Call me skeptical on this one. I always have to pause when I see a deal like this come out of the blue that is seemingly social media driven.
Manchester City has not bought anything here. It's funny how easily people believe social media rumors. The boy hasn't signed a pro deal with LAG, he's joined the academy and will be apart of the usl squad next season. Few things here to consider: How can a team buy an option to be first in line? They don't have a club partnership with LAG, they are not going to buy an option to negotiate with the player when hes of age if the player can turn around and say no thanks. Why would City advise the boy to go somewhere where they would have to pay a fee to acquire him if there is a plan to bring him in? There is certainly no buyout clause. The MLS would never allow this especially when older homegrown players with concrete interest from europe can't even get one put into their deals. And even if there was a purchase option... how do they place a value on it? Would LAG/MLS be dumb enough to agree to something THREE years in advance that might see them leave money on the table?
I think it should be stated that these aren't twitter rumors. Tom Marshall, whose reliable for Mexican football related-news, wrote an article about it on the ESPN website.
How does it work? I have no idea. It should be noted that Tom Marshall's column indicates that Alcala will sign a contract with LAG. I took that to mean he's not just moving to their academy. He's signing either a first team or LAG2 contract. Under those contracts he can still play in the academy until they think he's ready to take the step up to LAG2 (which could be next year). If he's signing a contract, then there are probably ways to make it happen. Then there could be a buy-out clause. It should be noted #2........................Alex Alcala has trained at Manchester City multiple times. I suspect that Man City thinks very highly of Alcala, and it was Man City that drove this. Alcala can't move to Europe until he's 18, so the player and Man City went to LAG to figure out a path until he's 18. What does LAG get out of it? Access to the player in case he doesn't develop into the high level prospect required by Man City.
I was surprised to see Cesar in a FCD academy uniform recently; he started attending SMU in the summer but apparently that didn't work out. He scored a similar banger a few weekends back in Frisco. Maybe he should be the one kicking for Clemson... https://smumustangs.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/cesar-garcia/11958
Shrug. The 04 age group (17s) is by far the weakest age group at FCD and their best 04s always play up with the 19s: Carrera, Elizalde, Reynolds, etc. The 17s have 05s helping them be competitive. At the beginning of the season, the 02/03 age group (19s) was also very weak; a lot of players were recruited from Solar and it took time to integrate them. Ever since NTSC ended its season, players like Collin Smith, Cesar Garcia, Josh Ramsey, Michael Sosa, Gunera, etc. have been playing with the 19s. They play each other every Thursday and I am certain that the U17s are not competitive against the 19s...who really knows how FCD views the different age groups.
Josh Ramsey? Really? Isn't he under contract with San Antonio? Worth noting that the 03 group at FCD includes Ricardo Pepi, Justin Che, and the mystery known as Dante Sealy.
Carrera and Smith were the only players that you mentioned that were actually listed on a NTSC roster this season. Garcia and Sosa were there in 2019 but not 2020. I also thought that Sosa had left FC Dallas. Ramsey has been on an academy deal with San Antonio since March.
Garcia had a short cameo at SMU in the summer. It's possible that by the time his college situation was "resolved", the NTSC season was well underway. Coronavirus and all, it probably wasn't a good idea to integrate him late in the NTSC season. As NTSC concludes its training for the year, he and others from the 19s regularly train there but play academy. Sosa's situation is different, he left for greener pastures a year ago and returned when the MLS Next season was about to start. The 19s suddenly have their share of 02 players and he's their CF. Ramsey is playing with FCD 19s now and committed to Notre Dame. He made one very short appearance for San Antonio and doubt he'll return there.
What position was he playing with the FCD U19s? Right back? Center Back? Good for Josh. In these bizarre COVID times, that's a short little season at a professional club to stay fit and continue learning. Do you have a sense of whether he'll stay for the spring academy season, or will he enroll at Notre Dame early? As you say, he likely wouldn't be doing this if he was going to be retained by San Antonio. By the way.....................do you know what in the world is going on with Seth Wilson?
He's been playing LCB and doing very well. Garcia and Ramsey are the best players on the field -both 02s- but to be fair the 04s who play up do not contribute much. I get the impression Ramsey will stay for the spring season too. Don't know.
