The 97 with the most talent is Parks. Whether he realizes this talent and is allowed to shine in the middle of the park where his ball skills, vision, passing, etc are best put to use is going to be the question but he might be the best pure passer in our entire talent pool.
2000 is loaded. Still obviously have a lot to prove, but I think this will easily be the best age group we’ve ever produced.
I have the complete opposite opinion...…….……………….I think Parks is a product of a bit of the BigSoccer hype machine. A 21 year old Portuguese 2nd division player. If he was Portuguese nobody would be talking about him as the "most talented player" in any age group. To some degree I think people have liked the story of Keaton Parks more than the actual Keaton Parks. The 97s have really disappointed, though. I give the nod to the three defenders in this order: 1) EPB 2) Robinson 3) CCV
Parks got on the field for the Benfica first team when they didn't have to give him minutes. He got a contract extension and nice raise when they didn't have to either. He shouldn't be judged on not going on loan or playing for the 1st team because Benfica are trying to teach him to play 6 instead of 8. That takes lots of time on the training ground, video room and makes his assists, ability to pop into the box to nab a goal disappear. If he doesn't have a better situation when the loan window closes this winter, then yeah I think there should be many questions and he'd probably leave in the summer but just like with Tim Weah, we shouldn't judge him based on 3 months staying with the reserves just yet.
A check on our depth. I'll split it up into 97's-00's and 01's-04's '97-'00 GK: 1. Justin Garces ('00) 2. Trey Muse ('99) 3. Justin Vom Steeg ('97) 4. Brady Scott ('99) 5. JT Marcinkowski ('97) 6. Kevin Silva ('98) 7. Sam Fowler ('00) 8. Eric Lopez ('99) 9. Matt Freese ('98) 10. Jonathan Klinsmann ('97) Analysis: The depth here is very weak. None of these players have yet emerged. Some might be talented, but none play regularly yet at the first team pro level. Keepers tend to emerge later, so this group still has potential, but right now its not the most accomplished group. RB: 1. Sergino Dest ('00) 2. Reggie Cannon ('98) 3. Jaylin Lindsey ('00) 4. Brooks Lennon ('97) 5. Marlon Fossey ('98) 6. Matt Olosunde ('98) 7. Zico Bailey ('00) 8. Manny Perez ('99) 9. Aaron Herrera ('97) 10. Akil Watts ('00) Analysis: Very talented group of players. It shows the depth that a MNT player isn't even first, and first team regulars are towards the middle and end of the list. CB: 1. Erik Palmer-Brown ('97) 2. Chris Richards ('00) 3. Justen Glad ('97) 4. Mark McKenzie ('99) 5. Cameron Carter-Vickers ('97) 6. Auston Trusty ('98) 7. Aboubacar Keita ('00) 8. Miles Robinson ('97) 9. Tommy Redding ('97) 10. Will Crain ('00) 11. Donovan Pines ('98) 12. Sam Rogers ('99) 13. Ben Ofeimu ('00) 14. Jack Maher ('99) 15. Brandon Terwege ('98) 16. Hugo Arellano ('98) 17. Rayshaun McGann ('00) 18. Michael Edwards ('00) 19. Lennard Maloney ('99) 20. Jake Arteaga ('00) Analysis: I think this is a very talented group of players. Some of the older crop among this generation haven't had the best seasons, but this generation has every style of CB, and many all-around CB's. Some of these guys are already in the NT and are very accomplished pros, and others shouldn't be far behind. LB: 1. Danny Acosta ('97) 2. Chris Gloster ('00) 3. Antonee Robinson ('97) 4. Charlie Asensio ('00) 5. Edwin Lara ('99) 6. John Nelson ('98) 7. Matt Real ('99) 8. Marcello Borges ('97) 9. Jake Morris ('99) 10. Sam Vines ('99) Analysis: This might not initially seem like the best generation of LB's, but five years ago it would've had about half of the talent. We've improved our talent at LB, despite there still only being a couple good prospects. Its not as good as RB, but there are enough candidates that some could become NT players, and usually most teams struggle at LB. Its not just a problem for our NT. DM: 1. Chris Durkin ('00) 2. Tyler Adams ('99) 3. James Sands ('00) 4. Sean Zawadzki ('00) 5. Cameron Lindley ('97) 6. Derrick Jones ('97) 7. Christian Cappis ('99) 8. AJ Seals ('00) 9. Eric Calvillo ('98) 10. James Murphy ('97) Analysis: This is a very weak generation of #6's. You can argue some players inclusion in this category as opposed to another one (Adams, Servania, Parks, Sands, Torres), but unless all are considered #6's, we lack depth at this position. The back half of the list are players who can barely stick on MLS rosters. CM: 1. Weston McKennie ('98) 2. Djordje Mihailovic ('98), 3. Keaton Parks ('97), 4. Brandon Servania ('99), 5. Chris Goslin ('00), 6. Gedion Zelalem ('97), 7. Edwin Cerrillo ('00), 8. Isaac Angking ('00), 9. Jackson Yueill ('97), 10. Dylan Teves ('00) Analysis: I think this position is pretty good. The first couple of options are all in or around the NT. The next couple have NT potential in upcoming years. The options after that aren't too bad either. There were a couple of quality players who didn't even make the top 10. CAM: 1. Andrew Carleton ('00), 2. Paxton Pomykal ('99), 3. Richie Ledezma ('00), 4. Alex Mendez ('00), 5. Luca de la Torre ('98), 6. Omir Fernandez ('99), 7. Brenden Aaronson ('00), 8. George Acosta ('00), 9. Anthony Fontana ('99), 10. Frankie Amaya ('00) Analysis: This position is about average in this generation. The top-end of this position is good, but the depth drops off. The USA has struggled to produce #10's. We are getting better, but we still don't productive enough quality #10's. Winger: 1. Christian Pulisic ('98), 2. Jonathan Amon ('99), 3. Nick Taitague ('99), 4. Jonathan Lewis ('97), 5. Matt Hundley ('00), 6. Emmanuel Sabbi ('97), 7. Josh Perez ('98), 8. Handwalla Bwana ('97), 9. Sebastian Saucedo ('97), 10. Pierre Da Silva ('98), 11. Zyen Jones ('00), 12. Mukwelle Akale ('97), 13. Ben Mines ('00), 14. Siad Haji ('99), 15. Benji Michel ('97), 16. Isaiah Young ('98), 17. Shaft Brewer ('99), 18. Lagos Kunga ('98), 19. Jorge Hernandez ('00), 20. Jacobo Reyes ('00) Analysis: This generation lacks wingers. There are a few good top-end options, but the back half of the list isn't very good. You could argue a few players that are listed as strikers or CAM's as wingers, but its still not a deep list of wingers. Center forwards: 1. Tim Weah ('00), 2. Josh Sargent ('00), 3. Sebastian Soto ('00), 4. Haji Wright ('98), 5. Jeremy Ebobisse ('97), 6. Jesus Ferreira ('00), 7. Justin Rennicks ('99), 8. Brandon Vazquez ('98) 9. Ayo Akinola ('00), 10. Tate Schmitt ('97) Analysis: I think this is a pretty good position. The top 4-5 options are really good, and the depth isn't bad either. CF has been a weak position for the NT in recent years, so its good to see a talented generation of CF's coming up the ranks. It'll be needed. '01-'04 GK: 1. Damian Las ('02) 2. Seth Wilson ('02), 3. Gabriel Slonina ('04), 4. Eliot Jones ('03), 5. Kris Shakes ('01), 6. Max Trejo ('02), 7. Colin Travasos ('01), 8. Aaron Cervantes ('02), 9. Gavin Krenecki ('03), 10. David Ochoa ('01) Analysis: I think this is a very talented group of keepers. The top-end is very good, but there's also depth. There are another couple quality keepers who I didn't even list. GK is a hard position to predict, so this generation of keepers might end up not being good, but right now I think it looks very good. RB: 1. Joe Scally ('02), 2. Mauricio Cuevas ('03), 3. Justin Reynolds ('04), 4. John Hilton ('01), 5. Noah Hall ('02), 6. Cristian Escribano ('02), 7. Natnael McDonald ('01), 8. Bryan Reynolds ('01), 9. Erik Centeno ('02), 10. Juston Rainey ('03) Analysis: I think this is another very talented group of players. The first few players are high-end prospects. There is a variety of different styles of RB's, and there's decent depth towards the back of the top 10. There are also a couple other decent RB's who didn't make the list. Our RB production for the next two generations looks very good. CB: 1. Julian Araujo ('01), 2. Jacob Akanyirige ('01), 3. Tayvon Gray ('02), 4. Nathan Toledo ('01), 5. Blake Malone ('01), 6. Justin Che ('03), 7. Mitch Ferguson ('03), 8. Erik McCue ('01), 9. Axel Alejandre ('02), 10. Antonio Leone ('04), 11. Nico Carrera ('02), 12. George Campbell ('01) 13. Nico Benalcazar ('01), 14. Leonardo Sepulveda ('01), 15. Mason Judge ('02), 16. Kobey Stoup ('03), 17. Eric Kinzner ('03), 18. Judson Burns ('01), 19. Antino Lopez ('02), 20. Kenneth Nielsen ('02) Analysis: Very weak position. Past #3 there is a real lack of top level prospects, and the depth is awful. The last couple players on the list are barely relevant prospects. CB's do tend to emerge later, so the CB's in this generation could improve eventually, but '02 and '03 look like very weak CB years, which is always going to be an obstacle for the strength of the CB's when two of the four years are very weak at the position. LB: 1. George Bello ('02), 2. Jonathan Gomez ('03), 3. Takashi Sasaki ('04), 4. Anthony Sorenson ('03), 5. Nelson Martinez ('01), 6. Andre Reynolds ('01), 7. Hernandez-Foster ('02), 8. Adam Armour ('02), 9. Ryan Lau ('04), 10. Julian Hinajosa ('01) Analysis: This generation of LB's looks to be around average. The top-end is really good, but the depth is a little weak. Given how much we've struggled to produce LB's and everyone usually does, it doesn't look so bad, but the overall talent and depth is not any better than average compared to some other positions. #6: 1. Taylor Booth ('01), 2. Josh Atencio ('02), 3. Justin Haak ('01), 4. Peter Stroud ('02), 5. Euan Clark ('01), 6. Nicholas Pariano ('03), 7. Jahon Rad ('02), 8. Owen Otasowie ('01), 9. Brendan Lambe ('04), 10. Jeremy Garay ('03) Analysis: This group of #6's looks better than the prior one, but it isn't much better than slightly below average. The depth is a little weak, as is the top end talent. #8: 1. Brandon Craig ('04), 2. Elton Chifamba ('03), 3. Tanner Tessman ('01), 4. Mario Penagos ('02), 5. Cameron Duke ('01), 6. Ian Hoffmann ('01), 7. Javier Casas ('03), 8. Cole Bassett ('01), 9. Rokas Pukstas ('04), 10. Adam Saldana ('02) Analysis: This looks like one of the two strongest position in the '01-'04 generation. Tremendous depth, and some very good top-end talent. #10: 1. Moses Nyeman ('03), 2. Evan Rotundo ('04), 3. Tyler Freeman ('03), 4. Marcelo Palomino ('01), 5. Thomas Roberts ('01), 6. Gianluca Busio ('02), 7. Luis Arriaga ('01), 8. Osvaldo Cisneros ('04), 9. Jonathan Perez ('03), 10. Cameron Fisher ('01) Analysis: This generation of #10's looks very good, and it is likely the strongest position from the '01-'04 generation. It is close between #8 and #10, but #10 has better top end talent. The best player in '03 and '04 are both #10's, which is a big boost to the position, but there are also some other good #10's besides those players. There is depth, as well. The '97-'00 generation wasn't anywhere close to this strong at this position, and this has traditionally been a position we don't develop many good players at, but we look to be developing some good #10's in this generation. Winger: 1. Konrad de la Fuente ('01) 2. Giovanni Reyna ('02), 3. Ulysses Llanez ('01), 4. Sam Sarver ('03) 5. Cameron Dunbar ('02) 6. Federico Oliva ('04), 7. Patrick Bohui ('03), 8. Cameron Harper ('01), 9. Jalen Anderson ('01) 10. Marlon Vargas ('01), 11. Dante Sealy ('03), 12. Quinn Sullivan ('04) 13. Travian Sousa ('01), 14. Axel Picazo ('01), 15. Carter Payne ('01), 16. Griffin Yow ('02), 17. Kevin Paredes ('03), 18. Ray Serrano ('02), 19. Beni Redzic ('02), 20. Selmir Miscic ('03) Analysis: I think we have seen through both generations of wingers that its a weak position. There is some decent top-end talent, but not that much of it, and there is a lack of depth. Center Forward: 1. Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez ('02), 2. Dantouma Toure ('04), 3. Ricardo Pepi ('03), 4. Stefan Stojanovic ('01), 5. Alec Diaz ('01), 6. Matthew Hoppe ('01), 7. Charlie Kelman ('01), 8. D. Lopez ('02), 9. J. Gomez ('01), 10. Sagir Arce ('02) Analysis: This generation of CF's looks about average. There are a couple good top-end options, and the depth on the list isn't bad. I think there is actually a big drop-off after 10, so we may not be producing many CF's in this generation, even if there are some decent options that are among the bigger name prospects.
