Yes, it's early, but there's a next-cycle roster discussion breaking out in 2015 threads, someone might as well do it... The 2017 U-20 cycle will consist of players born on or after January 1, 1997. The 2017 U-20 World Cup will be held in South Korea. It will be a good while before we know where the CONCACAF qualifying tournament will be held. I have been following YNTs long enough to not get too excited at an early stage. However, I do think there's reason for cautious optimism about this group. We already have some players breaking into first teams in MLS. We have others who, reading the tea leaves, are highly valued by their clubs in Europe (esp. Pulisic and Akale....guys like Zelalem and CCV have great potential as well). Many of the “names” at this time will amount to nothing, as happens every cycle. I am hopeful, however, that we have enough irons in the fire this time that the chances are good that we'll get some pretty solid players. And of course, many more players not on our radar will emerge over the course of the next two years. Another question is that of the manager. We won't know until after the 2015 U-20 WC whether Tab Ramos will continue in his capacity as U-20 manager, or turn his complete focus to his other role as Youth Technical Director. I would expect that, as per usual, the player pool will initially be drawn from the ranks of the current U18s and U17s, other pros, and three current 2017-eligible U20s unless they work up to the full NT. There aren't too many pros who aren't also in one of the two YNT buckets, but doubtlessly there are dual nationals in Europe and in Mexico who will appear seemingly out of nowhere. And of course, there are domestic players toiling in obscurity in club soccer somewhere who will rise to prominence. Though looking at the 2015 U20 roster, most guys had been ID'd by the start of the cycle in one way or the other. Let's start with some names. Caveats: 1) This isn't meant to be a full list, so add to it. 2) Also, I'm not an expert on every player, so any omission is not meant to be a slight. 3) This is just a list, not necessarily an endorsement of the greatness or terribleness of anybody. It's a starting point to begin tracking the overall pool. Current U-20s CB Erik Palmer-Brown 97 CB Cameron Carter-Vickers 97 CB Gedion Zelalem 97 U-17s (qualifying squad) GK Will Pulisic GK Kevin Silva RB Matthew Olosunde RB/CM Tyler Adams CB Hugo Arellano CB Alexis Velela CB Danny Barbir CB Tanner Dieterich LB John Nelson CM Luca de la Torre CM Eric Calvillo CM Thomas McCabe AM Christian Pulisic AM Alejandro Zendejas FW Joe Gallardo FW Josh Perez FW Haji Wright FW McKinze Gaines FW Pierre da Silva FW Brandon Vazquez U18s [I'll probably get a few positions wrong, and miss some regulars] GK Jonathan Klinsmann GK J.T. Marcinkowski RB Kyle Duncan RB Malcolm Jones CB Tommy Redding CB Justen Glad CB Mauricio Pineda LB Pablo Pelaez LB Antonee Robinson CM Ben Swanson CM Kyle Scott (is he committed?) CM Fito Ovalle (once played in a friendly camp for Chile's YNTs) CM Abuchi Obinwa AM Mukwelle Akale AM Sebastian Saucedo AM Jackson Yueill AM Collin Fernandez AM Amirgy Pineda AM Eryk Williamson FW Victor Mansaray FW Coy Craft FW Brooks Lennon FW Christian Lucatero FW Sebastian Elney Other Pros GK Samuel Velazquez (regular starter for Tijuana U17) DF? Carlo Chavez (regular captain for Tijuana U17) MF Ander Egiluz MF Christian Albelo MF Ruben Gonzalez FW Kai Koreniuk
GK Justin vom Steeg is getting a ton of good experience with VC Fusion in the PDL this summer and seems likely to start for UCSB. RB David Chavez is MIA but has been rumored to be with Xolos. CM Cam Lindley recently won a state basketball title in Indiana. DMB might've won one of those, too. Also, some people think Josh Doughty at Man U is eligible. Wouldn't be shocked if Alex Ramos at Pachuca gets a look, as well.
I hope Fito Ovalle plays for our U20s. This guy is gonna be the future Beckerman but with better ball skills.
