Dante Sealy's only played 24 minutes in Jong PSV's last 4 games. Hasn't scored a goal since October. Starting to wonder if his loan is going to be terminated early. FCD could use some depth this summer as they could lose forwards/wingers to international duty.
Count me as someone who doesn’t really *get* the World Squad, but a cool opportunity for Tarik Scott I guess? They cite Jose Mulato as a success of the first Squad, so I guess if Scott does well playing for them this summer he could…play for NTX? Go on Tarik! 👏 https://t.co/1j5vInR56t— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 8, 2022
Who will they lose other than potentially Jesus and Paul? I guess Velasco as well. They could lose Shon but he doesn't seem to be in the plans right now at FCD. This could be more time to see if Rezdic has anything and also let Obrien run around without fear of being subbed out. FCD is on a nice roll in the league and would be bad for them to drop if they lose a bunch of players for long periods of time but such is life in MLS.
I have no idea what the point of that is. But Bayern has time and money. So what the hell.................?? Fishing for a diamond in the rough.
Norris starts the second game of the trip too. Acaba de empezar el partido amistoso del #USMNT Sub-19 contra Noruega @ Marbella. Este es el XI inicial del equipo juvenil de EEUU 🇺🇸. Otra oportunidad para seguir viendo a chicos interesantes como Rodrigo Neri, Kobi Henry, Baker-Whiting, Juan Castilla y Jack Panayotu. #USYNT pic.twitter.com/PlcZ93Y3mH— Jaime Ojeda (@jaimeor96) June 9, 2022
Carrera makes the final roster. With Brady’s recent injury we might see Antonio quite a bit in the tourney. I’m assuming Che and Sealy were left off for sporting reasons unless someone tells me otherwise (Paredes isn’t here either - being in Europe and not playing much a tough sell this cycle maybe?). ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ʀɪsᴇ 💪The #U20MYNT will aim for its third-straight regional title plus berths to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup & 2024 Olympics at #CU20 this summer » https://t.co/DNMRfFmw2j pic.twitter.com/NjBDingFZ8— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) June 10, 2022
I should probably know what this means but I don't. When you say "sporting reason" you mean "he's not good enough to be on the roster" or something else?
‘06 Malachi Molina, ‘05 Anthony Ramirez, and (I think) ‘04 Manny Martinez are on a team together at ~0:30. The Frisco Open 🎾 pic.twitter.com/dDeS3xMYb1— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) June 10, 2022
After last night's match, the FCD academy USMNT goal-scoring chart is as follows. [These players spent time at the academy. I understand some more than others.] Ferreira moves Weston McKennie 9 (34 caps) Jesus Ferreira 7 (12 caps) Ricardo Pepi 3 (11 caps) Kellyn Acosta 2 (52 caps) Reggie Cannon 1 (26 caps) Shaq Moore 1 (15 caps) Chris Ricards 0 (8 caps) Emerson Hyndman 0 (2 caps) Bryan Reynolds 0 (2 caps) Jonathan Gomez 0 (1 cap) Paxton Pomykal 0 (1 cap) Brandon Servania 0 (1 cap) Tanner Tessmann 0 (1 cap)
Similar lineup as in Denver last week. '05 CM Lacy, '05 CB Grimm, and '06 CM Urzua make the bench. All would make their debuts if they were subbed on. Tonight's Starting XI 🤩#NTXvPOR pic.twitter.com/5dVt4P5d0r— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 12, 2022
Kamungo converts from the spot for @northtexasSC's dream start! 🎯 2-0! pic.twitter.com/Oi6RUuNY9u— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 12, 2022
2-1 win they'll be pretty disappointed with, I think. First really hot game of the year and it was sloppy and slow for long stretches. T2 had plenty of chances to tie it (NTX had plenty of chances to score more too, tbf). Urzua made it onto the field and didn't have a ton to do, but looked pretty nice in one-touch, rondo-ish situations. More Ferreira as a single pivot, though his ball security let him down some tonight. Also, '03 CB Araneda's gotten the last three starts at CB for NTX, beating out some of the older options (notably Niece) - his long passing to Bernard and Mulato really hurt T2 in this game. I can't comprehend the mind of a man that wears low shin guards as a CB, but he's played pretty well.
Watched Tarik Scott’s friendly today against Flamengo’s U20s. Ended 0-0. Was a winger in the first half and just okay - some nice footwork, some nice passing, but otherwise fine. Moved to the #9 in 2H and dominated. Not the biggest / oldest guy on the field, but his hold up play was great. Good running behind. On the end of the 4ish best chances for his team. Everything but a goal. I wasn’t doing a forensic analysis or anything, but he looked miles better than any of the World Team’s attackers. Don’t think it’s coincidence that he played the whole game. My understanding is the team will now disband for a few weeks before reconvening in Munich in July.
