England having the better of the play early on. Commentator makes note of Las screaming at defense at the defense after he was forced to make a save.
The announcers have now used about a dozen different euphemisms to explain how England, who in their estimation didn't play well in the first half, has come out in the second half playing much better. "Chalk and cheese" was the latest. Presumably cheese is preferable to chalk.
GK Las has been praised for having a good game and, in particular, being quick off his line. Also some nice words for Ocampo-Chavez, who is "leading the line well."
England apparently just scored a great goal. 25 yard curler. Commentators are saying that it was put just about the only spot they think Las wouldn't have saved it.
Bello nearly scores. Announcers think he might've made the wrong decision not to pass to AOC inside the box.
Extensive highlights of the game. Looks like the person cut out all of the anti-climatic passages in the game, and added all the main ones. Good idea IMO, although I didn't see the game, so I don't know what exactly they left out.
My thoughts from the highlights. Looks like we were absolutely dominated. I think this year is way overrated. I do not see the elite field players in it that the last two U-17 cycles had. People will throw around names like Bello, Busio, Reyna, Scally, AOC, but how often do these guys put in consistently very good performances against good teams the way that the stars of the last couple of cycles did? They don't. That should be the standard here. Thats not to say they can't develop their games later on, but if you are regarded as one of the best in the country in your age group and a future NT star, I think you should be expected to play really well in youth games where the majority of players on the field will not be high level pros. I see a lot of the same problems that we've seen all cycle. When we plays teams that can actually play against us (not the CONCACAF minnows), we cannot keep possession of the ball and revert to bunkering. We don't have the central players that can control a game. We have a bunch of central players who can be complimentary players, but they cannot be the main player running the show in CM. Nyeman needs to get fit. Yow looked impressive in the highlights. His movement to the top of the box on his goal was a good decision, and he placed his shot very well back across goal. He also had some nice passages. Judge made the mistake on the third goal (the highlights cut out his mistake), but I see a lot of good defending from him in here. I see a lot of bad defending from Hernandez-Foster in here. Hernandez-Foster is not a CB. He's an alright fill in LB, but its asking way too much to have him play CB against a good team. Like I said, I don't think we have any "great" field players in this year, but I liked what Scally showed in these highlights, and he's probably the most consistently good field player for this year (along with AOC). A nice showing here from Las. The most consistently good player that I've seen from this age group, and its not close. Thats usually a problem though when your goalkeeper is your best player. The last time this team played England, Las kept a dominant England showing close. A slight critique here of Las. On that second goal he jumped early. I don't think the forward read his intention and took another second because of Las movement (as opposed to KHF), but he gave the forward an easier finish because of it. Its good for keepers to be aggressive, but he needs to learn to be a little less aggressive.
Is this opinion being over influenced by this one game? People over on the England sub form are giving serious credence to the idea that this age group might be better overall than the 2000 age group that won the last U17 World Cup and dominantly beat the US 4-1 in doing so.
Very little. I’ve seen a lot of this age group. I don’t think we are all that good. I think this team is clearly worse than what we put out there the last two cycles.
Can someone explain why AOC is considered one of the top players in this cycle? I was looking at his USSDA profile and he only scored 8 goals in 15 matches all of last season. Ben Redzic had 18 goals in 18 games last season. And what about Tyler Freeman, the kid who just signed a HGP deal with SKC? He had 15 goals in 16 games Seems like a no brainer to me
You aren't counting the playoff games. He had 15 goals in 21 games. Not a great return nor a terrible return based on those numbers, but only nine of those games were starts, so thats the big caveat here. I'm not going to count up the minutes, but I think if you did, you'd probably see his goals per minute rate looks better than his goals per game rate. Seattle had two good #9's in that age group, Diaz and Ocampo-Chavez. Diaz is a year older, so I think thats why they started him more than Ocampo-Chavez, despite Ocampo-Chavez being a much better prospect. He had two goals in two games playing up a year at the U-19 level last season, as well. His goal numbers this season are good. I wouldn't only look at goal numbers. They often don't tell a good picture. Some players are put in a position to pad their stats, others aren't. Ocampo-Chavez is a good example of a very good player who wasn't.
Youre right, i didnt look at goals per minutes playes. I just did quick glance at his USSDA page. They should really put total minutes played on there. It would be better for scouts. Whats youre opinion of Redzic and Freeman as forwards in this cycle? It seems like we need to change things up if we cant compete with England
Assist numbers would be nice. I'm sure teams keep basic stats, so I don't know why the DA website hasn't yet added this to their website. How much harder would it be to list minutes or game logs? I like Redzic's game, but I would like it that much more if he used his left foot. He reminds me of a poor-man's Pulisic. I think he's a talented player with a chance to have a decent pro career, but I don't see him as a standout. He should have a chance to make the U-17 WCQ team and WC team, but on merit he's more than a fringe guy, IMO. Freeman, I like his game more. He probably belongs in the top 5 or so of a best '03 list. I still am not sure what his best position is though.
I think this is the crux of the situation with this cycle. However, it seems like this squad is still coming together (is this a byproduct of no more Bradenton?), so hopefully their struggles are just part of the process. In any case, I don't think we've seen the best 11 on the field together yet. My take on some of the things that need to happen for this team to reach it's potential: - First and foremost, Reyna needs to be healthy and play a major role. - A healthy Pynadath on the wing would allow more flexibility with where to play Reyna. (I'm not even actually sure how good he is as I haven't seen anything but highlights) - Fuentes needs to be the player I think he is -- even if he is that good, he needs to be in a position where he can create (meaning that he needs to have a team around him capable of keeping possession much better than what we have seen recently) - Nyeman and Freeman need to, at the very least, be quality depth players - Atencio and/or Stroud don't have to be as good as Durkin was last cycle, but at least one of them needs to be an adequate 6 (this might be the biggest question mark for me, and could be the root of the midfield issue) - The defense and goalkeeper positions seem to be under control, but the depth at all five positions seems questionable. - On the topic of the defenders, the midfield has to be solid enough in possession to allow Bello and Scally to get involved going forward. - If Efra had never left this squad, that would go a LONG way in closing the talent gap between this and the last cycle.
The Brazil game is on radio. We are down 2-1. Like last game, Yow scored and Las is keeping us in the game with great saves. http://mixlr.com/ntfclive/
Halftime. Brazil is leading 2-1. Radio commentators are making it seem like we are being routed, but Las is keeping the ball out of the net.