I'm not confident that it'll happen. I wouldn't be surprised if he started again, but with Martino as coach? If Vazquez is starting and Martino is citing him being a more physical presence to play on the wing "on the road", I wouldn't be surprised. He said the decision came down to starting Carleton or Vazquez, but he started Carleton because he thought he was more ready to start. I'm not sure this is a real competition, but with Martino, it is, so I don't think we can be sure that Carleton will start next week. But surely good news that he could. The quotes about Barco seem to indicate that even after next week, its no guarantee he goes right back into the starting lineup. Maybe he'll be made to earn his spot. If Carleton gets some playing time in the upcoming weeks, he could increase his value to European teams.
Carleton's agent might have told ATL, since we're smack in the middle of the transfer window, play him or we're going to start kicking up dust. As to Almiron, it's amusing how some fans need to downplay players in competition with yanks in order to prop up our own. If Almiron were American people would be hyping the shit out of him. He'd be our 2nd best player next to Pulisic and the ACM we generally fail to develop. Imagine Almiron and Pulisic together playing off one another.
Was what I said about Almirong wrong? He might struggle in Europe because he’s very one-footed. That has nothing to do with any American player.
I think its sorta news now that Tata trusts him enough to start him. We are talking about a kid who only recently turned 18. So now that he's started and done well, he should kick on from here. At the minimum be the first offensive sub off the bench with sporadic starts. And if those starts are against the MLS bottom dwellers like DCU for the 2nd half of the year...…………..I'm fine with that. Provide rest for Barco, Almiron, etc. against those teams. Gotta get him up close to 1000 minutes this season in MLS play. 2000 minutes between the first team and ATL2 in 2018 will make me happy enough. The total right now is 840 minutes. Depends on the league. I think he'd be foolish to go to Newcastle. Doesn't suit him. Should go to La Liga...……………
Andrew Carleton, giving the people what they want both on and off the field: I asked @andrewcarleton7 if he allowed himself to think about playing against a legend in Wayne Rooney. His answer will surprise you. #ATLUTD #5Stripes @ATLUTD pic.twitter.com/sTfec1MVkk— Caleb Johnson (@ATLjohnson18) July 21, 2018
That’s a very polite way of saying “I really don’t give a s*** about Wayne Rooney”. Kudos to Carleton for being professional about it
Is MLS Transfers a reliable source? Have they been right in the past about transfer news? That’s insanely huge news if true about Juventus watching him. Imagine being on the same team as Ronaldo, Mandzukic, Dybala, and Higuain
Been right on occasion, sure. Hard to know if there's a kernel of truth in rumors that don't come to fruition, though. Is it surprising that a team like Porto might be tracking Carleton? I don't think so.
Shrug. MLS transfers isn't saying the transfer interest is significant. All he's saying is that they're checking him out. I'm sure a ton of clubs check out young Americanplayers all the time. That's what they have full-time North American scouts for. I'm with you, though. Juventus seems like a bridge too far...……………..
Here's a hypothetical question for you @ussoccer97531 : Let's assume you are the coach and you have a 2 year plan (starting from now). You feel that Carlton is not the number one playmaker in the team now (you believe Barco is the man for the near future) but you want to have Carlton starting by next season (with Atl of course) along side Barco. You are also hoping Barco improves enough so that he can be moved along at a profit to Europe and Carlton will take his place as the main playmaker for Atl. (I know if you were the coach your plan wouldn't be a 2 yr plan but humor me please) Questions: 1. Where would you play Carlton? (remember, he isn't the number one playmaker...that is Barco) 2. Who would you take off to make room for Carlton? 3. I know you haven't been happy with his situation and one start is nice but isn't a pattern that changes anything yet but if he continues to get significant minutes (especially considering he will have time in playoffs) would you be satisfied at the end of this season?
I think that the such-and-such big club is "tracking" such-and-such youth players rumors are always given too much weight. Big clubs have extensive scouting departments. They probably make a big list of interesting-looking players from the U17 WC and elsewhere and keep track of them for a few years to see who pans out. It wouldn't at all surprise me to know that Carleton is in the scouting database of big clubs all over Europe. But that also doesn't mean that much - there are surely lots of players in those databases. When I hear that Porto (or whoever) is tracking Carleton, it just tells me what we already know: that Carleton is a player with some very strong qualities who needs to round out his game and translate it to higher levels.
Sometimes. Its a rumor account. The guy breaks news that I don't understand how someone could possibly break if they didn't have sources, so what he says should be regarded to some degree. But then he says a lot of things that don't end up happening. And thats not to say he's wrong a lot of the time. He's a rumor account. Lets take this situation as an example. Maybe he heard that both clubs scouted Carleton. They scout hundreds of players. It doesn't mean that all of them will be signed by the club. If someone is going to take what he says as meaning that Juventus or Porto will sign Carleton and then claim he's wrong if it doesn't happen, I think the issue is in how the info he puts out was interpreted. But if he says something, I believe there's something to it. The question is to what degree. Why is Juventus surprising? He's one of the most talented players (in the world) in his birth year, and has the production to back it up. He was excellent at the U-17 WC. I'd actually be surprised if more of the top clubs were not interested in Carleton.
