Musah is injured and may be out 3-6 weeks. Sounds he will be doubtful for the first round of qualifiers.
Yup. It seems that every Euro season we now go in with a list of 5 guys we think have the potential to really break out in "top 5 leagues." We've been talking about Scally, Reynolds, and de la Fuente. Let's not forget Tessmann and likely Busio in Serie A. We know Caden Clark will be going to Leipzig in 5 months. There are a host of others. Jonathan Tomkinson has been playing for Norwich in preseason. I suspect he makes a debut for that Premier League club this season if he's not loaned out.
I wonder if the hit rate is actually higher, or if we just have so many more quality prospects that we don't dwell on the busts as much. Just a couple years ago, guys like Amon, Llanez, and Taitague were fairly hyped around these parts, and now Taitague is retired, Llanez is ???, and Amon's career seems to be on life support. But in the interim, guys like Cowell, Clark, Hoppe, Scally, etc. have emerged from relatively unknown status to take their place.
Very true, but aside from Scally (yet), those are guys who are already contributing at an elite level. Taitague was always a prospect... Llanez too - minus his short international stint... which his problems sound more between the ears than with his feet. And Amon has had some bad luck. One guy I’m worried about disappearing is Richie Ledezma. He should be returning now and we all haven’t heard squat.
There will always be a "failure rate" of kids going over, just like there are for Argentines and Brazilians. We do have two categories of guys. There are the ones that go over on free transfers. Yes, these are some of the top prospects like Pulisic and Reyna. But there are also a lot of these that Euro clubs are just taking a flyer on. They're low risk, potential high reward. That's where a lot of the "failures" come from. We don't know what's going on with Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Bryang Kayo, and that crowd. Some of these guys just totally disappear. Some come back to the states (Michael Edwards, Indiana Vassilev, Blaine Ferri, the list goes on and on). 2ndly we have the big money transfers from MLS. Most of those guys aren't going over to academies, but straight into first teams. There are expectations there because clubs had to shell out money to get them. Caden Clark will be given a chance to succeed at Leipzig. Will he? We'll find out.
KDLF looking great for his new club ⚽️ Cengiz Under descuenta para la visita@MontpellierHSC 2-1 @OM_Espanol ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/AsXDo77dxV— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) August 8, 2021
This guy could be our best player soon. He only needed one touch to explode past his mark and then his final ball was perfect. Low center of gravity, keeps his head up, is clearly smart…efficient.
A real candidate for the award if he continues this trajectory. A debut in an official game for Joe Scally. I have Richards as my #1 at the moment, but his candidacy depends on his next move. Joe Scally starts 🇺🇸 #USMNT https://t.co/mdhJlpxEmm— Takes 🇺🇸 (@USMNTTAKES) August 9, 2021
...This won’t happen anytime soon, but I would like to see, for youth development purposes MLS teams fielding u23 + 3 teams and USL teams fielding full strength teams... in what could be called the ‘Lamar Hunt League’ or something similar. It would be styled somewhat the Nations League and used in either for our domestic cup and/or reserve league. Ideally, we would schedule these games 1x month - typically in FIFA windows to reduce the burden on players and stretch out the exposure for young players. Only thing is I’d probably only rotate home/away each year for 7 games instead of 14. Plus, I would regionalize the format to reduce travel and increase rivalries... with a promotion/relegation system each year ~ satisfying that itch in some without going full out for those who want it as part of the league... The added benefit is helping the USL clubs by that added exposure. A model format: South A: Atlanta United, Orlando City