So Clint Dempsey didn’t offer much defensively. I think if a player like Efra is going to play for us he needs to play further up the field off the shoulder of a #9, probably with a four man midfield behind him in a 4-4-1-1 or what have you. He has to be so good that he dictates our formation because we can’t drop him. I do think he has a ceiling that high but his floor is also pretty low, Andrew Carleton low.
This x 1,000,000. To throw the biggest names in the world into this conversation isn't really fair. They proved themselves to the point of having some of the biggest clubs in the world building teams around them. When you are a player trying to break in and earn first team minutes, you have to bring more to the table. If Efra ends up doing that and puts in performances he is capable of, then maybe Galaxy finds specific midfield partners for him that enables more freedom and builds a squad around his specific skill set. We are a long way off from that at the moment.
Young Dempsey was playing #6, and was making up for lack of stamina with toughness, and of course he's always been the dirtiest player on the field.
I find this entire new thread of him seriously talking about him coming back into the fold fascinating. Is this coming just from him? Or is this Efra putting a feeler out through a third party?
It seems like all of this would be academic if players were on the field right now showing exactly what they're worth.
The real question is. Does Efra come back without Brian Kleiban? That answer is probably not. So would ussoccer hire Brian then? That answer is absolutely not, why hire the guy who himself and business associates literally hold up middle fingers to ussoccer on a daily basis. Also, why hire a guy who was involved with signing and profiting off of his own players from an agent standpoint? That right there would black ball you from any sensible organization. They say that non athletic players are not valued...so explain Jose Gallegos being highly rated by Anthony Hudson? Also, explain Richie Ledezma being highly rated as well as Brendan Aaronson being highly rated. Explain Blaine Ferri being a lock starter for the u17 World cup in 2017? Explain Emerson Hyndman being highly rated in the USA system until he went to a team who demanded more off the ball fight from him? Do you need to be a defensive stud as a 10? Nope. Do you need to be good enough that you are not a gaping defensive liability on the field? Yes. Staying connected, playing with grit, being intelligent with off the ball movement. That is something that the best 10's in the world do (all of the players Brian mentions). That is not something Efra does. Efra's play is borderline lazy, he does not move well off the ball offensively, and he literally puts 0 effort in defensively (which now can be explained as that is how he has been taught how to play). Does anyone else remember when the u17 team dominated the mexico u17's at the u17 qualifying a year ago? What was the turning point that led to the Mexico 17's taking over the game? It was Efra being subbed out, Mexico took Efra off the field and they went from being dominated by Danny Leyva and Adam Saldana to literally dominating the play and winning the game. There are two questions I have, If Efra is that special of a player, why is he not an every game starter for the Galaxy and why are the Galaxy not building their team around him as a player? Also, why has Efra not been getting call ups for the Mexico u20's? (BTW, Efra not getting u20 call ups for Mexico is likely why they are doing this product promotion, they do not believe in doing something for the good of ussoccer, they always have an end game...this is it, they are trying to get their product international exposure to leverage a European move because he won't get a Mexico u20 call up and the LA Galaxy aren't going to build their team around an unproven player who is lazy).
Efra has been discussed ad nauseam. What the Kleibans aren't taking into consideration is the sum of the parts. Efra has a "special" left foot. Efra has "special" vision and execution. Efra has "special" soccer IQ on the ball. I don't think many people would even debate those things. The thing is, those special qualities have to add up to being a "special" player. A "special" player is categorized that way because of the overall performances he puts in, not by moments of brilliance. We have all seen those moments of brilliance from Efra, but he has yet to become the sum of all his parts.
Carleton, Mendez, Leyva, Ferri, G Acosta, and Saldana are players that are unathletic that have played large roles in recent youth World Cups...and that’s just off the top of my head.
Yeah, if anything, I feel like our youth teams have recently been hamstrung more often by a lack of athleticism than over-reliance. Particularly in midfielders. There's a crew of young, athletic players coming up to the USMNT, but until recently, the lack of athleticism there has also been notable at a lot of positions.
We’ve been hamstrung by the fact that Tab was poor at selecting midfielders. The last U20 WC was better but look at ‘17. He left JoGo, Parks, and Yuiell at home while bringing Zelalem, Derrick Jones, and Eryk Williamson. When we ran into Venezuela we got bossed.
Good point. Players seem to coach opposite of how they played sometimes. I just wonder if he isn’t proven right on Gonzalez as time moves on. He’s like a less skillful Joe Corona. I like Joe Corona. At the same time, I can’t blame him for using Mendez and Ledezma how he did. Always one but rarely both.
Zelalem was rightfully bright to the u20 World Cup and if it wasn’t for the knee injury in the first game would’ve been a key player. The big snub at the time was Cam Lindley. In the fall 2016 season Williamson was a sophomore at Maryland and Lindley was a Freshman at UNC. Lindley was the only freshman to earn all America honors (and NCAA freshman of the year) that season while Erikson only made second team all big 10. Then Lindley went to Orlando city who sadly ruined him.
Galaxy player Efraín Álvarez was a child prodigy. Now facing a turning-point season, he used the coronavirus shutdown to improve his lifestyle with healthier eating and a new workout program.https://t.co/D8xlv5ggqm— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 27, 2020
Almost every pro I've spoken w/ about him has said he's more likely to end up with a career in the lower leagues than as a significant MLS player b/c of his lack of off-field professionalism & preparation.If he's really taken that to heart, that assessment will change.— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) June 27, 2020
Interesting quote in the article: “I keep my doors open, but right now I’m happy with Mexico.” If he keeps getting snubbed for U20 camps will he switch or will he run through his ynt eligibility before making a choice? We know he and his family have been in contact with Berhalter.
He’s now of the age where he actually has to do something on the soccer field for me to care about his preferred national team.
16-pass build-up from the Galaxy -- who are a team reborn over the past few games -- leading to Efra Alvarez's first MLS goal.He had two of those passes and they were both superb. Champagne football. pic.twitter.com/dKgeNZeWUn— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) September 3, 2020
If we're going to have a domestic camp, I'd like to see Gregg give him a call. He was born and raised here, I'd like to keep him if we can. If not, ah well, but I'd rather avoid a JoGo situation. Not to mention, as the injury to Pomykal (merely the latest in our long history of injured youngsters) illustrates, depth is important. We know what limited MLS veterans like Lovitz can do. May as well call in some of the kids. Maybe we find a gem, maybe they need work, but unless someone like Roldan tears it up like Mueller, I don't think we need to see most of those mid-20s MLS lifers.
Dempsey may not have been the best defender in the world but he could play defense. I don't think he particularl;y liked it and didn't play much defense if he could get away with it. At Fulham, he played defense under Hodgson but later din't play as much when he became the focus of their offense. From what I have seen of Efra, I would never compare him to Dempsey. Dempsey was a gritty bastard. I don't see that in Efra.
Particularly in today’s counter-pressing environment, when we already have Pulisic and Reyna penciled in for a decade...tough to find a place for anyone who needs a runner carrying his piano.
I'm not an Efra fan (nor am I detractor I'm genuinely neutral), but some of you have got to let a range of biases go. With everything we've seen in the last 3 years, how someone can say his floor is Andrew Carleton is incomprehensible.
I think what’s reasonable to say is that the fact that he left us for Mexico and the possibility he could switch back ads a lot of allure. Feels like the pre-switch Zelalem hype. A cold sober view of the type of player he is raises questions about his functionality in the modern game tactically. It seems he has improved his off the field nutritional and work habits, which is an excellent sign for any young player. He is a brilliant brilliant talent, undeniably.