All publicly available. The first page has listed streams for one venue where games took place. The Philadelphia Union website has streams for games hosted at their local venue, and the Toronto FC youtube page has streams for games hosted at their local venue. There might even be more than that. I haven't yet looked about the other teams participating in qualifying. I know that other teams such as Houston, LAFC, Portland, Dallas had a group, and there might be streams for those.
NYCFC vs. FC Cincinnati: I'm not going to even bother mentioning any names for Cincinnati. I'd be lying if I said I thought there was even a half-decent prospect in their team. Prince Amponsah ('03): The captain of the NYCFC team. He was playing LCB. Good athlete. Moves well with good enough height. Passes the ball adequately. Didn't have much defending to do, but looked spotty when forced to defend. Certainly not a high level CB prospect, but he does have pro potential. Cooper Flax ('04): He was playing as a linking midfielder, and I thought he did a good job of that. I liked him better as a deep-lying mid when I saw him play last season. He had more potential in that role. He's very basic further forward, he's not going to add much moving the ball forward on ball or offensively. As a #6, the athletic component might be a question. He has average size and isn't the fastest. Eligio Guarino ('03): I'm stretching here mentioning a third player in the NYCFC team, but this guy had a nice finish, and did have some nice offensive passages. He's an all-around offensive player in the #10 position. Can pass a little, not a bad athlete, some skill and soccer IQ, leads the team in goals this season. Can do a little of everything, but nothing stands out. I don't know if he has pro talent, but I wouldn't rule it out.
I find it amusing when a team underestimates what it takes to actually have a good academy but it also makes me sad. Cincy just seems like a team that overall has no idea how to correctly spend money. Very odd. Geographically, they have Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati all pretty close to draw from. Those areas aren't sparse. And yet I won't be surprised if an academy guy plays for Indy Eleven or even Louisville before playing for Cincy.
Their DA roster is populated with some of the more average players from the Crew academy in recent seasons. I think the team they sent to this tournament had a few foreign trialist players. It doesn't seem like they are doing a good job though of attracting any top American talent. Edit: What they should try to do is try to poach some of the better players from the Crew academy. The Crew haven't even signed Chifamba or Sarver yet. Start there. Offer them pro terms, and see if they take it. Noah Hall, the third best pro prospect in the upper levels of the Crew academy is from Cincinnati. If Chifamba and Sarver aren't yet signed, it's hard to think that Hall will be signed anytime soon. Why isn't Cincinnati offering a player like this a pro contract?
We'd have to see homegrown territories now in Ohio before thinking that Cincy can poach whomever they want from the Crew academy.
Columbus vs. Orlando: Sam Sarver ('03): Absolutely dominant performance from Sarver. He was playing RW, and that's where he should be playing in the pro game. He's not a striker, he's a winger. Orlando couldn't contain him. He was able to run past their LB at will, and they were bringing over other players to try to mark him more closely. They couldn't. I think he had a few assists. I didn't count, but he must've created 5 or 6 great chances in the first half for teammates. Too fast, too smart, too skilled and he knows where his teammates are going to be and where to place the ball in the final third. Excellent game from him. Elton Chifamba ('03): A much more consistent game than the first game. He wasn't as good as Server, but put in a steady performance in the #8 position. He made a lot of good plays defensively, showed off nice passing to move the ball into the final third, and also had a few good forays into the final third carrying the ball. Noah Hall ('03): Good performance again. Combined very well with Sarver up the right side. Not a lot to add, aside from that. Anthony Hernandez ('03): I think this guy is a talented player who has a