Paris 2024: The Next Generation

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Eleven Bravo, Dec 6, 2022.

  1. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The 2022 cycle has closed, and now it’s onwards to 2026. For the most part, we should have a good idea of who will be our core going into the 2026 World Cup. From a player age standpoint, Tim Ream looks to be the only player who will for sure be too old for next time. And only Sean Johnson, Jordan Morris, Walker Zimmerman, and DeAndre Yedlin will be on the other side of their prime playing years.

    This translates into our Next Generation will not have the same chances that our current generation had when they came up and there was no legitimate veteran class for them to prove themselves better than. Most of those players were already better than the prime aged (25-29) players for the 2022 World Cup very early in the 2022 World Cup cycle; therefore, they were thrown into the first team very early on. Whereas, this next generation (16-21) is going to have to do something remarkable and/or wait their turn in order to get brought into the team.

    Because so, we should all look to the Olympics and the u-20 World Cup (and u-17’s too) to evaluate our next generation of players who are not quite ready for prime time just yet.

    Hopefully, we’ll get a few pleasant surprises. A Yunus Musah type. But for the most part, we can look ahead and explore our next generation player pool as they are set to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics to see who is going to be knocking on the door to be even better than what we have now and push some of the current player pool out of the discussion.

    Now, as I know it, the Olympic roster will be 18 players, plus, 3 overage players. I’m not 100% certain on if we’ll have a hard time getting players released or not. But for now, I’m not going to concern myself with those metrics until we get closer. Right now, let’s just look at the best that we have that is younger than 2001.

    Thus, here is the primary player pool that we have for that tournament, and these should be the players that we have that will be knocking on the door soon enough to be part of the senior team.

    Goalkeepers:
    1. Gabriel Slonina, 2004, Chelsea
    2. Chris Brady, 2004, Chicago Fire
    3. John Pulskamp, 2001, Sporting Kansas City
    4. Patrick Schulte, 2001, Columbus Crew
    5. Alex Rando, 2001, New York City FC
    6. Antonio Carrera, 2004, FC Dallas
    7. Diego Kochen, 2006, FC Barcelona
    8. Emi Ochoa, 2005, San Jose Earthquakes
    9. Alex Borto, 2003, Fulham
    10. Chituri Odunze, 2002, Leicester City
    11. Abraham Rodriguez, 2002, Colorado Rapids
    12. Gavin Beavers, 2005, Real Salt Lake
    13. Jeff Dewsnup, 2004, Real Salt Lake

    Gabriel Slonina could be the best goalkeeper that we’ve ever produced. Brady could be just as good. Pulskamp looks primed to be a starting goalkeeper in MLS. The rest? Spaghetti on the wall right now.

    Right Backs:
    1. Joe Scally, 2002, Borussia Moenchengladbach
    2. Bryan Reynolds, 2001, Westerlo, olf AS Roma
    3. Tayvon Gray, 2002, New York City FC
    4. Justin Che, 2003, Hoffenheim
    5. Nathan Harriel, 2001, Philadelphia Union
    6. Mauricio Cuevas, 2003, Club Brugge
    7. Michael Halliday, 2003, Orlando City
    8. Kayden Pierre, 2003, Sporting Kansas City

    If Scally wants to go, he would get a really good chance to be the main man for the US at a big stage. After him, I think Reynolds is the back up, but he’s had a hard go so you’re not quite so sure. There are some other decent options on the table. But not world-beaters right now.

    Center Backs:
    1. Bryan Okoh, 2003, RB Salzburg (if he commits)
    2. Jonathan Tomkinson, 2002, Norwich City
    3. Jalen Neal, 2003, LA Galaxy
    4. George Campbell, 2001, Atlanta United
    5. Kobi Henry, 2004, Reims
    6. Joshua Wynder, 2005, Louisville City
    7. Matai Akinmboni, 2006, DC United
    8. Marcus Ferkranus, 2003, LA Galaxy
    9. Brandon Craig, 2004, Philadelphia Union
    10. Noah Cobb, 2005, Atlanta United
    11. Casey Walls, 2003, San Jose Earthquakes
    12. Thomas Williams, 2004, Orlando City
    13. Grayson Dettoni, 2005, Bayern Munich
    14. Santiago Suarez, 2004, Sacramento Republic
    15. Tyler Hall, 2006, Inter Miami
    16. Owen Otasowie, 2001, Club Brugge

    There’s a reason that I listed so many. And that’s because I’m throwing spaghetti at the wall. Easily our weakest position in this next generation. We really don’t have anyone of quality or promise right now. Hence, we may want to recruit hard for Bryan Okoh who has a lot more promise. Either way, seems almost certain that we will burn two (2) over age spots on center backs. We’ll need to do so to be competitive.

