http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=108715&cpid=98&title=American+offered+Arsenal+contract To follow in the footsteps of Simek?
this is interesting. i also think the author sees a bit more integration and coherence in the player development scheme here and college's role in it than truly is. is this guy on the U-19 team? how does he stack up to quaranta, buddle or johnson as a youth striker?
nice find. Will be interesting to see what he decides to do. Personally, I wouldn't mind if he signed on w/ UVa next year
I know Danny quite well-I coach for Roanoke Star, the club Danny plays for. He's a very quick and talented front runner; his first step and touch is excellent, best I've seen at the youth level. He got noticed by Arsenal at the Adidas ESP Camp in Wilmington; another one of our players, Drew Harrison from the U-17 National Team, was there as well. Danny won the golden boot at the camp and got invited by Arsenal for training soon after. A story about it ran on our local TV station and was in the paper as well. He seems to have impressed enough to get offered a two year contract; his mom is Italian so work permit issues should not be an issue. Plus, from what I've noted and people with in the club have said to me, he's a great kid. Hard-working, last to leave the pitch, the whole bit. He'll do well abroad b/c of this attitude, esp. when combined with his ability. I have not heard what his final decision is on college versus Arsenal; I know UVA or Duke were the likely choices before the Arsenal link cropped up. Word from the club was that Boro and a Spanish side were also interested. I do think he's leaning towards Arsenal at this point. As for his ODP status, I know he's on the Region I team but is too old for residency. He actually had a knee injury a couple of years back and has just come back into full health in the last year. Our club is doing a good job developing players these days. In the last three years we've had John Hartman (U-20 pool, plays at UVA), Drew Harrision, and now Danny come out of the club. Hope this info helps. Jon
R&B- He's not a target man; he's more in the Landon Donovan size range, perhaps a bit bigger. He's a classic-counterattacking frontrunner that could also play behind the two up top in a 3-5-2. His main attribute is pace; he is about as fast as any player I've seen at the U-18 level for a long time. There's a pic of him and a story about the ESP Camp on our club website. Link is <http://www.rvysc.org> Jon
JBohland, some quick questions. Is Danny an 85? Is he a senior in HS this year? Is he going to finish this year of HS in Virginia and then go to Arsenal or is he going over there ASAP and going to finish HS in England? Thanks for your input.
Slagging on his haircut, that is cold man... Sandon, he is an 84 actually, August birthdate I think. He did not play HS soccer here in the area, mainly b/c he was still recovering from a past knee injury and wanted to be full strength for the summer. I coached HS in the area and he would also have been the only real stud player on his team; he does not attend any of the two or three HS programs in the area of quality (Cave Spring-alums include Drew Harrison and John Hartman), Blacksburg (AA power in VA), or Patrick Henry (Akil Falkingham from Santa Clara, Carrie Moore WUSA Freedom are alums). I believe he'll graduate early (Jan) then go over if that is his choice. Still unclear whether he will do that or go to college. He's a great student so that seems to be a pull from what I understand. I am an Arsenal fan so I hope he heads over there! Jon
That would have made him eligible for residency and/or the US U-17 team last time around (2001 U-17 WC), right? Did he ever play with that group? I know you said he was injured, so maybe he never got a chance. Any idea how he would he compare to the players who turned pro out of that group? (Quaranta, E Johnson, Mapp, Capano, Stone, D Johnson, Magee (apparently))
Straight from the horse's mouth.... http://www.planetfootball.com/artic...tle=Danny+leaning+towards+becoming+Wenger+boy
He doesn't want to blow the colleges off so he's going to tease them with a visit? Thanks for posting the link, Jabo. That must've been a dream experience for anyone. Letting a potential signee train w/ the first team is a good way to whet his appetite to sign on the dotted line when the contract is offered.
Danny would qualify for EU status through his mother, who is an Italian citizen. His father, in response to an earlier post, is of Iranian descent. I am very happy for Danny, he's a great kid and has the make-up to go a long way. As for the college visits, it has always been his dream to play college soccer and I believe he simply wants to keep his options open. Don't blame him one bit for that. Check him out sometime if Roanoke Star is in your area; we play in a league (Va. Champions League) w/FC Richmond, Richmond Strikers, Va Beach FC, Williamsburg SC, and SOCA (Charlottesville-director of coaching there is John Maessner). Schedule of games is on linked at our website www.rvysc.org.