YNT-eligible lower-division pro players: 2019 In-season thread

2-2 FCD 2 ties it up.

 

Toronto back up 3-2. Sealy on in the 81st minute.

 

Pepi was better in the 2nd half in spite of no goal. Didn't have nearly as good of service. But displayed some deft hold-up and created a chance he nearly scored at distance on.

Gomez was tidy and sensible. Not a man child or dynamic. Similar to Farfan. We'll see how he develops given that he's so young.

Bright cameo by Sealy, some raw talent there, but had tunnel vision and didn't make the best decisions.

Not sure the refs understood the rules. Gave an indirect free kick inside the box for time wasting. Right call for a yellow, but that should have been it. And the sideline official called a billion offside. Many didn't look like it. Hard to create chances when that happens.

 

I'm going to disagree. Gomez is a lot better of a fullback prospect than Marco Farfan and he's probably better right now than Farfan. For a fullback, he is very dynamic going forward. He didn't play as offensive-minded of a game as he usually does. Most defensive types don't in their first professional games.

I checked, but it looks like Carlos Avilez was not cap-tied to Mexico during U-20 WCQ. I don't know if he's going to be good enough to play for our NT, but having another talented option in the pool doesn't hurt. The only other cap-tying youth tournaments for Avilez before the senior NT would be Olympic Qualifying and Olympics.

 

'03 Cuevas is making his first pro start for LAG II.

 

AOC, Atencio, and Gonzalez among those starting for Tacoma

 

I don't know what the future holds for Avilez. It was telling that FCD retained Kyle Zobeck for this season.................

Anyway, a reminder of the ages of players that started for NTSC yesterday. Exactly what this USL League One should be all about. By the way, Brecc Evans is apparently out with an injury. Hence Montgomery was called down from the first team. Still don't know why they aren't playing Montalvo. But that's more than a "thing." He never plays.

Today's #NTXSC lineup w/ ages
Pepi - 16
Damus - 19
A-Rod - 20
D-Rod - 17
Tessmann - 17
Biccou - 20
Gomez - 15
Montgomery - 22
Jatta - 19
Bonilla - 17
Avilez - 20

— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) May 29, 2019

 

I think USL League One allows teams more of a chance to use a very young team as opposed to USL Championship.

 

Yup. the only problem is that you can only use 6 academy players in the game.
So if you want to have a very young team, then a bunch of them need to be under contract. Its easy for us to say "well, then they should offer them contracts." They probably have and kids/families are reluctant to sign at young ages. Understandably so.

 

Inbox:

TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League today announced the renewal of its partnership with Alianza de Futbol – the leading national organization dedicated to the support and development of amateur Hispanic soccer in the United States – which will see the two organizations work closely over the next two years to expand competitive opportunities for players that attend Alianza’s national showcase events.​

 

Does anyone know if any current USL players landed at their clubs via Alianza?

 

‘01 Harriel starts among others. ‘03s Huckaby and Miscic on bench. Miscic would have already gotten minutes if he hadn’t suffered an injury before the season started

Our starting XI against @NYRBII tonight!#WeAreSteel | #SteelSquad | #NYvBST pic.twitter.com/kP3morhBHc

— Philadelphia Union II (@PhilaUnionII) May 31, 2019

 

Huckaby ended up getting subbed in early

28' GOOOOALLLLL!! 🔥

Dante Sealy opens the scoring in Richmond!!

1-0!#RICvNTX pic.twitter.com/hOgncIqcvi

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 1, 2019

Nothing special but first professional goal for Sealy, good prospect, needs more refinement and consistency

64' GOOOAAALLL!! 🔥🔥@Ricardo_Pepi9 scores his 7th goal of the season with a banger from outside the box!!

2-0!!!#RICvNTX pic.twitter.com/HViqxvpx6U

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 2, 2019

68' GOOOAAALLLLL 🔥🔥🔥

David Rodriguez gets our 3rd goal of the night!!

3-0!#RICvNTX pic.twitter.com/Weie55ly25

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 2, 2019

Not sure if that’s Sealy w/ the cutback or not

 

Pepi just cannot stop scoring. I wonder when he will debut for FC Dallas.

 

Could Pepi actually be better than Ferreira? On current form, doesn't seem implausible.

