Adidas ESP 2006 Thread

Thanks for the reminder. This was the place where I heard some these names for the first time

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=304915&root=us&cc=5901

 

The website hasn't yet released the names of the players who have reported to camp. However, there is a list of the players that were originally invited, and I don't think that will change a whole lot. Go to www.adidas-esp.com and then click "news" at the top. The first link will be "adidas ESP 2006 Showcases America's Top Youth Soccer Players." You'll get an adobe link which is a reprint of the ad that appears in the most recent edition of Soccer America. It has the names, photos and clubs of 135 players. There are two players for which photos were unavailable.

I notice that Corben Bone & Cameron Brown are both listed. However, since they are presently with the U20s in Canada I don't think they reported to the ESP camp. Wonder if there are last minute replacements for them (and others).

 

I just started an ESP camp thread on US Men, where I normally hang out, just to get some of these young names into circulation. We have had several recent threads on the larger issue of player development. There's a nice list of camp alumni, by the way, including several USMNT players/candidates.

You can find the names (w/photos) of those invited at:

http://www.adidas-esp.com/Home/adidasESP06_print.pdf

Assuming my thread remains alive, I'll check back in from time-to-time and 'cross-pollinate' the threads.

 

From surveying over 30 coaches to go with ESPN Soccernet.com's own analysis after watching four straight days of matches, here is a listing of the top 15 players at the 2004 adidas ESP:

Strikers


Michael Grella -- The book on him coming into camp was that he is "good when he is on, and average when he is not." Well, he was certainly on this past week, scoring several goals, including a well-placed shot into the top left corner in the first half of the All-Star Game on Saturday night. Though only listed at 5-11, 155 pounds, the U-18 National Team and Albertson striker showed his ability to hold off any defender, and use his power off the dribble when going to goal. His fiery personality helped raise the level of his teammates all week, as well. The University of Maryland is said to be a front-runner for his services.

Johann Smith -- The fastest player at camp. Bar none. From the first game on, the Oakwood Soccer Club striker displayed his explosive speed and ability to get behind the defense, as well as finish, which he did in the All-Star Game, as well as in several matches. Having played only at the Regional level, Smith firmly put himself on the map this week. No matter what coach you talked to, his name came up right away after the first day. The University of Virginia is one of several schools on his trail.

Stephen Bickford -- Was the Golden Ball winner for the week as the Most Valuable Player. "He's good for a goal a game," said one coach, after watching the CASL Elite striker score two goals in his team's third match of the week. When paired with Eric Avila, who also had a strong week, he was at his best, running on to several through balls with his blazing speed to sneak in on goal. Having never been involved as a national or regional level player before, Bickford certainly proved his worth at ESP, and will be one of the most highly-recruited forwards out of the Class of 2005.

Matt Mitchell -- What a story. This Tariffville, Conn., resident went from not being selected for ESP, to being added at the last minute as a replacement player, to scoring the tying and winning goals in the All-Star Game after lighting up the nets all week. The Boston Bolts standout played up top during the week, but can also play as a wide midfielder. Speed, one-on-one play, and his fearlessness in attacking the goal were impressive all week.

Midfielders


Garry Lewis -- A ferocious center midfielder who wins nearly every ball in his vicinity. That wasn't all he brought to the table, though, as the two-time NSCAA All-American distributed well out of the midfield and was strong in his off-the-ball movement. You couldn't miss him, either, with his blond Mohawk. Though the Jacksonville Kicks standout was mentioned by most every coach in attendance, his recruiting drama was over before it started, having committed to the University of North Carolina during the spring.

Michael Farfan -- Along with his twin brother, Gabe, the U-17 National Team midfielder was a terror along the right flank all week, displaying strong one-on-one skills and excellent technical skills.

Jamie Franks -- Some coaches in attendance had him in their top three for the week after watching him dominate on both the right and left flanks. The PDA midfielder has been a regular on the Region I team for several years and was no stranger to the coaches on hand, but his stock rose tremendously by showing better than others who are in Residency down in Bradenton, Fla. In addition to his strong vision and ability to get out of trouble in tight spaces, he showed some bite defensively, as well.

Ryan Soroka -- His play was up and down this week, but when he is playing well, there is no one midfielder better in the age group. The U-17 National Team and FC Delco standout has pace to give defenders fits when he gets loose on the right side, as well as superb decision-making skills and an accurate shot. Soroka is also very active away from the ball and a menace once he loses the ball.

Michael Konicoff -- Served in the nicest balls of anyone at camp. Has a stocky build at 5-7, 150 pounds, but is quick with the ball, and is strong in one-on-one situations on the attack. The NSCAA All-American is a true left-sided midfielder, which had several coaches enamored with him.

Lee Nguyen -- No player in camp had the one-on-one abilities that Nguyen has. He was the guy who the rest of his peers kept talking about because of his wide-array of moves and quickness on the ball. The Dallas Texans standout can play as an attacking midfielder or out wide.

