I have learned so much from so many of you in the Breakout Youth US National Players in the MLS thread and I was looking to have another thread that focuses on even younger players in the USL. I have spent some time googling and most of the information is either dated, non-USL specific or behind a paywall. So I am going to my source... namely you. The USL games are airing on ESPN and there are often a lot of them. What players and teams should I keep an eye on?
Are they on regular ESPN channels? Or, just ESPN+ ? If USL made a commitment to field teams that are heavy US-eligible, I'd be a regular viewer. I went to see the OC team play, the team that fielded was about 30% U.S. eligible.
ESPN+ mostly... but I think some might just require the app though. The game between Tampa Bay and Miami FC is filled with a bunch of older guys. None of the young US guys on loan at Tampa are playing that I can tell... maybe they will get a sub appearance. Tampa's roster isn't very interesting. I tried to watch the New England II / Orlando City II game but the video is poor and they are playing on a football field.
I’m keeping my eye on the young goalkeepers, mainly because we have zero youth goalkeepers in MLS. I.e. David Ochoa. North Texas SC is a team to follow because their whole squad seems made up of USMNT prospects. Tessman, Pepi, etc.
2003 Edison Azcona scored for Fort Lauderdale CF tonight. Anyone know anything about him? Transfermarkt lists him as American.
Rivera scored for us , OCB, in that game. He is 16. The cross, which was more difficult than the goal, came from an 18 yr old. We also had a 15 yr old CB who played pretty good last night.
SofaScore details the USL, so you can use their filter for a little data-based scouting of the young players. https://www.sofascore.com/tournament/football/usa/usl-championship/13363
Gollegos has 12 succ dribbles in just 250 minutes of action. Alec Diaz(18)F has 4 goals and a 7.8 rating.
I have a hard time taking anyone over 22 in MLS as a serious prospect anymore. What would be the age in USL? I'm with you, I like watching the kids and there are a bunch in USL. But, I think under 18 are the real ones to watch. Caden Clark, NYRB2 is one I'm trying to watch every game. Johnathan Gomez, Louisville is another It is kind of strange because some teams took players to the bubble, and they have not been back into USL I don't believe. But Paredes and Nyeman with Loudon would be players to watch.
A lot of their younger players are dual internationals. I watched the last game where Redzic scored a couple in a sub appearance. He has played for the US but more recently with Bosnia-Herz. The keeper gets a lot of run but it looks like he is favoring Mexico. Che (16) played the whole game... 1st half at CB then moved to RB. Has the same haircut as Richards. He played OK but got beaten badly once. 16 is a spring chicken though. David Rodriguez was hit-and miss as well before being subbed out. Thanks for the heads up. Will be following moving forward.
Thanks for all of the input everyone. I will be keeping an eye out now and try to get more familiar with the 15-18s coming up. There are certainly a lot of them so I need to focus on the ones that have skills that jump off the screen.
We do have a whole US Youth National Team forum where we discuss these players in detail. For North Texas SC (FCD's reserve team) I'd watch for Che and 15 year old midfielder Diego Hernandez. Diego has come off the bench already. Potentially a special player, and the next to come off the assembly line of "Central Midfielder University" following Kellyn Acosta, Victor Ulloa, Weston McKennie, Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania, Chris Cappis, Tanner Tessman, Thomas Roberts, Edwin Cerrillo, and on and on............. I've never been sure of the ceiling for Beji Redzic or David Rodriguez. Time will tell as they're both still young. Keep in mind that Arturo Rodriguez was USL League One MVP and Young Player of the Year in 2019 for North Texas. He didn't get a first team contract, and has been shipped off to Real Monarchs. The quality of play in USL League One was quite low last season. I'm not convinced it was better than the elite NCAA conferences.
I heard on Sirius today that North Texas and Dallas FC have a legit goal to produce USMNT players. It is literally something they strive to do... That is pretty cool. But a lot of the guys playing there are dual nationals and some have been choosing alternatives. The other team that really intrigues me is Philly Union II. In their latest win against Red Bulls II the average starting age was 17! Take a look at the roster and sort by age.... and most are not dual internationals. https://www.transfermarkt.us/bethlehem-steel-fc/startseite/verein/51762 Aaronson is 16 (AM) and literally looks like a clone of his brother out there. Obviously has a ways to go but you can tell he has skill. McGlynn is 17 (M) and was the best player on their team in the win against RBII. He had a goal and a wonderful assist. He also served another unreal ball to dual Picazo (19) who chested it down, flicked it over a defenders head and struck the crossbar. Others young US players that started were: Craig (16, CDM), Flores (18, M), Huckaby (17, CB), Ofeimu (19, CB) and Budler (17, GK). They also brought on two 16 year-olds up front in the 2nd half during a 2-2 tie: Sullivan and Jasinsky... and the latter got the game-winner on a beautiful shot around the keeper after getting said assist from McGlynn. The team is so young and going against guys so much older than they are that they don't win all that much... but I don't care. They are 1-0 since getting a new coach and I am going to be watching them. Was also able to watch Caden Clark (17, AM) in that match and he looks legit. They were saying that he was invited and went to play with the Barca Academy a while back.