 

By the way, folks might not have noticed that this was the first appearance in the North Texas SC gameday squad for young goalkeeper Seth Wilson. An interesting prospect. BIg kid. Ya know, there's starting to be a consistent group of the academy kids in these games. So you can sorta see the next contract signings being from this group: Bonilla, Tessman, Gomez, Rayo.

Lineups:

North Texas SC — Carlos Avilez; Kevin Bonilla, Cesar Murillo, Alfusainey Jatta (Hector Montalvo), Jonathan Gomez; Bicou Bissainthe, David Rodriguez, Arturo Rodriguez; Ronaldo Damus (Tanner Tessmann), Ricardo Pepi, Dante Sealy (Gibran Rayo)

Substitutes not used — Seth Wilson, Oscar Romero

 

Pepi scored a goal, but didn't have a very active game with holding the ball up and getting many other scoring chances. I saw from Pepi what I'd like to see more often though. A few times he ran at players with the ball, trying to create offense rather than only being a box striker that needs service. Most of it didn't come off, but its what he needs to add to his game. He has the tools to play that way, but hasn't done so much. This was what you want to see out of Pepi, despite it not being his most active game.

Sealy was nearly invisible besides the goal and assist. The goal was a tap in at the back post. The assist to Rodriguez was a good play by Sealy. He also had one pass to Pepi late in the game that was a nice play, but he rarely touched the ball. He was even less active than Pepi.

Gomez kept it simple. Did his defensive job and combined well up the left side. He helped start the Sealy goal building out from the back. Rodriguez had a good game. Is he a worse player than Gilbert Fuentes? I don't know that he is. I don't think he's a great prospect, but he does seem to be able to impact games at academy level and now USL League One. He might be worthy of another call up to the U-17 NT as a fringe player. Tessman came in late, and showed off his great passing range and skills. Sometimes he's not as physical as you'd expect. This may be the inconsistency that has been mentioned before.

 

They just decided they don't want to promote hate any longer.

 

I had noticed Jordan Gardner follows him on Twitter now...

 

I think the gap between the back end of that US U17 roster and guys like David Rodriguez is minimal at best. There are some tools there with David. He's the kind of kid you invest in now, and ya just don't know where he'll be at in 5 years. BTW, I believe he was born in Mexico. He must be eligible for both national teams.

Dante Sealy is an 03. He's still really raw. I think if he was on the U17 CONCACAF team, there'd only be one player younger than him. I think Leyva of the Sounders is younger than him. So let's give him some time. He just played a professional game against the Richmond Kickers.............and all he had was a goal and an assist That's a good start.

What I would say is that a lot of these young players are playing a lot of games right now. That's a thin squad. They're playing every game, and some of the kids are also playing the DA games. Many are playing national team games. It'll be interesting see how they deal with the schedule when the DA playoffs start. I just worry a little bit about burnout with this group. Gotta find a way to give a player like Pepi a week off now and again.

 

I think you are right that there could be some burnout. I've started liking Rodriguez game more, but philosophically, I don't think we should be basing decisions of fringe players on YNT rosters on the nationalities they have. There are many players on the fringe of that roster with dual-nationality. Fuentes probably also does. You can't keep every fringe player in your player pool, if you have good players. The only exception IMO is a situation like Araujo with a kid who'd be playing up. If Rodriguez makes the U-17 WC roster, I think its because he's better than the other options.

I agree that Sealy is raw, and my comment about him was not meant to be overly negative. That was my opinion of how he played. If it was overly negative, its because thats how I thought he played. I think the larger discussion surrounding Sealy is a hard situation to figure out. The kid clearly is talented in some regard. He was scoring goals for the U-16 NT the other week, here he is scoring goals in USL League One at age 16, FC Dallas gave him a first team contract. There's some level of ability beyond what he shows on a game to game basis. If you were to only look at those performances, he's not a top 30-40 player in the '03 age group, but there's some reason he's held in such high regard by USSF and FCD.

 

I do think that when it comes to dual nationals, you're more likely to include them in holding pen squads like the U16s. Why the hell not? By the way, he did make the USL League One team of the week. Pepi is seemingly on it every week.

🚨 Forwards @Ricardo_Pepi9 and Dante Sealy have been named to @USLLeagueOne's Team of the Week!

This is @Ricardo_Pepi9's 4th Team of the Week inclusion and he's only played in 6 games!

📝 Details: https://t.co/BkO8cb6Gaz#WeAreNext pic.twitter.com/axYUAOOoOX

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 4, 2019