YNT-Eligible MLS Players: 2018 In-Season Thread

I think they'll sign him. Most of the guys that have went to Europe did so when they emerged later on. Nyeman probably will sign a HGP contract soon after turning 15. You really think he's going to wait another 3.5 years to play higher than U-19 academy level? DC has shown that they'll play young Americans.

 

Liga MX clubs seem employ a lot of youth players. They teams in U20 and U17 leagues, but also have affiliates in the third division. As a result, their academies have a disproportionately large percentage of roster filler players. Tons of Mexican-American players go down to those clubs, but the success rate is particularly low. I guess Liga MX clubs are willing to take more longshot kids because they have so many youth roster spots to fill.

How many Americans who were off the YNT radar have made it to Liga MX? It’s not that many.

 

If they play him around 17 or 18 then signing with DC won't such a bad deal. But if they don't...then it becomes a problem for his development. He can always also sign with Dortmund, assuming they want him, as they also have shown to give youth a chance. Depends on how good he really becomes in 2 or 3 more years.

 

Agreed. And they'll have a USL team next year which will give really young players like him a clearer path to the first team.

 

That's pretty much what I thought. The player that I am speaking of is definitely a good player but not someone that I would expect to have a professional career...at least not at a particularly high level but longshots sometimes pay off.

The other factor, I suspect, is that the investment/cost per player in the youth academies is higher in MLS than it is in Mexico. I doubt the investment in the borderline kids is particularly high in Mexico. If they pan out, than wonderful but if they don't it's not a big loss.

 

Spike Lee is Mark McKenzie's dad?

Really not looking at the parents in this picture!

Dr. Cannon is bad-ass!

The African-American diaspora in this country is very diverse and layered. I think the players in question represent this.

I don't mean to sound defensive, but I never said anything about the economic status of these kids.

Just pointing out that while American soccer has a reputation for being mostly white, it is anything but. It's still mostly middle and upper class, and that's the next hurdle.

Also need to point out that "urban" doesn't mean what it once did. Gentrification and a cultural shift among many away from cars and big houses and long commutes has led to many cities being affluent areas with the less well off being pushed out to the far suburbs where housing is still affordable. So if we say soccer needs to be in more inner cities, often times that would now mean targeting the children of well-off millennials who live in Brooklyn and Adams Morgan and the Old Fourth Ward.

But all of this distracts from the most important point: Miles Robinson's sister is a smoke-show!

 

It’s a good point about DC but I have to imagine that he knows what’s out there. That can be hard for any kid to pass up. I could also see him signing a contract that expires when he’s 18 or 18.5. I don’t see how this kid plays more than a year or two with DC unless he makes a mistake and signs a long contract and they won’t sell him.

If he does sign, I think I’d actually prefer him not to play too soon. Let him play in the u19 DA next year and see how he does. Then if he does well, move him up to the USL at 16 and see how he fares. Kind of like the Efra plan.

 

Yes, I am African-American. Reggie’s biological father is African American as well.
You are right he grew up in an upper middle class family.
Captain of rugby team at Brown
I don’t know how you play high level youth soccer without $ in this country. Paid $2500/year plus travel and uniforms for years with Solar until moved to FCD and it was free at 15yo. $4000+ is out of the budget for many. Glad we could afford it but saw many along the way make another choice because of the cost.

I take “bad ass” as a compliment.

 

Christian Cappis on trial at Bayern Munich this week. You deserve this Cap!!!!!! Proud of the player and person you have become.#pro✌️ingpros

— Eric Quill (@quillyo15) July 23, 2018

Christian Cappis is trialing with Bayern

 

Do they even have German kids there anymore?

 

Good, since that's most certainly how it was intended!

 

I'm going to share my off the wall FCD theory now. @Clint Eastwood's Richards theory got me thinking which led me down this rabbit hole.

FCD has decided to become the mega selling club of MLS, ala Chelsea. They've long had a history of small deals but after what happened with McKinnie they've decided to go all in and not only expand recruiting from non-MLS DA clubs but they've hooked up with BM. Thomas, Richards, and now Cappis have all been there.

What if they've decided that a certain number of kids really want to go to Europe and we're going to bring them in, showcase them, offer them abroad. So they sign these under 18 kids to MLS deals and presumably soon to be USL deals knowing full well they're probably not going to play for their main team but are worth some money now and in the future via solidarity payments. They agree to give BM first dibbs on any young player but if BM passes they and the kid's agent do their best to find some of these players a deal somewhere else abroad.

So FCD gets the reputation of not only playing their kids but being willing to move them on if so desired. Their overall academy player pool increases in quality, their reputation with kids, agents, and European teams also increases with the added bonus of making a profit. The metroplex could viably produce at least a couple of kids every year who are good enough for European clubs. It would be a fantastic side business if they can make it work.

Am I out of my mind projecting too much on this whole situation or does it seem FCD really has changed their entire mindset about selling after Weston and the unwillingness to sell Urruti, Barrios, Diaz, and Acosta last season that became a team wide cluster ****.

