2020-21 Academy Season

I'm not doubting what you're saying, but this instagram post from his former club, LA Galaxy San Diego, lists him as an '05.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtmoT2sBQTN/?hl=en

Is that a typo? Do they not know his age? There's obviously a big difference if he's an '05 and '07, so I'd be interested to know what the discrepancy is about.

 

These are not the playoff games. I will get to that eventually, but not yet.

DC United U-15: I already mentioned this from a discussion in another thread, and I've talked about this team many times before, so I won't repeat everything I've said before. What I will add is that I think Gavin Turner ('07) has an elite soccer IQ. He sees plays a step ahead, almost always the right decision, and he's doing this against older players. Dash Papez ('06) gets a little overshadowed by his CB partner, but he's one of the most athletic CB's in the '06 age group, and he's pretty good building from the back, but he's a little too hit or miss defensively. He's a gambler. He's going to need to improve on that. He may be suited for the #6 position long-term, as that will give him more freedom to play aggressively.

I like the versatility of Ethan Pendleton ('06). He can play as a CB, RB, DM. He's a little like Cody Baker or Jackson Gilman in that he's not a big standout with flashy plays, but he makes a lot of winning plays that adds up. Nicholas Beil ('06) is another versatile player in this team whose game I like. I've now seen him play as a 6, 8, and 10. He's a big CM with good composure, some skill, and good passing ability.

PDA U-15: Alan Rutkowski ('06) was the only player on either the PDA U-15 or U-17 teams that I thought was a real prospect. Weak couple of age groups for them IMO from what I saw. Rutkowski is a GK. He's a little undersized, but looks very solid and sure of what he's doing in net. I wouldn't call him a great prospect, but he looks like he has a chance for a pro career.

NYRB U-15: Agnaldo Germano ('06) had a good game. His 1v1 defending is really good. One of the best you'll see defending 1v1. He makes a few errors with reading the game and his buildup play is probably only about average, but he has the athletic profile and 1v1 defending to project as a good CB at higher levels. That was probably the first weak game I've seen from Patrick Shaw ('06), and it's over 5 games, maybe close to 10 that I've seen him play. Nate Worth ('07) played well. His passing range is among the best you'll see at the youth level. The passes he plays are incredible to watch, and he has similar level composure on the ball. He's a good prospect due to those elite attributes, but physically/athletically there are some questions, and those will likely also dictate his position.

Jeremiah White ('07) is a very interesting player. He carries the ball well, and is very good in small spaces, despite being tall and lanky. He's similar in that respect to Gio Reyna. He's not bad on either end of the field, and he's a good athlete. He plays as a RWB in the NYRB system. I'm completely unsure what his best position will be. I'd probably say he's a box to box midfielder because he's a good prospect and if they can project well to the middle of the field you'd probably want your best prospects to play centrally, but I could also see him playing as a RB/RWB. I think he has the game for the #8 position or RB/RWB.

Philadelphia Union U-15: I don't have a lot to add about this team as I've watched them more than almost any team this season. What I will add is that Andrew Rick ('06) played for the first time in a long time of the Union U-15 (or U-17 games) that I watched. He played well. He didn't have that much to do, so there wasn't a lot to assess, but he was good in the build up, quick off his line, and made a few easier saves. He's a little on the smaller side and not that flashy, but I find him to be extremely consistent and in an age group without a standout keeper (from what I've seen so far), he's probably the best of the '06 keepers.

San Jose U-17: Damian Alguera ('04) is better playing out of the back than I remembered. He's probably the second best there is in the YNT system at this part of the game. His goalkeeping is about average, but the ability to start attacks is a big part of his game. Nathan Rodrigues ('05) plays a quiet game at CB. Thats not a bad thing, but I find that he may lack high upside. Ethan Kohler ('05) is similar at the #6 position. Very basic skillset. Doesn't take many risks, but puts in consistent performances. Niko Tsakiris ('05) is better on the ball with his passing ability, and foot skills than I remembered. He's a deceptively good athlete, and is looking to push forward from the #8 position.

