Ulysses' Odyssey, cont'd: Llanez at SKN St. Pölten

Pretty sure Uly is 2nd Gen Mex-American too. The ties to Mexico are still very strong but he’s definitely more assimilated than a 1st Gen. these kids are making a great decision going to Germany. Galaxy hasn’t really produced a good HG using the USL >> First team route

 

Llanez has been called up for the Concacaf U-20 Championship that starts November 1. His club affiliation is listed as "Unattached."

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...yer-roster-for-2018-concacaf-u20-championship

 

Seriously, what kind of syphilitic dreams made THIS pop into your head?

 

http://www.forzaroma.info/calciomer...z-alla-roma-ha-qualcosa-in-piu/?refresh_ce-cp

His agent is offering him around Italy now. Roma, Genoa, and Atalanta are the listed clubs that are interested. Kind of strange to be doing this if he was truly committed to signing at Wolfsburg.

 

What's interesting is the active shopping around aimed at Italy.. Maybe Llanez likes the culture or his chances there better as a player? It seems calculated.

 

Here's the original source: https://www.calciomercato.it/news/3...era_llanez_proposto_alla_roma_occhio_a_turski

Edit: it also mentions that Genoa and Atalanta have interest in him, in addition to Roma.

 

Should just stick with Wolfsburg. Germany is the place to be at the moment to be developed.

 

That may be, but statistically speaking, only a tiny percentage of the world's soccer players are currently in Germany. Hopefully things work out for one or two of the guys who aren't there.

 

There could be a number of reasons, some beyond purely soccer reasons, why Llanez might want to try Italy rather than Germany. The language transition would be easier for him, as he is fluent in Spanish, and moving to Italian might be easier than English-German. Who knows, maybe the food issue is a thing. I'd rather have a plate of linguine with pesto in Genoa than Pinkel in Wolfsburg.

 

I guess it's a good choice Italy. The first season will surely play with the second team, which is quite good since Primavera team does not have much talent, it could also be a good replacement for Kluivert. In addition, the current coach of Rome has taken many players to the first team the recent season.

 

Until Italy, Spain and Portugal actually play Americans in their first teams I will be skeptical. It could be that so far no great talents have gone to those countries so there's no reason for players to move to the top level but it just seems that Germany is where they have been getting real chances while other places make them go through hoops and then discard them.

 

Only a tiny percentage of the world's soccer players are professional prospects; but Germany is a great place to be--possibly the best--if you are.

 

So glad our players have moved past the Jordan Morris mindset. He really may be the last top prospect who actively avoided Europe to play in college.

 

Perhaps I should rephrase: actively avoided Europe to feed his dog.

 

I still wonder how much his diabetes played a part. Going from having your dad on the medical staff to going to another country where you don't speak the language is a huge difference. How many big time soccer players have diabetes?

 

This is not a convincing excuse to me. Gotta be a big boy regardless of the hurdles in life.

 

To be fair, Steffen left Eintracht Frankfurt because he was homesick. Not everyone has the maturity to leave their hometown for a European club that may or may not pay more.

 

Can confirm they both speak English and have diabetes in Germany.

 

1093164734529110016 is not a valid tweet id

 

He was pre-med at Stanford. I’m sure his mind is far beyond yours.

 

I work with and outperform many Stanford law graduates so this is not convincing to me.

 

Looks like he found his opportunity.

Source: https://t.co/juvC7Z1J5N

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) April 2, 2019