Eh, To be honest, once Barco and Villalba are healthy, Emo will be a bench/rotational starter. That’s most likely going to always put him on the outside of a January call-up.
This seems like an exceptionally bad take. Have you seen who we have been bringing in to January camps? I'm not saying Hyndman is going to light the world on fire, but he's a pretty good player. He has a high motor, great vision, plays very quickly, and has great overall intelligence. His weaknesses are that he's not particularly physical, isn't going to be a defensive stalwart, and he probably isn't going to break too many people down on the dribble (although that's not really going to be his job if he's playing as an 8). I think he could be a rotational player for the USA depending on what other talent comes through for us.
I only caught the first 30 mins last night... not that impressed, but would still take him over every other American midfielder in MLS. EH is going to need to raise his game to be an international caliber player, but would be useful in the short term. I am hoping the kids can progress as quick as we all hope. It will be interesting to see if your prognostications on ATL come true, but again, I'd be more confident saying it about the three midfielders on the bench of the GC final.
Over every other American midfielder in MLS.?! You're quite the stable genius. I'd love to see you build out an MLS expansion roster with failed YA retreads . Just from the Sounders alone I'd take Leyva, Shipp, Roldan, Morris and Bwana over EH.
Couldn’t disagree more. One of their cleanest, most technical players. Good work rate, brave, good movement and tactical awareness. Not flashy but very sound. Sample size is still small.
I agree the sample size is small but I've watched two of his games thus far and nothing he did stood out. Last night I forgot he was even on the field until TT suggested RdB should've taken out EH before Pity. He needs time to acclimate to MLS tbf.
Thought he was good not great vs LAFC. Pleasantly surprised that he went the whole game, and earned it. He was clean on the ball but didn’t stand out that much. 30 minutes went by without mention of either Emo nor Nagbe., Just a weird game in that regard. Emo worked his nuts without the ball...to get into space or create space for others. He looked to push the ball forward but not much came of it. Pushed off the ball a few too many times.....overall just not a bunch of impact,
He's a pretty technical player - not some amazing ball control machine, but touch and vision are his best assets - whether they are special enough for him to be "MLS special" is another question.
Yeah, I deleted it cause it sounded more snarky than I meant. I watched a lot of Emo in SPL. He is "technical" - or at least that is his greatest strength - whether it's enough time will tell.
He was touted, by some on these boards, as some transcendent player that was far and away too good for MLS. In reality he seems like a middling squad player that has value as a quality stop gap player during injury crisis and fixture congestion. Again he needs time to bed in before we really how he'll fit in to MLS. So far I'm not seeing anything that makes me think he'll turn into Nico Lodeiro or Paxton Pomeykal.
i like how quickly he plays the ball. compared with nagbe i think that thats makes him a better national team option. so while i agree it doesnt seem hes going to be a player that HAS to be in the national team (in a vacuum), i do think he can fill a role better than a lot of players who have been in the team. as a distributor, in the mckennie role, i like him more than nagbe and roldan (id take roldan in a true 8, but berhalter sees it more offensive). id play him in the pulisic role over mihailovic. i guess im just saying i can see him as a solid role player for us. holmes/lletget (if he could ever stay healthy for more than a month at a time) are the comp for backing up pulisic, but i dont see a clear backup to mckennie.
Dunno who thought he was "too good" for MLS - I mean, it's a league playing Rooney, Ibra and Vela for goodness sake... Since the only regular play I've seen EH get was Fulham, Gers and Hibs - and all of those were shorter stints - it's hard for me to say what his top-line will be. But "technical" play is, for sure, his strength, so if that isn't "special" he will not rise above. That said, from what I've seen of him, with Gers, his technical player was higher than a few of the "better" players on the team around him. Dunno if his other skills will rise enough to make him a well-rounded enough player to break through for Atlanta or the USMNT. Certainly he's got some strong competition at Atlanta, and they are a top MLS club, but if his technical play doesn't push him to the top, no aspect of ability will,
I think EH might stand out as a very technical player in a more direct league like the SPL. On Atlanta United his skill set and ability may not be as pronounced. Say what you want about Darlington Nagbe but he undeniably is one of the most technically gifted players in MLS.
Exactly. I didn't look at Atlanta's team sheet and didn't even realize he was playing. You should notice a good player even if all he is doing is playing simple balls, etc..
They've been better once he entered the starting lineup. Coach seems instantly confident in him. That's something.
The thing about EH is, his "gifts" are touch (trapping, turning and passing), speed of thought/play and vision/utilization of space. His physicality is a net deficit. His speed/acceleration is pretty much a net zero at higher levels - neither a deficit nor an obvious "extra." So if his "technical/soccer IQ" is not above the average of his teammates, he will not excel. His skills are best utilized a bit forward, as an attacking mid of some sort, but not primarily a touchline player. He is a very effective tackler in the attacking half (picking pockets, cutting out passes), is ok in the pursuit, is weaker than "average" in the 1v1 face to face ball winning. I think a full season on a top team like Atlanta, esp under a coach like RdB will find EH out - either he has strong enough vision/technical skills and ups his 2 way game enough to hang with the Atlanta front 5/6 or he'll be sidelined pretty quickly.
The ceiling for Hyndman is pretty obvious by now; a serviceable domestic player but far from international level. A study in how success and accolades as a Youth mean ZERO when playing in the grownup world. Are you listening, some of you who can't stop gushing over the latest U20 phenom? I wish him well in his continuing professional career.
This will be a reasonable metric, whether Nagbe stays at ALT or leaves, if EH stays there a bit: how well EH is able to either fill in for Nagbe or combine with him. Nagbe is almost 30, has had a long MLS/USMNT career as a first choice player. He has a very high pass accuracy rate and holds the ball well and, at Atlanta, sees a lot of the ball. Hyndman is 23. Has played a few MLS games. Currently, his passing accuracy is relatively high, as is his ability to hold the ball, but he does not have the physical presence of Nagbe. Can Hyndman become a midfield cog hitting ~50 passes per game? And can he do it with the consistency/accuracy of Nagbe? I'd say that's the kind of mark he would have to hit to put himself realistically in the mix.
From the pieces I've seen it looks mostly like an inside ALM in a 5-3-2/3-5-2 - (basically the left side of Nagbe's right) but more regular Atlanta watchers will know if that's where he is "supposed" to be lining up.
This is fascinating... We know nothing about 19/20 year old players but are 100% certain of 23 year olds. Does this happen over a couple of years or just all of a sudden?