SC, Inter Miami, Nashville SC, Charlotte FC, Birmingham Legion FC+, Charleston Battery+, Tampa Bay Rowdies+ B: Memphis 901, North Carolina FC, Miami FC, Charlotte Independence, Greenville Triumph, Chattanooga Red Wolves, South Georgia Tormenta, Richmond Kickers North A: DC United, Philadelphia Union, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Columbus Crew, FC Cincinnati, Indy Eleven+ B: Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Hartford Athletic, Queensboro FC, Buffalo, Rhode Island, Louisville City FC, Forward Madison, Fort Wayne FC East A: Sporting Kansas City, Saint Louis City, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Austin FC, Chicago Fire, Minnesota United, Phoenix Rising+ B: Union Omaha, Des Moines, El Paso Locomotive, New Mexico United, Rio Grande Valley Toros, Oklahoma City Energy, Tulsa FC, Austin Bold, FC Tucson West A: Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, Las Vegas+ B: Orange County, San Diego Loyal, Sacramento Republic, Oakland Roots, Monterey Bay, Central Valley Fuego, Spokane, North Colorado Hailstorm
For the 21/22 season, Joe Scally seems like the runaway favorite already. But, who’s likely to emerge by the season end? Chituri Odunze, 2001, GK, Leicester City - Unlikely Alex Borto, 2003, GK, Fulham - Unlikely Carver Miller, 2004, GK, Arminian Bielefeld - Unlikely Aaron Cervantes, 2002, GK, Rangers - Unlikely Joe Scally, 2002, RB/LB, Moenchengladbach - Already Broken out Quincy Butler, 2001, RB/RW, Hoffenheim - Unlikely (Injured) Jonathan Tomkinson, 2002, CB, Norwich City - Deserves a chance Bobby Pierre, 2002, CB, Racing Strasbourg - Unlikely Mason Judge, 2002, CB, Eintracht Frankfurt - Unlikely Leonardo Sepulveda, 2001, CB/LB, Recreativo Granada - Unlikely Kobe Hernandez-Foster, 2002, LB, unattached - Unlikely Amir Richardson, 2002, CM, Le Havre, already playing Johnny Cardoso, 2001, CM, Internacional - Does he still count? regardless he needs more PT Tanner Tessman, 2001, CM, Venezia - Does he still count? regardless, he needs more PT Owen Otasowie, 2001, CM, Club Brugge - Falling off the face of the earth Bryang Kayo, 2002, CM, Viktoria Berlin - Unlikely Zach Booth, 2004, CM, Leicester City - Unlikely Dante Sealy, 2003, W/F, Jong PSV - Better than others but still unlikely Evan Rotundo, 2004, W/F, Schalke - Unlikely Uly Llanez, 2001, W/F, St. Polten - Unlikely Federico Olivia, 2004, FW, Atletico Madrid - Possible but it’ll be hard (Dual) Folarin Balogun, 2001, FW, Arsenal - Possible. Played one game then sent back to the reserves. (dual) Santiago Munoz, 2002, FW, Newcastle - Possible (dual) Malick Sanogo, 2004, FW Union Berlin - Possible (dual) Charle Kelman, 2001, FW, Gillingham, Fading youth star Jack de Vries, 2002, FW, Venezia - Unlikely Johan Gomez, 2001, FW, Zwickau - Unlikely Justin Butler, 2001, FW, Ingolstadt, Getting minutes in 2. Bundesliga but nothing to get excited about Jalen Hawkins, 2001, FW, Ingolstadt - getting minutes in 2. Bundesliga it nothing to get excited about. Patrick Koffi, 2001, FW, US Creteil-L Of these players, there’s no one truly competing with Joe Scally. That said, the guy who seems like he’s the most ready to come out of nowhere is Jonathan Tomkinson. We really have to wait on the others.
What about the other Gomez, Jonathan Gomez, he will be going to Real Sociedad during the winter break.
Two months to go and this is wide open like no other year. I went back through the posts back to last April. I think the front runner at this point wasn't named in a single one, or not many at least! Here is how I had it on April 12th: 1. Dike 2. Richards 3. Aaronson 4. Hoppe 5. Reynolds On October 7th I would have it, but it isn't really clear: 1. Pepi 2. Aaronson 3. Hoppe 4. Richards 5. Musah 6. Scally I always thought the 8 WCQ'ing games were going to be major influences on this award and Pepi rescued us in Honduras. Aaronson has two goals in qualifying. Richards might start at CB from this window on. Miles, Matt and Jedi are too old for the award. I hope I can give it to Pepi at the end based on 5-6 goals in qualifying at a big money move in December!
