Mueller scores again... 3 US Youths on my list combine for the beautiful goal.... Mueller to Dike to Michel to Mueller... perfect.
Yeah... in the last two games he has shown a lot to me. He obviously has the size and physicality... but he has proven he can get into good spaces and finish. But this last thru ball was probably the best piece of skill I have seen from him. The touch, turn and then thru ball was a real thing of beauty. Pretty much why I like the hockey assist stat. He made that play happen but doesn't get on the score sheet for it.
Wow... Atlanta looks a mess in the back and on set pieces. That should have been Mueller's 2nd assist. Wide open header missed...
The English Language Commentators on TUDN are so funny with their exaggeration of Spanish last name pronunciations. The R's are rolling for days... to classic. My wife is Peruvian so I have watched a lot of Spanish Broadcast games at my relatives' houses... and you never hear this kind of exaggeration of the language nuances... it is almost like they are trying to teach the viewers how to pronounce Spanish-based names. Back to the game... Lennon nearly scores on a header again. So close... just off target this time. Could have two by now. Still 2-0 OC just before 60 minutes.... OC doesn't seem to need Nani to beat Atlanta.
Lennon's 3rd header finally finds the net. Really happy for him after getting robbed once and missing the other by inches. Orlando may regret pulling Mueller and Dike so early. 2-1 OC over Atlanta with 7+ minutes to go.
Should be a penalty kick... A Carlos goes Karate Kid on Lennon's head in the box.... but they say play on. Friggin ridiculous. What a joke.
I feel like the only thing the MLS refs will overturn using VAR is an obvious hand-ball blocking a ball going towards goal/open player or offsides. I can't recall a penalty kick rewarded based on a foul using VAR in the MLS. Perhaps I just forgot?... But that was so blatantly obvious... kick to the friggin head/neck? Ridiculous non-call.
GIANLUCA BUSIO 🚀🚀🚀The 18-year old rips it & @SportingKC is tied. #COLvSKC pic.twitter.com/EhwbvKbXFj— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 30, 2020 Busio has a great shot on him. He's also not 5'7 and 135 anymore. Looks to be at least as tall as Zusi during the celebration. Some athletes get over early career injury problems. Stephen Curry was a skinny kid with bum ankles, on his way out of the NBA.
16 year old Cade Cowell gets his first goal in his first start for San Jose: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/08/29/goal-cade-cowell-san-jose-earthquakes-59th-minute
Here's a trivia question that I don't know the answer to: when's the last time that 4 different American teenagers scored in a single day/weekend in MLS?
Matthew Doyle pointed out on Twitter yesterday that the number is 5, because Cole Bassett scored for Colorado on Saturday.
Funny. Me and my gf were talking about how much better these announcers were than our normal local announcers.
I stand corrected. I just searched through Transferarmkt (which lists youngest goalscorers by year and nationality) to verify, and from what I can tell, yes this would be the first time we've had 4 or 5. it's interesting to track the development here though. The 90's essentially had zero American teenage goalscorers (with the exception of Ramiro Corrales the very first year). The early part of the 2000's then had 4-5 a year (the most notable class probably being in 2001 when we had Bobby Convey, DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, and Edson Buddle). Then that number slowly diminished later in the decade down to 2 in 2007 (Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu), and then down to 0 in 2010. This past decade mostly again averaged 4-5 a year. But the league reached an all-time high of 7 American teenage goalscorers in 2018, and then topped that with 9 American teenage goalscorers in 2019. We're already at 6 this year, even though most teams are only 7 or 8 games into the season.