Alejandro Cano ('04) probably reads the game better than any young CB in the system. He's always beating attackers to passes intended for them, he's able to see quick combinations coming, and he plays very aggressively on the defensive end because he's trying to use this elite tool to his advantage instead of playing off of players and letting them attack him 1v1. He's a very well-rounded CB. I find that we underrate San Jose's academy players maybe more than any academy, and he's amongst the most underrated of their academy products. I'm not worried he'll play for El Salvador, but it will absolutely be a loss to the player pool if he does. He's also eligible to play for Mexico.

Tristan Viviani ('04) didn't have the best game, but I find that I often underrate his ability going forward. He's more of an all-around LB who is average or better in every part of the game with his athleticism being the best part of his game, but without being a real technician he's able to push forward well into the attack, and creates a lot of chances with good combinations, good runs, or well timed passes. Defensively, he's better than average, but he does play aggressively, so his athleticism sometimes needs to bail him out with positioning or being a little too slow to see plays developing. He also turns the ball over a little more often than you'd want from a LB, but that comes with being an aggressive LB.

Diego Otoya ('04) is starting to play extremely well the last few games I've seen. He's one of these San Jose academy players that doesn't have a big early reputation, but I like how he's developed over the past few seasons. I think they do a very good job of developing their U-15 and U-17 prospects with talent into good prospects. Otoya is a target forward who holds the ball up well, he's pretty athletic, and he has decent foot skills. The part of his game that might be improving the most is his finishing. If he can score goals at a high rate, he'll be a very good CF because he has all the other skills. He was recently called into a YNT camp for Peru, I believe. He's another player I think should be at the next '04 YNT camp, and hopefully thats soon.

Sebastian Carbajal ('05) is a talented winger. He's fast and very skilled. He scored an excellent chipped goal in this game, and he's usually capable of going 1v1 against the fullback and doing well enough that he creates some type of danger. They rarely can stop him completely at this level due to his combination of ball skills and speed. I don't like to make that much of one viewing. This is the first time I've seen him play, although he comes with a big reputation, so I've heard about him before. I think he's talented, but I didn't feel like he got as much out of his talent level from this game as he's capable of. He should've dominated for a player of his ability, but didn't.

Sacramento U-17: Josemaria Barrera ('04) is the top prospect in this team. He brings excellent energy to the midfield. It looks like he's everywhere because he covers so much ground. While he plays frantically from the #8 position, I find that he does have good technique, his soccer IQ isn't bad, and there's also some skill to his game, but he plays so fast that sometimes I think he'd be a more efficient player if he slowed things down and let the situation dictate the quickness he should be making a play. Fernando Venegas ('04) is a CB who has a good combination of size, athleticism, and ability to pass the ball from the back, but his defending is hit or miss. He gambles on too many plays.

Danny Govea ('04) is a fringe level prospect, but I may as well mention him. He's an undersized CM who passes the ball pretty well, has good composure on the ball, and he covers a lot of ground. He's probably a #8 long-term. I don't know if he has a high ceiling, but he has pro potential.

Seattle U-15: Tate Jones ('06) looks like a good keeper prospect. He didn't have that much work to do, but he looked very assured of what he was doing, and was able to handle the few moments of danger without any trouble. That might seem like an easy thing to do, but I find that starting keepers for some of these bigger academies often make errors in the basic parts of the game at the U-15 level, so a big separator of who is good and who isn't often comes down to something simple like doing the basics well. Carlos Diaz-Arreola ('06) is a CB whose a good passer, he's pretty good defensively, he has good size, but he's a little slow. I don't find he's great in any part of the game, but I thought he was amongst the best prospects on this team.

Senshin Suzuki ('06) is a midfielder who in the same game played as a #6, #8, and #10, so he's versatile. I find that he's probably a #6 long-term. He's not exceptionally flashy, but he makes a lot of good plays that add up between his soccer IQ, his passing, and his defensive ability. He has good size, but he probably doesn't have the quickness to play further up the field than as a #6.

Etienne Veillard ('07) is some type of wide player. He has good speed, he makes good decisions, his dribbling isn't bad, and I like his pressing. He was playing as a winger in this game. I think he's likely a fullback/wingback at higher levels, but he has some good tools.

