YNT-eligible MLS players: 2020 In-season thread

I'd take Pomykal. I think Reggie could hang at that level, but I think Pomykal could be an asset. I'm not sure about Ferriera.

 

The thing about Reggie is that I get the impression (mainly interviews and comments about him), that he has a very strong mentality and has real leadership qualities. Combined with his quality on the field (which I think is very good but not great), I can see him as a real asset for a lot of teams. I think he has a higher ceiling (on field skill only) than Boca and look how far his leadership and mentality got him. I see Cannon as one that can maximize his potential on the field and maximize value to the team(s) in the same way Boca did.

I agree that Pomykal can be a real asset to a lot of teams....he just has to show he won't break.

Ferreira is more of a long term investment with more risk and high potential reward. Agudelo looked like a sure bet at his age.

 

[QUOTE="Mahtzo1, post: 38591613, member: 95545" I see Cannon as one that can maximize his potential on the field and maximize value to the team(s) in the same way Boca did. [/QUOTE]

He shows a lot of character in not whining about current circumstances and I believe he is also very bright. Here's and article with some parental info.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fc-dall...d-reggie-cannon-to-breakout-success-in-dallas

 

Welcome, Chris Brady 🧤#cffc #cf97https://t.co/Tkx38Zjcrr

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) March 24, 2020

 

Brady is the best of their academy players that they've signed to first team contracts IMO. I think he could be a NT level player in five years, but its so hard to predict with keepers.

They've been signing a lot of their academy players, but signing players is not enough. They need to develop them, and show them a pathway to the first team. It seems like they will, and I think most think this new regime with the Fire will try to provide that to these players, but its hard to get too excited yet when there's certainly the possibility that they ruin this crop, as well. They've yet to prove that they can bring a crop of academy players through.

Only a few academies in MLS have proven that they can consistently do so, and even among the academies that occasionally will bring one through, they've been among the more disappointing academies with the pathways they provide for players and their ability to develop talent.

 

He shows a lot of character in not whining about current circumstances and I believe he is also very bright. Here's and article with some parental info.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fc-dall...d-reggie-cannon-to-breakout-success-in-dallas[/QUOTE]
Thanks for that link!
very interesting. Not too many people can say their grandpa won a nobel prize! Also interesting that he was the one that had a lot to do with Reggie's career choice. The article sheds more light on where Reggie got his strength of character.

 

From what it looks like they plan on using the most out of their partnership with Forward Madison FC. I would be expecting them to sign Allan Rodriguez and Justin Reynolds now that they are signing a 2004 player.

 

Allan Rodriguez has changed his insta bio to say professional footballer and typically players do that after signing so I’m pretty sure he will he announced on social media soon.

this one is pretty special to me personally because the greater south bend area (where I’m from) has not produced a single American professional that has played at a level higher than the USL.

 

Ferreira knows how to play soccer. Agudelo never learned.

 

Maybe not, but he could have learned. He didn't and that's why he never reached what seemed to be his ceiling. the point about Ferreira is that he is young enough that no matter how bright his future seems, it could go in a zillion differfent directions from here. For that matter, I suppose that is true for any pro athlete at any age.

 

Chicago sure seems to be signing a lot of academy players not to have a second team. Gotta think that'll change next year.

 

That's true, but ability to read the game is something that you can't unlearn so Ferreira's floor is established while Agudelo never had a floor and now he is way below of what we presumed it was.

 

Who knows about Ferreira? Everything is in front of him.

I think you're being overly harsh to Agudelo. This happens with every national team on Earth. There are young stars that never really develop into elite internationals. But they have long careers. Agudelo has now been playing this sport professionally for a decade. Shall we run his teammates on the 2009 U17 World Cup team? Only 3 got USMNT caps (Agudelo, Kitchen, and Luis Gil). And Kitchen & Agudelo may be the only two that are still on MLS (or better) rosters. We're mocking Juan Agudelo, when the other star forward on that team was playing in the NISA for the Oakland Roots last year (Jack McInerney). We'll see what Agudelo does with Inter Miami. I just think he's there for depth in the long run, but we'll see.

