I think he was always a great example of "small sample size trap," and "fit" issues. People kept scoffing over and over that he was gonna get some big transfer to Italy or Spain or whatever, that he sucked, because look how awful he was in '21 Olympic Qualifying, and how blah he's been in call ups, but we kept hearing he was a 5-10 mill transfer guy at least, and that his club would not sell until they got that big piece. Sure enough, he gets a move, and its not to a 6-10 European League, it's to La Liga. The only thing the skeptics were kinda right about was price, the transfer did not live up to the big projections from '22 and early '23, but I'm not so sure it wasn't basically because it's been mostly a buyers market the past six months, but it was still 6.3 mill, it was to a legit La Liga team in Real Betis (4 of past 6 seasons they finished top 6, 5 of past 8 they finished top 10). I was as flummoxed as everyone else, he never looked convincing in the shirt, but if a guy is that consistently respected and valued, in Brazil and in Europe, then he's almost certainly legit, and the question is more about whether he's looked poor for us because of fit, or because of randomness. At this point, it definitely seems like one of the two.
Johnny was one of the youngest members of that Olympic qualifying group. Sometimes players don't provide a good "first impression," but that's all it is. A first impression. This is particularly an issue for a player that we on the boards don't collectively watch week-in and week-out. I don't watch a second of Brazilian soccer. So my only impression of him for years was that U23 squad. I do think people are too quick to judge the first couple of caps of a player in a national team jersey. You're seeing that with Malik Tillman right now. People saying we shouldn't start him because they didn't think he looked so good in his couple of starts so far. Patience........................
Players mature at different rates. Johnny was not a stud phenom as a kid. His growth has been incremental.
Phenom? No. But he did start playing first team minutes for one of the biggest clubs in this hemisphere when he was 18. Debuted in early September 2019. The USSF must have been scouting his exploits with Internacional's youth teams. Cuz his first U23 callup was in October of 2019. He'd made one pro appearance, and we were calling him into our pre-Olympic qualifying camp. He didn't actually play in the subsequent friendly against Brazil in November of 2019. Just as a snapshot in time, our DM starter in that match was Hassani Dotson. He was replaced by Chris Cappis in the 2nd half. Then the world imploded. But kudos to the USSF and USMNT/USYNT staffs in that timeframe. They saw something in this player. He really was fairly unknown on these boards.
Dotson was one of the few guys that didn't suck in Olympic Qualifying in '21. I remember him. Four years is a long time, just looking at what people were predicting in '20-early '21 is wild.
Yeah, the 2019 U23 camp is a real crazy squad. Disheartening. This was the group that would have made up the Olymic qualifying team if the event hadn't been postponed. We got some decent replacements a year later, but even then it wasn't enough. By the way, that team lost 1-0 to a Brazil squad. I don't know how they didn't lose 7-0. It was Gabriel Martinelli and those guys.
And had a big soccer YA thread a full year before that. We're good Fed was in contact with him well before that as well (and well before GGG was hired), so good job by US Soccer.
still love that player. I know we only got so many spots but I think he is at jest a camp cupcake guy maybe gold cup guy too
I'm not sure he's that level. Well, I'm old enough to remember the pre-injury Ben Olsen. Injury was at effing Forest, wasn't it? But anyway, Johnny is a great dual-national success. Started the recruitment early. Incorporated him into youth teams. Path was available to senior team when the time was right. Now we're seemingly close to him becoming an important piece of the USMNT.
Johnny is going to keep multiple starting spots scalding hot for competition. Someone slips from form even a little he’s gonna snag a spot. Tyler Adams, Weston, and musuh better be crystal clear Johnny is hungry and coming for a starting spot. if we are defending a lead, Johnny is literally first guy off the bench for me if there’s no injuries
A former MLS and US dual-nat who we don't hear much about anymore is Alejandro Granados 🇪🇸🇺🇸. It took him a while to crack into Brugge's B team, Club NXT. As of yesterday, he has 8 consecutive starts (10 starts in total), 18 matches, 922mins, and 1 goal. He is also the club's #8— Zach McCabe (@zjmccabe) March 3, 2024
Nothing official yet, but we're continuing to see reports in Mexico-based media that Cruz Medina is considering a switch. Its unclear whether Medina would make the US U20 team at the moment. We have a camp this month as well. So the whole thing is possible. Buenos días 🇲🇽👀🚨Oficial señores Cruz Medina se encuentra en la concentración con México sub 20El joven de 17 años que jugó el mundial con USA 🇺🇸 respondió al llamado de Lillini. pic.twitter.com/X6aNjbcml0— Yeudiel Pacheco (@yeudielpacheco) March 4, 2024
It’s amazing how Dual National Panic with Mexico has largely transformed into Fine Take our Leftovers.
Medina is only 17. Hard to know what he's going to become. Like Fidel Barajas, who's been getting into games for RSL. We've had very few U18, U19, and U20 camps in the last year to keep guys like Medina involved. That's been my bugaboo.
I remember how good I thought Efrain would be and now he looks like a future USL player. I just feel like I’ll have to see somebody really work out before I’ll worry too much about it.
To be fair he’s not even switching just going to a camp. It does feel like a screw up by them to completely ignore Vazquez.
There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes. There are rumors that Fidel and Cruz's parents are pushing their son to play for FMF. Going as far as to contact FMF and see if their son could get a U20 FMF call-up. Medina might become a good player but at 17 and not making the first-team bench is not a good sign for him. We have to be watching Fidel in MLS because USL is not a good league. If Fidel could become a winger then Fidel could make the USMNT in 4+ years. If both of them are midfielders then good luck and I would go to FMF.
The same can be said of Ricardo Pepi, whose parents are diehard Mexico fans. Plenty of other examples. It not necessarily impossible to overcome. In the end, our challenge is that our pool keeps expanding and expanding and expanding. There are only so many roster slots on a U20 roster. And the majority of them are dual-nationals or at least eligible for another nation. And people talk about all of these Europe-born guys they want to bring in as well. It's impossible to find space for them all. There are players like Bajraktarevic and Cremaschi that will be the core of that U20 team. [Maybe. Unless Bajraktarevic gets promoted.] Not a 17 year old that hasn't even been on the roster for San Jose in their first two games. A whole bunch of U20s have played in MLS in the first two weeks, plus CCC play. So many, that we aren't even really even talking about them all. Brooklyn Raines in Houston, for instance. He's a Liberia dual-national. I was looking at transfermarkt the other day. The youngest player to play so far is Berchimas of Charlotte. But you go down to 50th on that list, and the player is Roald Mitchell. He's a NYRB homegrown player, Just turned to 21. [T&T dual-national, by the way.] This is after only 2 weeks. More and more and more young players will get chances as the year progresses. There's just going to be more and more and more and more. And like France, Germany, or a nation like that, other programs are going to peel away a bunch of them. There's zero chance we can offer opportunities to everyone, even at a U20 level. You know? That kid Ruiz that's getting time for Inter Miami, we've lost him to Honduras. Nathan Ordaz, who's getting on the field for LAFC, we've likely lost him to El Salvador. I will be very surprised if we don't lose Dante Sealy of FCD to Trinidad & Tobago (his father played for them). The list goes on and on and on. Its impossible to contain. Noel Buck, for now we've lost him to England (but we might still nab him back at some point). Its like a game of spinning plates, and you know half of them are going to fall. You just have to try to pick the most valuable ones and make sure they don't crash. And you're evaluation won't be right all the time.
I find it very encouraging that we have been better at identifying and pushing hard and early on the true Mexican-American standouts. Pepi, in particular, was a spectacular win.