A better question is.................when has Paxton not been injured? A few months at the start of the 2019 MLS season. He got hurt, and then almost missed the 2019 U20WC in the summer. Then wasn't the same the 2nd half of the season. Folks will remember that he didn't start the 2019 playoff game against Seattle because he was still suffering. Pax has had surgery on both knees, has had hamstring problems, ankle problems, and hip problems. His most recent surgery was arthroscopic labrum repair and correction of a CAM impingement. A continuation of the hip problem. Pax was on sports radio in Dallas a little while ago, and he said he's now running and biking. He'll probably be back in training with FCD at the start of the season (if it starts according to the normal schedule), but may not be ready for games. I personally think we all need to take a deep breath on Pax. We need to be patient. He's gonna have to prove he can stay fit and perform at a high level in order to get back into USMNT consideration. By the way, FCD "insiders" have indicated that Pax may play on the left wing when he returns. There's just a logjam in central midfield at that club.
A kid to keep a side-eye on is former USYNTer David Rodriguez. He's an FCD academy product that's been playing for North Texas. There simply isn't room for him in the FCD midfield, so he's going on loan to Liga MX. David Rodriguez signs with Atlético San Luis https://t.co/HIxd1MSdOU #DTID #FCDallas #NTXSC #SomosFCD— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) January 4, 2021
The McKenzie transfer to Genk is done. Mark has the potential to win this award if there isn't a breakout performer in one of the bigger leagues. 'We got him!' 🤗De Amerikaanse international Mark McKenzie is onze tweede wintertransfer. Hij komt over van Philadelphia Union. 💙 🇺🇸 👉 https://t.co/UsZb0499bn#krcgenk #mijnploeg pic.twitter.com/fCoCfEKMbg— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) January 7, 2021
I hope they take the long view like Morris/Sounders and get him fully fit. It feels like teams often rush athletes back only to get them hurt again.
I really doubt it. He's a central defender, will be playing in Belgium, and the earliest he can enjoy European play is the end of the year. Plus he was a defender of the year candidate. That arguably constitutes a breakout already. To be at the top of the breakout list out of the 2nd tier league the guy pretty much needs to be an attacker who puts up big stat, like a Pepi or Clark. In a big league you can be a player in the defensive half. For the top breakout standard we have enough candidates who fit that classification where it's almost impossible to foresee McKenzie going top. I'm talking about the likes of Otasowie, Richards, or anybody who may go there directly like Reynolds.
Matthew Hoppe of Schalke04. If he becomes the lock on starter of that terrible, soon to be relegated team he should win the award. He's come out of nowhere, beaten out at least one fellow forward, who's on the sales block now, and will probably be the guy, because he's cheap, next season in B2. Giving your all and improving your game on arguably the worst team in the top 5 leagues in Europe isn't easy. Hoppe is in the running here.
I think he would get in the conversation if he scored 5+ goals and when Schalke went down, he was sold for $10 MM or more to a team like Leverkusen or Everton. Probably a tall ask and it always depends on what everyone else does.
The fact that Matthew Hoppe is starting for them is a sign of their crisis. He had scored 1 goal in 16 appearances for Schalke II this season in the Regionalliga West. That's the fourth tier. Based on that non-record he was promoted as a starter to the first team. I don't think you win this award JUST because you're starting in a top 5 league. You need to be performing. All of the previous winners of this award were excelling. On the youth boards there's a lot of skepticism regarding Hoppe. That doesn't mean folks don't want him to succeed. There's just a feeling that he's not playing due to talent level. Schalke just purged any first team player with a pulse and a decent salary. Even if Hoppe is playing well, its gonna be hard to excel on that team. Make no mistake. Schalke is one of these clubs that could easily sink lower than Bund2. They are beyond broke. Back-to-back relegation is a real possibility. We can talk about bad teams in top 5 leagues. Schalke hasn't won a game in a full calendar year (January 17, 2020). When I watch a team like Sheffield United, they are competitive. Schalke isn't competitive.
