The Unlucky guys and Forgotten children of the USMNT

Another issue is the more players we develop, the higher the standard to get a callup. How many guys can get a serious callup (when all players are available in a FIFA window) over a 12 month period? 35 maybe? Guys are going to be left out simply because there are better players, not that they've imploded or regressed. Though some of those guys on the list have imploded. UGH

 

From the 2015 U-20 crew, Gedion Zelalem, Rubio Rubin and Emerson Hyndman were all considered high upside and future national teamers. I remember slotting Zelalem and Hyndman into my projected 2018 World Cup rosters at that time around the U-20 World Cup.

Zelalem has to be considered the 2nd biggest fall from hype in the history of US Soccer, after Freddy Adu. He was extremely hyped and was smooth as butter at the 2015 U-20 World Cup. It still stings to see that he didn't come good. With his skillset, he would have been the perfect complement in central midfield to destoyer Tyler Adams and runner Weston McKennie, and can you imagine a prime, potential-realized Zelalem combining in attack with Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna?!

I also was rooting for Joe Gyau for a long time and felt like he had some really bad luck with injuries during a key several year stretch in his development. And it happened right as he was knocking on the door of breaking through with Dortmund and the USMNT in late 2014 -- a period in which we desperately needed some better winger talent after Landon Donovan's retirement, dealing with a couple unspectacular role players in Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya, and this was pre-Christian Pulisic. Remember that Klinsmann played Gyasi Zardes on the wing a lot back in 2015-2016 because our winger cupboard seemed pretty bare. Even in 2017, we were starting 22 year old Paul Arriola in WCQ matches because he was the best option we had.

Among the younger guys who've been named in this thread, I think Haji Wright is a wonderful success story of a guy who was absolutely lost in the woods and USMNT fans had completely written off. Then he figures it out with his club, starts banging in goals, makes the World Cup roster, and scores in the knockout rounds. What a story. It gives me hope that some of these younger players can figure it out -- most have time on their side.

 

Like so many other US prospects, Zelalem had terrible luck with injuries. From the day he made his Arsenal debut until now, he's had only one season in which he did not lose at least two months to injury, and that was 2022.

 

I remember watching ATL United 2 play Louisville City about 5 years ago. Carleton took a PK and hit a light pole about 40 feet up and at least 20 feet right of the goal. It was one of the worst PK's I have ever seen. Lots of talent, very little focus.

Otasowie has gone AWOL from Brugges and no one has heard from him since December. There has been zero public comment about him, or by him since then.

 

I think there are kind of 4 categories for this.

1) Players who were talented and had bright starts, but other factors got in the way.
2) Players who got injured.
3) Players who went to clubs but never really panned out and likely were not what people projected them to be.
4) Players who just went to the wrong club.

I think the list of players for "Players who went to clubs but never really panned out and likely were not what people projected them to be. " is probably pretty large. Pre-2012, it felt like anyone playing abroad got a YNT cap if USSF were aware of them. In the last decade, it seems like anyone who has another country talking to them got a cap. Every age group has 15-18 players and like 1-2 of them may make the first team. The other 13-16 are kind of just fillers. Those people are talented, but not elite. We see player X at [insert team in Euro league here] who is getting call-ups and assume they are the 1-2 making the first team, when they are likely filler who had the potential upside to be a good pro.

 

One thing I've been guilty of as a fan and I think a lot of us are as well is overrating or getting too excited about youth players on the rosters of big clubs. It's important to keep in mind that there are tons of players on the youth rosters or academies of big European clubs who never make it at the top level and end up as lower league players (i.e. Championship, League One, League Two in England). It's easy to get excited when a Jovan Kirovski, John Thorrington or Jonathan Spector is on the books at Manchester United, a Marc Pelosi or Brooks Lennon at Liverpool, Konrad de la Fuente or Ben Lederman at Barcelona, Gedion Zelalem at Arsenal, Sebastian Lletget at West Ham, Bryan Arguez at Hertha Berlin, Kamani Hill at Wolfsburg, Sal Zizzo at Hannover 96, Vincenzo Bernardo at Napoli, Gabriel Ferrari at Sampdoria, etc.

But for every Christian Pulisic or Gio Reyna as youths at a big club, there are many others who never make it at a high level.

 

Julian Green’s second goal today in Greuther Furth’s 2-2 draw with Eintracht Braunschweig. Green now has six goals in 26 league apps. #USMNT pic.twitter.com/Ri4697geHr

— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) May 13, 2023

 

Good point and I'm going to adapt it a bit:

There were many good players on teams from 1998-2006. (Yes, the 98 team was an epic disaster, but several players had individual talent.)

Take the skill level of one of those players and would they even get a sniff today? Brian McBride? Brian Maisonneuve? DaMarcus Beasley? Landon Donovan?

The worst players from that era probably don't even have a chance outside Camp Cupcake.

 

Whenever I watch highlights of Julian Green, I sometimes wonder why he didn't become a better player. He's always been a good finisher and seems to have a silky first touch. But he's 27 now, so likely is the player today that he'll ever become.