He played with the 17s against SKC in Tulsa last month - he's not only appearing for the 19s. Just found this gametape:
He hasn’t played a U19 game yet. I was told he was in line to a couple weeks ago, but the match was canceled.
He wasn't YNT eligible at the time but Mix Diskerud was also brought in by Man City in the same window as both EPB and Harrison.
Here's tape of the U19s against RISE from a couple weeks ago where Jones started in midfield. Not sure if this was an official game or just a friendly.
Fine. Super windy conditions for the first 60'-70' so a little hard to judge. Definitely looked on the level technically, took up good positions to relieve pressure, but didn't have much to do in the final 3rd.
Very tough game for both teams. Super poor weather from what I could tell in this. I’m still very high on Anthony Ramirez and Diego Hernandez
This was an official match. He's played with the 19s in several other non-official matches as well. Maybe we should define what constitutes an official match... BTW, the younger ones 05s also played that day (November 14th) too.
SKC U-17's: It was good to see Nati Clarke ('05) play this well. He was excellent. The last few games I had seen him play he was good, but not a standout. You expect a player as highly rated as him to be the best player on the pitch a little more often than I had seen recently. In this game, he was playing CB. I get the sense SKC will use him anywhere in defense that they need. He can play all four positions. He's exceptionally quick. About as quick of a player you'll see play CB. He made a number of excellent reads in this game, and his ability to initiate the attack with his passing/dribbling is top notch. He got caught in possession a few times, but thats what's going to happen when you play his style. FC Dallas U-17's: I recently gave a review of the U-17's, so I won't add much. I do like Aaron Salinas ('05) more than I previously did. He's a well-rounded keeper. Malik Scott ('05) is a highly rated winger prospect that wasn't mentioned in the prior review (because he didn't play). He played in this game, and I thought he was quite weak. I've seen him play well a number of times before, so I won't hold this performance against him, but he was completely ineffective IMO. FC Dallas U-19's: Ty Reynolds ('04) is similar positionally to his brother, but I think he's less of an wingback and more of a fullback. He's still similar to Bryan in that he's athletic, fast, has good size, and good going forward, but he's more advanced defensively. I'm not sure he's as dynamic offensively as Bryan though. Antonio Carrera ('04) was adequate in goal. Didn't have much to do. Collin Smith ('03) will probably have a good pro career, but I don't see YNT or USMNT level ability. I should probably stop mentioning him because I appreciate what he brings and his likely outcome, but unfortunately don't view his game all too positively. Cesar Garcia ('02) had a nice game from a deep-lying midfielder role. He probably needs to find a higher level of soccer to play at. He's a talented kid (he's a #8 IMO), but he's one of the most inconsistent players in the youth set-up IMO, so I'd like to see him ironing out his struggles in a pro environment. Josh Ramsey ('02) also had a good game, playing at CB. He's another whose too good for this level, and we'll see what his decision is on where he's going to play next. Jordan Jones ('05) had a respectable performance playing up two years, and a full age group. Nothing too great, but he was not out of place in this team. He's probably the most advanced right now of the FCD 05's. Barca U-17's: Brooklyn Raines ('05) had another dominant display from CM. He's such a solid player in many regards. He's too good for this level, and I'd like to see him moved up to the U-19's for the time being. He's going to have to sort out a decision on his pro career because I'm not sure playing in the Barca academy for another few years is going to give him optimal development. I don't believe he's far from the pro game. Joseph Buckley ('05) had a quieter game from RB, but you do see some pretty good tools and his soccer IQ is very high. Phillie Villapadua ('04) had another very good game. He's not the most athletic, but his technical ability and soccer IQ is really high for a #8. Barca U-15's: I don't have names for these players, but I'll name the numbers and positions in case someone can provide them to me. The players who’ve impressed me are the RCB, RCM, LW, and CF. I believe the RCB wears 65, RCM 75, LW 76, and CF 79, but some of these numbers are hard to see. The RCB is pretty good defensively, good on the ball (can pass and dribble), mobile, but a little over-aggressive and height is about average. 75 is a big playmaking CM, good with both feet, and skilled. 