    Left Backs:
    1. John Tolkin, 2002, NY Red Bulls
    2. Jonathan Gomez, 2003, Real Sociedad
    3. George Bello, 2002, Arminia Bielefeld
    4. Caleb Wiley, 2004, Atlanta United
    5. Noah Allen, 2004, Inter Miami

    There is a significant drop in quality after these 5, but I feel mostly confident in these 5 to do the job at this current level. On the other hand, Tolkin seems to be the only one knocking on the door for the senior level.

    Midfielders:
    1. Yunus Musah, 2002, Valencia
    2. Malik Tillman, 2002, Rangers, olf Bayern Munich
    3. Johnny Cardoso, 2001, Internacional
    4. Taylor Booth, 2001, FC Utrecht
    5. Gianluca Busio, 2002, Venezia
    6. Jack McGlynn, 2003, Philadelphia Union
    7. Daniel Edelman, 2003, NY Red Bulls
    8. Aiden Morris, 2001, Columbus Crew
    9. Leon Flach, 2001, Philadelphia Union
    10. Niko Tsakiris, 2005, San Jose Earthquakes
    11. Noel Buck, 2005, New England Revolution
    12. Tanner Tessman, 2001, Venezia
    13. Obed Vargas, 2005, Seattle Sounders
    14. Danny Leyva, 2003, Seattle Sounders
    15. Josh Atencio, 2002, Seattle Sounders
    16. Alejandro Alvarado, 2003, Vizela
    17. Amir Richardson, 2003, Le Havre {Morocco}
    18. Reed Baker-Whiting, 2005, Seattle Sounders
    19. Owen Wolff, 2004, Austin
    20. Esmir Bajrakterevic, 2005. New England
    21. Bryce Duke, 2001, Inter Miami
    22. Cruz Medina, 2006, San Jose Earthquakes
    23. Adrian Gill, 2006, FC Barcelona
    24. Rokas Pusktas, 2004, Hajduk Split
    25. Bento Estrella, 2006, NY Red Bulls {Portugal}
    26. Justin Haak, 2001, NYCFC
    27. Sebastian Berhalter, 2001, Vancouver
    28. Patrick Leal, 2003, Venezia
    29. Moses Nyeman, 2003, Beveren
    30. Tyler Wolff, 2003, Beveren
    31. Brooklyn Raines, 2005, Houston
    32. Bryan Moyado, 2005, Los Angeles FC

    So many options. Too many to count. Hopefully some of these guys take that next step. But there’s no doubt that we have so much promise in this position. But again, it’s about taking it to that next step. Either way, if you want to be on this team, you’re going to have to be good.

    Attacking Mid/Wingers:
    1. Gio Reyna, 2002, Dortmund
    2. Kevin Paredes, 2003, Wolfsburg
    3. Paxton Aaronson, 2003, Frankfurt
    4. Cade Cowell, 2003, San Jose Earthquakes
    5. Konrad de la Fuente, 2001, TBD
    6. Caden Clark, 2003, TBD
    7. Quinn Sullivan, 2004, Philadelphia Union
    8. Ben Bender, 2001, Charlotte FC
    9. Cole Bassett, 2001, Colorado Rapids
    10. Brian Gutierrez, 2003, Chicago Fire
    11. Diego Luna, 2003, Real Salt Lake
    12. Alex Mighten, 2002, Sheffield Wednesday
    13. Jackson Hopkins, 2004, DC United
    14. Kristian Fletcher, 2005, DC United
    15. Dantouma Toure, 2004, Colorado Rapids
    16. Dante Sealy, 2003, PSV
    17. Brian Camona-Romana, 2006, Charlotte
    18. Theo Ku-DiPietro, 2002, DC United
    19. Griffin Yow, 2002, Westerlo
    20. Jose Gallegos, 2001, Sonderjyske

    Like midfield, we have a lot of good options. Some I did not even mention. But that doesn’t mean all of these guys are going to become elite. This is just based on potential and history. Nevertheless, we should feel confident about the next crop of youngsters ~ but again, most are not at that level yet.

    Forwards:
    1. Ricardo Pepi, 2003, FC Dallas
    2. Folarin Balogun, 2001, Arsenal {England}
    3. Matthew Hoppe, 2001, Middlesbrough
    4. Serge Ngoma, 2005, NY Red Bulls
    5. Arquimedes Ordonez, 2003, FC Cincinnati {Guatemala}
    6 Vaughn Covil, 2003, Hull City {Injured}
    7. Santiago Munoz, 2003, Newcastle {Mexico}
    8. Malick Sanogo, 2004, Union Berlin
    9. Rodrigo Neri, 2005, Atletico Madrid
    10. Federico Oliva, 2004, Almiron
    11. Darren Yapi, 2004, Colorado Rapids
    12. Marco Zambrano, 2005, Philadelphia Union
    13. Axel Kei, 2007, Real Salt Lake

    There’s Pepi. There’s hopefully Balogun. There should be Hoppe. And then, there’s a whole lot of spaghetti. There are a number of prospects at the forward position, but at this point it’s anyone’s guess.

