I just went back and watched a few minutes around minute 30. It is very clear that by then Axel was in the left and Maximo in the middle. Outman played on the right the whole half.
Actually, I stand corrected. Outman is to the left. Axel in the middle. And Carrizo in the right against Holland. But I'll stand by my point that Augusto needs to take a chill pill.
Good, I really thought I was going crazy for a minute. I don’t think being publicly upset about YNT decisions is a good thing either - just that I understand where he’s coming from.
He was the one who insisted that Carrizo play up where he is clearly outmuscled. If he's the talent that you and his dad seem to think, he should have made more of an impact. Remember, his dad was mad that he wasn't called in for the U17s. So add another year of age and size. There's a lot of excuses being made for petulant responses. Pulisic was the same age as Carrizo when he blitzed the Brazil U17s in the Nike Friendlies of December 2013, scoring in a 4-1 win. He was clearly the best player on the field (and he'd do it again the next year, though I think we lost that one). I don't say this to downgrade Carrizo, but Christian had more success and has always had less drama and always been one for the shirt. The idea that talent justifies petulance or selfishness, or insulting your teammates or all the other implications of comments like these is ridiculous. What a terrible take. It's horribly entitled. It's a team, and you earn your spot. You are there to help the team win. He was ineffective while on the field -- tell me again, why does he deserve more time? He's not the only person playing out of position or has been played out of position. If missing 4 MLSNP games is going to hurt Carrizo's development, he has no business being on this team. But it's not, and his dad doesn't think so. He's just a whiny bitch who threatens to take his ball and go home every time something doesn't go his way. It's god awful parenting, and if Maximo takes his cues from his dad, he likely won't come anywhere near his potential. Who knows if he does, but his dad is a man-baby and that's rarely a good role model. I hope so. Not in the sense that he picks the US. That will be what it is. But in the sense that his dad isn't doing him any favors desperately trying to live through his child. I get that he's 15, so he I don't expect him to be able to get his dad to be quiet, but it'd be better for him if he did. I know most people will disagree, but we are going to have enough talent that we absolutely don't need prima donnas. Everyone needs to decide whether they want to be part of the team. That's up to them.
I thought the attacking midfielders in this tournament were poor. Carrizo didn't do much either, but it seems like he could have been an upgrade to the players in the middle. That said, Carrizo can go with Argentina if he likes. Three training sessions in two weeks given the crazy travel and three games played sounds about right. It's unfortunate that he didn't have a good experience, but this guy seems to be looking for stuff to be mad about.
Carrizo plays with grown men in MLS Next Pro and doesn’t get outmuscled; he also has teammates who can actually get him the ball through pressure rather than just launch hopeless long balls. I don’t think any of the forward line from the NED game got a fair chance; not Perez, not Outman, not the kid playing striker. Missing 4 MLSNP games is not about development, it’s about doing his job for a club that pays him 110K a year. If you get pulled away from your job and you felt like your time was wasted you would be annoyed too. Lord knows I feel like it in a lot of meetings. I think, in this situation, it’s not crazy to feel disrespected and undervalued. Pulisic didn’t get thrown in at FB against Brazil, and the Nike Friendlies were one of the capstones of the U17 cycles and not some early exploratory camp like this one was. You don’t think Carrizo is good enough for the hassle, ok. I disagree. Even if I didn’t, though, I’d think it’s poor personnel management the way players were used in this camp.
Looked through AC's twitter profile again...well the good news is it looks like he's a real fan of NYCFC, but he brings real Kleiban energy for me, needlessly talking down on other US attacking mids, even commenting on a Cavan Sullivan post, now going into USSF doesn't know how to use true #10s mode. I even agree with him crapping on that 11Yanks post that listed Alvarado as a creative playmaker and pouring a little cold water on Cavan but its clearly all in service putting other kids down to hype up his kid as the only true world class attacking mid prospect in the US.
