Well, when you consider that the name Giacinto translates to "hyacinth" then it's right in line with the whole blossoming theme.
Kid has had a really nice season for the Primavera. Hope he gets 1-2 more senior team appearances before the season is out.
San Siro come trampolino, Joshua Perez aspetta un’occasione in viola San Siro as a trampoline, Joshua Perez awaits a chance with the Viola. I 20 minuti giocati a San Siro contro l’Inter sono stati il primo impatto di Joshua Perez con il calcio che conta. Il classe 1998 statunitense è senza dubbio uno dei pezzi pregiati della Primavera della Fiorentina. Attaccante mancino di grande tecnica, deve lavorare sulla fisico e sulla concretezza in campo. Perfetto per un 4-3-3 o un 4-2-3-1, sa essere devastante in campo aperto. Il finale di stagione potrebbe essere il momento giusto per dare una chance al giovane nato in California. The 20 minutes played in the San Siro against Inter Milan were the first impact Joshua Perez made on football that matters. The US 1998 is undoubtedly one of the finest players of Primavera Fiorentina. A left-footed striker with great technique, should work on the physical side and on toughness on the field. He is perfect for a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, and can be devastating in the open field. The end of the season could be the right time to give a chance to the young man born in California. http://www.fiorentinanews.com/san-siro-come-trampolino-joshua-perez-lavora-per-crescere-in-viola/ ------------------------------------- Basically echoing the pre-season comments Guidi made about Josh when he said that Josh would be ready for the first team by the end of the year. I'm not sure the first team's current state is as important for Josh's minutes as his importance to the Primavera side and their chances for winning the league. Fiorentina are four points out of first place and tied with Sampdoria in second place. Since the top two teams go to the playoffs (as well as the best two third place sides) the Primavera is looking to secure their place in the running. Whereas the first team, as TDOS said, doesn't have much to fight for. As many have mentioned in this thread, Italians take their Derbys seriously, but also their Primavera.
Hopefully they are a bit envious of the additional exposure Pulisic receives around the world for being American. He's got to have the goods on the field to feel the benefit, but an intangible is there.
The novelty of being an American might get him more ink than if he was just another Italian but his Primavera side has kids from South America, Africa and Eastern and Western Europe as well. The two that are legitimately worthy of envy are Hagi and Chiesa - being part of "dynasties."
FourFourTwo lists Josh as one of the top 5 Breakout USA youngsters with bright futures: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/christian-pulisic-five-u-20-usmnt-prospects-future-analysis?page=0,3 Outside of Christian Pulisic, Josh Perez is the next best U.S. attacking talent waiting in the wings. The move to Europe has obviously had its share of challenges, though Perez did make a first-team debut last fall in Serie A. He’s shuttled between making the 18 for Fiorentina and getting minutes with the Primavera (Under-19s) this season. Despite the back-and-forth, he has delivered, scoring goals on a regular basis for the youth side, and showing that he retains all the abilities that make him an exciting prospect. Good on the dribble, brave in front of goal and an astute finisher, if he can secure regular playing time at Fiorentina, a call-up to the national team can’t be too far behind. Barring an injury or surprise, Perez should be a lock for a starting role at the U-20 World Cup in Korea.
Scores yet again for Fiorentina Primavera, in the Viareggio Cup, vs. CAI of Argentina. 841684295022465024 is not a valid tweet id GOL - @acffiorentina - @CAIsemillero 3-2 (36' st Perez)#ViareggioCup pic.twitter.com/smeFgkMfTf— Viareggio Cup (@CGCViareggioCup) March 14, 2017
Josh @Joshua_Perez26 grabbed the winner in @ACF_YouthSector Primavera 1st @CGCViareggioCup match. #usmnt https://t.co/T9escOCjKl— Dallas Cup ⚽️ (@dallascup) March 14, 2017
Once upon a time, the Big East was the best college basketball conference in the land and everybody had a rivalry with everybody else. Every game was a war, and most of them were holy wars since most of the colleges were one denomination of roman catholic or another. http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=requiemforthebigeast Anybody who went to UofA should appreciate a good college basketball doc.
I do. I also appreciate East Coast bias... I can't freaking believe that a 7-loss UNC team got a 1 seed, and an 8-loss Duke team (whose best wins are against aforementioned UNC) got a 2 seed. But on the other hand, we got an easy path to the Final 4 as long as I didn't just jinx it!
Tied with Mlakar for the highest grade in the Pagelle for the Viareggio Cup match. Perez 7: Alterna buone giocate a momenti nei quali non riesce ad essere incisivo in fase offensiva, tanto nel primo tempo quanto nella ripresa. Ha il merito però di siglare il gol che regala alla Fiorentina una vittoria sofferta ed importantissima. Perez 7: Alternated good plays with moments in which he failed to be incisive in attack, more in the first half than in the second. But he had the quality to score the goal that gave Fiorentina a hard-fought and important victory.
As someone who has followed his progress carefully, what kind of chance would you suggest he has of being called into the big club before the season ends?
Pretty fair. I was surprised to see him debut in December and make as many bench appearances as he did. What is basically going on now is that Hagi is making the bench instead of him, but not playing. Since the beginning of the season Guidi said he would be ready for the first team at the end of this year. Recent analyses by various journalists and commentators in Italy seem to also predict more first team time towards the end of the year. Unlike many of our players abroad, Perez is really a key player on the Primavera team and it is a competition they take seriously. Not to say that is why he's not getting more call ups but it is probably a factor.
....Why? Like, I get that clubs want to take things somewhat seriously on their youth teams, because that has an impact on how their youth players are developed, but why do they care about winning? If Josh is growing by playing on the youth team rather than sitting on the bench for the senior team, then wonderful. But if Fiorentina are keeping Josh down with the Primavera to win stuff, I just don't understand that. Can anyone imagine an NBA team keeping someone in the D-League to try to win it? Or a baseball team keeping someone in the Minors to win a "pennant" down there? Or an MLS team keeping someone on a USL affiliate to try to win a USL supporter's shield?
Why they take it seriously is, I think, due to tradition. The Primavera is Serie A run (although it includes some Serie B sides) and followed closely in Italy. Whereas youth leagues are important, in most countries I don't think they get this amount of public interest. Why they would rather Josh play down than up is purely speculation on my part. This year there have been four youth players to move up to the first team (last year I don't think there were any) - Chiesa, Perez, Hagi and Trovato. Chiesa has established himself as a starter, Hagi has made the bench much more than Josh but has actually played two minutes less, and Trovato has, IIRC, barely made the bench at all. In my opinion, Perez is more influential on the Primavera squad than Hagi ever was. So it could just be a case of letting Hagi warm the bench on the first team to throw a bone to Daddy. Again, pure speculation.
I would also say that, similar to the US, Italy just has that "edge", where even if they're outgunned in quality they seem to have an ability to snatch victory from defeat. Their World Cup win in 2006 was part of that. I'm obviously a huge proponent of moving the youth system in the US away from being geared toward winning trophies and tournaments, but I wonder if that emphasis on winning a prestigious competition at a young age does something to develop a tougher mentality. Nevertheless, for the first time I feel like we don't necessarily need all of these promising guys to turn out to be stars, that even if we get one or two of them for every talented cohort we'll be in a much better place than we have been historically. It's a nice feeling.