Has he ever been looked at by Rongen? Will he get a look with the U23s if he has a good season with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds? He was training a little with the Burn when they were in Dallas and impressed a lot(he was on the team that won the small sided scrimmage). He was right wing midfielder, a position that we are sorely lacking at for both the U20s and the U23s.
I suppose so, but it's amazing how thin we are at one of the typically deepest positions in all of soccer. Barclay is a converted forward, who I've seen only in limited action....last year he saw very little playing time in MLS.
For the senior nats we have Olson, and although most don't like to hear it, I think Landon Donovan will eventually end up as a right sided midfielder (he played there during the WC at times and was wonderful)
You know what's funny is that I've been thinking the same thing for Donovan. He's a good crosser of the ball, it allows him to use his speed in space, etc.
Playing Donovan wide allows him to collect the ball facing the opponents goal and then run at defenses, which is his forte. When he plays in the middle he usually collects the ball with his back tot he goal and gets chopped down by defenders. When he palys wide he can make those slashing runs from the right side towards the goal.
I'm going to resurrect this kid as a candidate for the U20 team's position of right winger if he sees lots of time for Pittsburgh this year. To me, that development time is better than sitting on an MLS bench like Barclay. Of course it will all be moot if he doesn't get a call-up.
If he plays, he certainly should be considered. But, like you said, that's a big if. I mean, he barely played at all last year - something like 4 games off the bench for like 50 minutes - so he'll have to have made a lot of progress in the offseason to start getting minutes. And, remember that the coach who signed him out of HS has since been canned so his original champion is no longer there. No, it will be moot of Kim doesn't play. As far as the other point - brace yourselves, this doesn't happen often - I totally agree with Wanderer. I think for a young player, playing in the A-League - and I mean actually getting minutes in games - is much better than sitting a bench in MLS. I'm really surprised more young players don't go this route. Look at Jon Busch and Dan Popik. Both played 3 years of college ball and were youth national teamers. Both began their careers in the A-League and after a few years (5 for Busch, 3 for Popik) made the jump to MLS while several of their contemporaries who tried to make it MLS straight out of HS are out of soccer. Edson Buddle is another good example as is Scott Vallow, Joe Cannon, too. Hell, even Tim Howard spent a year with a USL team before joining MLS. (I'm not sure what it says about our system that most of these example are of GKs.) I'd like to see more players go this route and I'd really like to see the A-League be more assertive in providing an alternative to Project 40. With the agreement with MLS no longer valid, perhaps if the A-League teams could get a transfer fee from MLS, there would be more incentive to see them develop young players but even without that carrot, the A-League teams still should be doing this.
I think he's going to end up playing though. Call it a hunch, but reports from a Burn insider said that he didn't look totally out of place training with them. IMHO P-40 should try to do a deal with the A-league. Either that, or USSF should think long and hard about running a team in the A-league for the more promising prospects that have been getting missed by the U17 and U18 levels. On second thought, something along these lines needs to happen. Since MLS contraction to ten teams, the level of play has gone up, and it's that much harder for younger players to make a mark.