Tomo Allen ('07) looked like the clear best prospect in this team. He only played the second half and this was the first game I've seen him play, but I was very impressed. He's a CF with elite foot skills and finishing ability. I watch enough youth soccer to know that one move he pulled to score a goal is a move average prospects (or worse) do not pull even occasionally at this level. He also has good size and looks pretty athletic. I don't want to make that much of one half of soccer, but he looks like one of the best players in the '07 age group.

RSL U-17: Axel Kei ('07) was already mentioned a few days ago. I'm going to list him as an '07 for now because thats what we are told by his club that he is and he's playing under the competition regulations as, but I think it does need to eventually be cleared up what his age is, and it's going to make a difference what age group he's part of. As to his game, I've yet to watch the game where he scored a hat-trick, but I did see a different game where he scored a goal. He's a CF with pretty good speed, dribbling ability, finishing, and I find that he makes pretty good decisions. He's probably only around average technically, and his size is about average, but he's a good prospect.

Abokye Bikyeombe ('06) is a CM who does a lot well. He's very quick and covers a lot of ground, he's able to make a lot of plays defensively due to his ability to read the game, his 1v1 defending, and his motor. His technique is about average. He's not an inventive passer, but is accurate with his passing and can advance the ball under pressure. I don't find him to have that much offense to his game, so he's probably more of a defensive midfielder, although he can also play as a pure destroyer type of #8. His size is average/slightly below-average, but its not a huge hinderance. He's a good player, and a type of player that our player pool doesn't have that much of.

Jude Wellings ('06) is a #10 with good composure on the ball, good decision making, good size, and above-average passing vision. I'm not sure he's hugely dynamic, but he does have a lot of tools that project well to higher levels. He also may not be a #10 long-term.

Gavin Beavers ('05) is one of the top GK's in the '05 age group around the country. He has excellent size (listed at 6'5), and he's mostly very reliable. He's good in the air, he's a pretty good shot stopper, he doesn't make many errors, and he's better with his feet than you'd think for a GK his size. The only thing I worry about is his quickness. He made one play where he wasn't quick enough off his line to get a ball, and the other team scored. I don't know if it the goal was his fault, but a quick GK would've gotten to the ball. For a GK his size, getting down quickly to stop shots or to react quickly to shots he might not see/deflections requires level of reaction time bigger GK's often don't have. I'm not sure this'll be a problem for Beavers. I think he's a good shot-stopper, but it's something I'm skeptical of.

Fernando Delgado ('06) is another good GK prospect from the RSL academy. He's a little different than Beavers. He has good size, but he's a lot more mobile. He's above-average with his feet, he has pretty good reflexes, and he's pretty good in the air. I find that he's a little error-prone. He's somewhere amongst the top 5-7 GK's in his age group around the country.

Haroun Conteh ('05) was playing at LB in the game I saw him play. I think he's a capable LB, but I think he's better suited for CB. I hadn't seen him play in about a year, so I found that he's not as tall as I remembered, probably due to that it doesn't look like he grew and now he's playing at a higher level. I don't think his height would be an impediment at CB, but he's not an above-average height CB anymore. He's very mobile, and he's a good defensive player with his 1v1 defending and how he reads the game. At LB, he's capable, but I don't find that his passing/dribbling ability is any better than average. He doesn't add that much in the attack. I find that his technical skills are better suited at CB.

Terron Williams ('05) is a left-sided attacker. He's capable of playing as a winger/wing-back or fullback. I think he's probably best as a fullback. I don't find his offensive output good enough as a winger. As a LWB/LB, he's able to use his speed more, and his offensive output at that position is better. He's capable of combining well, he makes good decisions with the ball, and he has some dribbling ability. I find him about average defensively, which is good for a former attacker. The LB position is weak in his age group, so if he continues to improve, he could be a YNT level player. Joon Han ('05) is a CM with good passing vision, composure on the ball, and good foot skills. He's also quicker than he looks I find that he's probably lacking a position as he's somewhere between a #8 and #10.

