In order for the USMNT to reach another level Reyna and Donovan levels of play should be the minimum. If Pomykal reaches Reyna levels of proficiency and also gets 100 caps then I will be disappointed in our production.
Pax is a playmaking 8, an old school 10 who merely is the setup guy and can deliver a goal every once in a while. He’s still developing that part of his game but has really nice touch inside the box. Give it time people, he’s going to Europe after this tournament and we will see what happens. He’s been one of the best players in the entire tournament so far. His impact on the game is huge. His positioning and vision have been outstanding.
Its not even my hope, its whats been happening to our youth players that excel. Hes following in the Adams mold. Hes very good at Dallas FC and they are a much better team with him on the field, and hes showing out on the World Stage. His work rate is fantastic and so are his skills. Its a matter or when not if at this point, and the club he plays for sells their talent to Europe more than any other MLS program
A word of caution, maybe two....Emerson Hyndman. Look back at his U20 career and captaincy, now try to find him. U20 appearances are more often than not deceiving.
This is true. Even so, injuries have a lot more to do with Hyndman's issues than lack of talent. The one that haunts me is Zelalem, he never could really translate to being a convincing pro. Pomykal, IMO, is beyond that particular milestone. He will be a pro with a long career. The question is will he be MLS/mid tier Euro lifer or two steps above and playing in the top 30 teams but not the top 10. IMO, top 10 (Pulisic/Adams potential level) is outside his capability.
This is actually something I was considering myself. Pomykal could actually fit a possession hub DM type. Paxton Pomykal, who plays for FC Dallas, has a very promising defensive midfielder profile, particularly his tackling, 1v1 defending, ball-carrying, and short passing. pic.twitter.com/abAwGQfNu3— Analytics FC (@AnalyticsFC) May 30, 2019
An analysis of the Nigeria game. 🇺🇸 United States of America vs Nigeria 🇳🇬• Players to watch• In-game analysis• Scouted MOTMScouted Football x #U20WC pic.twitter.com/V6aBcgnwDS— SCOUTED (@scoutedftbl) May 27, 2019
He was captain of that squad. He was very well-considered by fans and "scouts". He may have even won some accolades at international youth tournaments? He got plenty of BS support as the next Claudio Reyna. His career has been underwhelming based upon the expectations. Just a cautionary tale for those who too quickly anoint the newest U20 phenom.
Another example. Luis Gil from the 2013 U20 Cycle. Probably our best player in that World Cup, although that's not saying a hell of a lot. Faded to obscurity. Probably a similar profile to Pax. People kept trying to call him a #10, when that wasn't his skill set on the adult professional level. Pomykal's skill set seems to be as a #8. Luchi calls it a "free 8," which people can interpret whatever way they want. Of course that puts him right in the heart of where we already have a lot of young USMNT talent. By the way, just as an aside.....................we were destroyed pretty handily by that Spain team in 2013. Nine players on that Spain team have full caps with their senior team. That squad was STACKED. Suso of Inter Milan. Alcacer of Dortmund. Gaya of Valencia. Bernat of PSG. Saul of Atletico Madrid. Deulofeu of Watford, Denis Suarez who was just on loan at Arsenal, JOnny Otto of Wolves. The list goes on and on and on. That's like one of those youth squads in which every players is now at a top club. Samperio of Hamburg, Oliver of Porto, Manquillo of Newcastle, Jese of Real Betis. Its endless. Adrian Ortola of Deportivo la Caruna, Ruben yanez of Getafe. We went at that Spain team with with a backline of Javan Torre, JP Ocegueda, Caleb Stanko, and DeAndre Yedlin.