Why are you asking me? You think I'm the only one who dislikes this situation? Many do. The number has been getting larger by the week. As to your questions, I disagree with how you've set this situation out. First of all, Barco would not be an option over Carleton, IMO. He's been unproductive with Atlanta and with the club he played for in Argentina. He's a young player whose gotten a lot of playing time at a young age and shows talent. Why is he being treated as anything different? What has he proven thats better than what Carleton's proven? As for how I'd deal with this situation, I don't think Almiron is a CAM. If you look where he played at his last club, it wasn't mostly as a #10. His game is mostly about counter-attacking, he's more of a shooter than passer. He's very one-footed, and that hurts his ability to play centrally, IMO. And I think Barco is also more of a winger. Being talented offensively doesn't automatically make you a #10. But I would have Carleton starting centrally, Almiron on the left and Villalba on the right. Barco would come off the bench. If you look at his stats, are they that of an MLS starting attacking mid? No, they are not. So if this is being earned on merit, I don't think Barco should start. If Carleton didn't play well, then he should be treated like any other player. You have to earn your spot. If you don't produce, you don't play. But in his brief appearances so far this season and last season, he has produced very well. He could struggle in a larger role, but he also might not. He deserves a chance to show if he should start regularly.
I am not trying to single you out. You are obviously a huge proponent of Carlton (I know many are) and you have been very consistent in your criticism of Martino. hence the last question about whether you would be happy with that a scenario that had Carlton playing regularly by the end of the season and into playoffs (a scenario that may not be likely but at least seems a bit more possible now), a fulltime starter next year and the main man in two years on one of the best MLS teams...or would he have to be the main man by next year. I also know, from what you have said previously that you consider Barco inferior but people have different opinions (obviously not everyone can be right) and assuming that you held what appears to be Martino's current opinion (hence the hypothetical) how might you handle it? (if you prefer lets say that the owner forbid you from playing Carlton in Barco's spot and you had no choice but the point is you are not allowed....for one reason or another to play Carlton in Barco's spot) I worded it like that because, as you have said, Barco seems to be firmly in front of Carlton in Martino's mind and it is not likely that he takes his spot next year. (IMO) I was curious how you would fit Carlton into the squad given that constraint. I hope my answers make sense as to why I asked you the questions and why I asked them as I did.
I think getting regular playing time off the bench is better than not getting it. If Carleton was going to be a super-sub this season and then a starter next before being the best player the season after (like you described), I don't think that would necessarily be bad. Saying that, I don't think he can wait any longer than that. There's a certain point where European clubs stop taking up as much interest in young Americans. I think the point of young Americans signing in MLS is to get early playing time so they are established pros before they try to breakthrough in Europe as opposed to having to do it through the academy. So while I think your plan is better than him not playing, I just don't see it as anywhere near realistic. What has Martino shown to make anyone think that Carleton is going to get 30 or so minutes every game with regular starts if one of the offensive guys is unavailable? His only start was yesterday. And I think the main reason he started is because he's #2 on the LW depth chart. They could've used players like Vazquez at LW or Almiron at LW (with Kratz at CAM) or maybe Gressel at LW (with Kratz at CM), but Carleton was the easiest player to put in that place without changing too much of what I assume is his normal plan. I don't believe Martino considers this to be a situation where Carleton is starting to earn more playing time, and his playing time will go way up for the rest of this season. I also am not sure that he'd go into the starting lineup if Almiron was sold. How do we know they wouldn't buy another high priced designated player? When Atlanta decided not to keep Asad, they didn't hand a spot to Carleton (or even let him compete for a spot), they brought in a player for 15M to take that spot. If he's going to be given a chance to start regularly next season, I think that obviously isn't too bad. He'll get a chance to prove himself. I believe that chance should come before 2019 and whether or not he starts playing, I don't think it gets rid of whats happened the past two years. I'm just not sure Martino regards Carleton as a player he cares to bring through in the next year or two. Some coaches give players a chance when they are 17 or 18 and some give players a chance when they are 20 or 21. Often times, there's not a big difference between readiness to play a role at those ages, and it just comes down to whether a coach wants to give a young player a chance. The fact that he's also been using Vazquez ahead of Carleton at times, moving players around to Carleton's position instead of using him or sometimes not even including him in the 18 makes me think that he sees no urgency to give Carleton a chance. There certainly seems to be an urgency to give Barco a chance in comparison.
Thank you for your reply. This definitely answers part of my question. I wasn't presenting it as "my plan". I agree that Martino has not done anything to this point to indicate that Carlton is in his immediate plans and starting one game doesn't change anything. I find it very surprising but have found the whole season surprising. If Carlton doesn't get in the game when they are up 4-0 at halftime why would he start a game now? None of it makes any real sense to me. The plan was purely hypothetical and I was wondering what you would think of it as a goal and how you would implement it. Again, the constraint that Barco stays was put into place because I don't see Martino dropping him and had no bearing upon how you perceive the talents of him compared to Carlton.
Carleton tweeted today that he signed with Wasserman. Presumably much better networks to push for a move abroad. Maybe.
This is a good move for him regardless. Wasserman soccer is led by Richard Motzkin, who has long been one of the top agents at securing good deals out of MLS. (Some say this is because he is so chummy with MLS.) But lately, they have added former US player (and Ivy Leaguer!) Cory Gibbs as an agent and he has gotten a lot of guys deals overseas. Wasserman, mostly, but not exclusively, thru Gibbs has a client list of US players abroad that includes Weston McKennie, Matt Miazga, Omar Gonzalez, Emerson Hyndman, Chris Richards so they have a track record of getting guys deals outside the US. This is a really good move for Carelton.