76 was the most talented player. Winger with good dribbling and speed. He was able to bypass defenders with ease. 79 is a target forward with good athleticism and scoring instincts. NYCFC U-17: One of the worst camera angles I've ever seen watching a youth game. It was really hard to see, and the camera operator was pointing the camera right into the sun. These evaluations might be slightly off due to that, but this was what I saw. Kelvin Da Costa ('06) did pretty well defensively from RB/CB. The formation was jumbled and I think he might've played both positions at some point in the second half. He might've even been playing RCB. It was hard to tell, but he was not beat defensively at any point. I might've had trouble understanding this formation due to the camera, but I believe Damon Rouse ('05) was at LB. He showed some really nice offensive passages coming inside to combine and dribbling forward, but he didn't want to play any defense. If he was playing LB, he was badly out of position numerous times with little effort to get back. If he was playing more centrally, I still didn't like his defensive effort. Colorado Rapids U-17: Jackson Travis ('04) is one of the better fullbacks I've seen in the '04 age group. He's fast, has good attacking ability from LB, shows above average skill, and he's pretty good defensively. I think what he needs to work on is some of the little details. He misplaces easy passes, is a little slow recognizing a run in behind, or occasionally has some positioning problems. He reminds me a little of Anton Sorenson from the '03 year at the same position. Isaac Nehme ('04) had a good performance in goal. Well-rounded keeper from what I've seen, maybe a little undersized. Colorado is good at producing goalies. Thats probably the position they do the best with. #26 (hispanic #8 with good height) was one of the better players in this team. I don't know the player's name, so hopefully someone can provide it. He was technically very good, but pretty athletic, and played both sides of the ball well. Colorado Rapids U-19: Vladimir Walent ('03) was very disappointing. He was playing RB. He didn't look like a real pro prospect IMO, but I know Colorado has used him with the reserves a few times. I'm not a huge fan of Darren Yapi ('04). I can see some pro tools as a target forward (size, speed, okay soccer IQ), but he's just not very talented technically or creatively IMO. Andrew Cordes ('03) is the best player in this academy IMO, but he had nothing to do in this game. '03 is a weak keeper year, but he's right up there for the best in the age group. Philadelphia Union U-15's: I've already reviewed this team a number of times, so I will only add one new name to this group, Kellan LaBanc ('08). This was only a friendly game (against a U-17 team), so I'm not sure he's now going to be full time with this age group, but LaBanc is the best '08 in this academy from what I've seen and heard. I always say that I don't like mentioning players before U-15 football because the level below is too low below U-15 to put much stock into it. I thought LaBanc was excellent in what was probably his first game in this age group (playing up two age groups). He's a #10 who has an elite type of #10 skillset. He can dribble, pass, good soccer IQ, he's creative, quick, can score goals. He fit in really well, and was one of the better players in this game against a team that I thought a lot of the players in this team struggled against.
I’m a big fan of Jackson Travis and I’ve heard really good things about him. I need to see him in a YNT camp before I make a concrete assessment though. Kellan LeBlanc comes from a soccer family (his dad works for the Union academy and used to be the head coach for WVU) and just has that it factor that Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, and Andrew Carleton all had at this age. I think him and Marcos Zambrano are the best prospects in the Union system among all age groups. Kellan is also a dominant player because of his IQ and skill and not because of any physical advantage which is another huge indicator of his level, Axel Perez is another player like this Another 08 I think people should check out is Nymfasha Berchimas. He is playing an age group for Charlotte FC and is a really impressive player. Charlotte have played their 07’s up at the 06 level so this kid is actually playing up 2 age groups consistently and has been dominant. I also highly rate Zidane Yanez out of NYRB who is by far the best player on their 07 team. I think Zidane will end up becoming a 10 at older age groups
I've tried to pay attention to Zambrano recently. I haven't been all that impressed, but I haven't seen more than a few games so far. You could be right about Zambrano, but I personally haven't seen it yet. That Union academy has some great players coming. They are absolutely in the process of passing FC Dallas with producing players, if they haven't already.
Mentioned in the video was that Akalu has a few injuries right now. He's lacked minutes this year for a variety of reasons, which has to be frustrating because he's a big talent IMO. He played about five total minutes in the two SKC U-17 games I've seen this season. Gage Akalu and Nati Clarke will both be moved up to the u19 academy level in the spring 👀 https://t.co/fz09BV56Ck— David Kerr (@dkerr0118) December 3, 2020