With most of these players..................credit is a community effort. [And in the end doesn't really matter.] But yes, Gomez is squarely in the FCD ledger. I would say you'd think FCD social media would be making a big deal of the former FCD academy players with the USMNT and U20s. Use whatever recruiting tools you can. But they're not..........
Antonio Carrera and Nolan Norris were called into the USA U19s in Slovenia. Didn’t realize this about Norris: oldest of six kids, all of whom play at FCD, and the second oldest, Nylah, just got a call up to the USWNT U15s.
The Swann’s are like that. I think there are two boys and two girls. When talking about Caleb someone was telling me recently that the eldest girl is going to be really good. Apparently it’s a little too early to know about the youngest boy and girl. The Carrera’s also. Three boys and a girl. The girl is a pretty good player, we know Nico and Antonio are good. Probably too early to know about the youngest boy, but he’s in the FCD academy.
Another quality finish from Nighte. Nighte Nighte 😴Nighte Pickering scores goal number five!#MEMvCHS pic.twitter.com/FtOtf5f2JN— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 17, 2022
Besides Carrera and Norris being gone for the NTXSC match tomorrow, so will Mulato (Colombia U20 call up), and Kamungo (traveled with FCD). That's 4 starters gone for NTXSC, and it could mean minutes for some academy players.
Word on the street is that 16-year-old Julian Eyestone will be getting his first NTX start in net in this regular season final. https://t.co/8uKqfgozuA— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) September 18, 2022
A moment we'll never forget. Welcome to Major League Soccer, Bernie. pic.twitter.com/fPCH8ZQaOy— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) September 18, 2022
Our Starting XI for tonight's Texas Derby 🤠📺 https://t.co/4M80urvU5r#HOUvNTX | #DecisionDay pic.twitter.com/6GoKjWiYeJ— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) September 18, 2022 I note that Santi Ferreira played for the U19s yesterday, and they sent Ale Urzua with NTX instead.
Glad to see I was wrong on Mulato and Kamungo being absent for this. I will point out that this match, highlights the one thing that FC Dallas does right. Big game, so let's start 2 academy kids, Eyestone and Baker. Let's see how they handle the pressure. Most clubs would have started a couple of senior roster players in such a big match, but that's not the way FCD does things.
Well, that NTSC team lost to Houston 2-0. Anybody see it and can comment on the play? There are some little clips on twitter. But anyway, on to the playoffs! Bracket’s locked. 🔒The MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs kick off next weekend and we CANNOT wait.Details: https://t.co/cPZ1UjKu95 pic.twitter.com/chzDIwi1NZ— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) September 19, 2022
Our debutant gettin' loose! 🧤#HOUvNTX | #DecisionDay pic.twitter.com/pjhk9nWYX6— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) September 18, 2022
Looks like Thomas Roberts was on the bench but DNP. I thought FCD had a policy of their first team players at least get game time when they suit up for NTXSC. Hoping good things for Roberts but it doesn't look good when you can't get on the field for NTXSC. Ferri started but subbed off at 54 minutes. Looks like they are moving on with the younger guys.
I wonder if it’s work ethic, defense, or something off-field. I think he has ability and shows it sometimes. He’s had consistency problems in the past, but I don’t think that’s it. I don’t think he’s bad enough that he shouldn’t be getting on the field for NTSC. Something is not right with his situation.
Hopefully Roberts is the kind of kid that moves to another club, finds a role, and gets back on track. Well, he's never really been on track. I don't know what he's been on. Hanging around for 4 years on a nice contract. I think its simple. The organization has moved on from Thomas Roberts. Frankly, I think they moved on last year when they sent him to Austria. And its not like he did all that well in Austria. Why? I don't know. Its just never happened for him. Did they try to shop him in the summer window and couldn't find any takers? So now he's just hanging around until January? They'll presumably not trigger their last option on his contract.
NTXSC has moved away from guaranteed playing time for senior team members. Coach Kah has made it clear that playing time is earned, not just handed out.
I watched it. Houston played a very physical match. The ref was very lenient with his fouls, so it favored Houston's style of play. Some of the yellow flags recieved by NTXSC players, were retaliatory by nature, as it's clear that the young players were frustrated with the lax refereeing. This is the style of play that NTXSC can expect in the playoffs, so a good learning experience, despite the result.
Dynamo 2's backup GK stood on his head to keep it even through the first half, then Dynamo 2 took advantage of a couple of mistakes in the 2H and it got away from NTX.
A few YNT updates. Che starting for the U20s v Peru: Today's starting XI: 12 - Alexander Borto (GK), 2 - Mauricio Cuevas (Capt.), 3 - Justin Che, 5 - Brandan Craig, 8 - Jack McGylnn, 9 - Caden Clark, 13 - Jonathan Gomez, 16 - Rokas Pukstas, 17 - Brian Gutierrez, 18 - Alejandro Alvarado, 19 - Jackson Hopkins— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) September 21, 2022 Norris and Carrera started for the U19s v Malta: FT | What a performance 🤩 #U19MYNT🇺🇸 USA 5 - 0 🇲🇹MLT ⚽️16’ Reed Baker-Whiting (Esmir Bajraktarevic)⚽️57’ Esmir Bajraktarevic (Alex Freeman)⚽️60’ Rodrigo Neri (Zach Booth)⚽️68’ Rodrigo Neri (Favian Loyola)⚽️87’ Alex Freeman (Favian Loyola) pic.twitter.com/staF0eQSbt— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) September 21, 2022 And Anthony Ramirez started for Mexico's U18s in a warmup 1-1 draw against Finland.
If Pepi was also there they would compete with Philly for have the best players at this level. Pepi, Che and Gomez are a pretty good trio.
So Carrera and Norris are both part of additional family members playing. Philly does a good job of this but I guess FCD does too. Reynolds has a brother there as does Ferreira. Probably lots more I'm unaware of.
Pepi, Pomykal, Gomez, Che, Swann. It seems like too much of a coincidence that a few of the best academies have these combinations, and then worse academies tend to not have them. Maybe it is one.
The Pomykal family is done, I think. Three brothers all with "P" name. Pierce, Porter, and Paxton. Pierce played at Columbia, Porter is currently playing at Evansville, and then there's Pax. By the way, their father played soccer at the NCAA level at the University of North Texas. Preston Pomykal.
Welp An 𝔸ℕ𝔾𝔼𝕃 has landed in T-Town ✨17-year-old defender Angel Bernal becomes the youngest player in franchise history to sign a professional contract with FC Tulsa! 💪#ForTulsa— FC Tulsa (@FCTulsa) September 22, 2022
Nolan Norris just scored a terrific goal. USA up 2-0 early. @FurmanSoccer https://t.co/nFYxtdsNs0— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) September 23, 2022