I noticed that in his USSDA photo he already has facial hair. That seems to be the sign of an early maturing player. While it doesn't necessarily disqualify his becoming a top player it may be something that coaches are aware of, so they can encourage him to work on facets of his game other than the parts related to physical maturity.
Mitchell Ferguson, an 03, is on Portland's roster. He was with SKC and has been to 3 camps at the u16 level.
San Jose Earthquakes had a good road trip to LA today. U-15s won 4-1 over the Galaxy, the U-17s tied 1-1 and U-19s tied 2-2.
has almeydaball trickled down throughout the quakes academy? or is his reach pretty much just as far as the first team?
Yesterday FCD U14s took on Austin FC in their first ever academy game at home. FCD won 4-2. It might take a while to build, but there's so much raw promise in the Austin market. The @austinfcacademy match VS @FCDallas U14s ends in a 4-2 win for Dallas. But, it was a classic game of two halves, Austin scoring twice late on after a dominant second half display in which they finished strong. #listo #verde— Austin FC (@AustinFC) September 14, 2019
Crossfire's 19s were down 5-1 at the half to Barca. They score 4 goals in the last 15 minutes to tie. Sounds like a wild game.
FCD U19s 4-Inter Miami 3 2 goals from Tanner Tessman, one from Nathan Toledo, one from Diego Maynez. For Inter Miami, 2 from forward Leonardo Afonso. This is the same Leonardo Afonso who was a goal-scoring machine at Boca United two years ago at the U17 level. 25 goals in 37 goals. Moved to Philadelphia Union for last season, and is now back in Florida. His nationality is listed as Brazilian on the DA site, though. I believe this is their first ever DA game at the U19 level. All things considered, a nice performance from them. FCD U19s demolished Houston Dynamo in the previous game. I have high hopes for this academy as there should be a lot of raw material to work with in South Florida.
This could become a great market to rediscover some YNT talent. In addition to playing FCD's U19 team close, the Miami team beat FCD U17, 2-0 and seemingly took it to a talented FCD U15 team, 3-0. Seems like a great start for this club, hope they can keep it going.
I don't know if it actually has, but building an entire organization and team through the youth ranks was one reason Almeyda cited for taking the Quakes job. So I expect it has started to.
Don't fret, for the first time in years there's reason to be hopeful about Chicago. Hopefully we see some drastic changes in the coming months/years with the new ownership finally taking over.
Union results this weekend vs DC United, u14s tied 0-0, U15s won 11-0 not a misprint, u17s won 4-0, and U19’s won 4-0. Good results for the union academy
I skipped week two because there weren't enough games played. Week 3: Solomon Straub ('06) scored a goal for Minnesota United U-15's playing up an age group. He has started both games this season for the U-15's. Sho Luke Haggerty and Micah Burton ('06) also both started in this game playing up an age group. Haggerty has started both games so far this season, while Burton came off the bench in the first game of the season. On the Columbus Crew side of the game, Christian Hodges ('07) played the second half playing up two age groups. Owen Presthus ('06), Marko Odorcic ('06) and Christopher Rogers ('06) also all came off the bench playing up an age group. Moises Arciniega ('06) played the first half for Barca U-15's playing up an age group. Nelson Rodriguez made sure to point out that Chicago Fire didn't have a talented group of 02's. One of their departures, Takumu Ikeda ('02), scored twice for Barca U-19's. Julian Gaines ('02) also scored twice, as did Caden Clark ('03), who was playing up an age group. Diego Luna ('03) also started playing up an age group, like Clark did. Rafael Jauregui ('04) started playing up an age group and two years for the Sacramento U-19's, as did Esteban Garcia ('03), Emmanuel Johnson ('03) and Daniel Cervantes ('03), who were playing up only one year. Johnson scored. Mario Penagos ('02) is for some reason still playing in this team. He played 90. You would think that he'd be fully integrated to the USL team by now, but sometimes players who plan on signing in Europe aren't integrated to the USL (or MLS) team of these organizations, and instead are left to stagnate in the U-19 academy league until they are eligible to move to Europe. Alejandro Granados Torres ('06) and Gabriel Rosario ('06) both started playing up an age group for the Orlando City U-15's. Torres scored in this game. Bajung Darboe ('06) started once again for the Minnesota United U-17's. He is playing up two age groups. Serge Ngoma ('05) started for the NYRB U-17's playing up an age group. @ChuckMe92 has mentioned him a few times in recent months, but Zack Booth is no longer listed with RSL. I suspect that he's going to move to Europe when he turns 16. I can't find when in 2004 he was born, so if he gets the same EU passport his brother got, he should be able to join a team sometime in 2020. Michael Halliday ('03) has started both games for the Orlando City U-19's playing up an age group. Joshua Ramsey ('02) is back with Solar. I had mentioned that he was close to moving to an MLS club last month. I don't know exactly what happened there. I heard he was training with the club he nearly moved to for a week. I suspect Solar refused to release him from the agreement that academy players agree to with teams. If so, that's crappy on their part. They are a non-professional academy. Daniel Sebhatu ('05) started for the Atlanta United U-17's playing up an age group. They have consistently promoted him above his age category. That Atlanta United '05 age group has a number of very talented players, and IMO Sebhatu is not one of those talented players, so thats a puzzling one. Isaiah Chisolm ('05) started for the Crew U-17's playing up an age group. It doesn't look like they are taking the U-17 age group seriously this year as a lot of their 03's are playing with the U-19's. Samuel Sarver ('03), Noah Hall ('03) and Elton Chifamba ('03) all played up an age group for the U-19's this weekend. Sarver scored. Six other 03's also played, but I'm not going to mention every player. Casey Walls ('03) and Tarun Karumanchi ('03) both started for San Jose U-19's playing up an age group. In the same game, homegrown signings Gilbert Fuentes ('02) and Jacob Akanyirige ('01) started. I don't know why in the middle of the USL and MLS season they'd be playing with the academy. I try not to mention players in back to back weeks, but I thought I should mention that Dantouma Toure ('04) has now scored again for the NYRB U-19's in back to back weeks. He's playing up an age group in the NYRB academy. Masango Aakle ('02) scored a hat-trick for the Portland U-19's against Seattle U-19's. Isaac Homer ('03) started in this game playing up an age group. Most of the better Seattle players were not in the lineup, but Ray Serrano ('02) and Alec Diaz ('01) both played for Seattle and both scored a goal. Axel Perez ('07) started for Inter Miami U-15's playing up two years. He's been mentioned before as one of the more hyped younger players in the system.
