Whoever comparing Zendijas with Arriola, I just watched a highlight of game. He did a good cross that Henry Martin scored. Then he scored a golazo. Then he almost did another from outside box—hit the post.
For Christ's sake.............Jesus Ferreira's nickname is "Cheetah." He's very fast. The metrics say that because its real. Dont' tell me Paul Arriola is faster than Jesus Ferreira. Cuz FCD has done that test. I think our eyeball test shows us that he doesn't use that pace in the manner that a Morris or Weah does. I'm reminded of that Pulisic run against Man City. He's not going to go on some sprint behind defenders. That's not how he's used for the national team or FC Dallas. There's also the difference between who would win a 100 meter dash, and who would win the beep test. Cuz soccer ain't a 100 meter dash. For soccer, you'd want that guy winning the beep test. Cue the Paul Arriola highlight reel from Tijuana. Arriola had a very successful stint in Liga MX. And, of course, Club America submitted a transfer offer for Paul Arriola last year that DCU turned down. They took the allocation money from FCD instead. [Which is a thing. I remember that happened to Dom Dwyer. KC received a transfer offer from Greece for him. The allocation money from Orlando was more valuable.] I'm happy to get Zendejas into the national team for a look. Why not? We need a national team of only current and former FC Dallas players. And by the way, that's a pretty darn good national team at this point!!
There's a Tweet today showing two guys running in training. One is Paxton Aaronson - who is the guy with the beard and big hair running next to him?
Sunday at the office ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/DWA8HXe7GU— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) January 22, 2023 Top right is Gressel, bottom left Slonina, and bottom right Sam Rogers.
I see Hoppe was an unused sub today so I'm thinking he may be the last one to arrive. His team plays next Saturday so I really don't get why he was released for this.
Suggestion that Mauricio Isais (who scored a Liga MX banger) was invited to the camp, but not released: It would be rather surprising to not see him in a US shirt this year.Reportedly contacted for January camp and not released from his club, but remains US U23-eligible for Olympic preparation camps and El Tri did not qualify. https://t.co/C8grQe3R89— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) January 23, 2023
Hoppe's release for the camp makes absolutely no sense. We'll take it.................but it makes no sense. My only guess is that Boro is hoping to put him in the shop window for sales or loans. Maybe he'll leave if a loan (or transfer) is agreed upon in Europe mid-camp.
There are a few surprising releases for Camp Cupcake this year. Zendejas and Hoppe, Slonina, Paxten Aaronson, Jonathan Gomez--all players who are in other countries in leagues that are in-season. Zendejas being the most surprising, since he's actually a regular for his club team and they've got games this week. Obviously, Aaronson just got to his new club (and presumably isn't going to slot right into the first team). Same with Slonina. Hoppe, of course, has but half a toe into the first team at Middlesbrough. Similar case for Gomez. Regardless, I think these are good examples of the behind-the-scenes work that someone(s) at USSF is doing. I had thought that was part of McBride's role (and maybe it was), but whoever is making the calls and negotiating with these clubs is doing good work. I'm glad to have all of them in this camp.
Boro aren't playing him, and aren't that worried if he comes back exhausted and/or misses one game on the bench. The chance that he enhances his value / gets some good reps in with the national team works for them.