Emo made some terrible career decisions and its haunted him. Hes also never had the work rate on defense Paxton has. Luis Gil is one of the more overrated prospects ive ever seen. Paxton already has more success than either
i think hes very in line with Adams. If you look at what both have as skills they arent much different. High work rates, very good finding leading passes, positioning, good coming back and providing defense. I think Adams is better on defense but Paxtons decisons in the final 3rd are better. But both are very similar players IMO
Right, but what could he have been if he'd gone somewhere besides England and hadn't gotten injured? To me, the right lesson to take away from Hyndman's example isn't that he was necessarily overrated as a youth, but that we need to be producing like 10 Emerson Hyndmans to get one through to the senior team, because even with talent it takes a TON of luck and smart career choices to make it to that level. What's most encouraging to me about this U20 team is that it reflects that we are beginning to get to that level of having enough bets that some might actually hit.
Pax has played 17 games with zero goals and one assist. Lets not crown his ass just yet.................... [I say this with affection as a Pax fan.] Emo has had some very successful seasons with Fulham and Rangers. That's sorta faded from memory, but he had some really great moments for both clubs.
Maybe I screwed up my stats there..................................wikipedia'd it. Transfermarkt says 21 total games now with 2 goals and 1 assist in club football. Sorry for not remembering his mighty 2 goals. I think folks are REALLY selling Emerson Hyndman short if they're saying Pax already has a better resume than him. He was well thought of at Rangers, and Rangers ain't the RGV Toros.
you are acting as if hes a striker.....hes not....hes a setup man who gets hockey assists. Sees the winger making a move and chunks up a beautiful ball, they cross it and someone else scores. Thats who the guy is, cant see it on the score sheet but his impact is huge. Its not all goals and assists for an 8
With all these comparisons, I have a question - Were any of our previous hyped prospects, like Hyndman and Gil, professional starters when they were at the U20 WC? I've been impressed greatly with Pomykal, but he's also a rotation guy/starter this year in Dallas, right? I realize he's only likely had a handful or two of starts, but still, it seems with this team, as basically all professionals, it might be difficult to compare to some of the last cycles?
Yep, it's true. Hyndman is not meeting expectations. Neither did Rubin. However, we've had underrated prospects also. Adams, Ebobisse and Acosta have been above expectations. Regarding Pomykal, there is a lot of attention on him outside of BS posters. Brazilians and Europeans are currently saying that Pomykal and Durkin are top prospects in this WC. Let's not forget that Spaniard that was fixated on him a few months ago. Much more attention than Hyndman got.
Paxton, in his first starting season in MLS in 9 games has 2 goals and 1 assist, rated a top 20 overall player in the league right below Nani, Lodiero, Barco and above Quintero
Emerson Hyndman. Yes. He made his debut in the Championship for Fulham in 2014 as an 18 year old. Played 9 games that season, but had some sort of injury. Broken collerbone or something. He's been around sooooooooooooooooooooo long that folks forget he only just turned 23. I don't know what's going to happen from here, but the guy has played about 75 first team games for Fulham, Bournemouth, Rangers, and Hibs. People aren't paying attention, but he did play in 19 games for Hibs last season. He hasn't fallen off the face of the planet. Still only 23. He made a really bad decision (in hindsight). Fulham wanted him to stay. Offered him a contract to stay and be a contributor for them. He chose instead to sign for Bournemouth, which is at the moment a bigger club. And right from the off it hasn't worked out. Luis Gil? He's just about fallen off the face of the planet. The best U20 midfield performance from a kid that subsequently nosedived was Danny Szetela. Wonderful, wonderful at the 2007 U20 World Cup. Earned him a move to La Liga. And it all spiraled downhill. Danny Szetela turned down offers from Man City, Liverpool, and Roma. Real life gets in the way sometimes.
In 2013, Yedlin and Gil was a starter and hyped. O'Neill was a starter but I don't remember what people thought of him. In 2015, Miazga and Rubin was a starter and hyped. Acosta was a starter but I think not really hyped. Rubin was a bust. In 2017, Adams was a starter and hyped. Other starters were Suacedo and Glad. I believe Trusty was a starter but I'm not sure. Bobby Boswell made a point in Extratime that he thought becoming a starter was the most difficult part of a player's career. So yeah, I think you are on to something.