Is there precedent for a player playing up a year (Martinez) this early into their YNT career? I always thought that starting in the U17 WC up a year was an incredible accomplishment, but starting in your U15 group is over 2 years before even that.
Very nice 3-0 win for the US 15’s over India. Great start to the Torneo Delle Nazioni... pic.twitter.com/z92l1hSGR0— HH (@Harishot) April 28, 2019
Dantouma Toure did the same. Looking at the pictures both he and Martinez seem to fit in physically with the age group up, but obviously are talented players as well to play up at that level. I wonder if playing up at u15 or 17 on the YNT is a predictor of success later on or not.
It might just be that it's a good idea for players who peak early physically. They might not be better once everyone catches up but it probably does them no favors by playing them where they are so physically superior at a young age but they may not be later. Lot's of those types struggle later when the late bloomers catch up and they can't dominate games with their bodies any more.
US U15s lineup vs Slovenia (started 15 mins ago): “USA: Tanton, Martinez, Leone, Craig, Yohannes, Brummett, Torres, Alguera, Rodriguez, Perez, Lesa.”— Colin Lamont (@ChamberiSeattle) April 29, 2019 Wonder if they're playing Craig at defensive midfield. Martinez, Leone, Leza, Tanton are all primarily defenders. A Dynamo academy graphic I saw even had Leza as a CB.
Here's the stream: Livestream of U.S. U15s v Slovenia, on now. (HT @DanielSmith1022)https://t.co/FMyoLPsdf5— scuffed (@scuffedpod) April 29, 2019
Slovenia scores off some decent one-touch passing right through the heart of the American midfield and defense I think the US has been the better technical team by far imo, but the defense seems a bit slow to read Slovenia's attacks. Also Slovenia seems to be bigger and stronger than us so their press is a good test for the youngins. I can't tell who is who, but one of our CBs has a fantastic eye for a diagonal ball. I'll try and at least get a number.
Watching the game right now, and I have absolutely no idea who anyone is so I'm pretty sure that qualifies me as unbiased. The left footed left winger is very good. He gets by his defender, and sometimes two defenders, nearly every time, and plays good balls in. I think the right back is fairly bad for Slovenia which helps, but still, having a good touch and blowing past your defender when you're playing on your natural wing is difficult. Number 8, the large midfielder, has good control, but I have to say that's about it. His passing has been horrendous. He dawdles on the ball for way too long, and when he does make up his mind, he usually plays the ball to a teammate already in a pressured situation. He's really gotta figure that out, because every ball is a bad idea and inaccurate. The right back is very good. It doesn't seem like his natural position (he looks like Justen Glad playing right back), but he's assured defensively and makes quick and decisive passes. He also comes across as a leader. Gonna guess that's Craig by how some have talked about him. The right center back, 5, has good ideas in possession, and looks like a quality defender. The left center back, 4, has been more iffy positionally. 15 in midfield has been all over the place. He's had to do a lot of work, and he does a good job recycling. He doesn't appear too creative, but that's not everyone's strength, especially when you don't have a lot of chemistry with your forwards. The left back, who I'm pretty sure is a righty, has been good at dribbling and passing out of pressure to feet. He's pretty diminutive but hasn't put himself in spots to get out-muscled. I'm about a half hour in but it's been so long since I've watched a YNT game on a usable stream that I'll post again if I have any updates.
