22 (199 and younger with less than 10 USMNT caps is what we are calling a youngster. Here are the previous winners: 2016 Christian Pulisic 2017 Weston McKennie 2018 Tyler Adams 2019 Sergino Dest Every year, it has been very clear at the end. 2019 probably saw the most front runners throughout the year though. Many are still eligible like: Paxton Pomykal Chris Richards Richie Ledezma Timothy Weah There are new guys too: Gio Reyna Uly Llanez Jesus Ferreira Ricardo Pepi Indiana Vassilev Brenden Aaronsen
1. Giovanni Reynya - he's a stud and he'll get a shot at Dortmund 2. Owen Otasowie - physical, looks skilled enough, already making benches 3. Paxton Pomykal - rise derailed by injuried and other bad luck in games 4. Timothy Weah - underrated playmaker, was at right place but got injured 5. Brendan Aaronson - just needs to be more clinical in final 3rd 6. Chris Richards - he's a stud but probably won't get a shot w/ Bayern 7. Julian Araujo - ready last yr but LAG lapsed into bad habits 8. Ricardo Pepi - eased him in last yr, moved Badji, near total package 9. Richard Ledezma - makes move in offseason after physical development 10. Uly Llanez - skilled + craft, not physical talent, chance at Wolfsburg up in air hm - Mason Toye, Cameron Harper, Indiana Vassilev, Brandon Servania, James Sands, Danny Leyva, KHF
I think a lot of this will come down to what clubs they end up at for the upcoming year, Richards for example if he stays at Bayern I dont think would produce the same results in play as he would if he left, but he may also get better coaching and develop more by staying. So my guesses in order are Weah Pomykal Reyna Aaronson Richards Ledezma If Weah can stay healthy I think he will breakout in a big way. Same with Pomykal. Will be a fun year as theres actually quite a few youngsters who could make a leap forward.
I'm really not sure about Richards at Bayern. He starts pretty much every game for the reserves, but he's played almost exclusively at RB. And it seems like Mai is firmly ahead of him in Bayern's plans as CB of the future, even though Richards does get some time training with the 1st team. I think I'd prefer that he at least go on loan next season, if not look for an outright transfer.
2016 Christian Pulisic 2017 Weston McKennie 2018 Tyler Adams 2019 Sergino Dest What is unprecedented about this list is that they all broke into the Champions League.
Yeah, I was thinking about that. If we have one young player, even if it's only one player, break out to this level every year, that's pretty good. We'd potentially have 10 UCL-level players by 2026, all of whom would still be under 30.
I would say quite honestly that Paxton Pomykal has already broken out. For me anyway, he won't be considered for 2020. He broke out in 2019, and Dest beat him to the award. I also put Weah in that category. He already has 8 USMNT caps for Pete's sake. For me the likely 2020 breakout candidates come from the group of Ledezma, Mendez, Reyna, Richards, Llanez, Otawasie and others that are on the cusp of big-stage first team soccer in Europe. From an MLS point of view, its a little hard to predict. That's just based on playing time. After all of the off-season moves, and transfer window activity, we'll have a better understanding of depth charts. I have a gut feeling about Ocampo-Chavez in Seattle.
He hasn't even been impressive for the international youth teams, let alone Seattle. So maybe it's just gas.
Yeah, I get that Weah and Pomykal technically qualify for the category, but they seem to have already gotten so close to crossing the line to being fully part of the USMNT pool, that it seems uninteresting to be able to pick them. Unless something goes wrong, as soon as Weah is fit, he'll start getting minutes at Lille and will be called up to the USMNT. I figure that Pulisic, Morris, and Arriola have good claims on the winger slots on a 23-man roster, but the other candidates for the 4th slot (Lewis, Boyd, and Baird) have been unimpressive to put it charitably. Almost the same thing with Pomykal. If he's fit, there's every reason to believe he'll play serious minutes for Dallas, be well above average in MLS, and get USMNT call-ups. And the CM slots are probably even more up for grabs than the winger slots.
i agree with the last two posts, and had the same thought in hindsight (having posted weah as my top pick). somebody get those old, overqualified bums outta here
What we have done in the past in terms of eligible players for the award is simply those that are still eligible for USYNTs (and thus the US youth forum). The cutoff for the US U23s is players born in 1997, so that's been the date. Of course most players born in 1997 or so have already broken out. So the new breakout players are usually of the U20 variety (like Dest just was in 2019 as a member of the U20 World Cup team). But there could be a kid coming out of the NCAAs right now that could break out in MLS this season. Eddie Munjoma is likely to be signed by FC Dallas, for instance. First team all-American fullback. Not likely to win the award even if he does, but at least we can consider a player like that eligible. Shrug. I would say, though, that Seattle currently has very few forwards under contract (if we consider Morris a wide player like was with them last year). The starter Ruidaz. Then broken veteran Will Bruin on the wrong side of 30. And then Ocampo-Chavez. So on the depth chart right now Ocampo-Chavez is right in line for playing time. As I said, when it comes to these MLS kids it just comes down to the depth charts. So the most talented prospect may not play enough to be considered for this award. Kinda like how Erik Palmer-Brown was named the player of the tournament at the U20 CONCACAF Championships, but for SKC was rooted to the bench behind one of the best CB tandems in recent MLS history (Besler and Opara) that year (2017).
