FIFA 2023 U17 Finals Thread (All Teams, Tournament News)

Not sure about talent, but Medina was the least dangerous attacking player.

 

Corcoran is quite good. Medina, Soma above average. Miller is the weak point in starting XI. What a naive giveaway by Burton in the end of the game, really hurts.

 

Mali stomped Mexico 5-0.

CONCACAF leaves the World Cup looking pretty sad.

 

Yes. Aside from the end of the France game they played well, as good as could be expected based on their talent level. They're a decent side, just no big talents.

 

Yep, total reverse of expectations. In '19, we were unlucky to lose the confederation championship, then slowly imploded until we pratfalled in the tourney. This time Mexico dominated the regional final, and then more than 6 months later they pratfalled at the tourney and we woke up and played 3 really nice, gritty games, even played France tough with backups. Stand up performance. I thought they were pretty lucky in terms of results, but overall performed reasonably well, overall, considering the comp, the team has a lot to be proud of.

 

Pretty close to getting this right in terms of the Mexico game. Sometimes confederation championships are not helpful at the youth level, but Mali only had one meaningful regulation loss this cycle and it was a 1 goal loss to a damn good Spain (and that goal came an hour+ in).

We'll see how Morocco and Iran do, I'm more impressed with Morocco's track record.

Why Mexico was horrid this tournament should worry El Tri fans and their fed because they already ---- the bed at the U23/U20 level and that confederation championship at the U17 level WAS the one piece of good news the past four years, and now, to get smashed in the round of 16? Not great.

 

Off this tournament I think Segares should get more opportunities. I'm not saying he's a great tactical genius but he did a good job in getting his players to believe in themselves and most importantly got them to play their best at the end. They just weren't talented enough to beat Germany but they played without fear, with tenacity, and that goes to the tone that the coach set.

 

I agree with the first half but let’s not sell this team short. The way they moved off the ball to get Germany out of position and cleared line was great. The final 3rd let them down and defense was beaten in crucial moments obviously being short handed. This match reminded me of the senior match we played but our u17s seemed to be closer in talent.

 

LOL. This was actually a pretty mediocre U-17 team compared to past years and compared to the next one coming up. They definitely punched above their weight and exceeded expectations by getting out of the group. But I don’t think we will get many players for the senior team from this group.

 

🎙️ “They left it all on the field and I am just extremely proud to be their coach.”

Hear from #U17MYNT head coach Gonzalo Segares after a hard-fought match vs Germany.

Match Report » https://t.co/gywwtVaVjC pic.twitter.com/XAyAiOMH0r

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) November 21, 2023

 

Wasn't a bad game, considering the opponent. The team played greater than the sum of their parts.

That said, Segares still made some odd decisions to not maximize individual talent.

I don't get the obsession w/ moving Soma to CB in a pinch when he's arguably your best player. He doesn't have the instincts for the position. It blunts his effectiveness on the ball too.

It's a similar case w/ Verhoeven at LB. Just play the natural LB, who was available. Then you have Verhoeven for CB. He can use his natural foot & he has the size for the position.

Throughout the tourney, Burton's playing CF instead of MF, or even wing. He comes in for Figueroa today and we have no box target.

Vazquez doesn't start the most important game of the tourney, in spite of arguably being the team's best chance creator.

Berchimas came out when he was really starting to come on, after a slow start.

Hawkins comes out early, in spite of being your only natural CB. We still had 10 minutes to see the game out. Segares was really over-valuing fresh legs & shootout options at that point.

So I simultaneously think the individual talent on this team isn't at the level of recent cycles, while wondering if it still could have been maximized better, in spite of a better performance today.

 

In theory, you weren't wrong.....

We've seen over and over in these youth tournaments (regional and global) that player rotation is more important than playing the best team possible. Whether that's to ensure health or to get players experience, I'm not sure, but it's clearly the way the Fed has decided to approach these events.

On the Soma point, I think that was the right call. We have depth in central midfield, and it actually makes more sense to move a central player back than to move a wide player in.

 

I saw the game on replay and I was expecting a very defensive US with some moments of attacking quality by Berchimas and Figueroa. What I saw was a US that knew what to do with ball in the midfield and had good balance of offense and defense. The difference between the two teams was movement, technique and shot quality in offense. I think we were ultimately a little lucky to score two goals. In the US offense, I thought Berchimas and Figueroa weren't able to get ball often enough in dangerous positions. Part of this is that we were often behind a goal and Germany played a lower defensive line and quick transitions. I was pleased to see that occasionally Berchimas was able to show some danger with a few really good crosses in to the box. That's really as much as you can expect from a 15 year old. All told, the group has shown a lot of composure and that bodes well for future development.

 

They already rotated in the group stage. A KO match, against someone as formidable as Germany to boot, is not the time for it.

And some of those decisions were just usage critiques. Vis a vis Soma, we've seen the dramatic drop-off in play when he's played that position.

 

We've seen them do it over and over again through knockout rounds and in a final. I think they have the rotations mostly planned for the entire tournament before it begins, and then adjust from there as needed.

On Soma, I thought he was good in the back....

 

I came in thinking there were 3-5 with a chance and that's what I still think. I don't know if there are ANY future starters in this group let alone bench guys, it wasn't a great cohort at all, but they did perform quite well in the tournament. If averages hold, 2-3 will be USMNT relevant 3-4 years from now.

 

The ones I'll be watching going forward are Soma, Vazquez, Hawkins, Figueroa, Banks, & Berchimas.

But you never know with high confidence who's going to progress or regress at this point. These are 15-17 yr old kids. There are going to be varying degrees of physical & mental growth.

It'd be shocking if there were a ton of useful players from this group, or virtually none.

 

I dont.

made a ton of poor decisions.....the France game was a debacle that cost the team in the Germany game.....a lot of that was due to poor coaching,

i have zero confidence that Segares is somehow the best option to lead a us youth team

but i suppose if you are going to grade him on the greggg scale, he's perfect.

 

The real question is if any 06s are going to be major players at the next U20 World Cup.

Banks I could definitely see. I don’t think anyone breaks into the midfield just yet. Same with the attackers. Figueroa might sneak in due to a general lack of depth.

 

Not sure what it is, but we (USSF) have to find a way to integrate players like Figueroa and Balogun better. These lead the line strikers that need service and balls in behind, struggle within the US game model and look shadows of themselves compared to their clubs. Having watched every match of this youth tournament, there was nothing that told me Figueroa will become a top player. On the other hand, there was nothing that told me he won’t end up a top player. Very strange to go through 4 games and feel he never found his feet and was never really involved.