MLS Flavors of the Week, 2017 Edition

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by TheFalseNine, Jan 12, 2017.

  1. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    By the way, the roster of that US U20 camp is heavily influenced by kids already signed to MLS clubs. The U20 CB depth in MLS right now is greater than its ever been (and the YA contingent is nice with CCV, Danny Barbir of West Brom, Kyle Gruno at Leicester, Hector Montalvo of Tigres, and the list goes on).

    GOALKEEPERS (3): Jonathan Klinsmann (University of California; Newport Beach, Calif.), JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown; Alamo, Calif.), Brady Scott (De Anza Force; Petaluma, Calif.)

    DEFENDERS (9): Hugo Arellano (LA Galaxy; Norwalk, Calif.), Marcello Borges (Michigan; Kearny, N.J.), Marlon Fossey (Fulham F.C.; Surbiton, ENG), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Aaron Herrera (New Mexico; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee's Summit, Mo.), Tommy Redding (Orlando City SC; Oviedo, Fla.), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; Arlington, Mass.), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union; Media, Pa.)

    MIDFIELDERS (8): Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake; Salt Lake City, UT), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls II; Wappingers Falls, N.Y), Coy Craft (FC Dallas; Frisco, TX), Jonathan Gonzalez (CF Monterrey; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Jonathan Lewis (NYCFC; Plantation, Fla.), Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake; Park City, Ut.), Jonathan Suarez (Queretaro F.C.; Orange County, Calif.), Eryk Williamson (Maryland; Alexandria, Calif.)

    FORWARDS (4): Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers, Bethesda, Md.), Brooks Lennon (Liverpool; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Josh Sargent (Scott Gallagher Missouri; O'Fallen, Mo.), Brandon Vazquez (Atlanta United FC; Chula Vista, CA)

    And the others are mostly homegrown-eligible signings. Some have already been offered deals, particularly Williamson (who supposedly has overseas opportunities).

    JT Marcinkowski-San Jose
    Marcello Borges-NYRB
    Arron Herrera-RSL
    Eryk Williamson-DCU
    Brooks Lennon-RSL academy product
    Josh Sargent-SKC acquired rights
     
  2. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    The thing I like about Ramos is how he brings the latinos into his teams with success.

    In the MLS, just off the top of my head I see Toronto playing in mid with Osorio and Cooper. Seattle with Roldan and Alonzo, Portland have Valeri and Chara, FCD have Diaz and Gruezo.

    Having Rubin, Arriola and Delgado playing key roles for the U20's was crucial last cycle.

    When you look at the MLS super draft you don't see latino names coming up hardly at all.
    http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2017/tracker

    I believe Ramos missed out on Roldan last time - I wonder how much of that was that he was getting pressure from the hierarchy to take guys like Zelalem and BJ IV, etc. because of their employers.

    Anyway, I don't know the player pool well enough to say anything definitively.
     
  3. lurking

    lurking Member+

    Feb 9, 2002
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was made between the quakes 1st and 2nd picks in the draft, I dont think Jonas got it from our technical team, since they were kinda busy at the time.
     
  4. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    JT is gonna be a baller, really looking forward to seeing him with this group. that is a solid bunch of players there
     
  5. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    There were guys in Roldan's position that were pretty good last U20 cycle (Hyndman, Acosta, Delgado, Zelalem, etc.) What we might want to look at there is that both Acosta and Delgado have played fullback at an MLS level, and that versatility ended up being important. Markey Delgado is often left out of our discussions of the better young players in the league. And that's because the near 100 games he's played in the league have been with ChivasUSA and Toronto. Lynden Gooch, who's now been capped by the full USMNT, was also left out of the midfield of that team. So were Russell Canouse (now at Bochum), Junior Flores (still at Dortmund), and the list goes on.

    Roldan suffered from the same issue that Yedlin did. According to the USYNT staff, those players had poor early camps with the U20s for whatever reason. It took a while for Yedlin to get back in, and Roldan never got back in. Competition at Yedlin's position wasn't as severe as the competition at Roldan's.

    Hopefully we're developing talent in such a way that a bunch of very good players are going to be left out every cycle.
     
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  6. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd say that's a charitable take. Here is a list of all the Latinos on the 2013 U20 team:

    Daniel Cuevas
    Danny Garcia
    Luis Gil
    Alonso Hernandez
    Benji Joya
    Mikey Lopez
    Juan Pablo Ocegueda
    Victor Pineda
    Mario Rodriguez
    Oscar Sorto
    Javan Torre
    Jose Villarreal
     
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  7. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I agree with @Balerion here. I'm not a fan of his work. He's not catastrophically bad, but he's a bad manager. Not even a bad coach, I think he has some good ideas to teach young kids, but his roster selection and tactical decisions in match's have been really bad throughout his time as U-20 manager.
     
  8. GiallorossiYank

    GiallorossiYank Member+

    Jan 20, 2011
    NJ/Roma/Napoli
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That 2013 team was trash. All have done jack.
     