chance to be a professional, but I'm not sure the level he'll play at. He's very inconsistent and disappears for large stretches of games, sometimes for full games. He has a very high soccer IQ, good playmaker, skilled. He's a #8/10 tweener, IMO. He's not a great athlete, but he's not incapable defensively. His work-rate is inconsistent. When he's working hard, he can be a real asset as a playmaking #8. Otherwise, you have to play him as a #10. Michael Halliday ('03): I thought this guy was the best prospect in the Orlando team by a big margin. He looks like a very good RB prospect. Big, powerful, very fast. It's hard to not compare him to Joe Scally. He looks and plays just like him. Better skill going forward than you'd think. He has good footwork, and can make some skillful plays. I wouldn't call him a natural technical player. His value at RB comes more from his athletic ability and smart defensive play, but he can get into the final third and add to the team at an adequate level. Wilfredo Rivera ('03): I thought he was the best attacker in the Orlando team. He's not the most athletic, but he's rather quick, has good ball control and is hard to knock off the ball, so he's able to find a way past players without great athleticism. He has some skill and playmaking, as well. I wouldn't say it's at an incredibly high level, but at this level, he's able to cause some havoc. Thomas Williams ('04): Very raw CB. Good height, moves at an above-average level and can play some nice passes, but his positioning can be problematic, and he doesn't read the game at a high-level. He also can make some very ill-advised passes. I wouldn't say its because he's a great ball-playing CB who takes a lot of risks. That would be more understandable. I'd say it's because he's very raw, and doesn't process the game at a high level yet, so he telegraphs his decisions to the other team, and doesn't recognize well enough when a pass is too risky.
Chicago vs. Minnesota: Sergio Oregel ('05): I mentioned him yesterday playing for the U-14 NT. He's an attacking mid. I think he has the versatility to play as a winger or #10. Not the most skilled or best playmaker I've ever seen, but he has good passing, good skill, enough athleticism, dribbling and soccer IQ. I wouldn't call him the most talented player, but looks like a good all-around attacking mid who has some positional versatility. Benjamin Chavarria ('05): Good athletic winger with a moderate level of skill. I would say he has a pretty similar skill-set to Oregel, but is more of a slashing wide forward with better athleticism. Not a great prospect, but looks like someone whose game is worth keeping track of. Amari Fowlkes ('05): CB with good athleticism, reading of the game, and he can make the needed passes out of the back. I wouldn't call him great (or even good) in the buildup, but not a liability either. Reads the game very well, moves well, good size. Like the other two, I wouldn't say he's a very high level prospect, but someone to keep track of. #7 on Minnesota: I can't find a name for this player, but he came on in the second half and was juking players left and right. Very skilled dribbler with above-average athleticism. Didn't look to want to pass the ball much, so it's hard to evaluate much about his game other than what he did when he was isolated wide left, but the dribbling was excellent. Sho Luke Haggerty ('06): Definitely some errors, but a well-rounded CB who shows a good level of talent in a number of areas. It's also worth mentioning that he's playing up an age group, so the errors aren't unusual. Solomon Straub ('06): Smaller #8, who might be better off as a #10. Very hard working player though on both ends of the pitch and he's athletic, but he just needs to physically grow to play this role more effectively. Good dribbler, good passer, good skill. Probably was the best prospect in the game, if you account for the fact that he was a year younger than most on the field. Alex Moreno ('05): Holding mid. Moves adequately, passes the ball well, can make defensive plays and is well positioned. Not very flashy, but he does his job well. Good soccer IQ, as well. Might not have an exceptionally high ceiling, but looks like a good pro prospect, nonetheless. He might've been the second best prospect on the field.