Warning: Don't read if you don't want to read a long post and I don't pretend to know everything about these players. Its just my initial read on this cycle. GK: Jonathan Klinsmann, Kevin Silva, Eric Lopez Others to consider: JT Marcinowski, Will Pulisic, Christian Herrera, Justin Vom Steeg, Mason Stajduhar Overview: Klinsmann and Silva look like early favorites to make the team. They both have emerged as the top GK prospects for their age groups. Lopez has emerged as the top '99 and we know how Tab likes to take a player that could be on the team next cycle as the #3 GK, as long as they are competent enough to not be a liability playing with older players. Lopez at this point seems like he could be that. RB: Matt Olosunde Others to consider: Malcolm Jones, Kyle Duncan, Max Konrad, Darian Gurley, Toni Suddoth, Sean Berry, Overview: I don't know much about the RB position. I really like what I've seen from Olosunde. The other players are a mix of players that have been called in a lot with the '97 age group and German-American's who should at least be considered. CB: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Erik Palmer-Brown, Tommy Redding, Justen Glad Others to consider: Danny Barbir, Alexis Velela, Hugo Arellano, Kyle Gruno, Mauricio Pineda, Demarveay Sheron Overview: This looks like the deepest position right now. CCV and EPB might not return for a second cycle with this team. Redding wasn't that far away from making the U-20 team this cycle. Glad looks like a really promising CB prospect. There is tons of depth at the position. Potentially leaving off a player like Barbir is proof of that. LB: Antonee Robinson, John Nelson Others to consider: Tyler Adams Pablo Pelaez, Edwin Lara, Daniel Glen, Overview: Robinson is starting to emerge at Everton and he's versatile enough to play a few positions. I really like what I saw from Nelson during qualifiers. He impressed me more than any player on the U-17 team during that tournament. DM/CM: Kyle Scott, Christian Albelo, Luca De La Torre, Gedion Zelalem Others to consider: Abuchi Obinwa, Ben Swanson, Cameron Lindley, Alec Becker, Sidney Friede, Ukasha Wallace Overview: Tons of depth in the center of the field. Scott and Albelo are promising deep lying playmakers, De La Torre is a B2B midfielder and Zelalem is an ultra-talented #8/10 tweener who should be playing the #8 more as he gets stronger. Like EPB and CCV, he might not play two cycles with the U-20's. AM/Wing: Mukwelle Akale, Christian Pulisic, Sebastien Saucedo, Brooks Lennon Others to consider: Josh Perez, Alejandro Zendejas, Alan Sonora, Josh Doughty, Nick Taitague, Christian Lucatero, Collin Fernandez, Keegan Kelly, Adam Ozeri, Faiq Bolkiah Overview: Also a lot of depth at AM/Wing. Akale and Pulisic are among the best players of their age group from the USA. Saucedo has started to get minutes in MLS. Lennon has impressed a lot in the DA and supposedly has a deal to join Liverpool eventually. CF: Haji Wright, Victor Mansaray, Joe Gallardo Others to consider: Jeremy Ebobisse, Coy Craft, Eryk Williamson, Sebastian Elney, McKinze Gaines, Brandon Vazquez, Pierre Da Silva, Kai Koreniuk, Lucas Del Rosario, Hanif Wright Overview: Haji Wright has scored tons of goals with the U-17's. He isn't far away from breaking Landon Donovan's goal scoring record with the U-17's that has stood for over 15 years. Mansaray has started to get some minutes in MLS. Gallardo has impressed with the U-17's, especially his finishing.
Its tough to know much at this point. Some of these players who we think are possibilities for this team might not be playing soccer anymore by the time qualifying comes around. I remember there was a '95 at Wigan Athletic that early last cycle was seen as a player who might play with the U-20's and it seems like he just doesn't play soccer anymore.
Seriously people, checkout Ovalle. He currently plays for Real Monarchs and was part of the RSL U17 team last year that finished 2nd at the Gen Adidas cup.