I wouldn't look at it that way. It will be harder for Weah or Pomykal to break out, as they are at a higher level than others. But each can still do so. Weah has been a spot substitute most of his career. He has never been capped by a permanent USMNT head coach. If he becomes a starter for a UCL club like Lille, and supplants Morris for WCQ'ing, that is a significant jump for a guy who played sporadically on loan in Scotland. Pomykal is one of the best players at FCD and made the MLS All-Star team. He probably can't do much more without a move. But, if he too, breaks into the USMNT and scores 3 goals in Qualifying, he might be the pick. Certainly, easier to see a break out for someone like Ledezma as it involves becoming a first team starter and first USMNT caps. But if next Fall, Weah is starting UCL games and leading Lille into the knock-out rounds, he will be tough to beat. Hopefully, we have lots of worthy candidates in 11 months...
i hate to say this but Adams and dest only have 11 and 14 major league appearances, respectively, and many of Dest’s were against low level competition IIRC. I’m very excited for both but they’ve yet to establish themselves over a full major league season.
If a young player was even more influential than an Adams or a Dest in terms of first team opportunities, then he would have beaten them to the award. The spirit of the award really is for a kid that's just busted into first team soccer and parlayed that into a USMNT opportunity. Its certainly possible that the award can be given to a youngster one year only for him to fall off the face of the Earth in subsequent years (due to injury or poor career decisions.) There's no official definition, so we can all promote our favorites. Unfortunately over the last several years the identity of the winner has been fairly obvious. Lets hope we have enough worthy candidates over the next year for us to actually have a vigorous debate and voting process!!!! I think we're selling a few of the Scandinavia-based youngsters short in terms of 2019 review. Cappis and Sabbi had good seasons. Cappis has just earned a USMNT callup due to his caliber of play. Another central midfielder from Texas. Egads.
no no no no. Ce n’est pas possible. unless this is @lmorin level reverse jinxing that led to adams return.
Cappis had a good year. I don't count January caps personally. Even more so this year, as clearly it is a U23 camp with some senior guys called in. In general, breaking out in Scandinavia is kind of like breaking out in MLS. If someone breaks out at a Top 40 club, they will usually win. Cappis is still young and I think bigger things are ahead and soon. Sabbi is, imo, near his ceiling. Like another Roman Gall. However, I did think Sabbi looked much better in November than he did in March. So, hopefully I'm wrong.
Soon as the Olympics end, halfway through the year, the U23 cutoff would then be 2001 wouldn't it? Always confusing how that works. I think it makes more sense to keep the age at 22 in here and advance it one year at a time.
I’m really hoping to see a few guys really take a step forward amongst the forwards and wingers. Thus, any of Weah, Ferreira, Reyna, Toye, Pepi, etc would be fantastic. We need some chance creators. That said, Llanez is my choice. Kid’s a stud. Love the way he gets up the sideline, finds space and just attacks the defense. Nice touch, good quickness, can finish with either foot and is fearless. Was psyched to see him called into this camp and with the way he is lighting up the U-19 BL, you gotta think he gets his shot with Wolfsburg soon enough.
Can confirm Ledezma will join PSV's first team in Qatar for winter training. So Richards, Ledezma, Reyna all confirmed with their 1st teams this month. Strongly suspect Gloster too.These are the 4 youngsters most likely to break out in Europe in 2020.— scuffed (@scuffedpod) January 3, 2020 The list is getting longer 1213145352251027456 is not a valid tweet id
That's big if Ledezma breaks through. I haven't seen much of him, but if he can bring that type of play he showed against France at the U-20 WC to the pro level, that's exactly the type of player we need to inject some creativity and chance creation into our attack (well, that a forward to finish these hypothetical chances).
Yes. Its just the way that the youth forum works. As long as you're eligible for a USYNT, then you're considered a youngster. So the second the cycle ends at the 2020 Olympics, the age clock is reset to players eligible for the 2024 U23 Olympic tournament. Essentially its the same exact players folks are discussing here. The definition is just worded differently. I mean, 21-23 year olds in the rest of the world are adult professionals............not "youngsters." So a guy like Keaton Parks, who is 23 in August, really isn't a youngster. He's been playing against adult professionals for years. The previous 4 winners are perfect examples of the spirit of this whole thing for me. They were in their teens when provided the award and really broke out into the national limelight of club football and the USMNT. Gio Reyna sorta fits perfectly into this space as a current 17/18 year old during calendar year 2020. Somebody above put him into the "lock" category, and if he debuts soon then I kinda agree with that. He's the front runner for me in 2020. Others could break out too, but if he starts getting playing time at a club the caliber of Dortmund...................then forget about it. He seems to be on the "Pulisic path." As we've said, it's OK that we don't have a rigid definition. It allows for debate and discussion.