Another player on his way to Scotland. Also another central midfielder from DFW. It sounds like Dillion Powers impressed on his trial with Dundee United (runaway leaders of Scotland's Championship) and the club will make him an offer. If they come to terms, Powers will be the club's second American central midfielder joining Ian Harkes. https://t.co/1PVbxGWmP9— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) January 9, 2020
1215969401968758784 is not a valid tweet id Gio Reyna with a goal & assist today for Dortmund. Kid’s good folks.
Why hasn't GGG called him up yet? The US played 18 games in 2019 and guess how many minutes Gio got? Zero. Berhalter still thinks that Lovitz is better than him. What an idiot. Gio should immediately be slotted into the starting 11 for the USA. tongue in cheek ⬆️ On a less sour note, I'm really glad he's doing as well as he is. Hopefully this opportunity to be with the first team during their winter break, and his production for them, is enough for him to really break into the first team for league play. Keep it up, Gio!
1215991701875167232 is not a valid tweet id We've made a number of changes in this second half, and the latest player to come on are @rabbi_matondo and Nick #Taitague! 🏴🇺🇸Good luck out there, boys! 👊⏱️ 81' | #HSVS04 0-3 | #SchalkeUS🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Yz1Tel0lJL— Schalke 04 USA🇺🇸 (@s04_us) January 10, 2020 Ledezma with the near assist & Nick Taitague w/ another first team appearance.
Gio has looked fantastic in the highlights I’ve seen of him. He looks like he has found another gear in his movement and, for lack of a better description, just looks like a killer. No fear in his game. Gotta love that the announcers are already just calling him Gio too. That said, Dortmund are stacked & fighting for a Champions League spot. Might be tough to break into the first team in the 2nd half. Gotta think he at least moves up to BD II though & Gregg needs to get this kid in camp ASAP. Gio Reyna in Dortmund training. 👀 pic.twitter.com/az0gFt0PWZ— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) January 9, 2020
I’ll flip it around: until Gio gets regular first team minutes, he’s not as good as any starter in MLS as all first team minutes are the same. furthermore, as written recently (not by you), unless you’re starting for Chelsea or better, there’s not much difference between your team and MLS and even lesser leagues.
That tongue in cheek thing is not at all a reference to you, by the way. I'm not one that has ever said that all first team minutes are the same, either (but I'm fairly certain you know that through our extensive discourse over the last year or years). I do, however, believe that first team minutes--or at least, playing time for teams that play against adults in leagues at least on par with MLS clubs--are crucial to discerning whether or not someone deserves a call up. That goes for some of the guys Berhalter has called from MLS in the past that weren't getting any (Lewis, looking at you). It might be unfortunate that guys like Gio have a harder path to first team minutes than MLS guys, but that's the reality of the path chosen. Once they break through and stick, then yes a player like Gio at Dortmund should be ahead of guys in MLS with otherwise comparable histories.
we can agree to disagree. whether or not gio gets first team BVB minutes doesn’t change whether he could be useful for the USMNT and we should bring him and other high ceiling players in positions of need in just to familiarize them early rather than late. incentivizing players not to push themselves at leading programs by creating a higher bar for making the USMNT team is self-defeating and plays into MLS-bias.
As you've pointed out, though, having a mix of known quantities along with young guys--even the ones with apparently high ceilings--is a must for the coaching staff (and us fans) to make fair comparisons. There are so many young players right now, both in MLS and abroad, that look to have high ceilings that they can't all be called in at once. If you spread them out across multiple camps then there's no continuity, and further a bunch of people here will decry player x not getting another call for a few camps after getting "one shot". I'm no expert (clearly), but it seems like a difficult task for a coach to have to deal with--the apparent excess of high-ceiling, unproven youngsters and a dearth of proven veteran talent.
thinking that actual competitive games against adult professionals should be the floor for a national team player isnt the same as saying starting for fc cincinnati is "better" than being an eredivise academy player. is anyone even arguing that?