I was delayed in watching the full slate of MLS games and didn't want any spoilers so I took notes for each game and decided to post all of my thoughts at once. Overall, I am starting to get downright giddy w/ respect to the future of the USMNT. We now have a young core of players at CL level teams in top-flight Europe: CP, Dest, Weston, Adams and Gio. We also have a host of other players that are about to debut in those leagues or are on the cusp of doing so... but some of the most exciting developments are happening on this side of the pond. There is no denying that the MLS is making giant strides towards becoming a very good league and nestled into these starting lineups are a delightful set of young US players getting valuable minutes for their teams. Since the restart you can see a theme developing as quite a few of these US youths are getting on the scoresheet.... and yesterday saw more of the same. Some of these players are further along in their development paths than others and the talent certainly varies but I am beginning to see a youthful all MLS squad taking shape that could bring an exciting brand of football to the pitch. This is extremely important because depth has been an issue for our NT for a while. Choices... choices... That is the ticket. At any rate, here are some game-by-game breakdowns w/ respect to my U24 list. Union - DC United Was it just me? Or did anyone else see Aaronson show some frustration last night before he finally got on the scoresheet? He showed the normal elation you see when a teammate scores after the 1st goal but on the 2nd and 3rd he he didn't really have the normal reaction you see... as a matter of fact, after the 3rd goal he actually runs into the goal, grabs the ball and then punches it. I could just be overreacting... but when Aaronson does finally get on the scoreboard you can see Santos running next to him saying something. I would love to know what he said because it looked like a bit of a scolding. Again, I may be reading too much into this one but I hope Aaronson realizes that he needs to keep his head down and work. The opportunities will come like they did last night. He just has to be ready to finish them. As a matter of fact, while the announcers were lauding him for his finish I actually thought he caught a break on the play with the nutmeg of the keeper. He had almost the entire goal to work with and he hit it right at the GK. In short, I am happy for Aaronson and think he displays a ton of talent/class but I think I saw a bit of his age in on-the-field personality last night. Nothing too serious... just something I hope the coach/vets talk to him about in order to help remedy. Not top many positives to take away from last night's DC United Team... but even in a lopsided loss I thought that their best player was Paredes (17). The speed and athleticsm is evident, but he plays well beyond his years with respect to the passes he plays and the interchanges he is a part of. My expectations for him have gone way up and I think he could find a home in Europe by this time next season if he continues to develop at this rate. NYCFC - Chicago Parks starts off with a very poor switch attempt early that could have led to a goal... and I am saying to myself that perhaps this guy just doesn't have it... then he proceeds to have his best game of the year. His goal was fantastic and he had several nice interchanges/give-and-goes in tight spaces around the final 3rd... one of them should have led to an assist but Heber just can't seem to find the net this season. During the last set of games we saw another good game from Busio (more on him later) at CDM but his defensive play dropped when he got a yellow card. I guess this is relatively common with defensive players but the best in the world are able to still keep up their defensive prowess even when holding a yellow. Oddly enough, James Sands seemed to actually play better after he got a yellow in the 1st half. Up until that point it looked like he was just behind all of the plays rather than anticipating them like he has several times this year in near MOTM performances. I was pretty impressed with his 2nd half play. He has a knack for splitting the midfield using thru balls to the forwards and he displayed it several times against Chicago. Pineda gets his 2nd goal of the season and it is from a set-piece again at the backside of the play. He is primary/central CB for Chicago and has been playing very well. He is an intriguing prospect considering the USMNT CB pool and I think he deserves a call-up in the upcoming all MLS-squad. Colorado - Sporting KC This was the straw for me all... after this game I am pretty confident that Busio could become a USMNT CDM. He will still need to improve on D, but he is already way better than I thought he would be on that side of the ball. From an offensive perspective, Busio brings everything you want from a 6. He has elite quickness and vision... he can place the long ball on a dime... and the kid can shoot from distance. What a fantastic goal. While he has a ways to go with respect to his D to get to Adams' level... I think that he might project better on the offensive side of the ball.... particularly with respect to his long range shooting. The kid has quickly gone from being a very talented prospect who just can't find any consistency on the pitch... to one of my favorite young US players to watch. He is must see TV for me right now at the 6. Lindsey continues to put himself into the conversation at LB for the USMNT in the future and could be an integral part of the U23 Olympic Squad. He keeps going the full 90 and is therefore getting valuable experience at a tender age. Pace and athleticism is evident and his D has been pretty good. I was excited to see Cole Bassett get a start last night but he kind of looked like just another guy out there for most of it... but wouldn't you know it?... He scores near the end of his shift. Great moment from the young man, scoring the lone goal in an important draw for the Rapids... but at this point the