"We’re ready to do it and we want, at the Philadelphia Union, players to play for the U.S. national team. The only way this game will grow in this country is if our national team is strong and we want to be a club that has players in the youth national team and the full national team. We really believe in the American player, and it really has to be a situation where we are putting players on the national team and the game is growing and it’s the only way it will grow." - Jim Curtain
McGlynn played really well, but that wasn't a wonderful assist. That was a pass to Aaronson who was marked by a defender, that pass turned to be an assist after Aaronson dummied it.
That is debatable... IMO it was hit with the perfect pace and angle to get to Jasinsky and Aaronson noticed that and had the smarts to lay off it using a dummy.
Watched another USL team running out a very young lineup... Atlanta FC II. US Youth Intl's getting the start against Birmingham included: Wiley - LB - 15 years old Gannon - AM - 17 Mejia - AM - 16 Reilly - CDM - 16 They also have an England Dual Nat in Conway (18) who didn't play but has 3 goals in 4 games so far. Several others 18 and under that didn't see the pitch in this 1-0 loss: https://www.transfermarkt.us/atlanta-united-2/startseite/verein/64328
In all honesty, it’s probably too young. In a way, I wish (when things return to normal) that we see the development of a legitimate nationwide u21 league for these guys, and that the reserves is made up more as a place to rotate the bench guys into getting minutes.
Can you be more specific? Is it because the teams that promote youth generally are young everywhere and therefore lose most of their games? I watched Atlanta United II yesterday and they played pretty well... controlling the ball and planning decent attacks but the veteran Rowdies were able to cash in on their chances and it ended in a 2-0 defeat. It could be argued that putting these young kids up against experienced players is advantageous but failing to win games must be tough on some of these guys.
Fair enough... I’d say at that reserve level, you still want some adults rotating in the line up to give these kids some instruction.
I get being excited about youngsters and a lot of really good player make themselves known at pretty young ages. But, I think we're making a mistake if we ignore the possibilities of late bloomers. In the US and elsewhere, plenty of late bloomers have grown into important players. Off the top of my head, McBride is an obvious example who improved into his 30s, Beckerman was a mid 20s lifelong MLSer, but stepped in and was an important part of the national team. Dempsey was still in MLS until what 25 or so? Just because the current batch of mid 20s MLS guys Berhalter has called in have been sub-par, it doesn't mean you have to over-react by just forgetting about any MLS guy over some arbitrary age. We love our teen phenoms around here, but it is important to remember that most players are still a work in progress until much later and you don't necessarily know what you will get from a guy at 28 just by looking at him at 20.
Completely agree. But, Glutton only listed 4 puppies. For me, that would be fine, if the rest of the guys on the field were older.
I'm all for the late bloomers. I defend college soccer, saying that college soccer is not a problem. Some guys bloom later than others. However, imo, what's driving my interest in the thread is MLS's crappiness as a developer of young American talent. The academies are producing talent. But, not much of it plays in the league. As I've said too many times, my only interest in MLS is as a feeder for the MNT. There are tons of games that have only 1 or 2 US eligible players. And, sometimes none of them are young. If there are prospects playing in USL, frankly, I'd rather watch USL. Almost none of them will play for the MNT. Probably most won't make it to MLS. But, citing Glutton's post, if I can watch a match that has a team with four young professionals that may one day be NT quality, I'd pick that every single time over a match that has none. I wonder if Dempsey would even have gotten a chance in today's MLS. He came into the league as a 21 year old midfielder. Drafted 8th. There's a pretty good chance he would never develop in today's MLS.
If Dempsey came into today's MLS as a 21 year old midfielder, everyone would be writing him off because he's already 21 and not playing in a Champions League game. Dempsey had seven goals and an assist in 2,000 minutes his first year. There's a few 1998s that have gotten big minutes last year and used them -- Reggie Cannon, Auston Trusty and Djorde Mihailovic. I'd say Djordje and Mason Toye are the 1998s that are in MLS that maybe have real talent that haven't gotten as much of a chance because of buying foreign players. Maybe Marco Farfan, though it's mostly been Villafana blocking him, no? The others are players like Shannon Hopeau, Eric Calvillo, Josh Perez, Brandon Vazquez. In the 1997s, you have Justen Glad, Jeremey Ebobisse, Kyle Duncan, Hassani Dotson, Aaron Herrera, Brooks Lennon, Jonation Lewis, Derrick Jones, Keaton Parks, Miles Robinson, Sebastian Saucedo, Eryk Williamson and Jackson Yeuill. There's a few guys like Williamson, Danny Acosta, maybe Lewis and Saucedo where you can argue they should get more PT, but Williamson is the only dude who didn't get any chance until this year. I guess I'm just missing the idea that a talented player won't get PT. Who are the guys you are worried about buried on MLS benches at 21? I can name like 3. I get that you basically just want MLS to produce for the USMNT and ignore everything else, but that's an unrealistic expectation.