What a princess. This is senior level international soccer. There are no charity selections...especially for a number three goalkeeper (who was really selected out of charity). The idea was for him to sit no matter what happened. He was there to observe and be part of the team. I’m all for reaching out to these dual nationals to get them to play for us. I’m against pandering. Ochoa wanted to be pandered to. Honestly, he was about as deserving of his call up as John Pulskamp is of his. Is anyone going to be upset if Pulskamp doesn’t play against Bosnia?
Just what the doctor ordered: 🚨 Arsenal have decided to let Folarin Balogun leave on loan in Jan until summer. Huge interest in 20yo striker but no decision yet on clubs. It could change but current thinking is to get regular senior action which #AFC can’t offer for now @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/YVOWS0iBSK— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) December 6, 2021
excellent. Not like many of our forwards are lighting the world on fire. He hits some goals, he’s instantly In the conversation. I like the St Etienne link a little while ago, they need goals, they need help immediately, they’re in the relation zone, but they are by no means a hopeless Norwich
The lack of a 2021 U17 cycle has meant folks don't know some of our best Europe-based youngsters. French-American dual-nat Auvray produces some wicked highlights throughout the year. Here he is yesterday in the U19 Champions League for Lille. 🤯 Le but sensationnel de Kaïlé Auvray🇫🇷🇺🇸 avec les U19 à Wolfsburg ! #YouthLeague pic.twitter.com/vX9NugdHxz— Au Stade Lillois ⚜️ (@AuStadeLillois) December 9, 2021 Shoutout to Tim Weah for his fine work recruiting Kaile Auvray behind the scenes at Lille ❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/f51joSlBZo— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) December 8, 2021
For those that haven't seen this elsewhere, it looks like Jeremy Ebobisse is going to switch to Cameroon. This is just the preliminary roster, so we'll see if he's actually named. As he played with the U20s in cap-tying matches, he'll have to file a one-time switch. He's a good player, and we want to keep as many players in the pool as possible, but the decision is understandable. Good luck to Ebobisse if he's made his decision. Solid player and had his moments with the YNTs especially at the U20 WC, but he has a lot of competition at striker/winger for the USMNT. We'll see more of this in coming years as the depth grows. https://t.co/Rz5sHLc5tC— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) December 10, 2021
Being the top scorer in PL2 history seems like an unwanted title, but its true nonetheless. The top scorer in #PL2 history 🔴👏Congratulations to @Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, your #PL2 Player of the Month for November! #PLAwards | https://t.co/9fqDP98RMP pic.twitter.com/FQUvDWEsHn— PL Youth (@PLYouth) December 13, 2021
Jon Tomkinson on him being a dual-national for the #USMNT and England:“I can play for England but I think right now my heart is very much with America... I’d like to get back in the setup again, sometime soon because it’s been a couple years now.” pic.twitter.com/FuH81OzS6W— Jason🇺🇸🇸🇻 (@JasonAS07) December 14, 2021
Good result yesterday! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/65ffg1bDtJ— Balogun (@balogun) December 13, 2021 pic.twitter.com/4InXve8b82— Balogun (@balogun) December 13, 2021 pic.twitter.com/Fh3wjFcujY— Balogun (@balogun) December 13, 2021
Balogun is an interesting and obviously very talented player. But, I did see his two games for the first team at Arsenal and he honestly looked nowhere near ready for the top level. He was a complete non-entity. That was earlier in the year and he's young and improving rapidly, but he may need more time to get it together to be a real contributor at a high level. He will be interesting to watch if he does decide to represent the US, but I would expect him to most likely be one for 2026. Of course, I'd love for him to go on loan in January, tear it up somewhere and throw in for the US team. Just not sure I'd bet on all that happening super fast. A January loan would go a long way to answering the many questions about him.
Jonathan Gomez vs Bosnia and Herzegovina pic.twitter.com/KUK97ciUPv— Kranks (@dis_possessed) December 19, 2021
I'm seeing reports that Poland is considering the idea of hosting a national team camp in the US in early 2022, solely for the possibility of evaluating US-based players and recruiting any potential dual nationals.
Not really. But there have been in the past. Famously........................they recruited Szetela and Miazga. From what I read, they're considering YOUTH national team camps in the US for eligible players. Lots of other nations already do this. El Salvador just did it, and they were hosted by LAFC. The Salvadorans were able to conduct a camp with mostly players from the LAFC and LAG academies with some others thrown in. Mexico already has done this, and I'm sure others will follow suit. What's the risk? Nothing. And let's not forget that pre-COVID, we used to have youth national team camps in Germany and invite eligible players. Those are the first camps that players such as Julian Green and John Anthony Brooks went to with us. So we've done it too.
Poland could also have gone after Lletgett and Lichaj, but I think the question is if there are *enough* Poland-eligible players in the US & Canada to warrant having a camp. There isn't a FIFA window in April, so getting even Slonina is an iffy proposition.
And Poland is a pretty good team too. For a country like El Salvador, there's some value to picking up fringe MLSers--that still improves their pool. I don't think players at that level are going to help Poland.
El Salvador also has Hugo Perez, who fully understands the youth player landscape in the US. He understands how to go about finding the players and getting in touch with them. Something that might be more difficult for nations without that connection. Are there enough players in the states for a nation like Poland to have a youth camp? Sure. Of course. How many are legitimate prospects? Maybe one or two. But what's the risk for Poland? Nothing. Even just having the camp and starting to forge connections with clubs in the states can have positive impact. As USMNT/USYNT fans we can only ask that our program do its best to retain the "best" players like Slonina. The rest of CONCACAF in particular will peel off players in that next tier. And once in a while we have to expect to get our scouting wrong too. In the same way that Holland wasn't interested in Sergino Dest until after we'd already forged a relationship with him.
Pretty much this. The USA is now in the mid-tier. They can lure away good players connected to smaller mid-tiers like with Musah and Ghana and then hope to get guys like ARob who a surplus to requirements for a top tier nation. So El Salvador will pick a bunch and occasionally we will get it wrong and let a 2 (out of 5) star recruit go and they move on to become a big time player.
Hugo Perez prefers skills over physicals. He coached young Pulisic in youth teams who may not get chances with someone else.
Don’t be giving Hugo that much credit: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ny...s/soccer/usmnt-el-salvador-world-cup.amp.html