No one here said that US youth development by itself is as good as Mexico's youth development. No one.
Our youth development was never even come close to Mexico's youth development yet we were able to produced Dempsey, Donovan. The Mexican may have a ton of depth but they have no one that is clearly better than those 2 guys at that age group.
Although they have a ton of depth, I will put my US starting XI (without the German Americans) on par with any starting XI that the Mexican has right now: ----------------Howard---------------- Dolo-----Gooch-------Boca-----Lichaj -------Bradley----------Holden------- Donovan-------------------Shea/Beaz ---------------Dempsey--------------- ----------------Altidore----------------
For a country where Soccer is the 4th or 5h favorite sport. I think we are just doing fine with our youth development. All those other countries thats all they do, breathe, eat, sleep, and shit soccer. What scares them is that we are getting better by the day.
He is very young and you just dont know development will stall or not. I guess it all depends where he goes after the U-17. He he looked pretty good in the tournament last December.
Yes! The growth and development of our youth program continues to accelerate, and while we clearly have a long way to go, no one can doubt that we have already come a long way. And we have come this far without great great structure and organization. Now, we have a conscious effort to integrate vertically in the US side, and the MLS is making a sincere effort to develop talent as well. So as far as we have come in the last 20 years, I would hope that the next 20 years would be even more productive.
For what i can remember, i would give the edge to Flores. Of course i am a little bias because I got for everything USA
That's an impossible comparison because we haven't seen enough of Flores to make any kind of determination. It's like saying Gatt's the next Donovan............when in about a year Donovan will be the only player in the HISTORY of world football to have 50 international goals, 50 international assists, and 150 caps. Let me repeat that. The only player in the HISTORY of world football............. If Gatt's the next Donovan, he better get started. [And to think Donovan's career almost ended when an alligator almost bit his foot off in Bradenton. One of the big "what if's" of US soccer history.]
They did, and Gio won the U-17 World Cup, bagging silver ball honors. It's a futile exercise to compare them, let's just hope that Flores develops into something without worrying about where he stacks up against other Fed's players at this point. Incidentally, Jona enjoys a better reputation at Barcelona than Gio did.
True. And I didn't accuse you of that. The conversation was initially about youth players, not development. However, you tried to bridge the gap between our youth development and Mexico's by including Germany's youth development with ours. That was the point I took issue with you on. So let's not switch this up and make it out to be something different.
since there is not much happening today with the U23 I decided to come up with my updated 18 list. 1. overage player (probably a LB) 2. overage player (probably a CB) 3. overage player (depending on how good/bad we look in qualifiers) 4. Hamid 5. Johnson 6. Altidore 7. D.Williams 8. Chandler 9. Morales 10. Shea 11. Agudelo 12. Gyau 13. Boyd 14. Mixx 15. Gatt 16. Opara 17. Adu 18. Kitchen The first group (1-3) are players that in theory should be better than any U23. the selection of these 3 will determine the pecking order of the rest of the players specially the 16-18 players. The second group (4-5) are our golies, I would be surprise if there is a change. The third group (6-9) are 1st team players, these players can play multiple positions, except for Altidore. Again, if any of these players don't come in because of club pressure, selection will cascade to the next two levels. The fourth group (10-13) these are our forwards, they are the game changers, specially if our defense is not our strongest. If Agudelo plays the 10 in any qualifier games look for Corona and/or Adu to be in danger of not making the list. The fifth group (14-15) Mixx is probably a lock to start, in reality he is the only true 8 in this roster, would Porter notice this and maybe use an overage player for help? Gatt, can play any position in the right side, this gives Porter the option to move Chandler to the left if he can not get a first tier help for the LB position. The sixth group (16-18) Opara at 6'2 and his quickness gives him a good chance to make the roster. I just don't see Porter going with 3 overage players in defense which is the only way Opara would miss the cut. The addition of Gatt as a backup LF it pushes Adu to become a #10 player only, he needs to show an all around game (defense/offense/setup) to beat out Corona, which Corona seems to be the better player at defense and setup. Kitchen selection is based on being able to play more than one position and playing for Porter in collegue doesn't hurt. The emergence of Morales as a #6 kind of makes Kitchen a redundant player, If Corona makes it is will probably be at the expense of Kitchen. The one player that I just don't see making it to the final 18 is Okugo, with Williams and Morales in the roster it makes it tough for him to make it. Of course things can change if Porter's overage players ended up being Donovan and Dempsey which I think it would be a grave mistake if he goes that route.
Good analysis. The main point i draw from it is how probable one of Adu or Corona is going to get cut. I guess it shows how good our depth is. I've said this before, but I think it would be good if one of Donovan or Dempsey makes the roster to be used as a super sub rather than a starter. I think it's important that this age group gels and plays together in an important tournament without the feeling of "get this guy the ball, because he's clearly our best player and leader." That said, Dempsey or Donovan could be the difference maker in an important game.
I get the idea behind that... but I'd just as much like to have them playing with some of the current national team stars. It doesn't make sense to bring Donovan or Dempsey only to bring them on as a sub in games.
This is such a wonderful idea. " Hey Landon and Clint run here. You need to flip a coin, the lucky one becomes Adu's back up". I'd really love to hear their responses. From far away.
Yeah I can see that line of thought actually since it would be Adu or Corona's spot that one of them would probably take. A line up like this could be really dangerous. -----------Altidore----------- Shea--------------------Gyau -----------Dempsey---------- ----------Mix--Morales-------- Johnson-Williams-Onyewu-Chandler ------------Hamid-------------
great job with the list 1. agree on LB... Johnson 2. CB.. Ream had the mo.. 3. one of these 3 Landon, Clint or Mikey...I'll go with Bradley
When people are predicting overage players, are they even taking into consideration who will be released? How does anyone expect Hoffenheim to release Fabian Johnson? Especially when the US will attempt to get Williams (who is age eligible). Even if it's during the preseason, Hoff aren't going to want to have two starters gone