Minnesota United vs. Seattle Sounders: Bajung Darboe ('06): This guy was excellent. Very smart winger with a lot of skill and athleticism. Very good defender, as well. Most young wingers struggle a lot defensively, but he made a lot of very good defensive plays that wingers often don't make, and positionally always knew where to be. I don't usually note defensive contributions by wingers, but he was that good defensively. Offensively, he was a standout in the game. I wouldn't say he dominated offensively, but considering he was playing up two age groups, I think being very good offensively is incredibly impressive. Some had said he was only playing in this age group because he was bigger than everyone else in his own age group. I don't even think he's that big for a player his age. If you put him in his age group, he'd be too good to play against them. Thats why he's playing in the U-17's. Patrick Weah ('03): I have no clue if he's related to Tim, before anyone asks. He is listed with Liberian citizenship. He was very athletic with a lot of skill at the CF position. Excellent dribbling type of CF. Very tricky on the ball, a lot of cuts and feints. Very fast, good height. Didn't hold the ball up much. Looked like a talented player with some good raw talent. Boima Cummins ('03): Good dribbling LB with above-average athleticism. Held his own defensively, as well. I wouldn't say he looked like a hugely talented prospect, but definitely has some tools there to be a professional player. Fred Emmings ('04): He did a good job of stopping shots. Good reflexes for a big keeper, but I thought he struggled with his feet, and he wasn't always the most convincing on aerial balls, free kicks and corners. Cody Baker ('04): I think this guy is the next pro prospect to come out of the Seattle academy. I was surprised to see that he was captaining the team as an '04. Baker was playing as a holding midfielder, although he can also play CB. Very smart player, always well positioned, mobile enough, good enough on the ball. He also has good enough size for either position. I wouldn't say he's the most talented player, but definitely looks like a player likely to be a good professional because he doesn't have any huge weaknesses, and is a smart player who blends into a hard working defensive role. Eric Kinzner ('03): Another player who plays an understated role, not very flashy, but a reliable CB with good height, enough mobility and ability to build up the play, goods smarts, and good positional play defensively. Similar style of player to Baker. Maybe a little less talented, a little taller and less mobile. Probably also can't play in midfield, like Baker can. Angel Martinez ('05): I thought he played well at CB. I think he's very good in the build up, but I think he looks more like a #6 instead of a CB. He doesn't have the best positional play for CB, IMO, and I'm not sure he has the height for the position either, although he's probably still average/slightly above-average height for a CB his age. His mobility is also a question, IMO. It's not bad, and it would be a question at either position. I think he's definitely a good player and being able to play well in an older age group consistently with Seattle does show he has a good level of talent, but I'm not convinced he's one of the top few 05's. Others: Oscar Rincon-Rordriguez ('04) is a jack of all trades style of attacker, IMO. Can do a little of everything, but doesn't have any standout talent, IMO. Reminds me of Azriel Gonzalez from the same academy. James Lear ('05) was subbed in late, and looked like a player with some talent. Big target CF who is very athletic. Sporting Kansas City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Rokas Pukstas ('04): This SKC team was very bad, and had very few real prospects. Pukstas didn't have much help around him. He had some good moments. He's a good passer, and you could see some good passing vision the few times he got on the ball, but it wasn't often. He also will work hard defensively as a box to box CM, and put in very hard tackles. Gavin Krenecki ('03): I liked what I saw after not being very impressed the prior time I had seen him play. He had a number of difficult saves to make, and hardly put a foot wrong. He was also very good at playing out of the back. I'm still not convinced he has high potential, but I could see him being a Marcinkowski level and style keeper. Casey Walls ('03): This guy is the best CB in the '03 year by quite some way, IMO. He's an excellent passer, and while he's not the most mobile, he has the ball skills and composure with the ball to carry the ball out from the back. His defending looks to be improving. A lot of his defensive struggles have come playing in older age groups. He looks more than good enough defensively against his own age group. Good height, as well. I think he has very high potential. Tarun Karumanchi ('03): This guy looks better each game I see. He's a top flight #6. His passing and mobility looks better than I had thought. He definitely has good composure on the ball and can defend as a bigger #6. Similar player to someone like Josh Atencio from the '02 year. He's overshadowed by Walls, but was the second best prospect on the field, IMO. I'm a big fan of his game. Alejandro Cano ('04): This was the first time I had seen this guy play. I had read some good things about him. He only played like 15 minutes off the bench, but I saw very good passing and mobility. I'd need to watch more to judge other aspects of his game, but he does look like a player with some potential. How much I don't know yet. Others: San Jose was very good. They had a number of relevant prospects who have one or two standout tools, yet may lack in other areas. I wouldn't say any of these other players are any better than relevant, but usually their academy doesn't even have this many players worth mentioning. Benjamin Joseph Do ('03) was a very good dribbler from the RB position. Can defend competently, as well. Edson Rosas ('03) is a very athletic winger. Didn't have much in the way of skill though. Overpowering and very fast. Sergio Ladezma Vazquez ('03) has excellent passing vision from the #10 position. Lacked in other areas. Triston Viviani ('04) was a very athletic LB. Looked a little green defensively with questionable ability on the ball.