Defenders


Christopher Schuler -- The biggest field player in camp at 6-foot-4, 175 pounds, this strong centerback won every ball in the air over the week, and showed the ability to serve good balls out of the back. While a few coaches wondered aloud whether his best position is in the back, the Chicago Magic standout did a good job organizing the defense and keeping the team's shape throughout the week.

Graham Dugoni -- Was the only centerback to man a three-man backline all week. He was able to do so because of his ability to win balls in the air with ease, as well as with solid tackles. Several times, the Region IV select player from Portland, Oregon, held off strikers with his size and strength (6-2, 185), whether they had the ball, or by shepherding the ball to his goalkeeper.

Taylor Waspi -- The U-17 National Team defender showed a lot of versatility playing as a centerback at times, and as a right back on other occasions. No matter the situation, the two-time ESP All-Star was composed and one of the best players on the field. His strength in the air makes him appear larger than his 5-11, 180-pound frame. Going into his junior year, Waspi will be one of the most highly-recruited players next summer.

Mark Wiltse -- Another player in Residency under the guidance of John Ellinger, Wiltse displayed a savvy for the game out of the back that was noticeable. Some coaches like him as a centerback, while others think he's more of a midfielder, due to his skill set and size (5-11, 150 pounds).

Goalkeeper


Chay Cain -- The Chicago Magic goalkeeper was the pick of the litter in a class that several coaches dubbed "less than stellar." The two-time All-American isn't an intimidating presence at 5-11, 165 pounds, but he has all the necessary tools, including strong shot-stopping ability and positioning. Having a 4.03 on a 4.0 scale will only help his cause during the recruiting season that officially kicked off on July 1.


Smith, Nguyen, Farfan and Soroka have all been covered from time-to-time on these boards. Anyone have updates on these others who were so well thought of in 2004?

 

waspi has been plagued by injuries the past few years.

he will play at wisconsin in the fall.

shameless self-promotion for my site: Taylor Waspi feature

 

the official roster from another thread:

http://www.adidas-esp.com/Home/adidasESP06_print.pdf

 

Haha I played against Bickford! The guy was non-existant the whole match, until suddenly he came out of nowhere to nail a volley for the winning goal. Lightning quick, but really was not a big part of the match.

 

Precious few kids on the ESP roster advertise themselves as wide players. For those in the know, what would you say is the backstory to that? Do a lot of them fail to recognize that their national-level prospects would be improved by being seen (and developing) as flank players? Do their clubs keep them in the dark about the advantages of shifting outside? Or am I wrong that focusing on crossing skills, etc. would help some of them along?

 

From the Man, Am I Getting Old Department, I’m going to assume that Jimmy Banks from Milwaukee is the son of Jimmy Banks, the former Wisconsin-Milwaukee player and long time national teamer who was on our 90 WC team in Italy and that Tyler Krumpe from Torrance, CA is the son of Paul Krumpe, the former UCLA player and long time national teamer who was on our 90 WC team in Italy and is now the head coach at Loyola Marymount.

 

Consequence of the US's low population density. All these kids were stars when young and probably played in the middle of the field from age 8 up - just where you would put the best players on a team.

One time someone posted about a highly ranked women's college team and almost every field player on it had been a center midfielder on their club teams.

 

Happens in other sports too. Probably half of all major leaguers played shortstop in Little League.

 

In baseball, it's not that hard to move from shortstop to most positions; in other sports, that's not always true ... for instance, a 6'4 high school basketball center doesn't have much upside. To give a soccer illustration, a young Ryan Giggs was talented enough to play any position on the field for any youth team in the world, but if he hadn't been groomed as a winger, he would not have become a superstar at age 18.

Also, for the sake of clarity, I don't think there's much of a problem with playing central mid (center forward, maybe) in club soccer. As Dave M-N pointed out, John Tardy is a central mid in club soccer; judging from the fact that Tyler Krumpe wears #10, he probably is too. But for ESP, both of these guys list themselves as outside backs. They've obviously given some thought to finding their niche at a higher level, and I'm sure they're preparing themselves to adapt to a new role ... I suspect that more of these kids would be well-served to do the same.

 

I think there is a bit of an analogy between central mid in soccer and shortstop in baseball. The skills acquired (required) for both positions tend to translate well if the player has to move elsewhere. The transition in the other direction--say central defender to central mid, or even wing to central mid--is much more difficult if a player goes a couple years without playing central mid. The observation I've made is that players on the wing tend to get used to having a certain amount of space. It becomes a difficult adjustment moving back to the middle where they have other players flying at them from all directions.

 

Playing wide blows at all-star camps. You don't get the ball unless the guys in the middle give it to you. And since this isn't a real team, this is a show-off opportunity, the players in the middle won't pass very much.

My boy is a wide player at the club level, but at ODP he's a center mid, thank you very much.