Hoppe still isn't at the camp. Only one yet to get there. Jogo arrived today. This tweeter is an uncle, who seems very involved in Jonathan's career. Bilbao - Ámsterdam- CDMX - LA@trabajoduroyhumildad@theGomezway@USMNT @RealSociedad @jonathang_42 🙏👍👏🇲🇽🇺🇸🇪🇸⚽️ pic.twitter.com/EjJZyZ3YT6— César Gómez Cantú (@Chesare_Gomez) January 23, 2023
Zendejas clips for those of us who don't watch enough LigaMX (probably all of us) 🎥 After last night’s performance, here’s a quick reel showing all goals and assist by Alex Zendejas in 2022 🔥🔥🔥 Can’t wait to see him play this week for us 😤 #USMNT 🇺🇸https://t.co/im7ZDcozWf— 🇺🇸 USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) January 23, 2023 Apparently that's 2022 only, here's the assist and goal 🚨 ALEX ZENDEJAS ASSIST 🤝🔥🔥🔥 #USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DFOwDfRSIr— 🇺🇸 USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) January 22, 2023 🚨🚨🚨 GOOOOOAAAALLLLL ALEX ZENDEJAS 😎😎😎 SHOULD’VE BEEN AT THE WORLD CUP 🗣️ #USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6vpl9aYoMA— 🇺🇸 USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) January 22, 2023 Yoooo Zendejas was ballin tonight! That call up has him high in confidence 🔥 Played around and hit woodwork a few minutes after scoring his goal 😮💨 #USMNT 🇺🇸 https://t.co/6AQpWceQBa— 🇺🇸 USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) January 22, 2023 Well this certainly beats taking another look at Chris Mueller or Jonathan Lewis...
The guy front and center is Roman Celentano, who's listed at 6'3". Slonina is listed at 6'4". He's standing next to Sean Johnson, who's also listed at 6'3".
Makes one think of US U17 and FCD academy stud Julian Eyestone. He was 6'6" as a 15 year old. I don't know how tall he is a year later. He just absolutely dominates at the academy level. So much so that he's hard to evaluate at times. He answers the question "what would happen if a world class volleyball player became a goalkeeper?" He's committed to Duke, but we'll see if he ever makes it there. He's tall. pic.twitter.com/o1LF62Zfu0— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) January 22, 2023
When people say what if our best athletes played soccer, I mostly think you’d have a bunch of NBA types ended up at goalie. As once you get to 6’6” or above, you typically can’t move the way you need to move to play soccer other than goalie.
Sure, some guys don't move like soccer players, mostly the big centers. But there are all kinds of NBA players 6'6" and above with all the quickness, lateral movement, vision and explosiveness you want out of a soccer player, and most of the guys below 6'6" have to or they won't be competitive. They just don't have foot skills
There are plenty of tall people al around the world beyond the US. There are legit reasons why so few of them end up on professional soccer fields even though most of them grow up in countries where soccer is the #1 sport.
For someone above 6'6" that sort of body control is rare. I was thinking about this recently in regards to someone Michigan is recruiting for football (Nyckoles Harbor). The guy is 6'5" and 225 pounds (though I've also seen him listed at 245 and I imagine he cuts weight for track season) and runs the 100 yard dash in 10.22 seconds and the 200 in 20.63. He's apparently planning on going to college to focus on track initially, with the goal of running in the 2024 Olympics. After that he's doing football full time and jury is out whether he plays wide receiver, tight end, or defensive end. And the interesting to me is his father is a former USMNT player (who had about 15 caps in the 90s). And I was reading some of the articles about him and his dad said that he really did try and put him in soccer growing up and that was very much the first sport he tried to play. But the problem according to his dad, was that his body just didn't move the way it needs to for him to be good at soccer. So he moved on football and track. This is someone who is very much a ridiculous athlete, has a father who played for the national team and professionally who tried to get him to play soccer, and he just doesn't have the body control to play soccer. It's an interesting test case for me because this is someone who is one of the best athletes nationally in his age group and may go on to run in the Olympics or play in the NFL. And he grew up in an environment where he was predisposed to play soccer and had a father who would very much have helped him along the path. But despite him being such a good athlete, the sport wasn't a fit for him. The guys we need aren't necessarily our best athletes, it's the undersized point guards, wide receivers, and defensive backs.
Anyway, back to the reason we got into this discussion. Slonina is listed at 6'4," and that's just right for a keeper. He's fine. Allison is 6'4" Neuer is 6'4" De Gea is 6'4" ............the list goes on. There are keepers taller than that out there. Courtois is the obvious one. But most are in that 6'2" to 6'5" range.