The 2019 U-20 Qualifying Thread

I prefer Adams as a wingback as well but I think you're underrating his intelligence. I also agree w/ what balerion said, he's grown so much over the course of this season that at least for now I'm not really interested in trying to decide where on the field he'll end up

 

I agree this is drastically under-discussed. Dude covers so much ground. He may not be the best passer once he gets the ball, but everything he does till then is top-shelf.

The numbers game with the 23s and senior team may force him out of CM some times. And that's OK. It means we have other good options and he is versatile enough to play elsewhere.

But he still has a future with the 20s at CM.

 

And his lack of skill on the ball would be somewhat mitigated by being joined by guys like Mckennie, Gonzalez and Parks in midfield as they are much smoother ball handlers.

Bakayoko ain’t exactly Pirlo in midfield for Chelsea, but his lungs and B2B ability has been somewhat effective, despite his lack of grace with the ball

 

Any CB options in college?

 

Daniel Strachan at Akron, I believe Mark McKenzie has played some CB. Not many yet, maybe they'll appear after the 2000's enter college soccer, the 99's are really weak on CB's.

 

Check out @BrianSciaretta’s Tweet:

It was an amazing year for Josh Sargent who agreed to terms with a Bundesliga team and played in both the U-20 and U-17 World Cups. I spoke with the St. Louis native about his year and future ambitions. https://t.co/xZ8QZheAyx

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) December 13, 2017

 

So by my count, with Ayo Akinola signing with TFC that leaves three players from the U17 WC roster whose immediate future plans are unknown: George Acosta, Justin Garces and Chris Gloster.

All three are due to finish HS this academic year. Acosta spent some time North Carolina FC last season and I don't know if he plans to continue with them this coming season.

Gloster is from the Red Bull academy and Garces joined the Atlanta academy sometime in the past few months. No idea about homegrown plans there.

To the best of my knowledge, none of them have committed to a college program.

The only players from the U17 WC roster who have (that I know of) verbally committed are No. 3 GK Alex Budnik (Dartmouth) and reserve defender Tyler Shaver (Stanford).

Blaine Ferri and Taylor Booth are both HS juniors. Booth is from the RSL academy and might sign there (though he's looked abroad) while Ferri remains a mystery as he lives in the Dallas area but hasn't joined FC Dallas' academy nor, that we know, hooked up with a program abroad.

All the other players from that team have signed pro deals, which gives the new U20 pool a nice stock of young pros, especially when combined with all the 99s who are already pro.

 

Booth, Gloster, and U17NT fringe player Zyen Jones were all rumored to be trialing at Schalke.

I'd have to dig up where, but Doyle wrote that RSL tried hard to sign Booth but they seem to have been unsuccessful.

 

Booth isn't playing college soccer. I doubt Garces or Gloster are either.

 

I would be surprised if any of those three did. But I am not nearly as high on Gloster are you are. It could be Red Bulls don't think he's ready for a pro career, even at USL2.

I basically see Jeremy Hall. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

BTW, I forgot Akil Watts. He is a HS Sr. from the Timbers academy but hasn't signed a pro deal not committed to a college. Hopefully T2 signs him.

 

Is Garces still with Atlanta?

 

It's all well and good to sign contracts, but now we need these MLS sides to actually play youngsters. Something that most MLS sides are hesitant to do.

 

He is

 

What's Garces path to playing in MLS? He can't sign a homegrown deal with Atlanta since he wasn't with them for a year prior to the world cup, right? Can they sign him to a USL deal to then promote him to an MLS deal?

 

He signed with them over the summer, so a year to sign a contract, but is there any rule stating he can't play for Atlanta II on an academy contract?

I really don't see why he signs there, unless there's a plan that they laid out for him. If Zyen Jones can get a trial at Schalke and Akinola at PSV, I don't see why Garces wouldn't have significant pro interest. I would assume he plays maybe like two years with the reserve team, and is a first team option in 2020 or so. When he'd sign a first team contract, I don't know. It probably also doesn't matter, as goalkeepers younger than 20 or so usually aren't even considered as options to play for the first team.

 

So what's the reasoning on not letting HG's play right away?

 

The precedent (I remember this with Jack McBean and Jose Villarreal) was that a player can be signed to a HG contract after being in the academy for 6 months, but isn't eligible to play for the 1st team until it's been a year since first joining the academy.

But as always with MLS, I'm sure it's fluid.

 

A spot on this team has likely opened up with Gonzalez moving to Mexico's program.

Sands, Torres, Booth, Goslin, Servania are key some key beneficiaries, IMO.

 

I don't think Gonzalez was ever gonna play for the U20s. Torres is Jonathan Gonzalez lite IMO.

 

I think Timmy Tillman will be with this team

 

Ineligible, unless FIFA rules have changed.

See: Julian Green.

 

You can't represent 2 different countries at the same level, and considering U-19 Euros is qualifying for U-20 WC, that counts as the same level.