This is an interesting moment, I agree that he doesn't look that fast, but every time he happens to be faster than opponents. Might be just fast enough. And I think he is skilled enough for AM. Look at his assist to Kamara. https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2023/matches/miavschi-03-25-2023/
I only like to give opinions when I have watched players a number of times. I mean guys like Puli, Wes, Tyler and Gio made me quite certain that we had top 5 contributors quick. Tyler at RB was so under appreciated it wasn‘t even funny. There are some guys, like Scally and Stu Holden back in the day, who I didn’t think were gonna be stars, but just felt like solid pros right away. Buck has that feel for me. He first time on the field for NE and he was confident, assured, not intimidated and played his role in the team smartly. He just fit right in and did not miss a beat. He looks to have taken another nice step forward already. Just reeks of a guy ready to go. I spend a decent amount of time in Boston now. That kid may force me to go to Gillette and watch a match. Watching live tells you so much more about what a player really is. Not just on the ball performance, off the ball, confidence, how his teammates treat him, their confidence in him and you get to truly understand player responsibility bestowed by the coach. No way clips will ever show you that. Gives a much better picture. I‘ll also go back to Bassett. With him I thought he had a shot at Feyenrood. It was a rah rah, I think he has a chance type thing. I didn‘t feel confident but was hoping. Didn‘t happen of course. With Buck I think after a year or so if he goes to that level he will be valued and just become part of the team naturally. Totally different expectations for me.
Yeah, he could be one of those guys. I truly hope so. Again, IMO, the first team he goes to, and how they play can make his career or slow it down. He certainly has something.
I don't think he's actually as rushed as the quote makes him sound. I bet he's in MLS for the full year, and then we'll see what happens. That would probably be best for him -- he's getting PT on a good team.
Buck's an 8 or a 6, and so I have trouble comparing him to Bassett. He can be very effective without the goal productivity that Bassett so hinges on. I think he's a better player. Gutierrez is worth watching. He's not super dribbly, but if you want a young attacking mid who always seems to make the right pass -- and makes some insane ones as well, he's your guy. He had a play last year to Duran that was nuts. There's a close up of the pass a couple replays in. The more you watch him, the more you realize this was less luck than one might think. https://www.chicagofirefc.com/video...-a-highlight-reel-assist-from-brian-gutierrez He isn't super athletic or very dribbly as I noted, though, so he's going to have to find his space in this kind of passing.
Noel Buck in the team, A Morris and Gutierrez on the bench https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/team-of-the-matchday-columbus-seattle-st-louis-dominate
I also think that often people don't realize how athletic MLS is. The athletic side of MLS translates to almost any league in the world its the individual and collective speed of thought that is not as high + of course the average technique along with it. So if someone is able to run by a bunch of guys in MLS, they can probably run people or keep up in any league if their brain doesn't hold them back. That is my opinion at least.
Buck had a strong match Saturday, keeping the ball, winning balls, being available and getting open. But man, he had some passes that were sick, that was another level kind of stuff. That's McGlynn but much more complete. Just one game, but he's one I've been watching, along with the rest of us. Before the season I picked Wiley, Buck, Edelman and Vargas to break out. Not going out on a limb with those, but it's good to see some production from a couple of those guys at least.
Ditto, I like Buck a lot and he is a sure thing for a great career but not necessarily Europe. I think he is closest to Adams in profile and has a similar start as he did. However, I am not seeing the extra little bit that will make him transcend to a top league. I could certainly be wrong.
I'll take a look at the match. I haven't seen this in him. Just a game where the passes are nice but not consistent to the next game.
Buck was legit good in that game. Some great switches, and playing people into space. Was covering good ground. Breaking up plays. Hard to know what improvements players will make but his floor is really high. Hard to know what the ceiling is for extremely dependable players that don’t have one eye popping trait. buck is a different player from Bassett but I guess we are saying in terms of ceiling? He has more well rounded tools. Bassett never struck me as a player that would translate up a level. Buck could be IMO and I’m never wrong because I forget anytime I’m wrong so believe me.
Agree. Also ... the tools you need to be an attacking mid (Bassett) are different than a 6 or 8 (Buck). The final third skills to be a high level player are pretty substantial, and Bassett doesn't have many of them. But Buck has good vision, is an excellent passer, steady on the ball. Good athleticism. You can get by a lot more with smarts and his skillset in central midfield.
But he does have an eye-popping trait - deep lying playmaking. He can hit a hard but accurate long ball over the top or thru a gap like a mf'er. I don't buy that he's not a high ceiling guy as a result. Then he just needs to apply that trait at speed, while being good enough in the other areas. He could uptick his work-rate, as well as his mobility. But he's got time, still in his formative years. And his foundation is significantly better than McGlynn's, at a younger age. That's why I think the claims (not necessarily from you) that McGlynn has a higher ceiling and is a better prospect are bizarre to me.
Nah, no need. I had a similar take on Tyler Adams, I was wrong and freely admitted it five years ago and still do today. OTOH, I was absolutely right on Pulisic when I saw him at 16.
Interesting. The US is one of the nations that could run a tournament like this on relatively short notice. FIFA has pulled the U20 World Cup from Indonesia.The tournament is still set to run May 20-June 11 and FIFA will announce a new host "as soon as possible".The United States are qualified for the premier youth int'l tournament.— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) March 29, 2023
Are the Chicago Fire not going to release Brian Gutiérrez for the U-20 World Cup? Ezra Hendrickson on Brian Gutiérrez: “I’m sure the U-20s will ask for his services, but first and foremost he’s with Chicago Fire.”#cf97 #vamosfire #usynt pic.twitter.com/ncuTSOxwDp— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) March 29, 2023 Look, I get it — Ezra is trying to keep his job. But organizationally, what message does this send to their top academy players? What does Guti want? Chicago lost a ton of talent in their academy recently. I could be wrong, but I doubt this approach helps with that. https://t.co/ns8kNkFt17— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) March 29, 2023
Eh. Its a good problem to have. We should want our top U20 players to be so valuable that their clubs won't release them for events such as the U20 World Cup. That's the way we want it to be. The Fire and any other clubs are within their rights to turn down callups. Euro clubs do it all the time. I remember when Reading turned down the callup of Novakovich. Their reasoning was they wanted him to be fresh for preseason. Then they barely used him in preseason games. Does not releasing players help or hurt an academy? That a U20 player is getting so much playing time that they don't want to release him? Doesn't sound like such an end-of-the world situation for recruiting, etc.
I don't think they will release him but the leverage would be a promise not to call him for the Gold Cup if they do. Though I don't think he's as close to the Gold Cup roster as some of the other U20s like Cowell and Wiley.
Did a lot of good to Reading. We want our top U-20 players to have maximum exposing. Paxten got sold on U-20 quals performance barely playing in MLS, Gutti skipped that tournament and now will continue to suck with the rest of Fire instead of the WC.
If he really wants to go, he should make that clear. I think US Soccer can probably apply a lot of pressure. Hendrickson isn't actually the final decision maker here. That said, I'm holding Hendrickson to it -- when Shaqiri comes back, Gutierrez better keep his starting job.