Indiana Vassilev: fedoras and national team discussion welcome

GB will likely not give him the opportunity until he starts getting some regular minutes... so he needs to decide whether to be patient or not. He is still really young. One thing is for sure... if he does go to Bulgaria then all of a sudden he becomes irrelevant in the US market. No hype...

 

From everything I've heard, he's going to be invited to play with the U.S. U-20 team in March.

Do we consider that level below him now? I don't but from what I can tell is that there is a growing number of fans seem to. He's been a regular with U.S. YNTs for quite some time. I may be in the minority but I like putting young players with YNTs even if they could hack it with the full NT. I like giving them a place where they can dominate as opposed to just being a role player.

Cue the Villyan Bijev flashback for a Bulgarian-USA dual national panic.

 

^^ this ^^

 

For whatever reason, I'd love to have the bulgarian american version of Preki. I love his left foot and comparing his moves to Frankie's step-over. Good times....good times.

 

From what I heard from GB in the Sirius XM Interview they are taking Olympic Qualifying very seriously this time around... Seems like the U23 squad may be a better fit for him.

 

but the big games fall outside the international window, so releases are an issue. Plus, he’s never played with that U-23 team before or any of its players. So, I don’t see him being involved there

 

Yeah... GB even mentioned Adams, Weston and CP as players that could have played in the Olympics but can't due to club obligations. Just thought that playing in this tournament might be a carrot that one could dangle in front of Indiana to entice him to remain with the US.... but your point is well taken.

 

Haji, Soto, Sargent, Altidore. All players I would call ahead of this player. 36 minutes and 9 pass attempts on a bottom PL team isn't enough for a full NT call up imo. U23 at best is his level.

 

Its the talent.

hes dominate on the U-23 PL level. That's why he got promoted. U-20 camps will always be there. Full USMNT time against Holland in Holland? chance only comes every 5 years.

 

If he's good enough to play in the EPL he's good enough for the full national team, no different than Adams or Pulisic, who both skipped U20 World Cups (although Adams played in one as an underage 17 year old but not as an eligible 19 year old).

 

This is going to sound silly, but just because he has played in the Premier League doesn't mean he's actually good enough to play in the Premier League.

Plenty of players have a few cameos in the league and show they aren't up for it. Not saying that's the case with Vassilev, but I'd like to see more from him before I feel comfortable calling him a "Premier League player" who obviously needs to be with the senior national team. Like, he has 64 professional minutes - no need to rush.

 

look at haji wright at Schalke.

I’m not saying that this the case here but someone who gets time due to a massive rash of injuries mid-season isn’t the same thing as earning ones spot.

 

Yeah... comparing him to CP or Adams is premature at this point IMO. He hasn't even started a game yet.

 

I was going to edit my post to add Haji as an example, but you did it for me.

 

That's why I created this thread with the list of USMNT-eligible players versus their caps.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/most-epl-appearances-with-fewest-usmnt-caps.2108484/

Only 4 other players with obvious USMNT eligibility have played in the EPL but have no US caps and they are all on the short end of the stick:

Zak Whitbread (18)
Jemal Johnson (6)
Paul Rachubka (3)
Johann Smith (1)

All the other players at the low end of the EPL appearances lists have had successes in other top tier leagues (except maybe Feuer & he only had one cap in 1992. He did play quite a bit in MLS. ):

Ian Feuer (5)
Michael Bradley (3)
Brek Shea (3)
Matt Miazga (2)
Maurice Edu (1)
Emerson Hyndman (1)

 

Not all top league experiences are the same.

Adams and Pulisic had established critical roles on very, very good Bundesliga teams.

There are so many different levels of playing with teams. Just off the top of my head its something like this

- Critical core players
- Regular starters
- Occasional starters/regular subs/role players
- Occasionally used subs/starters during a wave of injuries/schedule congestion
- Youth players who get minutes in cup games

A player who is critical to a team and a player who is occasionally used as a sub both play minutes, but they're far from the same thing.

And the gap between these roles is huge - although you can move up and down.

The list of non-USMNT caliber American players who have earned token minutes in big leagues is actually not small. Johann Smith, Bryan Arguez, J. Johnson Seb Hines, Gabe Farrari, Khiry Shelton, etc

Even a few players I still like (Emerson Hyndman, Lynden Gooch, Russell Canouse) made appearances in big leagues but still will struggle for USMNT call-ups.

 

Look at Lynden Gooch too. Having a bit of good form in League 1 recently but he played 11 times in the EPL when he was 20/21. That doesn't necessarily mean you're can't miss stuff for the USMNT.

The list of players who have dipped their toes into a top league is vast. It doesn't mean that much to me until they've really proven themselves to be a regular/consistent force at that level.

Give the kid time.

I don't like the "He played 36 minutes in the EPL we HAVE to call him up guys, he is an EPL player!" crap... it shows a lack of nuance.

These situations are often more nuanced then that and you have to look at it on a player by player basis. Gio Reyna dipping his toes into a big league? Yea, that feels a whole lot different then Vassilev's circumstances.

 

No need to rush? That's silly. Brian said cue the panic more than five hours ago.

Consider it cued ...

 

And when the said player is eligible for a U-20 or U-23 team at important moments, it is a huge opportunity.

It gives them an opportunity to see an increased role within a team. Ok, so a player can hang with the first team of a big Euro team for a few minutes off the bench, but can he lead a team? Can he be the difference maker?

The quick nature fans have these to quickly deem a player "beyond" a youth NT is something I hope ends soon. I don't understand it. Pulisic in 2017 for the U-20s? OK. Tyler for the 2019 U-20s? Ok. But it should be rare.

YNT experience is a wonderful developmental tool that bridges the gap for players trying to move from the youth ranks to the adult ranks. Even if they have gotten their feet wet at the adult level, it provides a additional responsibilities of leadership and being a difference maker.

 

Any other players that can't get time on any sub MLS level teams?

 

How?

Jordan Morris was a college kid while doing this




you have to spot the talent. A USMNT camp in Europe is a great experience.

 

What exactly are you arguing for or against? This post is nonsense and not responsive to anything I had to say.

 

You miss the point big-time there are tons of lower-level players who become great players and first-tier too. It goes both ways.

 

I'd also want to know who else is in that superior talent group? Dest? May be. Who else?
Vassilev's problem is lack of noise around his name. We are following DLT, Akale, Zelalem etc for many years, and it feels like 4-5 more years and they might have a breakthrough.
Who the hell is Vassilev? How dare he play in EPL without our approval? The stupid kid probably put efforts in practicing instead of marketing. Is that even allowed?