Well Salernitana is doing what everyone expected Venezia to do in terms of whipping boy status, so that leaves effectively two relegation spots. doesnt look like Torino is gonna be in the mess this year, so that leaves the likes of Empoli, Cagliari, Spezia, Genoa, and whoever the surprise team of the year will be. Sassuolo look like theyre having a rough time out of the games, maybe its them
I mean no one is saying the kid is a serf or anything like that. No one is forcing him to sign with Philadelphia and he decided to avail himself of one of his other options. The question is only whether that's the right choice for his development. I mean independent of position players should go over when they have an opportunity that presents a clear path to playing on the first time. The number one thing you need to develop is playing games. And I don't think there is anything wrong with the development path of Mark McKenzie who still went over to Europe at age 21. Of our top defenders the only one who was fully developed in Europe is John Brooks and he's a dual national so that's a different case. Robinson, McKenzie, Miazga, Zimmerman and Ream all started in MLS. Richards is the unique case because he signed with Dallas and his first trial with Bayern came the month after he signed his contract. But he was only able to get that trial because he was with FC Dallas.
There are a good number of examples of success via different paths. The 'right' path depends on the particulars of a kid's life circumstances, which can be difficult for an outsider to know. My mention of defenders was with reference to those for whom playing in the Top-5 was a high priority. Richards left at 18. Che is leaving at 18. Gomez is leaving at 18. Reynolds left at 19.
The Aaron Heard case is really weird. But hey, sometimes a player and organization have a falling out. We don't really know what happened. He can play in the St. Louis academy for a couple of years. Then when they join MLS in 2023, he can play with their first team (Assuming he can qualify as a homegrown signing. I don't know whether Philly owns his homegrown rights.). Then when he turns 18, he can see if the Euro opportunity arises. Its just weird when a kid talked about as the best player of a particular age group in the country leaves the best academy in the country (yes, they're academy level is probably better than FCD right now) for inexplicable reasons. In would be like the best kid in the Spanish academy system leaving Real Madrid for Ibiza. Everyone would be like.........................."what the hell is going on there?" Sure, there are reasons why a player would do that. It would just raise a helluva lot of eyebrows. We know what went on with Jonathan Gomez. By the way, I'm surprised that news hasn't broken that Gomez has officially signed a pre-contract with a club in Europe. Maybe he's just not announcing it to focus on his play with Louisville. And I'd say he's going thru his toughest stretch at the moment as a first team player.
I mean Richards, Che, and Reynolds all signed with FC Dallas initially. Richards got his Bayern move through FC Dallas, just like Che likely will. And Che and Reynolds have both played for FC Dallas in MLS. None of them are a comparable situation to Heard. Gomez is, but we've yet to see the result of his choice and how it will work out for him.
Hoppe gets the start for Mallorca against Real Madrid, who are up 1-0 early via Benzema and EPB not even on the bench for Troyes. That is increasingly looking like a Horvath-esque move.
Hoppe has looked good. Made some nice passes, has good movement, officially given an assist. Unfortunately Mallorca’s defense is a sieve Would like to see a Hoppe/Pepi pairing up top
Sweet goal....................... If you want to know what a mess Valencia is, they let Lee walk away on a free transfer. 🇺🇸 Hoppe assist!https://t.co/DhNLHGDNxO— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) September 22, 2021
Pefok scored a goal today. Even Franco Jara could have scored this one. Pefok's goal. poacher's delighthttps://t.co/Gmi0gNhkbI— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) September 22, 2021
Although dual-nat Philippe Sandler is starting at CB for Troyes. So at least we have that going for us. Maybe............................. Didn't we hear there were fitness issues with EPB? It wouldn't surprise us because he basically didn't have a preseason.
Just a little reminder that we had young Americans start today at the Bernabeu and the San Siro..................who WEREN'T on our last WCQing roster. Oh, the state of the 2021 USMNT! Busio getting some really good reviews online for his play in Venezia's 2-0 loss to Milan. Tessmann also came on late in that game. Venezia have looked better of late, and I'm slightly more confident about their survival. Just slightly.
They do look good. Spezia also gave Juventus all they could handle today. They got some fight to them. Could make for an exciting season.
Another fun thought I just had. Matthew Hoppe was cut from the Galaxy academy. He never represented US youth national teams on any level. Today he started for Mallorca against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.
Not sure of the veracity of this report but move potentially pending for Pepi 🚨 I'm told Ricardo Pepi could agree a move to Europe in the next two weeks 🇺🇲 #USMNT #DTID - Clubs from 🇮🇹🇩🇪🏴- 4 #UCL clubs- Fee higher than Alphonso Davies'Report for @90min_Football 👇https://t.co/XaqmUn421a— Chris Smith (@Chris_SXI) September 23, 2021
Busio is progressing very well. You know that you can take a nap during MLS games and not got punished. But in Séria A, he got his tough lesson in Game 2 when he made an error, the ball then was in the net. It is funny when Hoppe was fighting with Real Madrid’s center defenders, Gioacchini was fighting Bordeaux’s, then people got excited about Zardes.
Tessman took a small nap today and it cost them a goal. It will take a little while, but he's going to be a useful player for them too. It looks like they want to have Busio attack more and see Tessman as more of a defensive mid.