https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11540559#post11540559 Dave turned up news of this kid at Athletico Madrid's academy. Do we know much of anything about him?
Not a Rongen defender. That's for certain, but posts like this are getting old and boring. You figure it out. His age. How many pros are out there. When camps were. Etc, etc, etc... Also, the "he got signed to a Euro acadamy deal" so he must be the real deal bar none mentality which is also become incredibly dull and boring. We could place tons of kids in acadamies all over Europe if the scouting was bigger. As it slowly grows we are placing a lot more, and the number will only increase. Not that hard to get youth deals, acadamy deals, even reserve deals, if you have the right contacts and you are decent. There are several thousand opportunities like this if you count all youth teams and reserves. Our gusya re better than you think compared to the average player. It's not the other way around. The difficult thing is becoming a difference maker somehwere. Now, that's hard. These deals aren't as hard as people make them out to be. Contact and decent talent gets you in. Again, it's the rest that is a lot harder. Signing prospects like this really isn't a big deal for these clubs. Dime a dozen. Maybe US fans keep missing out on the common sense stuff a lot. Just like Rongen.
Are you kidding? He got an academy deal in a top league. Do you want to see Michael dal Pra on the U-20's? He's in an academy in Italy after not making the U-17 roster despite being a residency guy for most of the cycle. What about Brian Mascheranas he had an academy deal in England (and left to play at Vanderbilt, omg)? Neven Subotic (u-17 bench player) and Eric Hort (spelling) appear to be either academy or even pro deals in Bundesliga what about them? Brandon Manzinelli in Spain? This is great new for the kid but that does not mean he belongs on our U-20's. Maybe by getting in this environment he will become a contender for a national team level or maybe even become a 1st division Spanish league player, but that is a long way away at best.
Exactly. This is a good trend. Sandon did the same thing basically in another thread. The insecurity/desperation?/lack of understanding among US fans and our place in the game is really getting old and boring. Acadamy deal. Good for the kid. I will be rooting for him. Long way to go. Doesn't mean he is automatically better because a Euro signed him. We have many at this point who can get spots like this. As the quantity of youth players get more chances here and abroad we will have many more failures than successes, as all countries do, but we will also find those differnec emakers we need to improve.