Here are some other names that didn't make the above depth chart. Not knocking the above rankings, just throwing in additional names. I'm certainly forgetting some others, especially some '04s that I don't know enough about. And of course there's the list of US-eligible players on foreign youth teams, including some who've played for the US before, but I won't name them here unless they switch. '97-'00 GK: CJ Dos Santos RB: Khai Brisco, Kyle Duncan, Harold Hanson, Stephen Payne (he moved from winger), DJ Taylor, Angel Uribe CB: JJ Foe Nuphaus, Giles Phillips, Mauricio Pineda, Sam Raben LB: Jonathan Esparza, Marco Farfan, Nick Hinds, Aedan Stanley DM: Jens Cajuste, Andres Jimenez, Wan Kuzain CM: Blaine Ferri, Felipe Hernandez, Kyle Scott, Juan Pablo Torres, Eryk Williamson W: Jose Carranza, Brian Correa, Pierre da Silva, McKinze Gaines, Kevin Lankford, Jonathan Suarez CF: Daryl Dike, Nico Gioacchini, Mason Toye, JJ Williams, Ethan Zubak '01-'04 GK: Nico Defreitas-Hansen, Chituru Odunze, John Pulskamp CB: Ethan Bayer, Kwabena Boateng, Casey Walls LB: Nathan Harriel, Ralph Orquin, Stuart Ritchie, John Tolkin DM: Maxi Dietz CM: Kevin Bright, Gilbert Fuentes, Matteo Ritaccio, Pablo Soares CAM: Luis Arriaga, Ethan Bryant, Jamie Dunning, Azriel Gonzalez, Jack Imperato W: Jalen Anderson, Andre Costa, Roberto Hategan, Joshua Pynadath, Danny Robles, David Rodriguez, Indiana Vassilev CF: Jordan Adebayo-Smith, Justin Butler, Quincy Butler, Jackson Conway, Jake LaCava, Patrick Leal, Manuel Lopez, Joao Lucas
Bello is listed. I think Servania is a #8. I don’t want to quibble about positions or one or two rankings (feel free to disagree with me about those things). This was more to assess our depth in what positions we are producing a lot of talent and what positions we aren’t producing a lot of talent.
I haven’t seen him play. I tried to limit it to those I’ve seen play. I added a few who I haven’t seen yet, but I wasn’t trying to list “names.” I’m sure he might factor in somewhere at winger. We need all the good options at the position that we can get. I hear he’s a great athlete.
Every great baseball player starts off as a center fielder, short stop, or catcher (ignoring pitchers of course). Then as they move up they are either good enough to stay at those positions as the demands of those positions get tougher at higher levels or they are moved. A good hitter at short stop with a good arm but not good enough range will move to third. That is all to say that maybe all talented 14 yo's are 10s or 9s? If you did this list five years ago, Pulisic would have been a 10. That few players, with serious talent to make a list like this, are already specializing on the defensive line. Maybe that is changing at fullback. Even at the 19-21 yo age group I would expect some 8s to become 6s and some 10s and 9s to become 8s and wingers; maybe even a fullback. Some FBs to become CBs, etc. For the USMNT, it is probably better to develop 3 elite players every 3 birth years than 30 average players.