  9. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    The REALLY disappointing player there is Luis Gil.

    We didn't have particularly high hopes for any of those other players on that list.

    Other players on that 2013 team were Yedlin, Trapp, and Acosta. Two currently in January camp and the other is a USMNT starter.

    Another player in that group who was progressing nicely prior to an injury last season was Dillon Serna of Colorado. He was on the CONCACAF WCQing team, but not the WC team if my memory serves me correctly. Eric Miller also had a very solid year in MLS.
     
  10. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And of course, Ramos cut Jordan Morris in the lead up to the tournament.
     
  11. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    yeah Gil fell off the face of the earth, extremely disappointing
     
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  12. DeAndresHaircut

    DeAndresHaircut Member+

    Jul 24, 2015
    Pennsylvania
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    RBNY have traded Dax Mccarty to the Fire according to Paul Tenorio

    our boys Sean Davis and Tyler Adams should be smiling....

    Polster is probably frowning though because they've added Juninho and Dax this offseason
     
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  13. GiallorossiYank

    GiallorossiYank Member+

    Jan 20, 2011
    NJ/Roma/Napoli
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  14. Dr.Phil

    Dr.Phil Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Polster will probably be traded. Dax is a better option than Schweinsteiger and the could pair nicely with Jun
     
  15. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wished it was Felipe getting traded because stylistically he's more like Davis. But it seems like now this will pave the way for a Davis-Felipe pairing behind Kljestan, with guys like Adams moving into Davis' role.

    Good on NYRB for advancing their young, performing players through the system and up the ranks, so they don't stagnate, have their talent mostly wasted, and they keep costs reasonable. That's how the Red Bull football conglomerate throughout the world has such successful franchises and gets a great R.O.I.

    In this case, their functionality potentially benefits our development of American players, and increasing our options internationally. Looks like Abang was sent out. BWP will be 32. Hopefully Brandon Allen will have an expanded role as the #2 CF this season. They really should move Veron, who has been a big disappointment, and has tunnel vision. That would pave the way for Etienne being super-sub. Although for our purposes that ship may have sailed.

    They aren't very deep at fb without Duvall now. Do they have anybody who can make the step up from USL Champions RB2 to replace him? I'm curious about our youth international options at fb in general with the u-2o WC coming up. Looks like that could be a weak spot on that team.
     
  16. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He will be traded to RSL when they finally realize Beckerman is cooked and they want to invest fully in the youth movement.
     
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  17. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    400,000 general allocation money, yowzers, RBNY getting ready to make a move
     
  18. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not for a central midfielder. And I wouldn't conclude they are preparing to make a move from that collection. Allocated money is also a weapon to extract value from other teams who love to spend on vets, especially foreign ones, like the Galaxy and cross-town rivals.
     
  19. OWN(yewu)ED

    OWN(yewu)ED Member+

    Club: Venezia F.C.
    May 26, 2006
    chico, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    DC also signed homegrown Ian Harkes, who would have certainly been in the top 8 draft day, some whispers even first overall. hes another one that could plug in and start right away.
     
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  20. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Polster is an 8 like Felipe.

    There had to be back up for Juninho at the dmid position because they had nobody.

    Chicago is the ideal place for Polster. He'll do better there than anywhere else.

    Too bad Davis wasn't called into camp along with Polster and Roldan. When/if one of them breaks through at club this year we will be behind the curve in development. Blame Klinsi for putting us in the 0-2 hole. I know Arena is thinking "win in March with the tried and true" and use GC to introduce the less experienced for prospective depth at WC.
     
  21. truefan420

    truefan420 Member+

    May 30, 2010
    oakland
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well Dax will be crying himself to sleep tonight
     
  22. KickballWizard

    Jun 11, 2013
    There's a good chance that Polster shifts to RB in Chicago. He'd also get some time in the midfield in that case.
     
  23. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    He's a really bad fullback.
     
  24. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Two years ago I thought NYRB were going to be a dumpster fire.
    Last year I thought Colorado were going to be a dumpster fire.

    I really thought Chicago were going to be a dumpster fire this year. Ya know, though? That roster is thin, but their starting XI is shaping up pretty well.
     
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  25. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Yeah, I believe the best unsigned player from the U-17 program is a Red Bull academy LB (Chris Gloster). I'd expect Gloster to be getting a contract with RB1 (a RB2 contract offer would be an insult). He's only 16 though. Most 16 years old aren't good enough for MLS, so he might be a year or two away, but he's really good. They also have U-20 LB Marcello Borges who should be signing a pro contract soon. I think he's only playing for the U-20's because that team lacks LB's, but he could be a decent MLS player and might be ready for minutes rather soon. Their system is completely gutted of RB's. Olosunde and Duncan both went to Europe.

    To the best of my knowledge, thats the extent of their pro level potential full-back depth.
     
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