Have you watched any of the Villarreal B matches on youtube? The only player that I have seen break into the first team in under two years is Samu Chukweze who I believe is being courted by Barcelona. I would not be surprised to see him sold for well over 40 million euros. He is really a top player.
lol oh come on. NO ONE THAT LIKES AMERICAN SOCCER 'WANTS' AN AMERICAN TO FAIL. and lol at being 'an mls fan' like that means anything here.
Yeah, I like mls, but I love La Liga. And I didn’t make my post to knock him or his development, just to point out that not many top prospects in Spain are still prospects at age 22. Clearly Villarreal is superior to any mls side in terms of youth development, it’s a stretch to still refer to Akale as a youth though. And I’ve watched a good number of his games on YouTube, not always the full 90, but he’s clearly a talented player. That being said, there have been plenty of talented American players that have washed out of top academies. I think, in this thread specifically, people are massively overrating him based on the opinions and match reports of one poster. Guys like Kanté making debuts late in their career and finding success are the exception, and not the rule, imo.
this is unequivocally false. it is not normal for top spanish players to make their debut when they are TWENTY FOUR! or 23 or 22.... if you had said 18-21. then maybe your post would have been more in the realm of truth.
Very few players in Spain make their debuts with the first team before 20 and even fewer international players make their debuts due to foreign player regulations that the Spanish federation puts in place to protect the Spanish player from losing professional opportunity. I am sorry but you seem uneducated on this topic.
lol your original post said 20-24 age range for debuts for 'top spanish prospects' you shouldn't have included the ages 22,23,24 in your post, bc it's false. the most recent spanish national team includes 23 of 23 players that all made their first team debut before 22. Again, your silly post about debuting 22, 23, 24!!! is wrong. and it seems to be, you are uneducated on this topic.
Right, to my point they all grew up within the Spanish system. Years of the style of play and cultural adaption. For reference, Jozy Altidore was a massive failure at Villarreal yet he turned out to be one of Americas greatest strikers. The reason he failed was that he couldn't fit into the style of play, was lacking the tactical and technical ability to earn his spot week in and week out. This is a problem that a player like Mukwelle akale will not have. Also, I'm really struggling to see the obsession with age. A players age has very little to do with where their development is at. I don't know much about Christian Pulisic but one of his strength seems to be his maturity, not all players are mature enough physically or mentally to debut before 20. Food for thought, thanks for the conversation.
Being humble and working hard away from prying eyes is great for development, but it's terrible for generating notoriety or hype. He's a 22 year-old still in the Yanks Abroad Academy, which is a somewhat obscure part of the forum to begin with. If BigSoccer isn't talking about someone, it's almost a certainty that the US media isn't talking about them. The US has also had players like Akale stall in their development before. Off the top of my head: Josh Perez, Sebastian Lletget, Gideon Zelalem (who did have a stint at Rangers), Terrance Boyd, Junior Flores. All of those are in the past couple of years, but I'm sure that there are many more examples historically that people here in the 90s could tell you about. Although Sargent hasn't been a pro for long, McKennie had spent over a year as a Bundesliga starter before the hype train started in earnest, and Adams racked up 9,000 minutes as a professional (5,000 in MLS) before his move to Leipzig. Not saying it doesn't happen, but you shouldn't be concerned about those guys in particular. The hype usually takes off when prospects make their senior debuts, incidentally another reason why Akale isn't talked about as a top prospect anymore. I don't think Americans by and large have the touch or dribbling skills to make it in the Spanish system. Which translates into few Americans going there. Which means nobody really expects much from an American developing there. This is in sharp contrast to the Low Countries, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Americans have done well. Hope he does well, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Just read about this player who made his 1st-team debut in La Liga at age 22: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46884187
I was asking the moderators to determine if they were baiting or taunting. Based on your responses, it doesnt appear you believe they were.
I have to take time away from flushing my Gillette razors down the drain (they don't flush) to deal with this?
I quoted you to put the bit about Reyna in as I hadn't caught the bit about University of Southern Wesleyan Indiana State. If I had seen it, I probably wouldn't quoted you at all. After adding the stuff about Reyna, I wrote the rest. I probably should have made a separate post. Making conclusion based on where someone has been is just lazy. It is just as lazy to assume a player isnt going to be any good because they went to college as assuming a player is going to be great because they are at Villareal. I wasnt taking anything out of context. A kid who played college ball in the 90s for three years didnt debut until 22 and only had 5 appearances before turning 24.
The universe of youth players is vast. A rather small proportion of them actually make a debut in their teens. These players are generally ahead of their peers by their late teens and tend to have better careers. Of course, many flame out, get surpassed, etc., but the median youth player who debuts in his teens definitely has a much better career than the median youth player who doesn't. The rest debut at a later age or never make it to the first team at all. This is a vast group of players —much larger than the other group — and it's composed mostly of second- and third-rate talents and late-bloomers. There are always examples of late bloomers. I haven't seen this comparison in a while because times have changed, but there was a point where every big American forward "might break out in his mid-20s", cuz Drogba and Luca Toni. It's rare, though. How many unheralded, nondescript 22 year old DMs are there in the world? And how many of them turn into N'Golo Kante? The percentages are not good. So I'm of two minds on Akale. His slow progression at Villarreal is concerning. He's now 22 and isn't even a regular starter for their reserve team. Villarreal B has plenty of younger players who have more minutes. On the other hand, we have video of him and he definitely has some skills, so he's not a BS agent creation like Vinny Bernardo. The USMNT badly needs attackers, so hopefully he finds his place somewhere.
The B side promoting might be a moot point with the senior team currently occupying a relegation position
He is, and I hope he plays for the Olympic team, but not even USSF cares about the Olympics much less the average fan.
Players from every country in leagues all around the world stall in their development. Off the top of my head players who have stalled in MLS: Hamid, Gil, Acosta, Trapp, Agudelo Sarkodie, Shea, Okugo... It has been a good place physically mature goalkeepers, defenders, and dmids, but can't remember the last time an attacking player grew into a quality player. It is why I'm so confused why people want players that are struggling to run back to MLS. Not sure what it did for Perez. While it got Lletget some game time, it isnt clear he is much better than he was in 2015 and don't see him having much of a role with our national team. He seemed to improve a lot in the period where his development "stalled" between playing with the u20s and making a big impact with galaxy from the minute he stepped on the field. It might have been the right decision for his career, but he definitely hasn't maximized his potential.
It seems to me that the identity of a good attacker in America is based on physical attributes and not ability. Is this true?