Marcus Vazquez ('05) is a winger whose game I liked when I saw him play last season. This season, I still like his game, but I think I might have slightly overrated him. He's a natural left-footed RW, so it's easy to overrate a player like that because we have so few of them. He strikes the ball very well. RSL looks to be trying him out some at LB, as he played RW in one game and LB in the next. I think the position switch could work well for him, if he can defend well enough to play the position. He probably doesn't have the athleticism to beat players consistently 1v1 at RW. I don't know that his athleticism isn't a question at LB, but I think there's more margin for error athletically with his pro career at LB.

RSL brought in Gabriel Enriquez ('05) from Barca's academy. They've recruited a few players in recent years from that academy. He's very similar to Vazquez, so I'm not sure I understand why they added him, although adding a good player was probably the reason. I only saw him playing at RW. He's probably a little worse than Vazquez, but its the same type of skillset.

Elijah Gozo ('04) fits the RSL archetype of CF exactly. Fast, some dribbling ability, and makes good runs. Almost all the CF's they use have the same basic skills. Gozo is left-footed, and extremely fast. His composure in the final third is good, and I like his finishing. I was impressed by him.

Chicago Fire U-19: Jason Belloli ('03) is a CB with very good size, and pretty good mobility for a player as tall and strong as he is. He's about average defensively and on the ball, but he's mostly a prospect due to his height/strength/mobility. Richard Fleming III ('04) was used as a CB in one game I saw, and a #10 in the other. He's much more of a #10. I find him to be a very fringe level prospect. He has good composure on the ball, he has good passing vision, and some inventiveness with his ideas, but he's not much of a dribbler. His size is about average, and he doesn't add that much defensively.

Justin Reynolds ('04) looks taller and stronger than when I last saw him play. He still has the same type of game. Very good soccer IQ at RB, makes good decisions on both ends of the field, athletic, combines well, and has deceptively good technique. He's the best prospect on this team IMO. Sergio Oregel ('05) is likely the second best prospect. I remembered him as a #10/winger a year ago, but he's more of a #8/#10 now. I find everything he does to be very average. I'm not sure he has any notable weaknesses, but he doesn't do anything great. He should have a pro career in MLS due to a lack of weaknesses, but his lack of any great skills and a clear position could limit his upside.

Erik Kocs-Washburn ('03) is an all-around style of winger. He doesn't do anything great, but he causes a lot of havoc down the right-wing, and is very consistent at creating danger. Between his dribbling, his decisions, his creativity, and end product, nothing is great, but all of it works at this level, and its effective. I question his upside, but there's enough ability to have a chance to be a pro.

Bowen McCloud ('04) is probably the next best prospect on this team after Reynolds and McCloud. He's a #8, who they used as a CB and a #6 in the two games I watched. He's a very active, high intensity type of box to box midfielder. He's actually incredibly similar to Josemaria Barrera that I described above. He's probably not as good, but it's a very similar skillset.

Vardar U-19: Kyle Schueneman ('03) was the only good player on this team IMO. He's a winger with good acceleration and he's able to beat players 1v1. He got very few touches because his team had very little of the ball, so I couldn't get that much of a read on his game, but he was the only one who looked like a real prospect on this team. I'm listing him as an '03, although I'm not sure. He's a 2022 graduate, so either an '04 or late '03. I found a Turkish football database that has an exact DOB for him. Thats what I'm going off of, although I don't think it's the most reliable source.

Columbus Crew U-19: I have little to add about this team, considering I've seen them play a lot, although I thought Noah Hall ('03) and Anthony Hernandez ('03) both had good games.

Chicago Fire U-17: Joel Ineh ('06) was subbed on late at RB (and then switched to the left). He's an athletic fullback. Aggressive going forward, has some skill, and not bad defensively, but I have not seen enough to give a comprehensive breakdown of his game. Cristian Torres-Gale ('05) was the clear best player on this team IMO. He's a winger/CAM who can do some of everything between dribbling, passing, creating plays, and he's pretty quick. I'd need to see more than one game to assess where exactly he'd stand on a list of the best 05's, but he's somewhere within the top 40-50 of the '05 player pool IMO. He's a good player.

