Right, if he's hooked up with an agent that is promising him some kind of pro contract in Europe at 18, and his heart is set on that, it's not going to be a good fit for the Quakes or for him to have an HG contract.
Yes it really is. Betting on yourself is always one of the best ideas but for me it doesn’t make as much sense in this case because the Quakes have hired one of the very best guys with connections and a track record of getting players into Europe. The Quakes NEED to show Fisher this was a good plan so they will be pushing guys like Cowell and Tsakiris through lots of expose events (like Nats call ups). Don’t be surprised if Kohler and Murray get frozen out of opportunities to showcase their talents down the road.
Doesn't this imply a kind of cronyism though? How can the Quakes "push guys" into Nats call-ups if there isn't some kind of "collusion" between guys like Luchi and the nats guys (which is certainly possible)? But OTOH if anything it seems like there's a preference for the euro guys in nats call-ups. But I could see these guys getting lost in the reserve leagues of some euro teams. But if their goal is to play in Europe and they're already there with a shot at getting onto the 1st team or even being on the 1st team, not sure that they would care necessarily about showcasing their talents in nats callups. Jonathan Gomez is a case in point, right? USL to Europe, where he's currently playing with the "B team" at Real Sociedad (looks like he's been on the 1st team 18 once so far). And he gets a nats callup to Jan camp and a start against Serbia. But if his goal is playing in Europe, he's already doing it, and seems like he has a good chance of getting 1st team minutes in coming years.
These guys will be lucky to get into Euro academy teams. So for Kohler maybe U19. He will have an uphill battle as a foreigner to learn the language and be MUCH better than the local guys. To me, Kohler and Murray’s best case scenario is Russell Canouse. He went to Germany in 2011 to play at Hoffenheim youth academy and spent 5 years playing at the academy and Hoffenheim 2. In 2016 he got one single first team appearance before they loaned him to Vfl Bochum where he played in 20 games. Hoffenheim then sold him to D.C. United for no transfer fee to get him off the books. Gomez is a much different case. He has played for Mexico and the USA is thin at good left backs so they are recruiting him hard to choose USA over Mexico.
Thing is, these guys probably dream of playing in Europe, and have apparently chosen to take a more direct route. It may not work out, but at least they are going for it. Not sure Germany is the best choice - that seems like a tough place to break in. I wonder if Leitch is more reluctant to give out HG's to young defenders. You can make a better case for the high skill attacking players like Cruz and Niko. But Leitch may feel like for defenders he's better off taking the best guys out of college - like Munie and Ågren. More mature bodies and more experience. Walls may have a bit of an advantage because he's a lefty. Still, I won't be convinced on the "college HG" strategy until I see guys like Richmond, Cilley and Tingey actually have an impact on the team.
Yeah, I followed Russell when he was at Hoffenheim and it was tough. He was expected to learn to speak Germain fluently and did. He also wore the Captain’s armband and the team did very well in the academy playoffs when he was playing but he never really got a fair shot to play on the first team. When DC United acquired him his salary in 2017 was 65k for a starting defensive midfielder.
Yes, and we know how a certain very talented attacking midfielder did in Germany circa 2001 and again in 2005.
And before that, Haji Wright left the LA Galaxy for NASL's NY Cosmos, and then signed with Schalke... recently made the World Cup roster and scored a goal. If your ambition is to get to the highest levels of professional soccer, four years of college pretty much puts an end to those dreams. If Leitch is actually encouraging potential homegrowns to go to college over signing with the Quakes, perhaps the Quakes need to find a replacement who is actually working in their best interests...
🇺🇸 U17 Concacaf Championship Get to know the squad, good vibes only. What each player will bring to the squad:GK, Diego Kochen, Barca 🇺🇸🇵🇪Elite keeper prospect, will be team #1 with great shot stopping ability and advanced ability to play out of the back...— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) February 1, 2023 Not sure if posted somewhere else but we will have 3 Quakes players in there. Also, twitter is a dude giving reviews on the team individually.
RB, Oscar Verhoeven, SJ One of the best prospect on the squad, highly creative, ambitious player that's very disciplined defensively. I hope Leitchee considers offering Verhoeven an HG contract rather than telling him to grow up and go to college and then he signs with Oakland Roots instead. I don't know but I think we could maybe use a "highly creative, ambitious player that's very disciplined defensively" at RB.
"Most notable: Pedro Soma, Cruz Medina, Diego Kochen, Santiago Morales, Edwyn Mendoza, Adrian Gill, Oscar Verhoeven." That's two guys at Barcelona (Kochen, Gill), another in Spain (Soma), the son of Javier Morales (Maynor Figueroa's son is also on the roster so two former MLSers' kids), and all three from the Earthquakes as "most notable".... so when does Leitch sign Edwyn Mendoza and Oscar Verhoeven to homegrown deals?? Very good roster here, maybe not 100% full strength but still lots of top prospects here.Most notable: Pedro Soma, Cruz Medina, Diego Kochen, Santiago Morales, Edwyn Mendoza, Adrian Gill, Oscar Verhoeven.#usynt pic.twitter.com/bsZxQPG5Vm— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) February 1, 2023 3/23 is 13% of the roster. There are now 26 MLS teams in the US, so just one would be pretty good. Especially when you consider that there are also guys from European clubs (Barcelona) and lower division teams (San Diego)...
Neither Verhoeven or Mendoza are on the Quakes ii roster. It would likely happen after the MLS Next season but the Quakes may want to see how they look at that level before offering a contract.
Can definitely see that happening. It seems then Mendoza would take Kohler's spot and Verhoeven should get some minutes as well tho I am not sure who we have at RB right now for Quakes 2. But we should prioritize players like them over ones that do not have as high of a ceiling.
Once MLS comes to its senses, it will make the roster rules such that the team can feel able to give all of the top prospects pro contracts. With a 30 man roster limit, we can't give HG contracts to all of the best players. Maybe we feel like there's not room for two right backs -- Tan and Verhoeven -- so we play wait and see. When we start losing more guys to USL, or guys who wait until they turn 18 and go abroad, maybe MLS will increase our ability to lock down the prospects. This doesn't explain Cilley and Tingey, though hopefully those guys will surprise me.
Quakes 2 roster filler? If they are loaned to Q2 for the whole season, do they not count against the MLS 30 man roster limit?
I think Tan we can wait a couple more years because he is U -15 but Verhoeven, the Quakes need to decide soon on what to do for players like him and Mendoza. I wish we loaned more unused players to USL because that would be more beneficial than MLS.
Verhoeven, eh. A Dutch name(?) - I wonder if he's got some Dutch connections and designs on playing in Europe, though OTOH there are many people with Dutch or other European surnames who are generations removed from European immigrant ancestors. But in any case, after Murray and Kohler I would imagine that same agent is lurking.
So it seems that he is training with the first team as of that clip that was posted recently. You can see him running past Nathan. Not assuming anything yet but it is cool for him to train with the first team.