Pretty clear that we have a problem. what are the possibilities? 1. More dual nationals 2. USSF focus on young strikers 3. Special training 4. Identify young athletes in other sports (wide receivers or free safeties) and focus there What do we do … what can we do … certainly we have large numbers of youth playing the game.
Patience? Ha. Not here. Who is coming through? Maybe Pepi. Maybe Sargent improves. Maybe Vazquez is the real deal afterall? But the U-20s basically played little Aaronson as a striker because that's all they had.. #9 was barren.
Recruit Balogun Pressure his club to let Vasquez go overseas Continue to stress to Wright and Pefok the importance of improving their weak spots Hope Norwich stays up Watch Pepi get better as I suspect he will. Tell him to add muscle. Tell Hoppe to fire his family friend agent and hire an experienced pro Feed human growth hormone to the best USYNT strikers. Find a manager who knows how to use CFs as scorers
“Haaland is the son of the Norwegian former Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City defender Alfie Haaland, and former women's heptathlon athlete Gry Marita Braut.[111] In a 2017 interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Haaland said that "The dream is to win the Premier League with Leeds."[112] His cousins Jonatan Braut Brunes and Albert Tjåland are also professional footballers.[113][114] “ Genes and family …
One thing we can do more immediately that the USSF has direct control over is hire a coach that plays a different formation, with a 10 for creativity and also demands more from the striker other than "run around alot and press for us, thanks." I think establishing a different style will also help when it comes to auditioning strikers.
keep in mind we have a LARGE population of youth players …. So how to fill Project 9 with a big pool.
yes but even Berhalter had a plethora of good young midfielders to choose from … Chelsea, Valencia, Lille, Juventus, Dortmund, Leeds … Only Pefok is at a great or good club - Union …. who else?
As these guys mature, some will reach a good top-5 level in quality Neri Cowell Weah Pepi Dike Sargent Wright Hoppe Vazquez Ebbobisie
I do like Pepi, Ferreira, Sargent, Wright etc. but at their level they just don’t match the quality of our midfield … Just thinking this goes back to USSF and the academies to start …
Weah is at Lille. Pefok is at Union. GGG could've gone with that combo, if one wants to think in terms of league level. Sargent had a good B1 record in the non-relegation seasons.
Ebbobisie and Vazquez are not young … what U14-U17 emerging world class striker talent are in our academies ?
They are all good but only Weah might put the fear into Brazil … some. How did we get MMA and how do we get their match for a pool of number 9s?
Hmmmm, I hope one, maybe two come through. Doubtful. With this list...I need to go get @ussoccer97531 report on Neri, I guess, and pray.
There are a ton, more than most other positions, they're just very young, for a late-developing position. And we didn't select the guy, Ricardo Pepi, who performed the best for us in qualifying. He got back in form, after taking questionable routes into Europe. He could have been the #2 for BMG/Leverkusen or someone of that ilk and probably looked like he belonged in that role. Instead he tried to be a #1 on survival team. Now he needs to build back like Isak. Beyond him, Weah could fill out and be utilized there because we have plenty of options at wing. Tillman also played 9 for Bayern 2 in the 3 Liga at 17 and was good for them. That's a good trajectory. He could be flipped back. I thought Vazquez was our best all-around striker on paper - big, fast, delicate, interplay instincts, played hard, seems poised, etc. Never got a shot. Dike's succeeded everywhere, as flawed as he is. He just had health issues lately. Hoppe could bounceback in the right situation. Balogun could well switch. I'm a fan of Quinn Sullivan. Cowell may be a specialist or develop more awareness as he matures. Wright play with more effort, poise, or deftness. We have enough rolls of the dice here to where I'm not really concerned about this position by 2026. For me, it's just really the CB's & CDM depth right now. I don't see nearly as many potential answers there. Everywhere else, I see them, in quality & quantity. We are still early in the days of players coming from academies and maturing into men.
Good 9s are just a very rare species. You have to be very technical AND have at lease above-average athleticism. Puli is not strong enough to be a true 9. Weah isn’t strong enough (and barely technical enough- maybe) Wes isn’t technical enough. Gio might have had the building blocks to be one but he’s disinterested in the position and he’s playing a position that is just as rare- a true 10 with enough physicality to play the modern game. It’s the same reason why there are so many more functional middle linebackers in college football than there are functional defensive ends. Nature plays a big part. But we’re a very big country as well.
Weah had won a Ligue 1 title with Lille. Pefok has UCL and EL goals. He's on the 5th placed B1. Pulisic can play 2nd forward. That's your 'MMA' right there.
My guess is four years from now Sargent and Pepi will still be our top center forwards. I don't see anyone on horizon at the youth level likely to displace them. And no one at the senior level. I think we need to investigate how well we can play without a traditional 9. A lineup similar to what we had when Reyna came in at the start of the second half. It doesn't hurt to have the team be comfortable playing two or three different ways. The third way I have interest in is Reyna in midfield. I think Tillman has some potential to develop at a 9. But his game right now seems more wingish to me.
9 is the hardest position to develop. Spain and Germany also don’t like their 9 options currently either. This is why the position is so valued on the transfer market.
How do you know Vazquez isn't already good though? He was MLS Best XI. Some of those guys translate, some don't. But he never got the chance. He always passed the smell test for me much better as a 9 than Ferreira. However, Berhalter got fixated with false 9's tactically. And yes, for a striker 23-24 is pretty young. Yilmaz broke out to a degree in his mid 30's. Won a Ligue 1 title. A lot of strikers peak in their 30's. Toni didn't do much until he was 26, then was the starting striker on a WC winning side. I think there's an overreaction to these players already not being good strikers in top 5 leagues or whatever the standard is. That doesn't mean if we have this many shots, a couple likely won't.