Interesting take and much appreciated. I don't watch much of Vancouver's games and only see highlights.... So just see the premier level player. Fortunately or unfortunately, we could probably still use a player like Oduro.
I think that was a reasonable take on Manneh up until this year. He has increased his shots, dribbles, and Key passes. I see him making better decisions, more quickly. Even if they don't always come off by forcing the issue he puts the opposing defense under pressure. Once he came off injured against Portland their attack became toothless.
Without making this thread about Oduro, I figure he would've gotten a U.S. callup or two during his career if he'd qualified -- probably during or after his 2011 season, after which (perhaps not coincidentally) he got called up by Ghana. Don't know whether he was much better than that, but that's something. He is not interchangeable with Manneh, but he seems like KM has more talent than Papa Dom. How that'll fit into the MNT program in a year seems like an open question -- it's a shame he isn't clear now, because the U23s could use him and he seems like he'd be a good fit with that group.
There are almost always technical shortcomings with players and if they've been in a serious, professional environment for a number of years minimal improvement should be expected. Kekuta has reduced his turnovers per 90 by 1.4, while still taking on players very often (and doing so slightly more successfully). What can improve to a much more appreciable degree is concentration and focus which = more consistency, and then speed of play and decision making, which also improves outcomes. I think he's probably more technical than Finlay, Zardes, or Yedlin but less technical than Lletget or Nagbe. So this year I commented that Kekuta is seeing the right option more often and attempting to execute, that has seen his shot on target and key pass numbers improve. He is often the driving force in turning opportunities into potential or actualized danger. I've also seen him pull back when nothing is on a little more often, which is a decision making process that comes to attackers as they gain experience. So overall a promising trajectory with some good fundamentals to build on. Essentially he has Yedlin's pace with more of an attacking skillset and mindset, which seems to be improving.
Maybe...................... Let's not forget how frustrating Fabian Castillo was a few years ago. It was all flash, little end-product. He's developed his decision-making and finishing ability greatly over the last two years to go on top of his natural talent. Kekuta Manneh is more than two years younger than Fabian Castillo. Castillo had 9 goals and 9 assists in 2560 minutes. That was a Best XI effort. Kekuta Manneh had 7 goals and 6 assists in ~2400 minutes. I just see Manneh as the kind of player that has huge potential. I don't see why we shouldn't all have high, high expectations for him. I think of it this way. He was born on December 30th, 1994. That means if he was a US citizen already, he'd only have been days too old for our 2015 U20 World Cup team. He's only ~2 months older than Paul Arriola. Are any of the forwards or wingers on that U20 World Cup team as impactful right now in club football as Kekuta Manneh? Do any of them have the natural talent of Kekuta Manneh? Its a tough question. Would you take BJ4 over Kekuta Manneh? Would you take Paul Arriola over Kekuta Manneh? Would you take Tommy Thompson over Kekuta Manneh? I might take Rubio Rubin over Kekuta Manneh. Different skill-sets to be sure. Due to injury, Rubio's been a little off-the-radar recently. Kekuta Manneh's skill set fits in perfectly with a huge hole we have in the USMNT/USYNT program. That's the skilled winger category. Klinsmann has been calling up NCAA and NASL players for those positions. He's played central midfielders out of position there. There's Finlay in MLS, but not a huge number of options.
He's good, but there are so many young prospects playing abroad that don't get the same type of first team playing time as Manneh. You mentioned Arriola. Do we know that Manneh has more potential?
I can only go but what I've seen recently with my own eyes. Right now Manneh is an impactful player in MLS. I mean, how many players younger than Kekuta Manneh are as impactful in MLS? Miazga obviously. Acosta finished the season strong for a playoff team, but played 800 minutes less in the league this year. Jesse Gonzalez finished strong, but played many fewer minutes than Manneh. If he was US eligible already, we'd be going all googly-eyed over Kekuta Manneh. Eye-popping natural skill-set. Will he develop further? Beats me, but he's already an impactful MLS-level player. Is he a better prospect than Arriola? I have no idea. I don't really know where Arriola's game is at the moment as I never see him. The players are essentially the same age. Paul Arriola has played in 31 career Liga MX games and scored 2 goals. [That's what wikipedia says anyway.] We just treated each goal and each nice performance as if it was some awesome feat. Kekuta Manneh has now scored 17 regular season goals in 81 career games. Different leagues. Different types of players. Manneh is a better athlete. Arriola has better technical ability. Prospect is a latin word for "hasn't done jack yet." We have a lot of prospects in our pool. Kekuta Manneh is no longer a prospect. He's playing against adult pros and doing really well. I just think that if he was already US-eligible, and we were paying more attention to his games, we'd have been going nuts for Manneh this season.