difference in skill/athelticsm between him and Busio/Lindsey is relatively stark. Just turned 19 and doesn't have that much experience so maybe he will grow into a good player. But for now he still stays down a tier or two in my eyes in comparison to other players at that age. Last week I downrated Vines at LB because I have not really seen his potential pop all year. No real change in this game either. It isn't that he is poor or anything I just don't see a dynamic player with great ball/defensive skills who serves dangerous balls into the box on O. The supersub Lewis is back on the bench to start this one and almost scores in a substitution appearance. He is very dangerous making runs up the wing but I have to wonder why they don't start him even though he is leading the team in goals? They have scored 9 goals in 7 games (6 players)... so that means Lewis has a 3rd of the goals and he is on the field only a 3rd of the time. Dallas - Minnesota Dallas' O has been a total trainwreck since the restart and it looks like they will be w/o Paxton for the foreseeable future again due to lingering issues with his hip. Bummer. At any rate, Dallas came out to start the game like a house on fire.... creating several dangerous chances and cashing in on two of them. The 2nd one had an assist from Pepi in his 1st start and was hit home with a wonderful touch and shot from Ferreira. They had Pepi playing a midfield role in this one and he did pretty well but I am not sure he is a midfielder. But at least the coach did what I wanted him to... I.e. move guys around so that he had more dangerous offensive players on the pitch at once and it seemed to work. FC Dallas has a lot of players on my list who had minutes in this one but the players worth mentioning IMO were those that combined for the 2nd goal and Nelson at LB. The latter played the full 90 and was a standout IMO. I was hoping they would start Reynolds at RB in the absence of Cannon but they gave the nod to Hollingshead. Reynolds did sub in in the 84th minute but it looked like he was playing a mix between CM and winger. He was fair in limited minutes... drew some fouls, completed some passes etc... Hollingshead is a solid vet but I don't think he is very dynamic at RB. I will be interested to see how the RB is played down the stretch for Dallas. Minnesota looked a bit shell-shocked to start the game after the two quick goals but really was the better team for long stretches in this one... especially in the 2nd half. Dotson cane off the bench in the 2nd and had the goal of the game. He and Busio can really shoot from outside the 18... Busio just beginning to show us he can... Dotson has proven it several times these last two season. All-MLS USMNT could do a lot worse than Dotson at CDM and he is only getting better right now. I guess the same could be said of Gasper. Dude is not flashy but puts in the work on D and has a great motor for a LB. Galaxy - Earthquakes Araujo continues to play well beyond his years. Could have had two more assists on the night but Lleget missed and the keeper robbed Pavon. His crosses are on the money and he is great with the ball... but later in the game he moved back to his natural RB position after Feltcher got torched by a 16-year old (Cowell) and he shut down that side of the final 3rd. Araujo is quickly becoming one of my favorite prospects for the USMNT. At this point I might start him in an all MLS squad. It would either be him or Duncan. Two takeaways for the Quakes... The theme of 1st time youth US goal scorers continued with Cowell in this one. For some reason Feltcher and Co. gave him acres of space but the shot was still fantastic. The last thing on this one... Jackson Yueill was invisible and I would be perfectly fine with him being left off the all-MLS squad. Give someone like Sands, Dotson, Williamson or even Busio/Amaya a chance. So little imagination. At this point I have seen enough to say he is a solid Pro but has a low ceiling. Conclusion I didn't get around to watching the other games on the slate as there is just not enough time in the day and I have my favorites and watched the games I could accordingly. But the theme for this set of the schedule was young US players scoring goals. But more importantly, I am starting to see some players emerge off my list that I think have the potential to be very special. It is still a young season and consistency is certainly paramount... but right now my favorite young US MLS players are: Busio, Araujo, Paredes, Amaya and Aaronson.
I wouldn't plop him in there w/o prep but I am pretty confident that he could learn to play it. Tranfermarkt lists him at RW/RM but he is a lefty and is playing LW at DC. He tracks back pretty well on D and will mix it up on tackles. He oozes skill, athleticism and easy pace but more importantly, it is his passes in tight spaces that impresses me the most. IMO, he outclassed most of his senior teammates against the Union by a decent margin. At this point I am still tentative because he hasn't played that many games... but I have him bookmarked and will catch all DC games moving forward just to see how he develops. With respect to LB... I was so impressed with Marco Farfan in his only appearance for the Timbers in the tourney but he is stuck behind Villafana. I really wish the guy would get some playing time. He isn't even getting any sub appearances which I think is ridiculous given his skill and the dense MLS schedule. On top of that they can have 5 subs right now. Kind of a bummer. It was only one game so I am eager to see if what I saw was just a fluke. His time with the U23s last year is a good sign though. Another young one on the rise at LB is Jaylin Lindsey... He seems to have solidified his spot in the starting 11 at Sporting and he has 43 appearances for US Youth Teams. That is a pretty sic number of youth NT games.... but he is a natural righty. I think his crosses are pretty good for not being on his dominant foot but I am not sure he can consistently get the whip a kid like Araujo gets coming from the right.