Sure, can you start with Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Mali? I'm not really up to speed on my Central Africa nations' style of play.
Talk with Dest has taken place, according to Voetbal International. https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/hoogma-intensief-contact-over-dest-en-ihattaren 'Ronald Koeman en ik hebben een gesprek gevoerd met Dest en zijn zaakwaarnemer', vertelt Nico-Jan Hoogma, directeur topvoetbal van de KNVB. 'Het proberen te overtuigen van een speler is altijd lastig, want de argumenten zijn beperkt. We kunnen niet schermen met geld, er is niet zoals bij een club transferbeleid waarbij je zelf invloed uitoefent op het aantal concurrenten dat zich aandient, en we doen ook geen moreel beroep vanwege een vermeende schatplichtigheid aan een land.' 'Ronald en ik vertellen een puur inhoudelijk verhaal, waarin wij een sportief plaatje schetsen en uitleggen waarom we hen kwalitatief goed genoeg vinden om een speler te worden van het Nederlands elftal', vervolgt Hoogma. 'Je kunt iemand geen basisplaats beloven, maar je kunt wél aangeven wie de concurrenten zijn. Dest moet op basis van ons verhaal een afweging maken: Ga ik me nu definitief aan Amerika binden of kies ik voor het Nederlands elftal?' "Ronald Koeman and I had a conversation with Dest and his agent," says Nico-Jan Hoogma, director of top football at the KNVB. 'Trying to convince a player is always difficult, because the arguments are limited. We cannot lure with money, there is no like at a club a transfer policy where you yourself determine the number of competitors that show up, and we also arenot going for a moral appeal because of an alleged indebtedness to a country. " "Ronald and I tell a purely substantive story, in which we sketch a sporting view and explain why we think they are of good enough quality to become a player of the Dutch national team," Hoogma continues. 'You cannot promise someone a starting spot, but you can indicate who the competitors are. On the basis of our story, Dest has to weigh our story to make a decision: Am I now going to bind myself to America or will I opt for the Dutch national team? '
It's a tough call for him. The par result in my view is for Dest to switch but only get a cup of coffee with the Dutch, not the hoped-for international career that tempted the switch. Dest could continue improving nicely for several more years yet never quite reach the level necessary to star for the Netherlands. In contrast, given his likely trajectory, Dest could almost certainly have a successful one-of-a-kind international career with us. That makes it an easy call for me.
As an aside, the U.S. has got to be the only place in the world where it's fans kvetch about "pressuring" a kid to commit to their NT. Ned. has no qualms about selling Dest on making a one-time switch. Also, when they say "we also are not going for a moral appeal because of an alleged indebtedness to a country." They are going for a moral appeal because of an alleged indebtedness to a country. There's a 16 year old kid at Barcelona. Eligible for Spain and Portugal (until ~10 days ago was also eligible for Guinea-Bissou). He has scored a 1st team goal for Barca. Here's what his Wiki article says: "with Diario AS reporting that the Spanish government has set its sights on granting Fati citizenship with a view to including him in the squad for the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil in October 2019. He is also reportedly eligible for a Portuguese passport through his grandparents' birth in colonial Portuguese Guinea.[18] Fati was granted Spanish citizenship on 20 September 2019.[19][20] Therefore he had to declare the renunciation of his Bissau-Guinean citizenship.[21]" So, the kid is still eligible for Spain and Portugal. Grumpy pundits were speculating that Spain was going to captie the guy ASAP so that "what happened to Ireland with Declan Bumblef*ck doesn't happen to Spain." It's the real world. There is nothing wrong with offering our duellies captie-ing matches, for the sake of captie-ing them. If they decline, you know where they stand.
Yup. It's in my eyes a no brainer. You're not a lock in now and in the coming years you have to run with an ever improving pack of wolves. A couple of years ago I was laughed at when I posted about the Dutch defender qualities, it almost became a running gag among certain posters about me. Well, a couple of years later and the dfenses of the Euro top clubs are loaded with Dutch defenders. So when I declare Dest has no sure track given what's coming, he better believe me and make alot of YA posters happy.
A country that starts Trapp as a DM values what? Valuing athleticism over skill is a strawman you are creating. At the international level both are required, the question is what is the most effective combination to be impactful in the modern game. Dest, in his short USMNT career, has shown that he is more effective technical attacker than Roldan, Baird, or Lletget. Dest is a defender. The bottom line; The US has very few (international-level) above average technical players. A lot of our players are below average technical and average athletic (work-rate, quickness, pace). They are useless at the international level. A player like Zardes, who is poor technically but who has world-class work-rate,may in fact be more of an asset to a team especially if the team plays a high activity pressure scheme.