I would say Manneh has the potential to be the best US player from the 93-94 age group and only Yedlin and Trapp are better than him now.
Here's some potentially impactiffic news: DPW unlikely to play for us now. “Since I have not lived there [the US] for about five years it’s a little more difficult for me to play for them, so the only real two options I would play for now is Bermuda or England,” Parfitt-Williams told The Royal Gazette. http://www.royalgazette.com/soccer/article/20160503/west-ham-forward-open-to-bermuda
Not a surprise. It always seemed like this guy's story didn't quite match up with the complexities of US immigration law.
It was more believable when he was under 18. Once the odometer turned over, he was on his own and the process got a lot harder the longer he was in the UK.
The story of Gambian '94 Bubacarr Jobe is apparently quite complicated: When he arrived in Texas, just 16 years old, he found himself stunned by luxuries like hot water and electricity and baffled by animals who lived inside people’s homes. His “Coming to America” tale could have been storybook. It wasn’t. It isn’t. Soon after he got to Houston, Buba tore his ACL. The coach of the Rush, Don Gemmell, along with his wife, Brooke, took him in. Through the rehab, the three became very close. “He’d been living with us since three weeks after he arrived,” Gemmell says. “He really formed a bond with my wife and I. We didn’t have any other children.” Gemmell hoped to help Buba stay in the U.S., and a lawyer advised him to obtain a Special Immigrant Juvenile Visa. The family went ahead. But before that process was complete, Buba turned 18 and his visitor’s visa had expired. “He became unlawfully present,” says John Sandweg, a former general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. “He became illegal.” http://sports.yahoo.com/news/players-soccer-dream-becomes-an-immigration-nightmare-174603029.html
Timeline on Jack Harrison? 19 year old Englishman played high school soccer in Massachusetts...says he's interested. http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/07/03/new-york-city-fcs-jack-harrison-would-be-open-playing-usmnt
Call me crazy, but unless Harrison at some point says (or at some point has said) "I love the U.S., consider it my home and never want to leave" I don't see much point in asking him about his intentions regarding the national team. (And he's a month and change too old for YNTs, so it's MNT or nothing for him at this point...)
Agreed and it sucks considering he's lived here since '11. Essentially would have to be here a decade to get citizenship a la Nagbe (though both arrived in wildly different circumstances). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No way to know for sure, but it's doubtful the club has started the process. He's only made 5 appearances. His club would probably want a more substantial record in place before they submit that he's a valuable part of the team and league.
http://www.espnfc.us/video/the-boot-room/203/video/2909358/mannehs-world-cup-dream In studio ESPN interview with Kekuta Manneh. Really well spoken kid. Says the right things and means them. Talks a little about playing for the US and possibility of playing in the Word Cup. Worth the 5 minutes.
This kid is ours I think. Really we need to think for a second what playing for Gambia is going to be like. Even Argentina can't treat their players right. You either fly first class with the US team and play in the World Cup, or you take shitty domestic flights all over Africa, playing on some absurdly bad pitches. With the best hope playing in the African Cup of Nations, maybe. Gambia fed has no money, no facilities. I mean they lost to Namibia in the first round of 2018 qualifying! They rarely make it past the first home and away of qualifying. Here's their African Cup of Nations record 1957 to 1974 – Did not enter 1976 – Did not qualify 1978 – Did not enter 1980 to 1988 – Did not qualify 1990 – Withdrew 1992 – Did not qualify 1994 – Did not enter 1996 – Withdrew during qualifying 1998 – Banned for withdrawing in 1996 2000 – Withdrew 2002 to 2013 – Did not qualify 2015 – Banned Unless you are just an uber patriot, why as a professional would you do that? Same thing for Nagbe and Hamid for Liberia and Sierra Leone. Wish I had the link to article about a guy who followed around Rwanda's team trying to qualify for the World Cup. It's like a bizarre gap year tour group instead of a professional soccer league.