While you're at it, check out ('97) CB Danilo Acosta who started and played 90 in their last match which ended in a 1-0 shutout win.
From a Dallas perspective I'd add their star '98 Devin Vega to the attacking midfield. He's spent time at Bradenton, but isn't with the U17 team due to the sheer strength of that group. [Pulisic and company]. With the U16 DA team this season he's scored 20 goals in 20 games (13 starts). Eeeeeesh! Its unclear whether Vega will sign with FCD or go abroad, but my guess is he'll be a pro shortly. I don't know his ethnic background, but if we guess Mexican-American we have a good chance of being right. It would not shock me to see him go to Mexico. My memory is hazy, but I seem to remember him training/trialing in Mexico in the past. Oh, I'd add that his birthday is Dec. '98. So he's one of those players that can be marginalized in a U17 cycle as he's younger/smaller/less mature. He strikes me as one of those players we'll be saying "Why wasn't he with the U17s???? He's awesome!!!"................two years from now.
Looks like DA is producing some serious talent continuously now. Not sure how many will be on the senior team in 2018 but I bet a good handful will be. This 2017 team looks stacked
I didn't actually mean that he plays like Beckerman. I think he is gonna fill the CDM position once Kyle is gone.
Ah, I should have mentioned these guys. Ramos is a 95, though -- I believe. At any rate he'd be a rising junior at Iona if he hadn't gone to Pachuca, so it seems unlikely he's young enough.
You're right. Turns out Alex was born 9 months and 17 days after Tab got his skull fractured by Leonardo ... I guess it wasn't *that* bad of a headache.
Boom.................... Nick Barbir @nickbarbir · 47m 47 minutes ago Congrats to @DannyBarbir on his first pro contract @WBA and his invite to Suwon South Korea http://mobile.wba.co.uk/news/articl...my-graduates-nabi-daniels-oneil-2469512.aspx…
The competition at centerback for this U20 team is going to be fierce. We've already got 5 pros with CCV, EPB, Barbir, Redding, and Glad. Its hard to predict how that's going to turn. Its easy right now to pencil in CCV and EPB as they're already with this 2015 cycle, but a lot can happen in two years. I mean, its been a while since I've seen Kyle Gruno. Some young guys like that will emerge.
Agreed. CB looks very solid as it stands, even before considering which of the many amateur CBs with the U17s and U18s and elsewhere might rise up the ranks. CB, attacking midfield (Pulisic, Akale, Saucedo, et al), and #8s (Zelalem, de la Torre) look particularly solid at this early stage. I have more questions about GK, fullbacks, #6, and forwards. That's not to say we don't have good prospects at those positions - there are plenty of interesting guys. But none of them have done anything in MLS yet or look to be definitively progressing well relative to their age in foreign academies or seem to be otherwise prized prospects based on reading the tea leaves. That said Kyle Scott (Chelsea) and Antonee Robinson (Everton) are both younger 97s who have moved up to the U21s this season, which seems like a fairly good sign. Victor Mansaray is producing regularly for Sounders 2 right off the bat. Alejandro Zendejas has made the Dallas 18 far more frequently than I'd have thought. Etc. There are many others who look interesting, but who still have a minimal track record available to be judged. Does anybody know anything about Tijuana's Carlo Chavez? I know almost nothing about him other than he's a 97 who captained their U17 squad this season.
Is Glad mostly playing CB? How much has he played for Real Monarchs? I certainly think he has potential as a centerback, and he may have improved recently, but I have not seen the level of aerial ability from Glad that I would ideally like to see in a centerback prospect, and I think number 6 may be his best adult position.
The 01' pool has me feeling pretty good about the future of US Soccer. I don't remember ever having a class (year) of kids at academies like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, and Cologne at the same time. I know, a long way away, but still pretty cool
The fact that solid players like him are'nt getting a sniff with the national team is great for US Soccer. I mean the fact that he really has to beat out top attacking talents at Arsenal, Villareal, Dortmund and Chelsea is a great great thing.
Thats huge news. Everton has a very good academy. That probably means they rate him very highly over at Everton.