Looks like this was also the second friendly in a row where Gio started alongside most of Dortmund's regular starters. I believe there was only one other player in that lineup who hasn't started at least a few Bundesliga games for Dortmund this season.
I think they are when a player from FC Cinci can make the USMNT team but a better player in BVB’s academy cannot due to the first team rule. I think the “playing against grown men” concept is wrong - the question is who’s closest to playing in the major leagues and I believe that elite academy players are often more likely to have that type of ceiling than those in the minors. In other words, I’ve moved the threshold to playing in the major leagues from playing vs. grown men. Given that we don’t have enough major leaguers, we have to be open minded about various minor league / academy paths and not create rules that favor one over the other.
Let’s call him in to NT, jet him around and see if we can disrupt his progress for some minimal NT benefit.
I don't know about Gio-level upside, but there are a bunch that people cite. Otasowie, Soto, Mendez, Llanez, Vassilev (hasn't gotten much run here yet, but I'm sure he will--seems to be on the verge of breaking through), Ledezma and Chris Richards among the Euro contingent. EDIT: I'm sure I'm missing some of the more prominent names.
Here’s a clip of Holmes stunning volley. Cannot overstate how difficult it is to time that ball falling from the sky. Take a bow @DuaneHolmes !!https://t.co/AJ2U9sbvgq https://t.co/KdbHupmhvQ— Yanks Abroad (@usmnt_abroad) January 11, 2020 Sorry for the repeated posts, but we’ve got some Yanks doing good things today.
This is a horrible argument. There is no reason that they couldn't call in 4 to 5 players a camp to take a look and begin process of integrating them into the program. They should scout them with their teams and get feedback from u23 staff to prioritize which ones are most likely to being ready or close for the USMNT. Invite in the first group of 5 to the first camp and figure out who is up to it. Those that are ready can replace Trapp, Roldan, Baird, Lovitz level player. Those that arent are given feedback of what need to improve on and moved to the end of the list. Move on to the second group of five and repeat. It is possible to get through the full list in a few camps and then have a good sense which ones would be worth bringing back for second look. This doesnt sound difficult at all. It seems like the obvious thing to do given the dearth of veteran talent. Even if there are better approaches, it appears like a much better plan than Berhalter giving tons of caps to players that will ultimately be discarded.
I don't know. I was just naming the guys that play abroad that have numerous mentions on BS as having high-ceilings or are exciting prospects.
I agree with your list but was struggling to think who would be at that level in MLS as you mentioned. to be clear, I was hoping that there’s a reasonably lengthy list of high ceiling domestic guys as I’m not that familiar with our younger generation. I did read from someone that there are no likely BVB level prospects and that bummed me out.
You don't think it's a difficult task to figure out how to deal with the great divide we currently have, with few prime-aged quality players and a shit ton of unproven 18-20 year olds? By the time you get done bringing in 5 new players per camp (which, of course, doesn't just include the 18-20 year olds), the first guys are a year more experienced than when you last saw them. Scouting outside of camp needs to shrink the number of possible call-ups (as surely it does). Not everyone that BSers think should get a call are going to be deserving of one right now. Some this year, some next year, some never.
I mean, FCD has a bunch of guys. There's Joe Scally for NYCFC who was sold to Borussia Monchengladbach (but won't go there until Jan 1, 2021 for age reasons). Servania just got added to the January camp (according to someone quoting twitter--I have no idea if this is verified). I can't keep up with all the homegrown signings that various MLS clubs are making, nor do I have the knowledge of specific circumstances for these players. I hadn't even heard of Joe Scally until BM paid a transfer fee for him. It would be nice if BS had a sub-forum for promising MLS youngsters, but I can't find anything like that so most of that info comes through the MLS news and analysis section sort of randomly. It's not nearly as well-organized as the Yanks Abroad or YA Academy forums.