Good and fair write up of the Quakes. Couple of things I can add. Casey usually plays up with the U-19s unless they don’t have a game. Even though he is the youngest on the 19s they give him the captain’s armband. He does occasionally turn the ball over in dangerous spots and I’m not sure about his pure speed at the next level. He is very hungry to attack the goal on any set pieces. He clearly enjoys scoring goals. I will say left center back is probably the only position he could play for a team. Turun has good size, but at times doesn’t seem aggressive enough. I’ve yet to see him “boss the midfield” in any game. I’d like to see him push more passes forward. He likes to go sideways and backward. He at least shows for the ball which is better than most other Quakes players at the 6. I do wish the Quakes would give Alejandro Cano some time at the 6. He played for Hugo Perez there last year at Silicon Valley Soccer Academy and I think he’s better pushing the team forward. Speaking of Cano, he has played a large amount of minutes as an 04. The Quakes did rotate Juan Torres (04) and Cano with Casey. I think Cano is a better right center back but the coach usually plays him on the left if Casey is with the U-19s. Kid is tall and very mobile, runs with his head up scanning the field and can match Casey in long distance passing. He’s is definitely faster than Casey and can play just about any position on the field. Seems like SJ is just going to play him at centerback because of his height. That’s a shame. Benjamin Do had a breakout game recently against Sac Republic. He has been playing right back but was pressed into an attacking role when Brandon Zelaya was injured. Do played right and left wing and drew a PK (which he converted) and added a late goal on a breakaway. He was shaking defenders left and right and struck the post on what should have been a hat trick. Ledezma Vazquez also scored a nice goal in that game plus a beauty of an assist on Do’s breakaway. Viviani is an interesting prospect. I’ve been told he has never played defense before the Quake’s scout Bruno Costa recruited him. He’s still learning the position but he’s fast and big and certainly has the chops going forward. He could become something special down the road.
LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire: I don't think there's very much to say here, so I'll keep it brief. Jonathan Perez ('03) and Marcus Ferkranus ('03) flashed good ability at times. Neither was as dominant as you'd like, but they are both good prospects. I don't understand why LAG constantly uses Perez at RW, but they do tend to make bad decisions on where to use their best young players, so I'm not surprised. Adrian Gonzalez ('03), younger brother of Jonathan Gonzalez, looks like a rather run of the mill player at this level. Bigger and better athlete than his brother, but not much in the way of ability to be a professional, IMO. Gabe Slonina ('04) had a quiet game. Did his job, but didn't get many opportunities to stand out. Javier Casas ('03) always puts in a good shift. Not the flashiest player, but should be a good quality professional CM. Allan Rodriguez ('04) just doesn't stand out, IMO. He might be more polished right now than many players his age, but I don't see pro quality.
Minnesota vs. Chicago: Again, I'm not going to add much. Minnesota was rather weak in this game. They got a little better when Darboe and Weah entered the game later, but most of their best players weren't playing in this game. The only two things I'll add about Chicago are notes on two players. Christopher Brady ('04): I thought he played well. He didn't have that many tough saves to make, but like Slonina in the prior game, did his job well. He has good size, looked comfortable in the air, and was quick off his line. I also thought he was good in the buildup. It's hard to figure out which of the two Chicago '04 keepers is better. I haven't seen much of a difference. Justin Reynolds ('04): He only played the first half. It seems like every game I want to watch Chicago play, he either doesn't play or is subbed out at the half. I have seen more than enough though to say he's a good (maybe very good) RB prospect. Good at both ends of the field, very smart player, technical enough, and can play either fullback position. He's probably the best fullback in the '04 crop, but I've yet to see a top level '04 fullback.