‘05s and younger in here: Ale Urzua, Nolan Norris, Mason Grimm, Jared Aguilar, and Dylan Lacy. Kind of an interesting group as an indicator of where FCD’s prospects come from. Urzua and Aguilar have, iirc, been with the Academy since U12 or younger. Norris joined from a smaller local club as a U13 (U14?). Grimm was the best player for Solar’s ‘05s before joining after U15 year. Lacy bounced around Philly’s and NYRB’s Academies before joining late in his U17 year. Throw in ‘04s like Carrera, who bumped up from Premier as a U13ish, and Ferreira, who’s been in FCD since he was in diapers, and Torre, who joined as a U19 from across the state, 8+ hours away. Funnel opens up as age groups get older. Unusual for kids to be recruited from a long ways away prior to U17 (with somewhat rare exceptions for high-upside profiles like Pickering (AL), Molina (FL), Vargas (NC), Vejrostek (AZ), Rios (El Paso), etc). Flexin 💪 pic.twitter.com/eQV3onua9L— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) June 14, 2022
Business trip to Vancouver against @wfc2. #homecoming #DTID pic.twitter.com/8iMPFJhyNg— Pa-Modou Kah (@PMKAH) June 15, 2022
That's now Will Baker, Nolan Norris, Diego Hernandez, and Aaron Salinas who have committed to Furman. Seems like these runs of commitments never end up leading to most of the players actually playing in college, but Furman and the SoCon just isn't a high enough level for these guys. I'm generally okay with prospects (and I think the latter three are at least fringe MLS prospects) who aren't in line for MLS minutes going to college for one (or even two) seasons, but only at the ACC level or close to it (Big East, PAC-12, etc). Maybe Furman was the best school willing to gamble their best scholarship offers on the whole group, though. Idk. Après Nolan Norris, deux autres joueurs très talentueux ont commit à Furman Soccer, Le gardien titulaire des U-19 Aaron Salinas ainsi que le milieu de terrain et capitaine du FC Dallas U-19, Diego Hernandez.Des très bonnes pioches pour le @collegesoccerfr.#DTID pic.twitter.com/lpMCzzgdGW— FC_Dallas FR 🇫🇷 (@FCDallasFR1) June 17, 2022
Furman seemed to work out okay for Clint Dempsey, Ricardo Clark, and Walker Zimmerman, who have over 200 USMNT caps between them and will soon all be World Cup veterans? Shea Salinas another one with a solid MLS career...
I think Doug Allison has been at Furman since before MLS started. We've had other FCD academy kids cycle thru there over the years. Bobby Edet was really good there, for instance. Furman's a pretty good program. It makes sense for a program that isn't in a talent rich state to go to Texas for talent. After all, very few major men's soccer programs in Texas, and lots of players to recruit. SMU takes its share of FCD academy talent. Grady Easton and others. As we know, just because players commit to NCAA programs doesn't mean they'll go. Kellyn Acosta committed to Maryland. Weston McKennie committed to Virginia. The list goes on. They cover that base, so have at least one path lined up post-academy. In the case of these particular players committed to Furman, I'm not sure if MLS homegrown deals will be on the table. We'll see. Maybe NTX deals. I can see players choosing NCAAs over MLSPro in 2022.
I know sometimes there's some pessimism about the FC Dallas academy and asking when there's going to be another big-time prospect, but I'm very optimistic about what I see from Myles Nicholes. He's a monster athletically. What he's able to do against kids his own age is crazy. His radius for making 1v1 recoveries, either from his own errors or those of his teammates, is nearly the whole width of the 18 yard box. He covers that much range side to side. Technically, he's also above-average. It's going to take him some time. His decision-making is only about average for a U-15 Next player, but as long as it sees some normal development, he's going to be a very good player in 3-4 years. You never know with U-15 players, but I think his floor is high enough that he's an inconsistent but very talented MLS CB without much development the next few years. Obviously his upside is higher, if he does. It's too early to sign him to a HG deal. Maybe a year from now, if he continues to show some development, but he's the next player in that academy that I feel like we'll eventually be talking about in the same discussion as players like McKennie, Pepi, Gomez, Ferreira, Pomykal, Corcoran, etc.
Players can help by being sold and making money or being not quite good enough to move - Servania - and staying and helping for years. Both are important.
They haven’t had a player drafted and signed to a contract since Zimmerman, who FCD took a decade ago next January. They haven’t produced an all-American since Zimmerman. The best player they’ve produced in the decade since Z appears to be either Ben Hale (another FCD connection), Greenville Triumph backup GK, or Laurence Wyke, who left Furman after a year to not quite make it with ATLUTD2. Players *can* make it on any path, just ask Luis Diaz or Musa Barrow, but that doesn’t mean every path is worth choosing.
Little side plot of the U20 CONCACAF qualifiers for FCD: the youngest player on Puerto Rico’s team is Antonio De La Torre, a ‘05 CM that plays for FCD Blue (two layers down in the FCD youth org below the Academy and Premier teams), NTX ODP, and his local high school. Barely got on the field for PR during the qualifiers for this tournament last fall, but they gave him #7 this time around so maybe the expectation is he’ll be more involved.