 

Any club coach who has national level players should try to give each of them some time in the middle. I think you learn certain things from playing in center mid that you can't learn anywhere else and that are useful for just about any other position.

 

For some reason, I woulda liked to think things had changed for the better since I played in that kind of game ... but yeah, I get your point.

The next question becomes how future Eddie Lewis types are ID-ed, and looking at our player pool, the answer is that we suck at it. Lewis himself attended UCLA and did get invited to the Olympic Festival, but he didn't turn any heads there and arrived in MLS as a low draft pick. His college roommate Frankie Hejduk got a lot more attention (as a wide mid), and by gaining a place on the 1996 Olympic Team, he was on the fast track to success.

 

Well, we IDed Bobby Convey and he's a true outside mid. Ditto for Justin Mapp and even DaMarcus Beasley (OK, he's not a crosser but where else will you play him). Santino Quaranta was one of his generation's two hotshots along with Eddie Johnson, and Santino was IDed as an outside mid even if it seems today that he might be more inside material.

 

I see what you're saying, but I'm inclined to nitpick and say that these players were ID-ed as three forwards and an a-mid. The extent to which they've worked out as wide players is -- I would argue -- haphazard.

Convey, in particular, was initially groomed as Etcheverry's successor and has been tried in many roles. To the extent that he's "better" after playing in England, it's probably because he now has a clear job. Quaranta played forward at Bradenton and still hasn't shown much as a right mid. As for the other two, Beasley and Mapp did get shifted to the left while at Bradenton, but as you acknowledged, DMB never developed an essential skill, while Mapp arrived in MLS with excellent raw skills but no positional understanding whatsoever.

A few cases in point ...
-- Our right mid in the 2005 Hex was Steve Ralston, who arrived in MLS as a forward.

-- Our right mid in the World Cup finals was Clint Dempsey, who's learning the role after playing centrally for the rest of his career.

-- The BigSoccer favorite has been Brian Mullan, who shifted to right mid at age 25.

-- The current MLS assist leader is Englishman Terry Cooke; he's not a special talent, but he knows how to do his job.

 

Numerista -

Thanks for the color. I retract my statement. You are right, we don't ID those kind of players. I guess that the camp format doesn't work, for the reasons that I gave earlier. The center mids know that if they pass the ball to the flanks, then the wide players will be selected, not them.

In the words of Chris Rolfe, I passed the ball, the other guys didn't pass back, they took the other guys.

You could hold crossing drills or something but that doesn't sound sufficient. Maybe this position has to be filled by scouting guys when they are playing club ball.

 

FYI- The camp roster is now up: http://www.adidas-esp.com/Home/CollegeCoaches.html

It appears that six players that appeared on the original invitee last are not attending the camp:
Fro Adu
Corben Bone
Cameron Brown
Abdusalam Ibrahim
Eber Martinez
Ryan Thomas
In the case of Bone & Brown, they're with the U20s in Canada. I would have to guess that the others are injured, otherwise I don't know why they're no-shows.

And there are six players who are in camp but who did not appear on the original invitee list:
Philippe Garre Scottsdale, AZ CMF Cisco Petros 2007
Kevan George Decatur, GA CMF Concorde Fire Elite 2008
Kwame Holder New Rochelle, NY CMF New Rochelle Raiders 2007
Brady Ondra Cordova, TN LB Memphis Futbol Club '90s 2008
Karl Reddick Media, PA RMF Nether Mustangs FC 2007
Matthew Van Houten Beaverton, OR WF FC Portland 2007

 

An aggressive invitation since he just graduated 8th grade. OK, since he is of the age that normally would have graduated 8th grade (because being at Bradenton he's clearly farther along in school).

My point is, he's very young compared with the other invitees, who are supposed to be upcoming high school seniors, no?

 

I started a thread a long time ago on this subject - too lazy to go digging for it now. Basically, I see a lot of left-footed guys thrown out wide because they're left footed. Right footed guys with any skill get tried out in other spots before they're pushed out wide.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that JR's kid becomes America's right-footed Robben.

 

In the section regarding FAQs, they describe how the players are selected:
"...Most of the players invited will be graduating in 2007 but there will also be exceptional younger players selected." Based on what they've done in past camps as well as this year, many of the "exceptional younger players" will come from the U17 residency pool. And Ibrahim is in Bradenton. However, in perusing the current camp roster I noticed a few players destined to graduate in '08 (or '09) who are not residency players. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're younger- for example, there are kids who start school late and graduate at 18 1/2, in some cases. Nevertheless, I noticed a few who are slated to graduate in '09 and are not presently in Bradenton: Gregory Garza, Kevin Mejia, Evan Raynr. And there are approximately 30 08s who are not in residency. It will be interesting to see how many from among the 08s and 09s in camp are invited (and accept) to Bradenton next semester when many of the 89s are due to leave.