NYCFC vs. Toronto: Mark Cajamarca ('06): I continue to like what I see from this player, but he's very undersized, and I don't know if that's because he's playing against players a year older or because he's a very undersized player. I'm not sure that'll hold up as a holding mid, so we'll have to see how this guy develops physically, but he's mobile, a good passer, very comfortable on the ball with a good soccer IQ. He's very willing to put in a tackle, and is usually positioned well. Very impressive for a player playing up an age group, IMO. Tyler Glassberg ('05): Big target forward. Excellent in the air, holds the ball up well. Rather mobile, good at bringing his teammates into the play, and seems to have a good soccer IQ. Very bland style of CF. It's to be determined how much offensive ability he has beyond the target forward work. I find it hard to tell. He definitely doesn't initiate offense, and will need service, but he might have enough skill to beat defenses enough to score goals. Damon Rouse ('05) and Gabriel Chavez ('05): I'm going to combine this category because I found these two players to be very similar. They were the fullbacks (Rouse at LB, Chavez at RB). Small and shifty players who are very good dribblers, smart footballers with good ability going forward. Not tested that much defensively. They definitely drive the game forward from fullback. I wouldn't say either looked great, but two of the more talented players on the field. David Medina ('05) passed well out of the back at CB, but looks too undersized for the position. Moved well though, and I didn't see any problems defensively. Might be a candidate to move to defensive midfield. Mateo Ponce Ocampo ('05) had good composure and ball control as the #10. He didn't make enough offensive plays though, so I question whether he has the offensive ability to be a final third player. I'm not sure his skill-set is going to work as a middle third player.
New England vs. RSL: This was the last game I watched. There was nothing on the New England end of things to mention further that I didn't mention in the other New England game I watched. Chris Garcia ('03): They left him too much space, and you can't give him space. He was great. That's the type of performance I like seeing from him. Sometimes he can look a little raw and not show much other than speed, but he made very good decisions, and beat players to create many chances. He also scored a goal, and should've had two, if not for a nice save. Julian Lomeli ('03): This was the first time I've seen him play. LB whose rather two footed, high soccer IQ. Pretty good on the ball and good defensively, but I didn't see anything spectacular on either end. Athleticism might be a problem at higher levels. Kevin Jimenez ('04): I've seen him play before as a winger. He was with LAFC last season. He doesn't have the athleticism to play winger, IMO, but he was playing as a #10 in this game, and I thought he looked pretty good. He had a good level of creativity, and looked a little more athletic with his dribbling than I had previously seen.
For time saving purposes, that was the game of DC and RSL I decided to not watch. I saw the other two games from both teams though.
GA Cup starts back up this weekend for a couple of games. What are the predictions? TOR vs MTL; CLB vs CIN
TOR>MTL, CLB>CIN. The Crew have a very good team for the 2003 age group. My favorite team for all MLS sides this year is Chicago Fire but sadly all of the very talented players they have are stuck at the u17 level with no u19 or USL team. RSL, NYCFC, and Columbus also have very talented teams. Dallas has a team that is pretty stacked but who knows if they bring Sealy and Pepi which gives them significant fire power.
It's the first time that the fire have really gotten all of the premier prospects in the Chicago/Wisconsin/Indiana area onto one team. From what it looks like they're going to sign Allan Rodriguez-Lopez very soon. The Fire should be a power house in the DA year in, year out even more than Dallas as they have significantly less clubs to compete against for players in an area with a much higher population.