Nati Clarke '05 and Gage Akalu '05 scored for SKC U15. They are two of the most talented players I've seen in the group '05. Rokas Pukstas '04 and Damian Alguera '04 started for SKC U17. Osvaldo Cisneros '04 started for SKC U19. Ezekiel Anderson '05 scored against RSL U15. Now has 2 goals in 3 games. He has a total of 57 goals in 2 years at the Colorado Rapids Academy. Brandon Zelaya '03 scored a hat trick for San Jose Earthquakes U17.
Good first weekend for Inter. They beat FCD U17DA handily but were beat by Solar U17 DA 3-2. This sets up the game for North Texas Bragging rights next week at U17DA to see if Solar can stay on top in the area after their DA National Championship at U17 last year.
His influence is there, but not quite in the way you are probably thinking. It looks like he and his staff have their hands full trying to get the Earthquakes over the line into the playoffs. I have not heard of any instances where he or his assistants have even been to a academy practice or game. I think the expectation is they will start paying attention and getting more involved after the Quake's season is over. The academy teams are working on man to man marking and high press and those seem to be paying off early on. it seems like the preseason workout and training schedule is more refined and better thought out. Where his influence is felt most is in recruiting. The Quakes have done a huge overhaul of the boy's teams and have brought in much higher level players. I know that some people are high on Paul Holocher in Houston, but it was the best thing that ever happened to the Quake's academy when he left. He had too many "relationships" with coaches that were sending him very marginal players and the really good ones started defecting the younger age groups in droves. Some of those players helped the De Anza Force to become a DA powerhouse. Several of those Force players have now returned to the Quakes and the U-15s and U-17s are especially improved. The Quakes played back to back games in LA (wish I had the youth to go 90 minutes on back to back days). Sunday's results: U-15s Quakes 4 Patedores 0 U-17s Quakes 5 Patedores 1 U-19s Quakes 2 Patedores 2 I was told the Quakes scored in the last minute of the U-19s' game to tie. The Quakes have offered a homegrown contract to a player I will not name now, but the expectation is he will take it. I think the U-15 boy's team is one of the best teams they've ever assembled and I would be shocked if they don't contend for the DA Cup and Championship. The U-17s are also quite interesting as many of their best players appear to be 2004s. On the U-19s it appears that anywhere from 3-6 players with 2003 birthdates will play up a level.
It is interesting, especially for Fuentes because he just got back at the beginning of the week from Holland where he was playing for the U-17 NATs in the Four Nations Tournament. Not sure why Cade Cowell did not play if those guys did. Maybe he is injured because he has not been in the Reno USL team for many months now. Walls is the only 2003 listed on the U-19 roster, I'm guessing that means he is going to college instead of turning pro right now. Tarun looks like a starter for the U-19s at either center back or D-mid.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this guy yet (I might’ve), but I saw a few games last season, and I didn’t see much ability there, but he does have a very good goal scoring record.
Walls is too good to play college soccer. He’ll turn pro. He also has an EU passport. That would be a very good signing for San Jose. He’s one of the best passing CB’s in the system. Karumanchi is a holding mid. Good player, a little under the radar, but he has good composure on the ball and can play as a shield for the back four. I doubt he’ll get a pro contract with San Jose, unless they add a USL team. He’s one of these kids that suffers from the lack of structure in the system. A definite prospect with potential, but probably not highly rated enough to get a first team contract right out of the academy.
The Quakes look stacked in 2004, 2005 players. It will be interesting to see who breaks out. I’m pretty sure the Quakes have discussed a homegrown contract with Walls but I suspect he has other plans. He’s the only 2003 listed on the U-19 roster. Why? So he can claim to be the youngest player on the team? Even 2003 homegrown Cade Cowell is on U-17 roster.
Colorado actually feels pretty perfect for Vint. A place where guys who aren't top-of-the-line prospects can still get a good amount of minutes seems like right where he belongs.