Youth Yanks Abroad, '97-'00 YOBs: 2018/19 Thread

EPB's WhoScored rating of 8.4 was in the top five for today's Eredivisie matches.

 

He needs a strong showcase the rest of this season given the fact that City will probably have to sell him with the proposed FIFA rules on limiting loans

 

Which may actually be a good thing. If so he goosed the system by getting more money with City and then moving on soon to another club that may have more of his improvement in mind than a club with a loan army. I will add that even though we have several kids that struggle in that loan army we also have some that have also struggled picking out there own smaller clubs. Fit, health and luck also are important. Back to EPB i I'm glad he is getting his chance and looking better. Up until now he's been the biggest miss of a can't miss prospect of mine. He along with Richards is one of the few quicker backs needed to pair with our army of big aerial beasts like Besler used to be. The US cranks out the big backs all the time but the complimentary quicker ones are rare.

 

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Major Dutch publication @VI_nl names American defender Erik Palmer-Brown of NAC Breda to its Eredivisie Team of the Week https://t.co/7zBynrwJXP

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) February 25, 2019

 

I didn't see this week's game, so its hard to be too sure about context I don't know. From the every touch video I saw though, I thought he was better the week prior against Ajax. Two good performances in a row.

This is the level of play he can show consistently. He was about average/slightly above average in the earlier games this season. He can play better than he was playing, but he was unfairly benched due to one terrible performance. Its probably because he's a loanee. Their other players who play much worse aren't benched for one bad game.

 

Agreed. Thought he was good vs Ajax (relatively speaking). Crossing my fingers that he's done enough to get a good run of games.

 

Duane Holmes is too old for this thread but his story is relevant. He just about disappeared for four years but he is back and playing very well. He could get a move to the EPL in the next 18 months. We have all these young players and people are so quick to discard them after a few weeks of not hearing about them. One good USMNT focused podcast did a draft of Americans to fill out three NT rosters. They then solicited comments on players they left off on Twitter. I responded that I thought it crazy that they picked 7 CBs (someone had a CB at LB) and never even mentioned EPB. They responded that he has done nothing on loan. Dismissed based on a couple of months.

Same thing happened with Horvath. Robinson is 21 and is totally forgotten because someone stepped on his ankle in USMNT camp. Wright is two years younger than Holmes. Miazga was dropped off the depth chart because his manager was unfairly making an example of him. Could write an entire post on how people have metaphorically flushed Pulisic down the toilet already.

EPB might have figured something out or not and it was just whim keeping him on the bench. He is still very young and hopefully he is getting a shot. CCV was in a similar situation, an injury happened, and now he is playing very well for a good club. But people have already moved on from CCV.

 

I don't know which podcast you are referring to, but what are the chances these people actually watch these players consistently, have a real idea about their skill-sets and have a good idea how they would fit into the NT at their position?

I'd say the chances are slim.

Not all players have equal talent. EPB is as talented as a professional CB as we've produced. I'm sure they named the usual cast of "in their prime CB" like Zimmerman, Parker, maybe they even mentioned Alvarado or Opara. We know their level. Its not very high. Unless the reasoning is that a player out of form shouldn't be playing for the NT currently (which I agree with), its likely ignorance that EPB wasn't named. Also, most NT fans have advocated for players to be called into the NT who couldn't possibly show NT form because they aren't full time first team players, so I doubt its form-related.

There's no guarantee with any player being a good professional player, but EPB has been underrated for years due to the lack of games I suspect most have watched. If we are judging which prospects have the best chance to make it as high level professionals, he should be near the top of that list. At the end of their careers, the most talented players are usually the best players. I think its a little too early for the criticisms that he doesn't accumulate enough games. A lot of that has been bad luck. He's had nowhere near the luck with his club situation that players like Pulisic, McKennie, Adams have had.

 

We're delighted to announce that @joshsargent has signed a long-term contract extension with Werder! ✍️🇺🇸#werder pic.twitter.com/PKbrTHjVK3

— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) February 26, 2019

 

Great news for American Soccer fans. It looks like he is fitting in nice with the pro soccer culture and taking to the inking of the arms, unless I missed those before.

 

Now he just needs the neck tattoo....................

 

It appears that Gloster is training with the first team..................

#U23-Linksverteidiger Chris #Gloster trainiert mit unseren Profis, Bastian Dankert pfeift unser Auswärtsspiel beim @VfB und Anja Kutzke verlässt den Fanbeirat - lest hier die Kurznachrichten rund um #H96 vom Freitag! 👇 #VFBH96 #NiemalsAllein ⚫️⚪️💚https://t.co/0jle7QOcFX

— Hannover 96 (@Hannover96) March 1, 2019

 

One of their LB/LWBs just fractured a rib. He could make the 18 this weekend.

 

Blaine Ferri starts and scores for Greuther Furth in Germany U19s. They have been on a long break.
He started in the U17 WC for the US a few years back now making way his way in Germany.

 

If they appear in the Bundesliga, we will have had seven YNT eligible players (Pulisic, McKennie, Adams, Sargent, Wright, Soto and Gloster) who will have played in the Bundesliga this season. Next season, Richards, Booth, Mendez, Llanez and Taitague, to name a few, could be added to the list.

Five years ago, one of these players appearing in the Bundesliga would be big for our program.

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Unfortunately coincides with him losing his spot in the 18

 

Soto scored yesterday for the U-19's. I doubt he'll be in the 18 for the first team today.

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20-year-old German-American Timothy Tillman made his Bundesliga debut just now, playing the final 30ish mins for Nurnberg in their 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim. Decent (at best) attacking prospect.

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 10, 2019

 

What a gratuitous potshot at Tillman. Decent (at best)...maybe a typo?

 

That's Doyle's MO......definitely not a typo

 

"Well, that's the news from American Soccer Online, where all the takes are strong, all the posters are good-looking, and all the attacking prospects are above-average."

 

Late '98 Kevin Lankford starts for promotion-chasing St. Pauli. Perhaps he's in U23 contention.

Hier kommt unsere Aufstellung für das Auswärtsspiel beim @SV_Sandhausen:
Himmelmann
Zander
Avevor
Hoogma
Buballa
Knoll
Dudziak
Lankford
Buchtmann
Dæhli
Alex Meier#svsfcsp #fcsp pic.twitter.com/2YbSZnQxZU

— FC St. Pauli (@fcstpauli) March 16, 2019

 

Alex Mendez with Freiburg U19s yesterday. Looks to me like they won this game 4-0.

⏰ 12:00 Uhr
🏟️ Robert-Schlienz-Stadion
Heute geht´s für die #VfBU19 um den Einzug ins Finale des A-Junioren DFB-Pokals! 🏆 Ab 12 Uhr wartet der @scfreiburg. Diese Elf schickt Trainer Nico Willig heute ins Rennen. 👇Kommt vorbei und unterstützt unsere Jungs! #jungundwild ⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/kqxkUMHmGF

— VfB Nachwuchs (@jungundwild) March 16, 2019

From this morning. A bench player for the U23s? TIme to get out of Schalke (which we already knew).

Haji Wright is on the bench for Schalke’s U23s this morning https://t.co/vApNAT6GAu

— Bundimericans (@bundimericans) March 17, 2019