The Official Cruz Medina thread

Yesss finally

 

That is some funky, cold news.

 

Guess that explains why we let Diego Luna walk so casually to RSL?

 

Maybe Luna didn’t want to sign in San Jose?

 

Maybe Luna didn't want to have to compete with Cruz? (And Cade Cowell, and Niko, and Benji, and Bouda, and Richmond).

 

I think the Quakes have been aware that Medina is special for a while. I suspect they wanted to see how his growth spurt would go. Would he be big enough to compete at the highest levels? Keep his insane coordination?

I had questions when the Quakes signed Fuentes and Akanyinge because they were on the smallish side for the pro game (at their positions). Niko had a growth spurt before he was signed too.

 

Yes, but there is a cap of 10 max at a time. The tricky thing is do you spread out the positions or just sign best available? Too many signings in the same position mean you have a lot of players getting limited minutes (or developing out of position).

 

As Buzz Lightyear would say, “No, they’ll be expecting that.” We’re playing 4D chess right here, TS!

 

What's his kit number gonna be?

 

He was photographed with the number 99. Not sure if that is gonna be the official number or anything.

 

New nickname Gretzky.

 

On the MLS app & website there's an (video) interview with Brian McBride who speaks highly of Cruz Medina when discussing MLS NEXT evolution players.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/video/bri...ses-san-jose-s-cruz-medina-mls-next-evolution

 

From the MLS website trying to predict 2026 World Cup Roster.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/usmnt-roster-prediction-for-the-2026-world-cup-who-makes-it


Medina, who will be just 19 in the summer of 2026, is the one true bit of wishcasting I’ve done for this roster. He’s smooth as silk and probably more of a No. 10 (or even a No. 8) at the moment, but at the pro level I think he’ll end up as a playmaking winger.

Is it ridiculous to include a 16-year-old with zero top-flight minutes in this roster? Yes. But gang, Medina is so damn good. He reminds me of a cross between Reyna with how smooth he is receiving in traffic and then gliding past defenders, and Djordje Mihailovic with how quickly and precisely he picks the optimal pass.

So you’re going to have to give me this one flight of fancy.

Note that Reyna and Aaronson (and Medina!) can play/have played as a No. 10. So while I picked this roster with a 4-3-3 in mind, the opportunity to change the shape to a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-1-2 is built into the squad via individual versatility. Ok

 

He’s in the best position to do this. Quakes are betting all their chips on the youth. He’ll get the opportunity to show if he’s good enough.

 

That's quite a wishcast! I've seen Cruz look amazing playing with players his age but for Quakes II he was just kind of "meh". I know it's unfair to judge a guy who just turned 16 playing against guys 5 years older. But OTOH Niko Tsakiris is just a year and change older than Cruz and already looking like he could be a Quakes 1st team starter. Maybe Niko should be a wishcast?

Anyway, kind of silly to predict the roster 4 years out except for the guys who are virtual locks: Pulisic, Adams, Dest, Weah, Antonee Robinson, Gio Reyna, probably Musa, McKinnie (probably - was not super impressed with his WC - maybe not 100%), and Aaronson (probably).

 

Why isn’t Niko in that mix?

 

#mattdoyle

He's got Cade and even Jebo (remember the ridicule from some here for suggesting Jebo for USMNT?) in the "Keep Your Eye On" section. Niko should be there - but so many players, so little space in Matt Doyle's neocortex .

I think Niko's chances are better than Cade's and possibly Cruz's also.

 

Well, he'll still only be 21 in 2026, and it will get harder in the next cycle for 21 year olds to make it given that most of the current team will be returning. McKennie only had to be better than who? Lletget? So if you are projecting a really young guy to the roster in four years, he better have a massive ceiling.

I would imagine that's why Medina is the swing-for-the-fences pick -- the highest upside guy who still has the ceiling and is young enough to be a world class player. I mean, look what you have to do to be a winger on this roster -- the four guys ahead of you are Reyna, Pulisic, Weah, and Aaronson all right in the middle of their prime in 2026.

I love Niko as much as you, have probably embarrassed myself in this space touting him in fact. But there's a pretty long list of good young midfielders without Real Madrid ceilings you could also make the case for (off the top of my head, Mendez, Alvarado, Llanez, Taylor Booth, McGlynn, the Sounders youngsters, maybe someone like Edelman, Johnny Cardoso, Pukstas, Malik Tillman if he's an 8, etc etc).

 

The other thing is that I’m not sure about Doyle’s Cruz as winger thing. I’m not sure he has the pace for it at the intl level. And not sure he has the work rate to be an 8. If anything seems more like a 10 when you need a goal kind of guy - a playmaker for certain game states. But we’ll see…it’s a lot of hype and a lot of speculation for a young player.

I don’t think we should assume that the young guys who are mainstays on the roster today are locks. Who really saw them coming 4-5 years ago, and this was when people were completely distraught over US soccer after qual failure and what will we ever do! So why shouldn’t we believe there could be a new crop - at least some, that are even better. It only makes sense. If the US is on an upswing why should we assume that won’t continue and the next crop has even better players. The young guys on the team now - guys like McKinnie, will have to continue to get better or there’ll be someone to take their place.

 

A lot depends on the coach. Berhalter will keep his favorites. He probably needs replacing because his faves have shown they aren’t good enough. Doesn’t mean he was a failure but he will be next time with same-old-same-old.