For me, Richards has this by a mile. If we're talking about the full calendar year 2021 anyway. I just think his performance level in the Bundesliga is higher than the other guys in "top leagues." And the others like Pepi are great, but they're not playing in the Bundesliga. And by the way, that includes Aaronson. Brenden is on the good team in Austria. Most weeks his competition is nowhere near what Richards is facing. (I get the European competition, etc.) Scally is charging, but I still go with Richards. [I've also stated before that Aaronson isn't eligible for my personal award. People don't have to use my system. But for me a player only breaks out once. He's eligible for this award once. Aaronson was a full-time starter in MLS in 2019 and got called into the USMNT in October of 2019 for the Nations League. Then he was in the subsequent January camp, and played in the Costa Rica friendly. This was a full calendar year BEFORE he even moved to Austria. But whatever.]
Personally, I’m counting Richards as too old to count. I’m considering only 2001’s and younger as youths. But yeah, Richards is doing really well. I’m not of the point of being alarmed, so I ask not to make of that, but I’m waiting to see who’s going to be the 2004’s, 2005’s, and 2006’s who are the likely contenders to be a breakout. Quinn Sullivan (04), Gabriel Slonina (04), Jeff Dewsnup (04), Caleb Wiley (04), Malick Sanogo (04), and Fede Olivia (04) seem to be the best from that age group. And I’m probably higher on Wiley than most. And I’d have to say Sullivan and Slonina are the only ones to feel excited about yet. Edit: I forgot about Reed Baker-Whiting (05)... he definitely seems legit. He’s got a little Kevin De Bruyne style to him. Who am I missing out on? Is there a dip in talent?
I believe the U-22 criterion has been used in each of this threads since they began 5 years ago, and Richards will still be 21 at the end of this year. I think that age criterion is especially appropriate for CBs, who sometimes take a little longer to earn regular starts at a high level, and therefore might otherwise be at a disadvantage for receiving this honor with a lower age cut-off.
CJ: Any word on whether you’re leaning towards the U.S. or Mexican national team, if you were invited to play for those teams, after training with Mexico? JG: No, (I’m) still open to both. As long as I don’t have to make that decision right now, I’m not going to force myself into that. I’m going to continue working at the club level and focusing there. Ultimately, it’s about who brings the best opportunity and where I’m going to develop the best. This was a great experience, but it’s just checking a box. (I want) to play with the first team, whether it’ll be the U.S. or Mexico. https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...ez-mexican-national-team-training/7610648002/ That's the last official thing I saw until he was called up to the u20s for this window. https://miseleccion.mx/noticias/3678/La%20SNM%20Sub-20%20viaj%C3%B3%20a%20Marbella So sadly looking more like a Mexico lean as the kid has a lot of potential. Back on topic though I'd say its between Richards and Scally at the moment, Busio seems firmly behind them. Clark, Cowell and Tolkin all have had ups and downs so maybe next year for that group.
Are you basing this on something other than his recent training stent with the Mexican national team? I am fairly certain he has not made a decision and when the time comes I suggest that decision will be made based upon what team he can get into sooner and become a starter.
I don't think you can infer any lean because the US hasn't been able to have u-20 camps during the pandemic. We'd get our first piece of evidence if he was on Mexico's u-20 roster instead of the US' for the November tourney. But I don't believe he'll be available then. I really think it all comes down to opportunities with most of these Mexican-American duals. That's what Gomez expressly said too. And it helps the US he'll be moving Sociedad B in winter. He can move up the club ladder quick to separate himself, unlike Araujo could have. Depth-chart wise, he won't have to beat out 2 good top 5 league fb's and a bunch of depth here. Rather a good C'Ship fb, suspect depth, and fellow prospects. For Mexico, I think Gallardo is better than Antonee Robinson atm. If I had to make a prediction here, it'll be that Gomez ultimately plays for the US. LB is notoriously a sore spot, and that u-17 class he was part of was very talented at the position, but nobody will be clearly ahead of him if he succeeds in Spain.