Ian Hoffmann at Moss FK (Norway)

I haven't watched Hoffman play so I can't say where his best position is but most modern fullbacks join the attack and the ones who can do so effectively are very valuable so he's not necessarily being wasted w/ defensive duties. Hoffman could be our Benjamin mendy or jordi alba -

Really, really nice player. Scored, got 2 assists & won a PK, from what I saw & heard this week.

— M Duff (@DuffyBioFut) January 10, 2018

 

Namazi Calls in 24 Players for Pair of U-18 Matches vs. Costa Rica

U.S. U-18 MNT Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.), Jacob Schick (Chargers Soccer Club; Palm Harbor, Fla.), Kris Shakes (Philadelphia Union; Austin, Texas)

DEFENDERS (6): Julian Araujo (Barca Academy; Lompoc, Calif.), Nico Benalcazar (New York City FC; Wilton, Conn.), Ian Hoffmann (Karlsuher SC; Karlsruher, Germany), Nelson Martinez (D.C. United; Woodbrigde, Va.), David Mendoza (Chicago Fire; Gage Park, Ill.), Leonardo Sepulveda (LA Galaxy; Corona, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Taylor Booth (Unattached; Eden, Utah), Cameron Duke (Sporting KC; Overland Park, Kan.) Roberto Hategan (Sacramento Republic F.C.; Chicago, Ill.), Aidan Morris (Crew SC Academy; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.; New York, N.Y.), Marcelo Palomino (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas), Stuart Ritchie (FC Groningen; Pleaston, Calif.) Thomas Roberts (FC Dallas; Little Rock, Ark.), Indiana Vassilev (Aston Villa F.C.; Savannah, Ga.)

FORWARDS (6): Konrad De La Fuente (FC Barcelona; Barcelona, Spain), Jalen Hawkins (FC Bayern Munich; Regensburg, Germany), Ulysses Llanez (LA Galaxy; Lynwood, Calif.), Bryan Reynolds (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Jose Rivas (Crew SC Academy; Weston, Fla.), Stefan Stojanovic (Sockers FC; Chicago, Ill.)

 

Ian started for Karlsruher U17 in a 3 - 0 loss at Mainz U17 this past Saturday in B-Junior Bundesliga (Sud/Sudwest)

 

just a reminder to look out for Karlsruher U19 as they are still in the relegation battle. It's possible that when Hoffmann gets promoted to the U19, they won't even be playing in the top flight from the U19 Sud/Sudwest.

 

Ian started on the bench and came on the 58th minute as Karlsruher lost 2-0 to Stuttgart.

and seems like his teammate and supposed Yank, Kasteleiner has only made the bench once in the last 4 U17 games. Missing the recent game.

 

things have been rough for both him and his club's U17, getting trashed 6-0 by Hoff this matchday. Played the full game as well. The team have only won once in the last 5 games.

as for Ian, he's only started 2 of the last 6 games, rest of the time he's been used as a sub.

 

might be injured???

last game he was subbed off at the 41 minute which is just after the HT. Then today as his team got trashed 6-0 by Augsburg U17 looks like he was not part of the squad at all. His team is a mess for sure only winning once since Nov.....

only started 3 of the last 8 games and one of those 3 was subbed off at HT.

 

is on the "on call/backup" list for an April German U17 camp.
https://www.dfb.de/fileadmin/_dfbdam/164765-1804_KADER_U17_MAL.pdf

 

the U19 ended up being safe and in 5th place while the 1st team is going to be playing 2BL promotion playoffs.

so not only will Hoffmann get to play at the highest level of U19 Sud/Sudwest,if he gets 1st team chances it could be in 2BL over 3rd Liga.

 

Played 25 games, 1288 minutes with 3 goals for the U17s.

 

Also got some time with the U19s if I'm not mistaken.

 

seems like he's moving up to the Karlsruher U19 according to TM.

 

https://streamable.com/ho9vw

Here's an all-touch video from one of his games for Germany. He only played 30 minutes so keep that in mind. Two more games will be coming out soon from Karlsruher.

Here are my thoughts:

Wow. This kid is really really good. I can see why he's been called up for Germany quite a bit and is reportedly impressing. His passing range is very good. Barely misplaced a pass at all. He splits defenses open constantly and had a hockey assist in this game. I'm very impressed after this game and am all the more intrigued to see his career path. One question that I have is why he is playing RB? With a passing range like this, he's best suited in the middle of the field. Didn't really seem to do much defensively so maybe these next few games will give a better understanding.

 

Great job finding and putting this together. I'm guessing he was playing RB the same reason Otasowie was playing CB, our midfield depth for the '01s, Booth, Roberts, Palomino, Duke etc... If you go to his instagram profile and click on the American flag story in his bio you can see him make a nice line breaking pass

 

https://streamable.com/j50up

Here's the second game. Again, a really good performance. Lost the ball a few times but no egregious errors IMO. Seems like his soccer IQ is pretty high with all the quick 1-2s that he was playing. Showed off some dribbling prowess as well as great passing range yet again. Should've had a few assists. Well worth a watch.

 

He's a really good player, underrated IMO. How did you manage to get a Die Ligen acct/log-in?

 

These are really useful.

One thing I'm struck by is how smart he is at moving into the perfect space to receive a 1-2. The first one that really impressed me was the pass 9:00 into the game. If he's not available in time for the other guy to play a one touch ball back to him, it's a turnover. The rest of the video makes it clear that he's always moving as quickly as possible into the optimal position for a one touch return pass.

I don't know about you guys, but that sounds like a great trait for a 6 to have to me.

 

Ian sent me these games.

 

Nice enough to give us a preseason summary:

Happy to have finished the preseason with 3 goals and 3 assists in 4 games vs teams such as Leverkusen and Freiburg. Next week first game of season vs FCK.

— Ian Hoffmann (@ianhoffmann21) August 5, 2018

 

He's playing up an age group for the U19s this year. He's pretty far under the radar in terms of prospects but he's very good. I could see a debut for the first team at the back end of the year if he continues his preseason performance. They're in the 3. Liga this year

 

To add to this, from what I'm hearing, the coach and academy director are enamored with him. So he very well could make the jump if he continues to impress.

 

lasted 58 minutes in a 2-1 loss to FCK U19.

 

Played 87 minute in a 1-0 win (did not score) and got a yellow at the 78th win.

 

played the full game in a 1-0 win (didn't score).