The good thing is there’s always gunna be some popping out of nowhere like Ledezma but we won’t know from that younger group who that is for a few more years.
This is kind of a far cry from the “top 20 prospects” this thread started as. FWIW, this week, I went back and was looking through the prospect lists from yesteryear. The naysayers constantly want to point out guys like Junior Flores and all the guys who didn’t pan out, but reality is around 75% or better of these kids on these prospect lists we make turn into pros, with many (if not most) of our National Team players on them. 5 years ago, for instance, @ussoccer97531 posted this list: 1. John Brooks('93) 2. DeAndre Yedlin('93) 3. Julian Green('95) 4. Junior Flores('96) 5. Haji Wright('98) 6. Marc Pelosi('94) 7. Rubio Rubin('96) 8. Wil Trapp('93) 9. Luis Gil('93) 10. Emerson Hyndman('96) 11. Zack Steffen('95) 12. Paul Arriola('95) 13. Erik Palmer-Brown('97) 14. Kevin Silva('98) 15. Kellyn Acosta('95) 16. Christian Pulisic('98) 17. Dillon Serna('94) 18. Tommy Thompson('95) 19. Shane O'Neill('93) 20. Tommy Redding('97) 21. Mukwelle Akale('97) 22. Matt Miazga('95) 23. Cody Cropper('93) 24. Ethan Horvath('95) 25. Caleb Stanko('93) 15 of those players have appeared for the USMNT. Note Pulisic is 16th on that list... in 2012, Nolan Arenado was 27th on the MLB prospects list. He wasn’t even listed in 2013. 2 years later, he hit 42 home runs and drove in 130. Jurickson Profar was number 1 that year, and he just had his first semi decent season in 2018 (.254-20-77). I think we are doing as good or more accurate of a job than baseball “experts” who have a lot more resources and experience, even if we don’t necessarily rank the best players at the very top. That bodes pretty darn well for us if our lists have increased from 25 to 289 players. It’s getting harder and harder to predict who the best prospect is. Hell, it’s getting harder and harder to predict who the best prospect is at each position
His new coach either thinks he is or is playing him extensively there to make sure. He played Saturday as a #6 when the second team came on. He looked as good as with the U20's. I think he's good there and hope he sticks as we have so many #8 prospects we need more #6's and #10's.
Some other players that we could consider '97 -'00 -Ethan Bartlow '00 (Washington) -Arturo Vasquez '00 (UCLA) -Logan Panchot '98 (Stanford) -Amir Bashti '97 (Atlanta United) -Milan Iloski '99 (UCLA) -Issa Rayyan '00 (Duke) -Josh Penn '00 (Indiana) -Sebastian Elney '97 (Maryland) '01 -'04 -Alex Rando '01 (NYCFC) -Bryang Kayo '02 (DC United) -Darren Yapi '04 (Colorado Rapids) -Aethan Yohannes '04 (AZ) -Dylan Presto '04 (LAFC) -Masango Akale '02 (Portland Timbers) -Jack de Vries '02 (Philadelphia Union) -Kacper Chrapczynski '02 (Sockers)
Hey I'm still in the game! Seven of my ten picks made the Gold Cup 40 man roster. Of the three others, I'm very encouraged by Booth (young and already signed 3 year deal with Bayern Munich) and Palmer Brown, who has been playing well in Holland. And, despite his "struggles" at Schalke, I remain optimistic long term regarding Wright. How many of the 10 will be around in 2022? Who knows! But it's fun to track.
This idea that Wright has struggled at Schalke is funny. You hear it a lot, but it doesn't make much sense. He absolutely dominated with Schalke II this season, and in 194 first team minutes, he had 1G, 0A. G or A every 194 minutes is slightly below average, but the sample size is so small that its hard to make much of it. It's easily manipulated by one appearance or one goal or one assist. He scored a goal against the fourth place team in the Bundesliga, and outside of one appearance and a missed sitter in another game, he did pretty well from the run of play in his minutes. The Hoffenheim game was also his first game in the Bundesliga outside of a two minute cameo for his debut, and he clearly was way off the pace. He had been playing in the 5th division all season, so its not surprising that it might take him a game to catch up to the speed of play.