The right back number 6 is brandan Craig, he’s playing right for USA but for the Philadelphia union they have moved him to the 6 so he can be on the ball more
Rotundo came on at half and I think he got more touches within the 3 minutes before the goal than 21, the previous attacking mid, did the whole previous half. 21 just didn't know how to link the lines, and it showed. The striker (Brummett?) probably got more touches in those 3 minutes than in the first half for the same reason. 10, the left winger, also looked like he like playing with Rotundo a lot more. This team doesn't really work without him. The goal was meh. 4, the left center back, whiffed on a slide tackle and the Slovenian player was straight through. 4's timing was off the whole game, and my first reaction was that CB isn't his normal position. I would say that he's out of position and short, but that makes it sound way more damning than it really appeared. I think it's Martinez, and he can pass pretty well. I just don't think he's ready for this level yet, and should probably stick to his age level for now. I do like 15 a lot. He just gets the job done. He's nothing special, but he knows what he's good at and does it well. The players who I liked the most are: 24: Rotundo. Best player on the team, and my favorite youth player in a while. If you haven't watched him, you should. It's refreshing. 10: I don't recall any left footed wingers being highly touted in this age group, but this kid is really good. He's an extremely effective dribbler and tormented Slovenia's right side all game. He beat his guy over and over again, and his end product was good. I'd like to see him on the inverted side just to see if he's comfortable cutting in. If not, I'd be very comfortable with a player of his level being a key member for the next U17 team. I will add that he didn't seem very connected to the rest of the team except for Rotundo, which might be on him but I think it's more on the overall team's chemistry. 5: Leone? Plays a good long ball, strong in the tackle, always in the right place, commanding. I'd like if he showed a little more urgency on the ball since he usually seems like he's moving a little slower than he can when on the ball, but the talent is there. He also decides to clear the ball as far as he can more than you'd like, which, if he is Leone, is fairly surprising considering LAFC's MO. He's a lock starter for the U17 cycle. 6: Craig? A leader, and knows where people should be on the field and can play himself. He played RB, although I'm not sure that's his position. He doesn't seem like a DM either from the way he moves, which leaves me with center back, although he doesn't seem like a perfect fit there either. I'd like to see him paired with 5 (who I think is Leone), and I think this guy would play on the right side in that pairing. Regardless of where he plays, you can't take him off the field. 15: No idea who he is, but this guy is a fighter. Not a stud on the ball, but he's always popping up and going in for a tackle. He's a type of guy people look at and immediately think of as being an MLS lifer because there's nothing flashy about him, but top players have made careers out of that role, and every team wants, and needs, those glue guys. He might not start for this team with their best guys, but it's hard to take someone like him off the roster. Everyone else I either didn't rate as high or I didn't feel I saw enough of (like Fede, who came on for 15 but didn't really impact the game). Just my two cents.
Thanks for the help. His club coaches have obviously thought this through more than I have and know a lot more about him, but I'll add that I think that'll do him a lot of good in his development. Is there any word on where his coaches see him long term?
Did we watch the same match? Unless I missed a lot of sequences, I saw our #24 needlessly gave the ball away 3 or 4 straight times in our attacking third. Again, possible I missed some good sequences, but above was the first note I wrote down on #24 while watching.
He might've, it's possible, but the offense does nothing without Rotundo. To be honest, I didn't really pay attention to him giving the ball away because I've watched him before and have always loved what he's capable of. I'll add that the game was completely stagnant without him on the field. His off the ball movement is the best on the team by a landslide, and he's incredibly talented on it. He might've had a bad game (even though I didn't notice), but I'd find it impossible not to see how great a prospect he is.
I had the same impression of #10 in the second half and wondered if I watched the same game after reading the comments. On number "10" the left winger I saw the old "I'm gonna dribble this ball until I lose it" being done more often than not when a simple one touch or quicker decision was the right play. Just goes to show how subjective player evaluation is. One guys messi is the next guys pub leaguer. Main take away was these kids looked young and have a lot of time left to get better. Plus the Slovenia team was miserable. No touch, tripping all over the field, mishitting the ball and very poor control of the ball and their bodies.
I see where you got that for 10, and I definitely got some of that (especially in the second half, where the defense started doubling/tripling him), which is where I got the "he only combines with Rotundo" vibes. Again, I'd place that more on the players not being that comfortable with each other and not knowing when to show. I think our strikers had less than 10 total touches all game, for example.
I only saw the second half so maybe he created more in the first. As for Rotundo I don't think he got the ball enough. He moved well and when on the ball I thought he was good, had nifty touches to turn with men on him, but with only 35 minutes he could not get ahold of the game. Tracked down a bigger kid and swiped the ball off him clean showing his work rate as well.
Brummett (9), Craig (6), Leone (5), Martinez (4), Alguera (12) Leza (23), Tanton (2), Rodriguez (15), Torres Hurtado (10), Perez Guillen (21), Yohannes (8) FWIW, Brummett isn't the only U15 who has been on the bench in USL recently. Torres, #10, was on the bench for San Antonio FC. Signed a pro deal in February.