I haven't been able to see enough of him at the club level so am grasping a bit, but I suspect a lot of it comes down to him being a bit of a tweener -- not quite the defensive bite, work rate, or usage rate to excel as a CM or winger, and lacks the strength (or positioning, perhaps?) to excel as a striker?

PS: I can't believe I didn't name drop him in my last post above -- he fits the bill of hyped youth players on big European squads as well as anyone in our history.

 

I agree with your and @RossD 's broader point, but regarding the bold part. Prime Landon Donovan would still walk into our squad today and be one of the top 1-2 players on the team. I know he had an ambition problem at the club level which has been discussed at length, but let's not understate his talent, skill, or sheer production, as proven at the club level (including with Everton in the Prem) and the USMNT.

Brian McBride would probably also walk into our starting XI today, if I'm being honest. The Premier League is surely more competitive today than it was 20 years ago. But McBride scored 36 goals with 109 starts in the Premier League -- he averaged a goal every 270 minutes played. That's not prolific, but let's be honest -- it's probably a better strike rate than any strikers in our current pool other than Folarin Balogun would manage. Josh Sargent just averaged a goal every 242 minutes in the Championship, and a goal every 786 minutes last year in the Prem (granted he's only 23). Jordan Pefok and Haji Wright have put up impressive numbers in European leagues outside the top-5, but I'm not sure either would put up 9 goals/season for a mid-table Premier League side.

You're right about Brian Maisonneuve -- he wouldn't be anywhere near the national team today, and probably shouldn't have been in 1998.

Beasley is a tough one -- he'd probably be more of a squad player today -- I'm not sure Prime Beasley (the winger version) is head and shoulders above a Tim Weah or Brenden Aaronson, nor is the 2014 LB Beasley an upgrade over Antonee Robinson.

 

He's slow and he's a bit of a black hole when he gets the ball. He's like a more ball secure but less dynamic Sebastian Lletget.

 

Prime McBride, Beasley, and Donovan all start today. Don’t be ridiculous.

 

Prime McBride wasn't until his late 20's. Our strikers are all young. But, yes, at the moment he'd walk into a starting role. (Which could be short lived with Bolagun joining us)

I'm not sure where Beaz would start today. I would not take him at LB over Jedi. I would not start him as a winger over any of Pulisic, Weah or Reyna.

Donovan...no brainer.

 

I don't know that prime Beasley starts most games today, but he would probably at least appear in every game for the most recent World Cup squad.

The direct comparison for him would be Aaronson. Aaronson is probably a bit more technically skilled, but Beasley, despite being even more lightweight, was much better at dealing with physical play. Aaronson gets pushed off the ball, Beasley would make it hard to do without fouling him. (Aaronson is young and can still develop that ability.)

 

I think I agree with your assessment on Beaz. He would have been a useful player on the past World Cup team.As for my comments about prime McBride and the current young guys...I think among our crop of strikers in that 20-24 age range there is enough talent/potential that the odds are very good that someone will develop into a better player than McBride was. However, with our strategy in Qatar being whipping in hopeful crosses, I would rather have had a prime McBride in there over any of the guys we had.

Here's hoping one or two of those young guys step up so that all our current crop of strikers doesn't end up in the "unlucky and forgotten children" pile.

 

Unlucky - Cory Gibbs.

Still the Undisputed Poster Child for Unlucky - John O'Brien. Who knows where his ceiling may have been if he had stayed healthy.

 

Pretty sure prime versions of Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos, Eddie Pope and Eric Wynalda from the 98 team would get slightly more than a sniff, among others.

EDIT: No one really questioned Maize being on the 98 team (starting was another story, but that was likely a function of the 3-6-1). Chad Deering was the one who had us scratching our collective heads.

 

Forgot all about Cory. At one point he was the youngest American to ever socre in the Bundesliga. He was perhaps our best central defender leading up to the 2006 World Cup. An injury in a pre-cup friendly took him off the world cup squad. His replacemnt??...... Gregg Berhalter.

 

Looking a year later, I'd say Busio, Maloney, Sabbi and Johan Gomez have pulled their way out of the list (for now).

 

I had no idea that Sabbi did so well this year. Five goals and co-leading scorer for a relegation candidate is damn decent.

 

I just want to add Luis Gil to the list.

He went from playing a lot of minutes as a teenager for a very good RSL and being "scouted by Arsenal" to being 30 and in USL1.

At the very least, most people had him as "career, very good MLS player".

 

I saw some twitter post about how Gedion Zelalem has had a really good season at Den Bosch this year in Holland.
Bigger clubs in Holland are apparently looking at him. I have no idea.................

 

I object to Busio being on this list in the first place. At most he had a bad year and he has never really been that hyped. Even then he has been a starter for a decently funded club. If five years ago anyone said he was destined to be a starter for a Serie A/B yo-yo club that would have been in the cards for most people. At the most, he had mid-table Serie A potential.

 

Venezia could be coming back up. They are ahead in their semifinal tie with Palermo. They play tomorrow to get to the final.

https://football-italia.net/serie-b-promotion-play-offs-venezia-palermo/