At one point Juan Agudelo held the record as the youngest player to ever score a goal with the USMNT. After that he scored a nice goal against Argentina. Such was his meteoric rise...…………..and then there was a sort of decade long level of averageness for reasons that are fairly typical. Bad career moves (in hindsight), some injuries, etc. For those of us around at the time, the young Agudelo was a very exciting prospect. We know that @ussoccer97531 was a fan of his.

To this day, I believe Agudelo is still the second youngest player to score for the USMNT. My spreadsheet of top 5

1) Pulisic (17 years, 253 days old)
2) Agudelo (17 years, 359 days)
3) Altidore (18 years, 96 days)
4) Sargent (18 years, 102 days old)
5) Weah (18 years, 104 days old)

By the way...…………..Uly Llanez now slots in at #6. McKennie is at #8. So 5 of the top 8 youngest USMNT goalscorers of all time are still youth thread eligible.

 

And don't forget that Reyna was going to score in the recent friendlies but was not allowed the opportunity to set the record.

 

It is likely to change. Once the pandamic ends Forward Madison FC is going to have a significant increase in players on their roster

 

So now both GKs Slonina and Brady are signed. Still no historical evidence either would make a first team appearance until they are 22-23 years old. I can't see signing two very young homegrown GKs. Seems to make no sense at all for the club or the players.

 

Welcome, Allan Rodríguez 🔥#cffc #cf97https://t.co/ekKkXziFcf

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) March 25, 2020

This whole thing is super intriguing.

 

called it

 

Wouldn’t be so sure about that. These are still very young kids. Madison/Fire would need to have some arrangement with host families as they’re not going to be transporting 300 miles round trip everyday.

I can see Reynolds going there, but not some of these other youngsters.

 

I could see the club setting some type of place for them to crash at or stay at for weeks at a time. The new ownership are doing everything right except the logo rebranding

 

Forward Madison seems like a good place for Andre Reynolds and Nicholas Slonina, but these '03 and '04 signings are kids who are HS sophomores and juniors. It's important to consider issues of maturity and emotional development alongside soccer. Dumping a group of 15/16 year olds in an apartment in an unfamiliar city is not a recipe for success, IMO.

If I were the Fire, I'd keep them in the DA, bump them up to the U19s when their team re-launches for 20-21, and then set up a USL1 team in 2021.

EDIT: To an extent, the point is moot. At best, we'll have an abbreviated domestic season in 2020 anyway, due to COVID-19.

 

My uninformed opinion on Agudelo's main problems/reasons for not advancing further is that he let his early success get to his head and it led to some career stunting decisions and attitudes.

 

This too, of course, but even when he was that great prospect the understanding of the game was lacking, what wasn't a big deal as usually it comes with age. Never happened to him, ten years later still looks like inexperienced player.

 

He just never developed. It happens. Sometimes we see really great raw materials and say "if he develops in his understanding of the game, he's gonna be a star." And then it doesn't happen.

Jesus Ferreira scored 8 goals and had 6 assists in MLS last season as a 19 year old.

In how many seasons has Juan Agudelo scored more than 8 goals? I think one. 2016 with the Revolution. When Agudelo scored 6 in 2011 with NY as a n 18/19 year old, everybody thought: Oh wow, this guy is going to be scoring double digits easily when he actually figures things out. And then he never has. It just didn't happen.

Ferreira and Agudelo are pretty different types of players, which we note with Jesus' assist number. He's more of a playmaker, even playing as a #10 when there's a midfield shortage (which seems like its pretty common). Agudelo has never had 6 assists in a season. But I don't think my comparison is totally apples versus oranges.

 

If we base everything on how MLS has always done things you're probably right. If it's a new world because MLS teams are churning out better players from their academies and want to monetize that then several ways are possible. One is signing, playing and keeping, next would be signing, playing for a couple years and then selling and the last would be the Chris Richards model where players are signed and sold before they ever play for you. If those keepers are capable of attracting interest but need a place to play until 18 then sign them, let them practice and play for youth national teams to build interest and sell with maybe a big sell on %.