say he's the best keeper in his own age group. I believe the LAG II coach is guest-coaching this team. Did he have any influence in selecting the LAG keeper? I don't believe I've once seen anyone praise him as being a quality prospect.
Any take on Ruben Hernandez at Xolos, who was not included on the Nike Friendlies roster? 1193190762852302848 is not a valid tweet id
Nothing from me. I’ve never seen him play, but he’s one of many they could’ve included here instead of some of these players.
Sam Sarver: Blazing winger. Might be the fastest player in the DA. He can be used as as a striker, but he’s not a striker because he doesn’t have the size or hold up game for the position. Very efficient in final third. He’s not creative or flashy, but he makes smart plays in goal scoring positions. He knows where his runners are going to run to, he knows when defenders are going to dive in, and he makes quick decisions. Top 10 player in this very talented age group, IMO. Noah Hall: Understated RB. Does a lot well on both sides of the ball. Incredibly smart defensive player who has above average athleticism. He’s very good defensively. He’s capable of shutting down good wingers. Going forward, he’s not a big skill guy, but he’s better than you’d initially think. Since he’s a very smart player, he has success with deception, athleticism and average passing and ball control. This is exactly the kind of player I think the system fails right now. He’s probably a little too far off Columbus HG signing list (considering they haven’t even signed Chifamba or Sarver yet), not quite good enough to generate significant European interest, and college soccer will hurt his development playing multiple years. He’s probably a 20th-40th caliber player in the country. Good player, but I’d worry he falls by the wayside.
UPDATE: Due to injuries, GK Bryan Dowd will replace Ethan Wady on the U-17 MNT roster and M Brian Gutierrez will replace Patrick Bohui on the U-16 BNT.— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) November 10, 2019
Great to see Solar putting three kids on the U17 roster in Josh, Bailey and JT. Doing great things as a club in NTX.
How do you rate Sparks? He absolutely took over both the semifinal and final of the U17 DA championship.
U-17 lineup I'd send out for tomorrow Wilson Hankins-Ramsey-Lopez-Tolkin Alejandre-Soares Fuentes Arce-Jones-Imperato U-16 lineup I'd send out for tomorrow Slonina Cuevas-Huckaby-Walls-Gomez Casas-McGlynn Nyeman Paredes-Freeman-Sarver
Thursday, Nov. 14 Netherlands vs. U-16 BNT, 3:30 p.m. ET Turkey vs. U-17 MNT, 6:30 p.m. ET That would be men against boys!
Why does the US have two teams in this tournament? Is that always the case? Seems odd that we have a non WC U-17 team facing off with a younger 2003 aged netherlands and Turkey? Is there some reason for that? I mean I am all for any high quality international competition these kids can get, especially from teams outside CONCACAF.
They couldn't get another international team for the Friendlies. Plus after the performance in WC it is an easy way to immediately start evaluating other U-17 players in the pool and bring in new players to the pool. Saw entitled WC performances by some of the kids that have been entrenched on the team for years. Maybe the "regulars" need to figure out they don't own those spots indefinitely.
I believe the U-16 lineup is: Slonina Cuevas - huckaby - Kinzner - gomez, nyeman(C) - kitahara - edelman sealy - sarver - freeman Not 100% on where everywhere is, but those are the names Edit: And here are the numbers We are underway! Your U-16 #USMNT starting XI to take on 🇳🇱!1-Gabe Slonina (GK)2-Mauricio Cuevas3-Jonathan Gomez4-Dante Huckaby5-Eric Kinzner7-Dante Sealy8-Tyler Freeman9-Sam Sarver16-Sota Kitahara18-Daniel Edelman23-Moses Nyeman (Capt.)— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) November 14, 2019