    What over-age players do we take?
    Personally, this seem straightforward. We need two center backs. Our top two center backs were injured in this past World Cup, Chris Richards and Miles Robinson, this will be a great time to give them that big exposure.

    For the last spot, you could fill a position of need, or give a player who is just slightly overage the shot. For example, we might need a forward or a goalkeeper. But we don’t necessarily need it right now.

    But, I’m leaning towards bringing either Christian Pulisic or Tyler Adams. Our captain. Or, our golden boy. One, for notoriety. Two, for leadership. Three, for competitiveness.

    My current 18 man roster:
    GK Gabriel Slonina, Chris Brady
    FB Joe Scally, John Tolkin, Jonathan Gomez
    CB Chris Richards (o23), Miles Robinson(o23), Jonathan Tomkinson
    MF Tyler Adams(o23), Malik Tillman, Yunus Musah, Taylor Booth, Johnny Cardoso
    AT Gio Reyna, Kevin Paredes, Paxten Aaronson
    FW Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun

    Not sure about Tomkinson yet, but I’m not sure about any of our youth center backs. There are some others, Aaronson, Booth, Cardoso, Paredes, and Gomez, who sill need to do a little more to get over the hump. Again, I might bring Pulisic instead of Adams. That’ll depend on the situation at the moment. Of who I need the most, and who might need a rest.

    Suggested Starting XI:

    ————Pepi———Balogun————-
    ——————-Reyna————————-
    ——-Tillman—————-Musah————
    —————(CPT) Adams————————
    Tolkin—————————————Scally
    ————Richards———-Miles—————
    ————————Slonina———————-
     
  2. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #2 Clint Eastwood, Dec 6, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
    FYI, there is some debate about whether some of those dual-nats are actually eligible for the Olympic team.

    For instance, Balogun is playing in Euro U21 qualifiers. The Euro U21 tournament is the European Olympic qualifiers. So he he may be "cap-tied" at the Olympic level.

    Santiago Munoz might be cap-tied with Mexico at the u23 level.

    There are other players in this position. For instance, anybody who played in the recent CONCACAF U20 Championships for a nation other than the US is ineligible for the Olympics with us. Those were the Olympic qualifiers.

    There's lots of debate about these things.

    In terms of overage players, its important to remember that clubs can decline those callups. So, I'd find there's very little hope of a player like Tyler Adams or Chris Richards being released. Even less so if we're playing Copa America in 2024.
     
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  3. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    @Eleven Bravo What a post!

    I'm not sure I disagree with anything. This could be a really good Olympic team, particularly if Pepi goes. Striker is just not a strong point.

    I agree with you that the CB talent -- while actually impressive in spots -- is just too young. So two CBs. And Pulisic or Adams is a great call. The only other option would be keeper, though Slonina's ability really creates value for us by allowing someone else.

    Only thing I'd say is I don't know if you 2 striker this in that manner. There's no depth behind them in case of injury or fatigue and you have a ton of attacker talent in other formations. You'd need a flex at minimum.
     
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  4. Winoman

    Winoman Drinkin' Wine Spo-De-O-De!

    Jul 26, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nice post @Eleven Bravo. Only disagreement I have is you left off Sam Vines from the LB group. I think it's too early to completely write him off, even though he is injured.
     
  5. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just a head’s up is that he’s a 1999 so that’s why I left him off unless he comes in as an overage player.
     
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  6. xbhaskarx

    xbhaskarx Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Feb 13, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #6 xbhaskarx, Dec 6, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
    Great job with this... you make a lot of lists and I'm usually like 85% in agreement but this time it's more like 98%... a few minor quibbles:

    These guys did pretty well in qualifying... why so low?

    9. Brandon Craig, 2004, Philadelphia Union

    16. Alejandro Alvarado, 2003, Vizela
    And I approve of listing 17 year old midfielder Owen Wolff but not 19 year old winger Tyler Wolff who was involved in qualifying :laugh:
     
  7. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wouldn’t take it personally against them. A lot of these players I expect to move up and down these charts based on how they show in the next year.
     
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  8. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Alvarado might be the most undervalued young player on the main USMNT forum, while on the youth forum he's pretty highly regarded. He was better at the U20 CONCACAF Championships than players higher up on that list. Folks just don't have an opportunity to see him.

    I won't be surprised to see him get a full USMNT callup in the spring as part of a "casting a wide net" camp.