Vardar U-17: Nolan Miller ('04) was the best prospect on this team IMO. He's a CB with good size and mobility. He's a little lanky, but he's still very hard to beat for attackers due to his height/mobility. He's above-average defensively. His ability in the buildup is about average. Ryan Van De Winkle ('04) is a CB/LB who reads plays very well and gets by a lot on his soccer IQ. The rest of his game is very fringy. Aleksander Markowski ('05) is a big #10 with good passing vision, technique, and ability to find space in the final third. He may be better suited as a #6 or #8 long-term.

Columbus U-15: Another team I've watched play a lot, and have little to add, but I did watch this team play. Owen Presthus ('05) had a good game. Chris Rogers ('05) was good going forward, but didn't have the best game defensively.

Chicago Fire U-15: Michael Ramirez ('06) is a CF with good passing ability, good foot skills, a high soccer IQ, and very good finishing ability. I think he's probably the top '06 on this team, and one of the better '06 strikers in the country. His size/speed is right around average, but he's very effective. Dylan Borso ('06) is likely the second best '06 on this team. I could see a chance that he's a positional tweener between a #8/#10, but I think he's going to be capable of playing as a #8. He's not great defensively, but he gets around the field well enough and he's not bad defensively. Offensively, he's a good dribbler, he has good passing vision, he's crafty, and he has a good soccer IQ.

Aiden Frick ('06) and Bryan Vargas ('06) are very similar players, and seem to rotate the #6 position for this team. They should play them together because they are two of their better players. They are #6's who are good passers, have great composure on the ball, above-average size, and defensive ability, but neither are the quickest.

Adrian Giron ('06) looked like a relevant keeper prospect. Good size, calm in the air, lacked any errors, and not bad with his feet. He didn't have that many difficult saves to make, so its hard to asses his game too intensively. Nicholas Nobles ('07) is a CB with good size, athleticism, and he's very good defensively for a player his age. He reads plays well and he's good 1v1. His passing ability didn't look like a strength. Patrick Curry ('06) is an undersized CB with good mobility, passing ability, and reading of the game defensively. He may be best suited to play as a #6 long-term.

Juan Villa ('08) is likely the best long-term prospect on this team. Given his age, a lot can change, so I would not want to hype this kid too much. He's very talented attacking midfielder though. He's quick, he has a good soccer IQ, he's an aggressive dribbler, creative, a good passer, and he's also able to influence games against players two years older than him. He played as a winger in one game, and a #10 in the other. I think he's probably a #10, but a capable winger.

Inter Miami U-17: This is another team I've watched play a lot, so there's not a lot to add. Logan Batiste ('04) is an underrated RB that I think doesn't get enough hype for being a very well rounded RB with good pro potential. He's athletic, he's deceptively good technically, he's aggressive getting into attack, and he's not bad defensively.

Inter Miami U-15: Similar to the U-17's, I've watched this team play a lot. One player on this team that I haven't seen play a lot is Tyler Bush ('07). He's a LB. Big, fast, powerful. He's crafty in the attacking third without being overly technical. Defensively, he's not bad.

Weston U-15/U-17: I didn't see any prospects on these teams.

 

I think it’s good to get these kids suited to playing in extreme heat and humidity. The USMNT plays a lot during the summer in these conditions and they play some qualifiers in Spring or Fall with similar conditions. Elite athletes should be able to handle it, as long as you aren’t pushing them too far.

 

That may be too much. Changes could be made to make there more separation between games or to have a playoff format that has less games. I don’t think playing in the heat is a bad thing though.

 

I’m not sure the game being good or bad makes a difference towards showcasing talent. The good players are still easily identifiable. That objective is not disturbed by the climate. Or if it is, it speaks to the lack of fitness or effort from certain players, which also can be much needed information for clubs.

I’m not suggesting the games can’t be played elsewhere or the format can’t slightly change, but complaining about the heat for lack of performance from certain players is a bad excuse. If someone is going to play for the USMNT, they need to be able to play in the heat. Have you seen where most Gold Cup games are being played this summer?

 

I was pretty clear multiple times that I don’t have an issue with switching the format slightly. I don’t know why you’ve ignored that I’ve already addressed that multiple times.