There are people on this board and in the U.S. soccer community saying that we should not "pressure" dual eligible players to make a choice. It's "unfair to force a kid to make a decision they will have to live with for a lifetime." I'm saying that the U.S. is the only place with fans that are so sensitive. No one in Holland would question KNVB trying to get Dest to file a one time switch. No one in Spain would question the Spanish Federation cap tying a kid at 16. We, as a nation, most of our prospects are going to have a foreign born grandparent, which usually makes that guy eligible for citizenship in that country. We should not be bashful about offering captie-ing appearances to our best young dual-eligible prospects. They can turn the call up down. If they do, it gives the Fed a better idea of where to invest resources.
The logical choice is the USA. If the goal is to play as much international football as possible. Dest is not a good 1 v 1 defender. At Ajax, this is not a problem as they have a lot of the ball. With the USA, it was exposed against Mexico, but would probably not be an issue in any other CONCACAF game. He brings so much to the offense and most teams in this region don't have the players that would trouble him like Mexico did. With the Dutch, could they expose themselves with a defensive liability in most of their games? They play teams like Gibralter, but also play mostly better teams than the USA does. Yes, Dest could improve and will improve with time and practice. But it would be a gamble for him that he improves enough and nobody else improves or emerges. If Dest values his club career more and would rather not fly intercontinental 3-5 times a year, than the logical choice would be the Netherlands.
What I would say to Dest is that voetbal is growing in North America and there will be lots of opportunities for a well known American international to get into ownership/management etc. when he retires from a very short professional career as a player. What does he look forward to in Holland, eh, Dest?
That sounded like a really lukewarm pitch. If I'm Dest, I go away from that with my mind made up...go claim a starting spot with the US National Team, who have already placed their trust in me and invested in me.
The VI article in fact shows exactly what Freisland and I were posting for some time now what the message from the KNVB/Koeman would be. So one has to wonder why they needed that "conversation" in the first place. From the start of the discussion around Dest it was clear (apart from some with enormous fantasy) a start in the Orange team was not a realistic thing for this Euro 2020 campaign. So the only thing that would stop his decision to join the USA was a firm commitment from Koeman he would be part of the Euro squad. That would never happen. So the next best thing would be hearing commitments good enough to stall being capped by the USA. Those commitments, if given, are as good the stock price at a given moment. Could be different within weeks. The conclusion is that due to a few high profile duals switching to Morocco the KNVB actively contacts duals with the purpose to point them to the benefits of choosing the Orange team. The intensity varies with the status the player has. A couple of players, Ihattaren is the most eye catching one, get regular contact with Koeman and get addressed by Koeman when he's giving press conference meetings by talking about them. Now Dest and his agent had this meeting and according to the KNVB brass the sporting outlook has been layed out. Sounds like they told them that the Orange team might be successful with a tremendous defensive center with very good back ups on the bench and several coming up at top clubs too, a world class midfield with world class talents like Ihattaren coming up too and an attack that too is being targeted by world class talents. So these are the guys you will be competing with for the back positions.... Dest has been told he's good enough to be a player for the Orange team. That's nice to hear, but what does that bring you? Enough to stall the defenitive choice for the USA?
I appreciate their forthrightness. They were very upfront with him. That is how I hope that our leadership manages these situations in the US. Chasing after children and young players is undignified and comes across as a manifestation of desperation rather than of confidence. Being honest with players treats them with respect. Even if they don't stay with your program, you want that to be your reputation.
I sure hope so.. and I would think it would be difficult to part with all the U20 teammates you have been growing w/ through all of these years as well. <Crossing-fingers> If Dest decides to stick then I have a new favorite player. I will have to find a way to watch Ajax weekly.
I expected that plan from them. Probably involves the U23 first and Dest probably wants the senior invite like he got from us but Orange doesn't want to set precedence.
Well, it's not about precedence if you mean by that the age, as we had players starting even younger.
Volgens Amerikaanse berichten wordt Sergiño Dest niet opgeroepen voor de nationale ploeg van Amerika. Waarom niet is nog niet duidelijk. : https://t.co/88XaUUl0wb #Ajax— VoetbalPrimeur (@VoetbalPrimeur) October 2, 2019 Not on todays roster According to American reports, Sergiño Dest is not called up for the national team of America. Why is not yet clear.
"According to American reports, Sergiño Dest is not called up for the national team of America. Why is not yet clear."