    A 19 year old getting good minutes for a mid-table Portuguese team should be on our radars (a Mexico dual-national no less).
     
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  9. RalleeMonkey

    RalleeMonkey Member+

    Aug 30, 2004
    here
    I love the work you do on these lists. You should create a website. It's not that expensive.

    Aside: I wouldn't write off non-Oly-eligible guys that didn't make the cut this cycle for various reasons. Ledesma, Djordge (sp?), Dike, Vasquez - there are guys like that they may factor in 2026
     
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  10. eagercolin

    eagercolin Member

    Metro
    United States
    Aug 25, 2017
    Buffalo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm going to once again proclaim my irrational love for Diego Luna. His chunkiness is a whole vibe.
     
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  11. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    #11 butters59, Dec 6, 2022
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2022
    For me Alvarado doesn't convert well to adult game. He played well at U-20 quals, but I don't know why, what's his position, and what's his strength. He gets garbage minutes here and there, 64 in total this season.
     
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  12. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I could sort of see Zimmerman as one of the overage center backs. He probably wouldn’t have an issue being released, and it’d be a sort of send off for him with the national team (as he’ll likely be too old by 2026).

    The main questions are 1) do we get into Copa America, and 2) what players are Euro clubs willing to release. With the Olympics in Europe maybe they’ll be more open, and Mbappe has already said he wants to play for France. For the most part I think MLS will release basically anyone whose called.
     
  13. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    Long live El Tiburon?
     
  14. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    I like him. He's athletic enough, plays tough, gets stuck in, is good on the ball and an able and capable passer. I think he's a very solid 8 who looks like an offensive 8 but plays surprisingly good defense.

    I think size may be the big question. He's a physical player in the USYNT, and sometimes you just can't pull that off at some levels. He's not Yunus Musah or something, but he's still 19. I think he's in the mix longer term as an 8.
     
  15. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    That's exactly what makes me sceptical, looks like an early bloomer that isn't fast enough to play 8, not skilled or creative enough to play AM, and might be able or not to play 6. If he is as good as many think he will be bought by the top 4 of Portugese league. As I said in Mendez thread Vizela would suffer in MLS, so playing (or not playing) there doesn't look like a big achievment to me. Let's see whether he makes U-20 and how he plays at that WC.
     
  16. RalleeMonkey

    RalleeMonkey Member+

    Aug 30, 2004
    here
    'Cept Atlanta, right?
     
  17. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well except for maybe them, but thinking that under Lagerway they may be better in that regard.
     
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  18. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    I started writing my list out yesterday. So glad I quit and just let @Eleven Bravo do it!

    But, Atencio should DEFINITELY be #14 & Leyva #15. Come on. What a mistake :p
     
  19. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    [​IMG]
     
  20. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    Hey, now.
     
  21. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    ElevenBravo has done an exceptional job with ranking the pool here. A+ job, really.

    In terms of how these guys project to make certain teams, there is MUCH confusion among fans as to why certain players get picked to play together. I believe that part of that is due to our fan base not understanding player profiles in soccer. We understand them in our popular domestic sports (in basketball: the difference between a post-up center, a “rim-runner”, and a “stretch 5”, etc for people who play center), but we don’t understand player profiles in soccer. For instance, if you replace Dest with Moore you are changing profiles for a certain reason. Dest is an attacking fullback while Moore is an athletic and physical defensive player with a high motor who can also cross the ball.

    What are the profiles of these prospects? If we know that, we can project how they all fit together. We can also project the ones who could potentially break into the national team early because they fit the profile that fits a need. That’s why Yedlin and Green made the 2014 team, why Buddle made the 2010 team, and why Donovan and Beasley made the 2002 team.
     
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  22. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Lol. He’s buried on the depth chart of our thinnest position. He has the physical attributes. You never know if the mental attributes will catch up. Wouldn’t be the strangest thing to ever happen. I’m not betting on it though
     
  23. rgli13

    rgli13 Member+

    Mar 23, 2005
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    i really thought i saw that brugge outright released him a week or two ago, but i cant find anything on it now. still, i think its more likely hes not a pro soccer player by that time than on the olympic team.
     
  24. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    There are soooooooooooooooooooo many red flags with Otasowie.

    He's more Burbury model than soccer player at this point.

    Brugge reportedly sent him home again recently. It doesn't look like he's been officially cut, but the signs aren't good. Hasn't played for their first team since August.

    He's another one with real position questions. He's played as a CB, #6, #8, and #10 over the years. He's an absolute physical beast. But soccer player? Not so sure.
    [​IMG]
     
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  25. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I actually debated including him on the depth chart at all. But decided to keep him on for now, just in case, he sorts out the issues between the ears.
     

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