The first XI: An unofficial sneak peek at the 2019 U20s

Obligatory:

This is definitely going to be the BEST cycle ever.

 

And if it's not, American soccer is, truly, going to be at a crossroads.

 

Foreign-based '99s and '00s with a previous USYNT callup who could figure in this cycle, arranged by birthdate:
GK: C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica)
DF: Kyle Gruno (Leicester City), Angel Uribe (Tijuana), J.J. Foe Nuphaus (Hoffenheim), Sergino Dest (Ajax)
MF: Paolo Urso (Genoa), Nick Taitague (Schalke), Jonathan Gonzalez (Monterrey), Nicholas Pergjini (Troyes), Callum Stretch (Aston Villa), Ben Lederman (Barcelona)
FW: Leonardo Marquez-Ramirez (Leon), Ernesto Espinoza (Tijuana), Nebiyou Perry (AIK), Corey Anton (Kaiserslautern), Cody Sundquist (Fiorentina), Nicolas Garcia-Morillo (Atletico Madrid), Timothy Weah (PSG)

 

I know you are kidding, but I think some might actually think so (because someone always says it), and I wanted to inject a serious take on this.

I don't agree. I think the previous cycle was better. The 00's are pretty good, and maybe not far off the 98's, but I think the 99's are way worse than the 97's.

 

Not bad, probably better than the 2015 cycle, but not as good as the 2017 cycle.

GK: Scott, Lopez, Garces
Defenders: Zarris, Uribe, Gloster, Morris, Gruno, Shaver
Midfielders: Durkin, Adams, Goslin, Gonzalez, Carleton, Taitague, Pomykal, Carranza
Forwards: Weah, del Rosario, Ferreira, Sargent

Scott
Adams-Shaver-Morris-Gloster
Durkin-Goslin
Pomykal
Taitague-Ferreira-Carleton

 

Bump for those curious about the next cycle

 

Pieces are in play to have a great attacking lineup. Pomykal, Ferreira, Nick T, Sargent, Carleton....wow. It might be the same as this cycle where the players might not be realeased, but the depth is solid.

Not sure how things are looking on the centerback front, but the attacking talent is top notch stuff

 

Early thoughts. I'll do a comprehensive preview soon.

This cycle is not as talented as the 2017 cycle, but its very talented, probably the second most talented cycle we will have after 2017. '00 will probably carry this cycle, '99 looks very weak, IMO. Depth is mostly in attacking positions. Attacking mid and #6 look great. FB's GK's, #9's look good. CB looks weak as does #8. Our talent is concentrated more in MLS than Europe so far, which should be good news for getting these players released, although that could obviously change.

GK: Scott, Garces, Lopez
Defenders: Gloster, Morris, Zarris, Lindsey, Arteaga, Shaver
Midfielders: Durkin, Sands, Adams, Gonzalez, Carleton, Pomykal, Taitague, Carranza
Forwards: Sargent, del Rosario, Weah, Ferreira

Scott
Zarris-Sands-Shaver-Gloster
Durkin-Adams
Pomykal
Taitague-Sargent-Carleton

 

I'm curious to see the impact that the USL has on this cycle. The MLS clubs who have USL teams have had a few years to sort out exactly how they want to run their teams and there are an increasing number of young players who are getting opportunities to play in the league.

In 2015, 97s and 98s played 6,503 minutes in the USL by my count. In 2017, 99s and 00s have already played 4,449. Through better recruiting and increased integration with academies leading to USL opportunities, perhaps more players who formerly would be "late bloomers" by U20 standards or would be off the radar will accelerate their development and contribute to the cycle.

 

Sam Rogers is the one that immediately comes to mind.

 

Sargent + 6 other attacking players that are way better than anyone on this team. I mean they are already better. Good keepers. Not a bad start.

 

I agree that the attacking talent looks a lot better than the current u-20s, but would that be the case if we still had Akale, Perez, Wright, et al? The defense looks unquestionably weaker, but sometimes you'll get a late developing CB. The truth is the team that goes to the 2019 U20 CONCACAF Championships/World Cup will probably look very different than whatever ideal team we can dream up now.

 

Ferreira, Pomykal, Carleton are home based. Reyna might get into conversation as well. Better coach would have Perez and Akale on 2017 team.

 

If Tab is the coach again he will leave Carleton out. There is no way Andrew fits into what Tab is trying to accomplish at Stoke. I mean the U-20 national team

 

Mark McKenzie ('99 CB) is also getting a lot of starts recently for Bethlehem Steel. He is listed at 5'11", which is a bit undersized but not as much so as Uribe, who I expect will fade and receive fewer and fewer call-ups as the cycle progresses.

 

Another element is identifying and recruiting dual nationals, especially at weaker positions. For instance, the fullback options may look decent now compared to a lot of past cycles, but if the past is any indication, a player or two who grew up in Europe could still be a huge boost if there is anyone good enough who can be persuaded.

 

I think its a great pool to start with.................................although question marks in defense. I mean, we already have midfielders that have broken thru to MLS first team appearances in Adams, Durkin, and Pomykol. Carleton and Ferreira have now already debuted as well.

Our "front 6" there that @ussoccer97531 posted above is REALLY strong. So strong that one wonders how many will actually be available two years from now.

Carleton and Ferreira may in fact be in direct competition with each other. Carleton seems like he's settled down as a right winger. My guess is that's where Ferreira is going to be as well (although I'm not sure FCD has settled on this yet).

There's some work to be done on the backline, but there's always work to be done on the backline. This most recent cycle was an outlier in terms of having a couple of high-level CBs (CCV, EPB, etc.) identified early.

 

Durkin hasn't actually debuted in MLS, only the Open Cup.

But I disagree that this past cycle was an outlier at CB due to CCV and EPB. They were outliers, but Glad and Redding weren't outliers, they were good CB's. Miazga wasn't an outlier two years previous, either, he was a good CB. All those players were signed to MLS contracts during the U-20 WC the cycle before their's, and they all either debuted a little before that U-20 WC a cycle before their's, during the U-20 WC or a few months after. Who's on the horizon now? I think its a lower quality of CB, IMO. Precedent tells us that whoever that CB is should be on the verge of a first team debut.

Its more unlikely is going to come along a year from now, and be getting regular minutes in MLS a year after that. It takes some time to build your way up through an MLS first team, especially at CB. Sure, its early, we were worrying about CB for the 2015 cycle, and we ended up doing very well at that position for the cycle. But it might not be three or four conventional names. It might be the next EPB or CCV who's a year or two younger. That obvious name in the '99 doesn't seem to be there yet. '00 has a few options, lets see if any emerge within the next year.

 

Jake Morris '99 is a defender, but that's just picking nits as he obviously was fringe unlike CCV and EPB in the 2015 cycle.

 

You have to be excited about the attacking players. Hopefully the defense comes around but will worry about that later

 

The 97 98 class is the best group of attacking prospects in US history.... look at what Tab gave us.