It was a rough week, but Morales scored two goals across the week. Carrizo also didn't do a ton in this last game. Maybe it's simply time to note that maybe he didn't earn being the 10 for all three games? Is that a possibility? That Perez or Morales, both of whom are very good players, simply were better in camp? Oh, you think that's what his dad is upset about? Really? We both know he's just being petulant about his kid not playing. But when he did play, he didn't do much. You show it on the field. It absolutely is. Morales outplayed him. Period. A successful person works harder to earn the spot. The loser whines. Yes, a CAM playing winger is exactly the same as putting a CAM at FB. Good analogy. And yes, Pulisic has played FB for Chelsea quite a bit. And when his died whined once, it's pretty clear that Christian shut him once. Then why is his dad so pissed? There was heavy rotation in an early cycle camp and basically instead of simply outplaying others, they are going to try and blackmail/take their ball and go home. Remember, this isn't the first time we've seen Daddy try to influence PT this way. No, no, no. For one, I think the US should judge Maximo on Maximo. But they should not kowtow or accede to his dad at all. But if he acts like his dad does, I don't think anyone is worth it. Teams that win have talent but they also play as a team. There's a reason Pep jettisoned Joao Cancelo even though he didn't have a real LB on the roster. There's a reason the US feel apart in 1998 and 2017. And there's plenty of players in this world who are much better than Carrizo that don't create drama like this. No player should be scared of competing. And Daddy's repeated attempts to force PT for his kid tells me he thinks his kid shouldn't need to. I think it's disastrous to cater to hype and not to who is actually playing well. Seems like the camp rotated players, like any camp should. There's a lot of attacking talent, and players like Morales or Perez aren't exactly chopped liver. The younger and smaller players struggled, and probably got a bit less time. And honestly, if he acted anything like his dad does, he'd be lucky to get any time.
Leaving aside the fathers response - which again, I don’t agree with, and I think if the U17s express interest won’t matter anyway - this is the core of how I feel: - This was a camp early in the cycle. It was a chance to see players in competition - Carrizo plays as a 10 full time for a club team that competes at a much higher level than U16 international. He is a locked in starter when available. - there were 3 10s and 3 games. I’m not trying to slight Morales or Perez - both were solid players and deserved opportunities as well. The opportunity to play Carrizo in his correct role was there. - traveling to Japan and giving up time with your club, especially as a full time professional, is a significant personal investment. To me, unless there was a significant issue behind the scenes (in which case why play Carrizo at all) it’s insensitive to ask Carrizo and only Carrizo to play out of position, and to give him the short end of the minutes too.
That's fair. I wouldn't say its insensitive but we want to kick the tires on all these kids at their positions. The roster was a bit short of wide attacking players. Maybe that's poor planning. I do think Santi is right now the best of the three 10s on the roster. So there are various things to weigh. As I noted in a previous post if Maximo's ties to the team are so tenuous maybe we should just accept his heart is with Argentina. I bet Argentina has a surplus of 10s in every age group and some of them are tried at other positions.
I don’t think the Carrizo door is shutting any time soon, exactly because it’s so competitive to be an Argentine 10. One U16 camp isn’t going to change that. Also, Shore played solely at RW despite only playing CM/AM for the NYCFC academy, definitely a sign wingers were lacking.
I think the thing is there seems to be the idea that Argentina is for sure going to be an option for him. When it’s not at all clear that will be the case.
Why? You act like he rode the bench the whole week. Regardless of your feeling of the long term, it looked to me that both Morales and Perez outplayed him. You're looking for special treatment to play something because of your feeling of long term potential. Someone needs to play out of position. All of these players took time out of their professional development -- and they all either have pro contracts or are fighting for them. Carrizo's dad whined and bitched that he wasn't invited to play up. Then he goes to a team where he is playing up, and plays behind two very good players who are a year older than him. Oh no! He had to play wing, which is a position that literally EVERY 10 EVER has played at one point. FFS, Lionel Messi has played most of his career as a wing. And if you're a small 10 with little chance for any size, guess where you are going to play? It's either on the wing or on a less league. And maybe he was the best choice of the three to play the wing? Maybe that was what was best for the team? The "insult" here is still getting time as a young player, getting to go to Japan and play for your country. Carrizo's not the only player there. You want him to play because you think he's a better prospect. His dad expects it to the level of being a spoiled man-baby. And almost every coach out there says, you have to actually win the spot. You have to be there to help the team win. That's what the national team is about.
The other thing to consider is that there is some very talented young player out there who would have gratefully accepted what was really a wonderful experience and opportunity to represent his country in Japan. I won't hold Augusto's words against his son. But the sense of entitlement and ingratitude they represent make me angry.