 

Also for an mls team to sign a player I’m pretty sure the minimum salary is about $60k a year which is about $5k a month. A lot of these Mexican youth players are getting $300 a month. So the investment is really minimal

 

Why would the Bayern Munich academy make any sense for Cappis? He can't play for their U-19's anymore, and he's not going to play for the first team. He can only play for the reserves. Is that better than signing a professional contract elsewhere?

 

Play half a season in the U-19 DA, preseason with DC first team, and then play the full 2019 season with the USL team. He'll be the same age next season as Alvarez, Bello, Busio are this season.

 

It's been widely speculated that he's one of the first ones of the next wave to be signed by FCD. If that's the case sending him for a 10 day training stint at BM could be viewed as motivation, encouragement, eye-opening to see how the best in the world train, etc. He's probably going to learn something and be a better player for it. That's enough reason for them to want to send him and why would the kid turn down that opportunity?

As for why BM would do it, if FCD is footing the bill one more kid in training camp costs them nothing and is part of the whole deal they agreed to with FCD in the first place. I honestly can't think of anything that's negative about this.

 

I wasn't saying the training is bad. I'm saying that I don't think he should sign there.

 

Everything that FCD is trying to do (if not quite succeeding yet) can be viewed thru the prism of Weston McKennie. Its not necessarily that he left which is so bothersome, its that he left for nothing after 7 years of development.

I don't think FCD would be bothered if they became a conveyor belt for talent to Europe. As long as they're compensated. So if Richards signs a homegrown deal, impresses in Europe with Bayern, and is sold for a million bucks to either Bayern or another team.....................that's a great end result for FCD.

Maybe the Bayern loan opportunity like Richards is doing is really attractive for a player like Cappis or Roberts or the next waves coming thru. So that makes it more likely they'll sign a homegrown deal, unlike McKennie.

MLS clubs/academies gotta keep providing more and more and more opportunities if they expect kids to sign with them as opposed to going abroad. Can't whine and hang your heads. Make your contracts and opportunities more attractive to the youngsters, their families, and their agents.

 

I’d be fine with that plan. I’m worried that he’s going to dominate the u19s and USL and be called up to the first team next season. I guess if he got a few appearances at the end of the year, it wouldn’t be the worst thing but I’d rather they waited until 2020 with him.

 

Then I totally misread your inquiry and agree with you. BM isn't where I want most kids to go and especially not Cappis when Booth is already going there.

 

If Cappis is at Bayern right now and he has not signed a HG deal with FCD yet, doesn't FCD run the risk of Bayern dealing directly with Cappis's agent and FCD is once again cut out of any value for Cappis? Not sure Bayern would do that to FCD now they have the joint relationship but not sure how that works.

I like the idea of FCD becoming a selling club to Europe for all the kids coming through the academy that want that option and are good enough to be sold. Let them go young, make some money off them and it will benefit FCD and the US National team.

If they promoted that to the Academy kids ( we have a direct route to Europe if you sign a HG with us) and got clubs in addition to Bayern involved the academy at FCD would grow even more. There will always be some kids that may not want to go to Europe and can stay at FCD and make a run of it in the MLS.

 

I haven't really thought of Cappis as that type of prospect. He's a 1999, so he's about to turn 19. SEems like the kind for an MLS homegrown deal.

Your comment, though, made me think we should just turn over our U20 WCQing team to three clubs. RSL, LAG, and FCD. I bet we could make a nice roster there (particularly if the Euros and MLSers like Adams of NYRB and Durkin of DCU, and McKenzie of Philly aren't available. Maybe Carleton won't be.)

How about the midfield with only those three academies? Pomykal, Servania, Cappis, Roberts, Mendez, Booth, Ledesma, Zarris, etc.

 

I would be very surprised if a club with Bayern's resources would try to save a few bucks by circumventing an agreement with a partner when their real benefit is having a direct pipeline to one of the best academies in the US (if not the best) and potential first dibs on the next Pulisic or McKennie. I would guess that a more likely reason is that he wants to keep his options open a bit more to see if there is interest from other European clubs as well. (disclaimer: this is pure speculation and not based on any actual knowledge of the situation)

 

Yeah.

Bayern’s thinking, “All we have to do is take these random guys on trial for a few weeks and we’ll get first dibs whenever we want to sign one of these guys. It’s not like were going to promote our own youth players anyways.”

Dallas is thinking, “Look, Christian, we know we don’t have anywhere for you to play right now, but go to Bayern. That’s cool, isn’t it? Now come sign for us, we need a dmid for our D3 team.”

Maybe Christian signs with Dallas can play for Bayerns U23s for half a season and then come back to Dallas after. It’s not the greatest level, but it’s probably easier to assimilate into than a random USL team, he’d get better training, and it’s definitely way better than SMU.

 

If you were wondering why Carleton randomly started last week...

Ezequiel Barco benched after alleged romantic overtures toward teammate’s girlfriend https://t.co/ruG5AbC0Rq

— Dirty South Soccer (@DirtySouthSoc) July 24, 2018