Congratulations to Ilie Sánchez on becoming a US citizen today! 🦅🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/71X57Kv1b4— LAFC (@LAFC) March 30, 2023 Midfield depth piece for the cycle?
Is that Timothy TIllman playing the national anthem on his phone at 14-15 seconds? Congratulations to Ilie Sánchez on becoming a US citizen today! 🦅🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/71X57Kv1b4— LAFC (@LAFC) March 30, 2023
Well... in his case he would need to file a one-time switch.... which would be permanent. Just like Tillman did. So for me, I will believe it when/if he officially signs on the dotted line.
We need to put our best social media US flag spamming reply guys on Amir Richardson Recruiting Amir Richardson will be a lot harder than recruiting Folarin Balogun. pic.twitter.com/4EPuDmyCZc— Psycho_Yank 🇺🇸 (@_LatinoYankee_) March 30, 2023
Indeed. To me that seems like one that got away. He's already provisionally tied to Morocco, right? I don't know if the U23 Olympic qualifiers he's playing in for Morocco are cap-tying or not. Can't win 'em all. I don't think Amir has ever lived in the United States. Right? Born and raised in France. Obviously, he has American connections thru his father. With these players that have never lived in the States, I always just really celebrate the wins. Accept the losses. Jens Cajuste and guys like that. There is zero chance we win 'em all. Cuz their connections to the states culturally are sometimes quite weak. Amir doesn't speak English. Just for one thing. His mom has been his translator when he gives interviews to American soccer press. His father lives in Oklahoma, and Amir travels over a couple of times a year to visit. That's his connection. And since he's been an adult, those travels are shorter and less frequent. If your choices are France, Morocco, and the United States......................those are three pretty good choices.
I’ve said this on here a few times but I’d bet we end up with him still. He has ~no chance at France and Morocco still hasn’t called him up. His position is weak for us, has a famous American father, and we win all these battles. Not sure why folks aren’t more confident that we’ll always get anyone we actually want because we have effectively won every meaningful dual battle for the last half-decade plus.
We need to start talking to him before he makes his decision. We all know that his dad would like for him to play for the USMNT. So he has more connections than Balogun.
Dual-nat Zambrano declined an invitation to Ecuador. Ecuador U20 manager stated in a press conference that Marcos Zambrano declined an invite. Was recently with the US U19s but has also been with U20s.The Benfica youth striker was born in Ecuador and developed in both Ecuador & the US, including at the Philadelphia Union academy. https://t.co/GBoJN2Apmg— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) March 29, 2023
He's provisionally cap tied with Morocco's U23s already and he'll be playing in Ligue 1 next season. I don't know about Morocco's depth, but I would be surprised if he doesn't get called for the 1st team in the next year.
If we have good vibes on Balogun, might as well shoot for the stars with Richardson. We are in dire need of depth/competition for Tyler Adams. Operation Balogun Charm Offensive went apparently wonderfully, lets conduct the same operational procedures with Amir
The good news is he is not cap tied because he wasn't playing in U23 Olympic qualifiers for Morocco. There were U23 African Cup of Nation qualifiers occurring last window. They would be cap tying, but as the host Morocco was not participating and instead their U23 team played a series of qualifiers. If he were to play in the U23 African Cup of Nations this summer, he would be cap tied and also ineligible for the Olympics were he to switch to us. I imagine his connection to the US is about roughly similar as his connection to Morocco. The guy grew up in France with an American father and a Moroccan mother. Morocco is very good at dual national recruiting themselves though. All we can do is be in contact and see if he's interested. And hope he doesn't get provisionally cap-tied this summer.
I know Amir gave an interview like two years ago in which he said he hadn't been contacted. I'd be shocked if we haven't been in touch with him. The USSF and USYNT staffs put a lot of work into this behind the scenes. Even so, this is one that isn't trending in the right direction. We're not going to win 'em all. I know we obsess about those that get away. But our track record here is exceptional. Balogun would be the next success story. We're now recruiting players like Musah and Dest that big federations didn't want to give up on. Its not just the CONCACAF nations that we're out-competing these players for. But we're not going to win 'em all. And the losses, like Jens Cajuste, will come from the group of players with marginal American connections. People act like Michael Ray Richarson is a good connection. The guy suspended from the NBA for making anti-semitic and homophobic slurs. Michael has been estranged from Amir's French-Moroccan mother. Its Amir's mother that raised him. He doesn't even speak English. The interviews I've seen with Amir indicated he wasn't closing doors to the US program. But there was also nothing about any of his comments that indicated he was particularly interested. Reminded me a lot of Jens Cajuste..............
