Here's a catchall thread for the new (2001 YOB and younger) U18 program, which will officially start up with the camp reported to begin later this month. I'm leaving off the recent Spain camp since that was mainly '99s. I'll track callups here, as I did for the '99 group (see the tabs at bottom for the previous pool): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lEyhcweounRgP6uYI44U0WoQDpwsQVkCFRebIRh3xOE/edit?usp=sharing For an early peek at the likely pool, I'd suggest looking back at the last round of U16 callups under Tsakiris. https://www.ussoccer.com/us-under16-boys-national-team#tab-1 However, I won't do detailed tracking of anything else on these callups like I do for the U20s. If someone else wants to do that, feel free to reach out and I can give you access/suggestions. Of course, people can/should start separate threads for individual camps and tournaments and whatever else seems interesting. Coach is still Omid Namazi, as far as I know. Last time around, he called in 82 guys, 11 of them GKs, to 9 gatherings between January 2016-June 2017.
There's now data in here! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lEyhcweounRgP6uYI44U0WoQDpwsQVkCFRebIRh3xOE/edit?usp=sharing (But it's only one camp, so this is no better than the actual camp thread at the moment.)
U-18 Men’s National Team: GOALKEEPERS (4): Nick DeFreitas-Hansen (Everton; Southwest Ranches, Fla.), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif,), Kris Shakes (Philadelphia Union; Austin, Texas), Collin Travasos (San Diego Surf Club; Encinitas, Calif.) DEFENDERS (11): Jacob Akanyirige (San Jose Earthquakes; Pleasanton, Calif.), Julian Araujo (Barca Academy; Lompoc, Calif.), Nico Benalcazar (New York City FC; Wilton, Conn.), Kwabena Boateng (Sacramento Republic FC; Elk Grove, Calif.), Luke Hansen (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Ian Hoffman (Karlsuher SC; Karlsruher, Germany), Nelson Martinez (D.C. United; Woodbrigde, Va.), David Mendoza (Chicago Fire; Gage Park, Ill.), Jose Olmos (Barca Academy; Inglewood, Calif.), Leonardo Sepulveda (LA Galaxy; Corona, Calif.), Nick Slonina (Chicago Fire; Addison, Ill.) MIDFIELDERS (10): Taylor Booth (Unattached; Eden, Utah), Cameron Duke (Sporting Kansas City; Overland Park, Kan.), Hunter George (Sacramento Republic F.C.; Lincoln, Calif.), Roberto Hategan (Sacramento Republic F.C.; Chicago, Ill.), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.; New York, N.Y.), Marcelo Palomino (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas), Stuart Ritchie (FC Groningen; Pleaston, Calif.), Lawson Sunderland (Levante UD; Portland, Ore.), Will Vint (Manchester United F.C.; Chester, England) FORWARDS (8): Justin Butler (FC Bayern Munich; Augsburg, Germany), Quincy Butler (Sacramento Republic F.C.; Sacramento, Calif.), Cameron Harper (Pateadores; Newport Beach, Calif.), Jalen Hawkins (FC Bayern Munich; Regensburg, Germany), Jake LaCava (Barca Academy; Gouverneur, N.Y.), Ulysses Llanez (LA Galaxy; Lynwood, Calif.), Axel Picazo (Philadelphia Union; Austin, Texas), Stefan Stojanovic (Shockers FC; Chicago, Ill.)
There always seems to be some discussion about geographic representation on YNTs. FWIW, this one has a large Calif. presence, and Sac. Republic in particular has sent four players to the camp. Barca Academy also has a nice showing, and it will be interesting to see how Barca fits into the changing USSDA landscape. On the other hand, where are FC Dallas and NYRB players?
Notes: Kris Shakes finally called up. He's YNT quality, so this is a smart decision, he probably should've been called up earlier. Collin Travasos got his first YNT call up. Big keeper, listed at 6'3. He has highlights on his Hudl page, if you want to watch them. https://www.hudl.com/profile/8414869/collin-travasos USSF gives Akanyirige his first call up after he signs a pro deal. Why didn't they call him up before that? He seems a big-time talent. Did they not scout him well enough? Ian Hoffman is back in the US set-up. He had been at two recent German YNT camps. Justin Butler and Jalen Hawkins of Bayern Munich are both part of this camp. Butler is a CF, Hawkins a winger. Butler seems the higher rated of the two, but recently a lot of his playing time at Bayern Munich has been taken by a new signing from Feyenoord. Axel Picazo looked YNT quality when I saw him play earlier this month. Good that he got a call in to this camp.
Scott Taylor from NYRB (18 goals in 14 games) certainly should've been a candidate, but the lack of FCD players makes no sense to me either. Where's Reynolds, Toledo, Collodi, Burns, Hinojosa, Rayo, Roberts, Munoz, Gomez. You can't call up any half decent player at a big academy, but none of them? It doesn't make much sense to me. I think these big academies are often under-represented at these YNT camps. Maybe these academies don't want to release 4, 5, 6, 7 of their players at once.
I find ability with feet to be hard to gauge from just highlights. I was watching those, and thinking the same thing. There was one pass that was hard and with a normal passing trajectory, not just a floater to a wide open player. But these are highlights, so we are talking about what must be 40-50 games of highlights, maybe more. Can bad passing keepers make a good pass every 10 games?
Do the younger national teams not call in players from teams that are well known so they can take looks at lesser known players? I've noticed more FCD players get called up the older they get. Is it coaching or are they already known quantities?
Update: Since, as @TheFalseNine noted here... https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/u-s-ynt-player-pool-hub-u16-u20-2018-2019-cycle.2080134/ ... TDS has started doing the exact same thing, and I'm not doing more detailed tracking of this age group beyond names and callups, I'm gonna stop doing this one. Life is short -- no need to look a gift horse in the mouth -- you can't make a canoe out of caramel -- and other cliches. I'm happy to pass ownership of the document over to someone else if they want to add fields or other stuff.
Lineup for the U-18s vs. the U-19s at the summit camp: US U18s starting XI vs. US U19s - Ochoa :: Ritchie : Araujo : Benalcazar : Hoffmann :: Booth : Duke : Palomino :: Llanez : Hawkins : Hategan. Very strong 2001 line-up. Llanez and Hategan with the goals.— Joey (@USAprospects) January 9, 2018
A refresher on Hategan, a young pro with USL Sacramento: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/hometown-report/article159104719.html
Check out @onamazi’s Tweet: Really excited about working with the top talent of my U18 USMNT (01 birth year), Feb.4-11. Games vs. Costa Rica x2, on Feb.9 and Feb.11— Omid Namazi (@onamazi) January 24, 2018
Konrad is, as the kids say, “dabbing up” Jose Rivas of The Crew Academy. Konrad has even gone as far as “@ing” him in this post. So we can assume Jose Rivas will be there or is going to Barcelona...
👏👏👏Ulysses Llanez and Leonardo Sepulveda have earned @ussoccer_ynt U18 call-ups: https://t.co/uhyA2W53xH pic.twitter.com/yzel96ywAW— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) February 1, 2018
I would like to see this side called up. I won't include the guys on MLS contracts. GK: Shakes, Ochoa, Defreitas-Hansen DF: Hoffman, Xuxuh, Martinez, Araujo, Sepulveda, Toledo, Rangel, MacDonald MF: Booth, Otasowie, Duke, Vassilev, Roberts, de la Fuente, Palomino, Rivas, Llanez FW: Stojanovic, Butler, Segal Alternates: Kowalcyzk, Slonina, Burns, Lopez, Anaya, Pellegrino, Arriaga, Picazo, Hawkins, Soto, Taylor