A little birdie tells me that some collegiate coaches are indeed starting to feel the schedule pinch caused by the conflict the U20 CONCACAF qualifying tournament has with the ACC Tournament in November. Of course regulars here know that Sandon called all of this some months ago (but servers being the fallible devices they are, we have no record of this). Would somebody care to offer up a prospective USA roster for this event, perhaps one ideal list and one if by chance collegiate players/coaches decide or are given permission to, stay with their school team for that week. Is that likely, by the way?
Man, I can't believe I missed this thread last week! While it's not surprising to learn that some college coaches are all bent about losing some of their top players at key stretches of the season, I would love to know which ones in particular are the most upset about this. Anyway, regarding the roster, obviously I don't know what Rongen's exact plans are but I think I can narrow it down to 21 and from that list 3, obviously, won't make the final 18. GKs - Steve Cronin, Santa Clar; Ford Williams, North Carolina BACKS - Ryan Cochrane, Santa Clara; C.J. Klaas, Washington; Chad Marshall, Stanford; Aaron Shepherd, Cambuur Lewarden (Holland); Frankie Simek, Arsenal (England); Chefik Simo, Furman; Zak Whitbred, Liverpool (England) MIDS - Devin Barclay, San Jose Earthquakes; Ricardo Clark, Furman; Bobby Convey, DC United; Ned Grabavoy, Indiana; David Johnson, Willem II (Holland); Justin Mapp, DC United; Jordan Stone, Dallas Burn FORWARDS - Mike Ambersley, Indiana; Knox Cameron, Michigan; Eddie Johnson, Dallas Burn; Santino Quaranta, DC United; Bryce Wegerle, Udinese (Italy) So if all of the college players listed make the 18 -which is possible since the status of the Euro players and Quaranta, because of injury, are up in the air - that's 10 guys who are going to miss a key part of the season. Now, technically, FIFA has no way to mandate that the college players get released because the NCAA is not governed by FIFA. So, Jerry Yeagley or Cam Rast could just say "I'm paying your scholarship and if you go we're taking it away" and the player would have to pick. However, it's doubtful that such a move would withstand a legal challenge (and if I were a parent of a player whose coach did that, I would certainly consider going to the courts) and more to the point, no coach who ever hopes to continue to recruit national team level talent would ever ban a player from playing for the baby nats because such a move would have serious and long-lasting negative repercussions. I mean, if your choice is to play for say, George Gelnovatch, who is a USSF national team coach, or some college coach who prevented his players from playing in a qualifer for a world championship, who are you gonna pick? Recruiting is tough enough as it is and these coaches aren't going to do anything that will give their competion an edge. They may not like this - in fact, I'm sure they don't - and there will be lots of behind the scenes griping and moaning, but at the end of the day, whatever players Rongen wants will be in Charleston. Now, as for Rongen having a long camp with the college players, don't hold your breath. I wouldn't expect the college players to arrive for qualifying more than a week before the first game. BTW, GersMan, interesting that you mention the ACC Tournament, because unless I'm wrong, only 1 ACC player - Williams of UNC - will make the final 18. The Big Ten and the western conferences and Furman will be more effected by this than the ACC.
I went to US Soccer looking for stats on who has played for the 20's this year and how many games to campare against Sandon's list and unfortunately the web site is still at 2001 rosters. We could get a good thread going. I wished they maintained that site? Any other option beside cut and pasting?
Whoops! Regarding my list earlier, I totally spaced and forgot about Mike Magee, who is rumored to have signed with Ajax. I would have to think that Magee is ahead of Ambersley on Rongen's forward depth chart and if he takes 4 forwards - I think he will - the final spot, if everyone is healthy, will be between Mike Magee and Bryce Wegerle. Personally, unless Wegerle can hit a great dead ball, I think the edge will go to Magee. (I think Knox Cameron is a good bet to be the other back-up forward because he gives Rongen a target-type striker on the bench while Magee and Wegerle are more withdrawn striker types.)
Query Sandon (or anyone else for that matter), Do you have a sense on how good this U-20 team can be (even with the "wRongen Factor" mucking things up)? Are they even expected to qualify? Advance in the U-20 World Cup? Win the whole thing? Are the Euros all better than the college boys? Are our forwards good enough? Our midfield (with Convey)? Defenders (with Buddle)? Very curious as to this bunch of players...
Maverick Buddle is a U23, too old for the 20. Born 05/81 Sandon Besides mentioning Magee as a response to your earlier post. These players have also logged time with the 20's this year. Palomares Capano Lancos Saavedra Chun Colon Hartman Alvarez Stephen Shirley / Black
How good is our kids? Maverick, I am trying to answer your question, and Sandon will probably correct me for everything I miss. Compare with last U-20, the offense may not as good as last time. Last time, we have two target forwards in Casey and Buddle. Both of them are in PRO ranks. Casey is tearing up 3rd Bundesliga with Dortmund reserve, and Buddle has some good PT for Crew and with already one year of time in A-League. Then we have Donovan, Beasley and Convey play behind the forward. All of them already capped by US full Nats. Of course, both Beasley and Convey were playing with injury at WC time. In the midfield, we also have Davis, Martino and Gary. They are talented but not ready for the stage in that time. Then on the defense, we have Onyewu, and on goal we have Countess. The problem in last team was the defense and defensive midfield, we don't have skillful players. So the offense cannot release its true power because we have problem to control the ball. In this team, I think the offense may not good as last one. E. Johnson isn't established as a starter in MLS. Quaranta is good, but even without injury, he has reach the status as Donovan did on that time frame. The wide midfield is OK, considering both Mapp and Barclay played in MLS with Barclay had two years of major sub time. In the center, Convey probably is a better #10 than Martino. So it is really down to the question--do we have a better d-mid? From eyewitness report, Clarke maybe a real deal. Also do we have a better center defense? I did so Cochrane played before, but if Whitebred and Simak are as good as they are and joined the team, we can be better there. Normally our college defenders even don't know how mark a player--like Yi and Akiwari showed.
There is an enormous difference between 2001 and 2003: experience. At this point in 2000, our U-20 pool had only three pros: Donovan, Beasley, and Convey. These guys were all under-age for the U-20's, and so was our entire starting defense. (It wasn't until later that Casey went pro and Buddle was called in.) Now we have ~15 candidates who are in a pro environment. As a result, I think we'll be much better prepared.
Feedback Interesting breakdown; thanks, guys! Watching the last U-20s, I got the distinct impression that the team really, really missed a healthy DMB and Convey. Also, I agree with you that the defenders looked amateurish, at best, during the tournament. If our overseas youth defenders are as good as people who've seen them claim they are, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that our defense will be much better organized, and probably much better, period. In the attack, I'm comfortable with Magee, Mapp, Convey, Barclay in midfield and Johnson and Quaranta up top (again, if healthy). The question is depth and talent, in that this group doesn't strike me as a bunch of slouches, but DMB and Landon, as we saw this summer, are quite simply something special. I, too, expect more balance and less "pop," but that might not be a bad thing. So are we saying, the team should make the Cup, advance, and then all bets are off?