https://i.redd.it/j3pengf4m9xz.jpg From his snapchat. Unless he's out there saying hi to Nick T, it's an odd place to be for a kid who is from Georgia...
Zyen is a current member of the Atlanta United u18 team. Very athletic player. http://aufc.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1647657&player=124400046 He's also spent time with the u17 national team and scored a goal during qualifiers earlier in the year.
953063216355135492 is not a valid tweet id On McKennie's story. Plus @Johnnybegood10 has said he's been practicing with them.
ESPN has picked this up, and reporting that Chris Gloster is there as well and it's a trial for both. http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-s...us-stars-chris-gloster-and-zyen-jones-sources
https://schalke04.de/knappenschmiede/personal/u19-zyen-jones-ab-saison-20182019-ein-schalker/ Will officially join Schalke when he turns 18.
Over in Taitague's thread, @Johnnybegood10 said that Schalke offered a contract to Jones and not Gloster. Not really any news on that front that I've seen.
I suspect Gloster didn't get an offer since he joined NYRB for preseason afterwards. However, he's not sticking with NYRB either, so I don't know his plans.
We can redo the name but looks like Schalke is picking up where Fulham stopped... http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-s...17becomes-latest-american-to-sign-for-schalke That makes 4 or 5 u20 US players on their books.
It’ll be interesting where he goes next season, U19s or Schalke II? Birthday is the end of August but I’m assuming he can play in summer exhibitions with the youth sides, so he’ll have a full preseason. Haven’t seen him play, but apparently he’s a physical beast, so would his development time be maximized by running past and overpowering kids in the U19 division?
Weston and Haji were both specimens as well and they started with the u19's. Doubt it'll be different for Jones.
Came across the highlights below of an ATL U-16 game last year. The opposition was obviously overmatched with Carleton, Jones and Bello out there, but man, Jones showed off some pretty legit speed a few times. Close control wasn’t bad either
I didn't see any close control in that video. Just kick and run after ball. I'm still surprised Schalke is interested. We'll see.
He is so fast that he can telegraph his ball push move and still get away with it. He won't get away with that against top-level players.
My understanding is that in Germany, typically the fast-tracked youth prospects play with the youth teams and tend to move up straight to the A-senior squad from there. The "second team" (like Schalke II or BVB II) is more of a limbo for marginal players (like Triple A in baseball minor leagues). Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong though.
That among other things. If they really want him to develop tactically, he'll stay with the U19s in a league that is just as good tactically as the U23s, and has a youth guru at the helm in Elgert.
There's a bunch of reasons Zyen won't play for the U23s until he ages out. He's a good prospect for them, he doesn't need to play with older guys to get matched physically in Germany/get exposes for relying on his pace/physicality, Schalke II plays in the German 5th tier, etc, Norbert is perfect for him, etc.