To be fair, I can see that mainly because Otasowie has really only played high-level competitive soccer for 5-6 years. He really didn't get into a "traditional" type of club system until he was 14. I forgot where I heard it, but I heard someone say that Otasowie's game has a lot of characteristics of playing "in the cages" (In England, a lot of 5 a side is played on a court with cages to keep the ball in play). I think they meant it as a compliment, as he's a tough player who can also work his way out of trouble and tight spaces. I could see Otasowie becoming the breakout player for 2021. He has a lot of potential, and it seems like Wolves like him. I really like that he has the potential to be a defensive midfielder or a center back. Given the issues we've discussed ad nauseum on this board regarding center back, I'm intrigued about his ability to play center back on the USMNT as well as d-mid. That's a valuable player to have on a 23-man roster, kind of like how I value Aaronsen's ability to play a wing, the 8, or the 10 in a more advanced role.
It’s so odd to me how this happens? I recall recently Schalke doing well in the standings and they have always had great fan support. What went wrong for them?
The Ruhrpot area doesn't have a lot of corporate support, and just like in American sports, luxury boxes and sponsorships drive a LOT more revenue these days than the cheap, gameday tickets. So Schalke, despite the fanbase, has a lower revenue base than that would reflect. Any team that's not a super team these days can get into a house of cards situation -- the team either makes European play and then invests the revenues or invests to get there. And it's great if you STAY there. But a year or two where the team doesn't come together, a bad investment, and suddenly you have massive debt / outlays and no revenue. Now you are in the hole. Schalke had that happen AND they didn't sell the players that got them there for much. Goreztka and countless others left on frees. They are hundreds of millions in debt, but left more than $100M on the table in transfer fees.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/german-...n-debtplayer-unrest-and-a-26-game-winless-run This may help. Schalke has taken on a lot of debt to sign players, and the pandemic has REALLY hit them hard financially. The Steilcast podcast with Rafa Honigstein has also discussed this a lot (if you like the Bundesliga, that's an excellent podcast to follow). They've had a lot of financial mismanagement that had the club on a knife edge. It's a difficult situation for them. I'm a Dortmund fan for the Bundesliga, so obviously the rivalry with Schalke is there. But a Bundesliga where Schalke is a big player is a better Bundesliga.
I would not be surprised to see their mismanagement + the pandemic effectively end Schalke as a top tier team for a very long time. Without a sugar daddy, I don't know how they get out of the financial hole.
Schalke was more competitive at the start of each of the last two seasons because everyone started out of form. As teams started to gel, Schalke was left behind.
Yeah, I'm rooting for him, but it seems to be fool's gold. It's a similar situation as Haji Wright, where he got his opportunity due to attrition. Only this is a much worse Schalke team & Hoppe appears to have low upside whereas Wright's was high. Hoppe is compensating w/ his superior mentality to Wright so he's not bombing. But I also don't know where this is going to lead exactly. If we weren't showing tact his YA title would read "Don't get your Hoppes Up".
This is Hoppe's performance from the weekend. I see a hard working guy who put himself into good positions with positive forward runs completely unrewarded by his teammates. If he can do things like this and work on his other deficiencies he's not going to be Haji at Schalke or Venlo. The tools are there and somewhere along the way either with this version or next season's team in the B2 he'll have some success or someone will buy him for cheap. He's got a lot going for him even though he plays for that dumpster fire. His mentality, professionalism, and workrate are what's going to carry him if he can succeed despite his team. 1346500035308093441 is not a valid tweet id
Lots and lots of similarities between Schalke, Sunderland, and Kaiserslautern. Kaiserslautern and Sunderland are in their respective countries' third divisions. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Schalke could follow. They are a disaster right now.
I oftenhate watching these montage hype videos - because they can make a very mediocre player seem better than he is, but what stood out to me is his work rate. He seems to be hungry to find the ball or make a good run. He seems to have good size and makes a nuisance of himself. Also, I was surprised to see him have the confidence to want to take on defenders. I hope he can do enough to keep Schalke in the Bundesliga.
Not going to crow too loudly but how about Hoppe and his hattrick today. They needed that to even have a hope of turning their season around but that it's the kid even most of the hardcore YA watchers wondered was good enough. What a fantastic surprise this season.
Well, Matthew Hoppe looks to have entered his name into the race in a very big way. If he can perform like that all season, he’s going to run away with the award. One game - I know. But that was the single most dominant game from a YA I can remember in recent memory. Absolutely legendary performance all the way around.
You should! Obviously, Harit created most of it, but it was three nice finishes, but ESPECIALLY the last one, which was smart, a bit audacious and executed really, really well. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to get as many good chances as that going forward. When Harit is playing well, he's very good, so maybe a good run of form there will create a nice partnership with Hoppe.