All I can tell you is your memory is off - check the box scores. Torre did start the last game, but that one was because Wiet got hurt. Between Munoz, Stolz, and Vale, will there be room in the midfield for Howe? By the way, I see the Bruins have also added another defender with strong credentials in SMU transfer Aaron Simmons. Never a shortage of talent for Salcedo to work with.
I don't see the athleticism personally. He's got good straight line speed but he isn't quick or agile. His main strengths as a player are his size, strength, 1 v 1 defending and being left footed. I think he could overcome his lack of fluidity and make it to the pro level if he had a better soccer IQ, instincts but I'm not sure that will ever improve to the point it would need to for him to make it. Best case scenario for him in terms of upside is a left footed Omar but I have such strong doubts about his mental game that I really don't see him making it as a pro.
I know the question was not directed at me, but I'll bite in any case. Yes, MLS play is a higher level than the U20 WYC. It is a first-division league contested by fully grown men, all of them professional, most with years of full-time soccer and physical training, many of who play or have played for their countries' full international teams, almost all of them making a living wage or substantially more. The teams practice or play together almost every day, virtually year round. A great many U20 WYC players have yet to regularly compete at anything close to this level -- apart from some true prodigies, most have not been doing so for more than a year or two at best. Of course, that is not to say that some individual WYC matches might not be played at a level comparable to or above that of MLS, or for that matter that there are not many players at the WYC who are already at or above MLS level. It's also true that a limited, knockout format like the WYC challenges players and coaches in different ways than regular season match play. Still, I certainly think that I would know more about a player's quality after watching him in a half-season of MLS matches than a handful of WYC ones.
Well from MLS Draft reporting Zimmerman was the cream of the crop CB wise so you have to figure he was a top Collegiate player as well.
Yep and has a Generation Adidas contract. Those contracts are recommended by multiple club scouts to the league to give out, which they only gave out 7 of for the last SuperDraft.
most of us were upset we passed on Zimmerman, We could of had both U-20 CB here (O'Neil home grown). Guess his injury was more then anyone thought given all the time he missed.
I think Howe is next level quality at d-mid. Those other guys are OK, but in my opinion not on Howe's level. I have heard he is having a good U23 summer as well.
I like Howe's work rate and motor. However, he has a technical flaw that he needs to correct or at least improve on. When he receives a pass it takes him too long to get the ball off his foot in order to pass it. I hope that the UCLA coaches have brought this to his attention.
@SoccerByIves3m Walker Zimmerman with a poor back-pass that sets up Portland's third goal. Somewhere, Tab Ramos just went "A-ha" #StillShouldveCalledHimUp
The fact that that most of the players in the 2015 cycle are already in professional set ups would lend you to believe we should more players seeing first team action than any time in U.S. Under 20's. I think players like Acosta, Delgado, Spencer, Pfeffer, and Rubin very well could be seeing regular first team minutes by that time. If Hyndman, Green, Canouse, Gall, Flores, and Senora can get 1st team action at there clubs that would be even more amazing. It's will be tough to see regular minutes on those clubs before the age of 20.
True, but Gil's appearances by themselves might outnumber the total amount of experience for the 2015 team in terms of first team games. Granted, playing for the first team at Fulham, BVB, Bayern Munich, etc. for the second group you mentioned is more impressive than starting for RSL.
It's one of those age old debates for which there is no right answer. My personal opinion is the three best players for the US U20's right now in the World Cup are Gil, Yedlin, and O'Neill. All of them are MLS-based. Players just need to find the right situation for themselves. Each case is different.
We need players with elite first touches, vision, and passing. I know we need defenders as well but if we don't have elite players that can create chances, we are gonna continue to rely on luck.
Well, I know we're all disappointed in this result............but let's look at the positives. 1) Hey! In 2011 we didn't even make it to the World Cup! So at least we can say that we've got some forward progress in this competition. 2) There's always enormous over-reaction to results positive or negative from World Cups or major competitions on these boards. This was three games we played against some of the World's best. And while we didn't come out on top..................let's just remember the quality of the opposition. We weren't playing the Cape Verde Islands, Canada, and Mozambique. 3) Let's also remember that this is a fraction of the players from this age group. An intrepid poster (which I'm to lazy to be just this second) could probably come up with a damn good starting XI of players not named to this roster. (Pelosi, Packwood, Zimmerman, McBean, Serna, JAB, Collin Martin, etc. etc.) And many players will appear that aren't even on our radars yet (particularly GKs and defenders based on history). So this is a sliver of the player pool of players named aged 18-20 against some of the most powerful programs in the World. Not some overarching indictment of all of our players and development programs. Yes. Let's be disappointed that we didn't do better. Yes. Let's make sure there's accountability amongst those in charge of this group. However, I saw a lot to be please with over the course of the two years. First, the obvious is the emergence of the latino player pool in this age group. The second was at least a desire to play a more possession-oriented style of play. Thirdly, the continued development of MLS academies did provide a pool of domestic players that have gotten professional experience. Others I'm sure can add to the positives.....................
I appreciate the desire to be positive, but this is also a good time to take stock of the areas in which we've stagnated or fallen backwards. And while MLS academies have brought lots more young players under pro contracts, our U20 team actually had distinctly less pro experience than a decade ago. Kids are signing and rotting, and that desperately needs to be fixed.
Sure, I'd agree with that. And they're working on it. This year they tried to expand the reserve league a bit, and I think we'll see that continued expansion. When you listen to interviews with MLS personnel, it sure seems like the majority of them understand that this problem exists. Let's zoom out. If we look at where MLS academies were 10 years ago..................it's no comparison to where they are today. There's real, substantive development here. Sure, we'd like for the improvements to come faster and quicker. And I guess we need to expect for there to be ups and downs.
Given that the "improvements" so far seem to be resulting in our players and teams getting worse, I'd be happy if they came a lot slower.
One competition to the next is not going to say much. One decade to the next will. Are we making progress? True. But we didn't just come last, we got thumped. Just like a poll is only a tiny fraction of the potential voters. Or the Dow is a small fraction of the stocks on the NYSE. It's not a perfect representation, but it's a pretty good index. That index says we haven't gotten any better in 12 years.