Let's divorce this from Maximo, because we don't know if he feels this way or it is just his crazy dad... ...But is there really any use for a player, who, in their first camp, where they are the youngest player, they consider it an insult to move from CAM to wing to help the team? Where do you even start with that? Hi, I'm new, but this is all about me. Even though basically every 10 in the world has played the wing at some point. And especially since I'm like 5'3" and if I want to play at a top level, I'm almost certainly playing wing and not a central midfield role. I mean, having the tiniest bit of positional flexibility would actually be a good thing if you aren't stuck in an absurd level of entitlement.
I definitely don’t blame the player for his dad’s response. And if he’s good enough we should continue to call him up. But the lesson of the Reyna situation is we need less not more of this sort of stuff from the parents of players.
So many players start out as 10s and end up playing other positions. God save us if he were asked to play left back.
Carrizo isn’t that small, though. He’s much bigger than Perez who is a full year older. He’s bigger than Shore. He’s just the youngest guy out there in a time where a lot of guys are growing fast.
But they don't? Not anymore. It was common in the past, but... Bruno Fernandez is 5'10". KDB is 5'11". Messi is much shorter, but he's played the vast majority of his career as a winger or a false 9. Pedri's a bit smaller; he's 5'9". Neymar is really a 10; he's always played on the wing. He's also 5'9". Jamal Musiala is 6'. Phil Foden is 5'7" ... and he's played on the wing. Napoli runs its offense through the wings. Those great Liverpool teams used Firmino at the false 9 as a playmaker. Teams like Brighton and Newcastle don't use a 10. You know where there's a LOT of 5'3" 10s? MLS. Lucho Acosta, Maxi Morales, Sebastian Giovinco, Lorenzo Insigne (who plays winger) ... But at the top level? Players who get bullied in the center of the pitch get moved to the wing. You simply don't have guys that small outside of the first line very much. The last top flight, high end CM I can remember at 5'6" or smaller is the power cube, who is as wide as he is tall.
I have no idea how tall he ends up. But there's not actually a ton of teams at the highest level who play the primary playmaker in the central midfield, period, and as I just noted in my other post, there's really not one under 5'9" playing centrally. And some of those guys, like Neymar, end up at winger. Swinging between CAM and winger might be one of the most common positional changes in the entire sport. We literally have 3+ players on our senior team who have done it and do it -- Pulisic, Reyna and Aaronson. (Not to mention Booth, Tillman, etc.)
My personal opinion is that the size/strength of a player doesn't determine whether he can play inside or outside, but more so how a team is set up to play definitely does. Right now we're just in a era of the game where everything is direct and teams are trying to find the quickest way to goal. Just like 5-10 years ago it was Tiki Taka. Bernardo Silva is playing in the most physical league in the world at the #10 and he's 5 ft.6. You look at the profiles you have and decide what's the best way to maximize the qualities of each player. Doesn't matter really if they're 4 ft tall or 6 ft. If the players have the qualities, creativity, ability to influence the game then they can play centrally. In the current U20 World Cup, Baldanzi of Italy is like 5 ft 4 and has played 20+ games in the Serie A at the #10. Asprilla of Colombia is 5 ft. 8 and maybe 100 pounds if that lol and he played 37 matches in the Championship this season. Both players with unbelievable creativity and ability to unlock a team on their own. That's something we don't focus on developing or the national teams simply don't value this type of player. It's an interesting topic to discuss. I feel like in our National Teams we typecast positions so much. The #6 is the other position where everyone thinks you have to be this super athletic player that covers lots of grounds, makes tackles, win's every dual. We forget that many teams around the world utilize the #6 to just be a player that keeps possession flowing and be the outlet to play out from your own half. Look at that boy Granados-Torres from Orlando City that went and had a massive tournament with Spain at the U17 Euros this past month. All the commentary on him from our USYNT fan base is that he's not defensive enough, doesn't get stuck in, doesn't run lots etc.
Should also add that in general I don't think we saw anything really impressive from our U16's in those 3 matches. Good individual players in that team of course! But it's clear there was no identity or way of playing that's either been given to the boys or maybe the boy's aren't able to deliver it. At time's it felt the team wasn't even playing with a midfield. Jimenez and Torres together at the double-pivot is good when you're trying to defend a game but it just ends up inviting pressure on the back as neither of them could connect passes or transition the team into offence. Great profiles that fit the description of the #6's we like in our country, but we surely could've used another profile to help us control the game and help the team build possession. We saw it just now with our U20's. Against easy teams you can win on individual qualities, but the moment you face a real team you quickly figure out you're missing the profiles needed to win games at these high levels. All the size/strength focuses go out the window.