I think French has too many good players unless his a world-class player he will not play for French. The only real competition we have is with Moroccan.
We haven't heard from Amir Richardson in awhile and who knows what he's thinking at current. And we don't need to defend any comments from him, but he does appear to have a fairly good relationship with his son. I don't know about his relationship with his mother, but he does appear to have been fairly present in his son's life. From the interview a few years ago http://americansoccernow.com/articl...-as-richardson-sees-career-take-off-in-france On this day, Richardson has been joined by a visit from his father – who tries to make the trip to France once or twice a year. Back home in Oklahoma, he watches all of Amir’s games with Le Havre online. This visit, however, is particular significant because Micheal Ray is getting to watch Amir play not just as a youth or academy player, but as a first team professional. “This year is a dream come true for me,” Micheal Ray Richardson said. “Just to see your son take these steps. I remember when he was a little kid and we would play with the small sponge ball, we were playing between each door. He was kicking it and I was trying to block it. Now see him fulfill his dreams is unbelievable for me. I am so proud of him.” “He loves basketball,” Micheal Ray Richardson said with a smile. “During the summer when I do my camps, he would come with me in Patterson, NJ or Florida and he loved it. I used to tell him, you're good with your feet, not with your hands. I told him he has great feet, but I have great hands [laughs].” Richardson connection with the United States is not distant. He visited the country often growing up and still tries to make it over stateside when he can. But as he became a top young player, it became harder to come over often or for long periods of time. “When I was growing up, most of the time I would spend in France, but I went back and forth to the United States quite a bit and stayed sometimes four or five weeks,” Richardson said. “I've always played in high-level French academies since the age of 10, so the summers would get shorter, and I would have too many games.” And if you go back and read some of the articles Cajuste had much more than a marginal connection to the United States. Sometimes guys prefer to play for a different country. They are making a decision solely about soccer. It doesn't make them any less American or mean that they must not have had a connection to the US.
Whenever we have a situation like Amir Richardson, people twist themselves in knots trying to convince themselves that there's a substantial emotional connection to the US. Of course I want to recruit as many of these dual-nats as possible. I also expect to lose some. And to me....................Amir Richardson seems like one we're going to lose. For obvious reasons. Of course, I wasn't feeling very positive about Balogun until I was. Very recently. And we're not actually across the finish line on that one. I tend to think we get these marginal dual nats when we establish a relationship with them on the youth level. Dest is exhibit A on that.
Interesting. I wonder what part of Oklahoma that his father lives in. Obviously Dike is from Edmond (where I live and a northern suburb of Okc). I did a search and at one time he was in Lawton (very SW corner of Oklahoma). Doesnt' really matter, just wonder if they've ever talked.
The thing is he does have connection to the United States in that his father is American and there is clearly a strong relationship there, and he did go there often growing up. I’m sure he has a similar connection with Morocco. You can feel an emotional connection with multiple countries. I have no idea whether Amir Richardson will pick the United States or not. What I take issue and deciding based on a few comments that is connection to the US isn’t strong or not American enough. There’s no one way of being an American. That’s sort of the point of our whole country and something that is somewhat unique to the United States. And the other point is whether or not a guy picks us for soccer, they are still American and they don’t lose that upon that choice. A player can have a very strong emotional connection with the United States and still pick another country. All we can do is be in contact with dual nationals, make clear what we offer and how we see the player fitting in with the national team, and build a relationship that hopefully leads to them wanting to play for the United States. With Amir Richardson he may very well pick someone else. But there’s no harm in being in contact.
I wasn't upset with the loss of Jens Cajuste. I watched his game for than once, and his game resembles K. Parks. He is very technical, but a bit nonchalant when defending.
Ilie was then asked by @JonathanSigal if he would be interested in representing the #USMNT"Yes I would...I would be very, very proud and excited about the opportunity" he said, but due to the strength of the midfield he thinks, "It's difficult for that to happen."— Justin Ruderman (@JustinRuderman_) March 30, 2023