I've always liked Scott even though similar to what you pointed out, long term I worry about his athleticism at the top level. At 19 now at the infamous Chelsea, cant help but feel he also needs to jump ship at the first opportunity to join another club that's a good fit.
I don't think it was mentioned, but he had two assists in the last game. He now has 8 goals and 10 assists in 1254 minutes. And just to give an indication of how good that is (not to compare the two players), Pulisic had 8 goals and 8 assists in 1461 minutes last year for Dortmund's U-19's, a team that plays in the same league as Schalke's U-19's.
I have to say, Wright is tearing it up. My fear with him was that he was taking too much time away from his development, simply waiting to be able to sign in Europe. Then he finally latched on to the Cosmos for a time to get some of that training and sharpness and he has just continued to advance from there. I have to give it to the kid, he has put in the work that I was scared he would not, when I saw him waiting around for Europe for a time. Hats off to the guy.
Outstanding stat. One thing to remember, though, is that Pulisic did it as a 16-17 year old. Haji's doing it at 18+. (I feel like a Negative Nelly saying that, but it also sort of drives home just how good Pulisic is, and how promising Wright is.)
Pulisic also had some luck as well, he broke into the first team at Dortmund when they had a rash of injuries to attacking players and Tuchel really needed some cover. Pulisic of course, made the most of it during winter break friendlies. Haji is stuck behind a boat load of forwards who, even worse, arent producing but on first team contracts. Haji IMHO has a tougher task in breaking into the first team.
At this point I'm just hoping for a first team call up and an appearance or two before the season is over.
Major part of that is Pulisic was able to go over at 16 because of the Croatian passport. Haji couldn't go over before he was 18. Wright and many US players have no access to Europe when they are 16.
For other context though, a couple of his teammates have been almost as potent if not more so: Florian Kruger - 10 goals, 9 assists in 1,195 minutes Benjamin Goller - 8 goals, 10 assists in 1,312 minutes Together they have Schalke u-19 flying well above the rest in the A-Junioren Bundesliga.
Looks like our boy has scored the equalizer in today's U-19 match. 73.| AUSGLEICH #U19! @HajiWright mit dem 2:2! #schmiede #s04— Knappenschmiede (@knappenschmiede) February 19, 2017
Starts at 0:13 Haji Wright's @HajiWright goal help salvage a point for @s04 A-Junioren this past weekend #usmnt https://t.co/2heT0kGrYY— Dallas Cup ⚽️ (@dallascup) February 20, 2017 He doesn't have a single U-20 callup.
I'm pretty sure if you pause this video at the 0:09 mark Taitague is on the far right. Also, maybe Haji started on the bench but assuming he didn't because he's put up some numbers, there is a kid that looks like Haji on the left so probably Hannif on the bench. Thats not new news but interesting nonetheless. Also does anyone know Hannif's stats for RealSoCal?
Yeah, thats Taitague. Haji didn't start on the bench. He's started every game this season that he's been available for. Its hard to tell who that player on the bench is, but I would assume its Hanif. I know this isn't the best way to figure out things, but I'm pretty sure Schalke U-19 only has two black kids, and they both start, so if there was another black kid on the bench, either they moved someone up from the U-17's or they are adding another player. As we already know, Hanif is currently in the area. His stats the last few seasons are pretty underwhelming. He was most recently at New York Cosmos where he played only for the "B" team. Hanif played four games for the "B" team, and only started one. He didn't score any goals. At the same age, Haji also played for the "B" team, and scored 5 goals in 4 games. He got three games with the first team, Hanif got none. If I was guessing, and I am not saying this with any recent knowledge of watching Hanif play, I'd guess this was just a favor for the family or the agent. Hanif doesn't really have the resume of someone who'd be signing with Schalke.
Definitely looks like Taitague. Haji and McKennie both started, though. #U19-Start1️⃣1️⃣ gg. @borussia! Gleich geht's los! 🔵⚪️😍 #schmiede #s04 pic.twitter.com/TaUjR1NOcR— Knappenschmiede (@knappenschmiede) February 19, 2017
He did look like a donkey two years ago when I saw him play at the U17 world cup, but he sure has improved in the last couple of years.
He was one of those U17 players who came out of the cycle looking ten times worse than when he started.
ADD Nation. Sounds like a good documentary idea for Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock. I have a touch of it. I'm not even going to lie. Thanks for the time stamp! It saved me 5 seconds. I might have turned it off otherwise.
Wright, McKennie and Taitague start in the academy derby against a strong BVB squad including Bundesliga-capped Passlack, Burnic, and Larsen. Will Pulisic is on the bench. So spielt die #BVBU19 im Derby pic.twitter.com/ejtJUsKquR— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) February 25, 2017
Highlights from this week. http://tv.dfb.de/video/20-spieltag-staffel-west-alle-spiele-alle-tore/16908/ I'm giving him an assist on the first goal. Transfermarkt hasn't yet listed the assists for this game, but there's no way he doesn't deserve an assist for this play. He should've had a goal, if his teammate wasn't completely selfish and kicked a ball that was going in into the net unnecessarily. Similar to the selfish Brek Shea goal in the 2013 Gold Cup final that should've been Donovan's goal.
06.03.2017 - 15:54 // Männer - Ligen // A-Junioren-Bundesliga 20. Spieltag Staffel West: Alle Spiele, alle Tore The first one. Highlights start about 3:25
He drew the penalty for the 2-0 goal in a 2-2 draw. Thats the only mention of any of the Americans on the tracker website. They all played 90 though.
I found highlights from this week's game. Not much from the three Americans, although this does show the PK that Haji drew.