Alguera: I did not have much work, but in the end he had some responsibility in the goal because I was not very well positioned. Martinez: it looked good, we have to take into account that he is playing a year longer than his due. Leone: he was quite good in defense, good in aerial duels. Craig: good game for him # 15 Allan Rodríguez, he had a good game, not very remarkable, but very correct. # 8 Yohannes was physically good but he was slow, I distribute some passes but not many more. # 10 Torres, he was, technically good enough, but he was slow and often lost physical duels. Rotundo looked good, he must have been one of the best, he had good ideas and his game was very clear. Brummett is very large physically but lacks technique, in reality it does not seem to be a real perspective. Oliva and Cisneros did not enter much into the game, Oliva is similar to Brummett in physical terms, but technically it is much better. Koleosho did not play much in the game either. In general, it seemed like a good team, but it has some flaws. Slonina must be the goalkeeper. The absence of Reynolds is remarkable. Another missing player is Pukstas, he is a player who can associate very well with Rotundo. This team can suffer the presence of a # 9 like Ocampo Chavez or Pepi, it will be something to keep in mind since it seems that there are not many # 9 in this cycle.
In the first half, 5, 6 and 10 looked like the good prospects in the team. 5 is Leone, 6 is Craig and 10 is Torres. I wasn't sure who 10 was, but I remember reading some good things about Torres, but due to him coming from a USL academy, he gets less publicity. The rest, not much there. These are mostly back ups for a reason. The only two players I'd want to comment on from the first half are 15 (Rodriguez) and 4 (Martinez). I've seen Rodriguez play a few times, and I can understand why some might like his contribution, but there isn't a very high ceiling there from what I've seen. He's good in the tackle, and doesn't run himself out of position too often, but his passing is very basic and for a #6 he's not the most athletic. I think there are better options. Comparing him to the other CM from the first half might make him look better than he is. I also think its worth mentioning that Martinez is playing up a year, as bad as he played in this game. He passes the ball well, he has good enough height and pace. He's a good prospect. How good will depend on how his defense along with height and pace develops further, but to even be called up to a higher age group at his age shows he's a good player. I was previously impressed with what I saw of him playing for Sounders U-17. Similar problems as here defensively, but its almost to be expected. Toure struggled in this age group a year ago at this tournament. Rotundo didn't have his best game, but the talent is there. Leone played a good match. He's going to be one of the key players for next cycle, as will Craig. I think a midfield of Craig and Hot (the #13 who came on late and played well) will be a lot better than the CM we've had this cycle at the U-17 level. I also thought the #3 playing LB (Cortez) looked to be a decent player. This age group also has two good full backs (Reynolds and Sasaki) who aren't at this tournament, and a good CF (Toure) who also isn't at this tournament. It was hard to make much of Oliva's appearance because he barely played.
To update this. GK: Slonina DF: Reynolds, Duenas, Leone, Morales, Sasaki, Cortez MF: Craig, Flax, J. Torres, Pukstas, Rotundo, Cisneros, Sullivan, Oliva, Rincon- Rodriguez, Hot, L. Torres FW: Toure From the current call up, I didn't get to see Cordova play and Koleosho only came on at the very end. This age groups looks to have more good players at this point than 2002 and 2003 did. I remember watching the 2002 and 2003 teams play at this tournament, and they didn't look very talented. 2002 won this tournament, but they were outplayed most of those games. I only saw one game of 2003, but most of the best 2003 players weren't at that tournament. Early best XI could look something like this. Slonina Reynolds-Leone-Morales-Sasaki Craig-Hot Oliva-Rotundo-L. Torres Toure Bench options: Cortez, Flax, J. Torres, Pukstas, Sullivan, Rincon
I watched game a few times. For the first 20 minutes I was very worried. Couldn't connect passes, nervous, kicked alot of long balls. Then started to find rhythm and work through midfield. CD's good skills but kinda slow. Really young but Leone and Martinez has solid foundation to work from. Only 2 I saw that really struggled were 21 and 23 Leza and Perez and I thought Brummett was poor also. Everyone else has something to work with. Yohannes has very good ball skills just needs to pick up the pace abit. Seemed like both games mixed players to get time. The end of this game seemed to have most of all the good offensive players in it. Each player has some glaring weakness but all had good ball skills. Rotundo is very good but is just so tiny and that reflects in his lack of physicality as does 10-Torres. Hot has very good ball skills but lacked a little burst. Team struggled around the box and if true from @ussoccer97531 that Reynolds and Sasaki are good outside backs and Pukstas adds some athleticism along with Toure this has the makings of a real nice deep team.