Pretty big drop. He went from making the bench and appearing in the regular season to not even featuring in the pre-season squad.
If anything he'll probably spend this season with the Primavera team again and maybe make a cameo appearance or two. And then go loan to a Serie B team next year...we'll see though. Fiorentina has gutted their team pretty hard this summer.
fiorentina found out perez is usmnt-eligible ...so obviously they've now decided he "isn't in their plans".......
Honestly I never thought this guy had the necessary pace to play at the highest level. So I was pleasantly surprised by his apparent progress last season. But I'll guess we'll see how it all pans out.
Where does this idea come from that you need to have pace to play at the highest level? Victor Mansaray, Coy Craft, Jerome Kiesewetter all had tons of pace. Perez has skill. I think he's capable of playing at the highest level, whether Fiorentina gives him a chance or not. He can always move to another team.
You need to have pace if you are going to be winger or fullback. Zusi is not a legit fullback in my eyes.
I don't think you need pace for any position, its all just dependent on the rest of your skill-set. Full-back is probably the position where you are most likely to need it, but not always. What if you are quick, very good positionally and a very smart defender? Is Messi a burner? The best wingers have some combination of a bunch of tools. Sometimes pace is included, sometime its not. Why do you think Perez is slow? I don't think he is, I just wouldn't consider him fast. He's able to beat players 1v1, just not taking the ball wide and sprinting ahead. He has quickness, deceptiveness and smarts. Thats not to say Perez lack of speed is something to completely discount. Maybe his game is better utilized centrally? He was pretty good as a #10 for USYNT's before Pulisic took his place.
Messi is fast, yes. Even if you don't accept that, he's also arguably the most exceptional winger of all time, so I'm not sure if the comparison is helpful. Can you name another solid winger who isn't fast? For what its worth, I don't have an opinion on his speed--I haven't seen enough of him. But I do have an opinion on slow wingers.
One would need to be insane to suggest that being fast isn't preferable to not being fast. Other things are important too, but let's not downplay speed when we're talking about wingers. Speed in wide positions in soccer is like having a big fastball for a pitcher in baseball. You don't need to be a total burner...or to throw 96 mph, but it helps a lot. It provides margin for error; if you are a bit slower or you only throw 90 mph, it means you have to do everything else really well. A flamethrower can get away with mediocre control or lack of quality off-speed pitches. Your 89 mph fastball guy can't. Perez isn't a burner. I've seen a lot of skill from him, so I'm pretty confident he'll at least have a solid career. If he wants to make it at clubs like Fiorentina, though, the margin for error is thin.
I really can't think of many slow wingers, but then again, Perez isn't outright slow, so why is that a discussion in this thread? He's just not a guy who takes the ball wide and runs right by players in a straight line. Thats not his game, and it doesn't need to be. Messi has above average speed, but he's not a burner. If anyone thinks Messi's best assets on the field are his speed, I don't know what to tell them. People like Gyasi Zardes have pace, what does it matter if you can't play soccer? No one would begin to suggest it doesn't help, but anyone who's suggesting he can't make it as a winger without being outright fast doesn't seem to have much of a grasp on previous precedents for the position.
Messi is fast, once he is by you, you can't catch him. The only position where pace is not as important is in central midfield, CB or CF.
(1) Because a poster (other than me) said that Perez's lack of speed damages his prospects. (2) Who said that Messi's best assets is his speed? Nobody. But here's a nice video showing that speed:
If you have nothing to add to this specific discussion except some weird attempt to bait me, mind your own business. I will never understand why people use this website as a chat room to argue with random strangers for the sake of arguing.
I think it all depends how you define these specific terms within this speed discussion. Are we talking about pure pace or acceleration in small spaces? Zardes is faster than Messi in a straight line, I would take Zardes in a 100 meter race, yet Messi is very quick, incredible acceleration, good in small spaces, very smart, low center of gravity, along with incredible skill with the ball glued to his foot, so he's routinely able to make players look like fools 1v1, despite having maybe only above average pace. No one really cares to discuss his sprint speed because there are like 10 things before sprint speed you'd marvel at with his game. That was my main point. No one's gonna care Perez has average sprint speed, if he makes up for not being great in that area with the rest of his tools.
Since when is Zardes fast? He looks like a lumbering giraffe to me. Got smoked a few times in the GC too.