I just read an article on soccer365.com, saying how that after this draft rongen will most likely have 10 players on his roster in MLS. Do you think there will actually be any impact on the players getting drafted now? They may get to practice for a few months I guess, but will there be any siginificant impact on their overall play. thanks.
AFAIK, the U20 WC is in March. There would be negligible impact on the development of these guys because they'd get at best a month's worth of training. Might help some, but a great deal? Nope. 10 MLS players but not where the 20s need it the most--in defense. I'm a little disappointed that Cochrane and Marshall didn't sign, however, they could be testing their Euro market value in order to leverage a better deal.
Re: Re: questions concering u-20's in draft I am a big fan of Marshall (haven't seen Cochrane play) and I hope you are right. They have him playing sweeper at Stanford, which IMO is a step backward in terms of development. A year in NCAA was good; getting him used to playing a physical game against older, stronger opponents. However, I can't think of one national side that plays with a sweeper (do any MLS clubs play with one anymore?) not to mention that playing deep like that means he has loads of time to play the ball, can see the entire field, hardly ever has to defend 1v1, and doesn't have to mix it up as much physically (except on set plays). OTOH, maybe he isn't ready to step into a MLS team and win a starting job. With no reserve system in place, maybe going 90 for Stanford about 25 times a year is better than getting scrap minutes with a pro team.
Plus for both Ryan and Chad, they can play in the current U20 camps (including 6 matches, 3 against MLS prospects, 1 vs. Mexico and two against full South american clubs sides, Allianza of Lima and National of Bogota) They there is a camp in Florida and Portugal including an international tournament with Norway, Portugal and maybe Germany. Then from March 25 to April 16 are the worlds in, probably not UAE judging by war news). Now they could go pro after THAT, but if not, they have a chance to go with a PDL team and/or train with an MLS team in the summer (i know they will have that opportunity). That would push them to the beginning of the 2003 season. The college season is not the problem with college soccer in terms of development,so they could play the season and then sign with MLS. So this is a rare occasion where they would not lose much developmentally, due mainly to their involvement with the U20s.
To further expand on GersMan's point, after the World Youth Championships, all of the members of the U20 team will then matriculate to the U23 team where there will be more games this summer, including the Pan-Am Games in August. Now, not all of the U20s are going to make the U23 team but some will and I'm guessing that Mooch will at give both Cochrane and Marshall a chance to show what they can do. Also, I agree with GersMan that the college season, per se, isn't the problem. It's the short length of it and the relative lack of quality opponents. But, as has been demonstrated, the players on the U20 team will get lots of games this spring and summer to supplement the college season. Also, as others have implied, just because they didn't sign with MLS this month doesn't mean they are going back to school this fall. If they play well in the UAE, or whereever the WYC is played, they will get offers from European teams and I suspect that MLS will come after the better U20 players again. By the middle of April, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Cochrane, Klaas and Marshall (and maybe a 1-2 others) are under contract to a pro team.
We've heard this talk before. Let's recap the US squad at the 2001 WYC: Pro Beasley, Donovan, Convey, Casey, Buddle Left college before 2001 season Countess Left college before 2002 season Salyer, Onyewu, Akwari, Yi, Gray, Davis, Martino Left college before 2003 season Eskandarian, Lewis, Arena, Carroll, Warren In 2001, only one out of thirteen collegians went pro. In 2003, the bulk of our talent is already professional. It is silly to suggest that as many as five others will be pros by April.
Dude, time will tell which of is right but I stand by my statement. Cochrane and Klaas took offers from MLS to go P40, but they balked at the dollars. That says they're at least considering turning pro. By waiting till April, they could really enhance their leverage. If they play well, they can either get an offer from a European team or go to MLS and use the Euro offer for leverage to get a better deal. Marshall has been quoted in various articles that he'd really like to play in Europe. He has said, in these articles, that the P40 money isn't worth leaving Stanford for and that if he gets a good offer from a Euro team after the WYC, he's gone. Given his size and youth, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he gets an offer. There are too many leagues in Europe that covet big backs. So, that's 3. If Cronin has a strong showing, he could also get an offers from Europe, a la Countess in 01. Certainly American 'keepers are well-regarded in Europe and it only takes 1 team to like you to have you go. The other player I could see turning pro is Steve Shirley. Granted, he's no lock to even make the team, though the fact that the roster has been expanded to 20 and that Rongen isn't high on Jordan Harvey, certainly helps his chances. If he does make the team, I wouldn't be surprised if he got an offer. He's left-footed and has an EU passport and grew-up in apprenticing with a Scottish Premier League team so he is used to being in the pro environment. And, he's at the Univeristy of Mobile, where he already won a national title, because he didn't qualify for a NCAA requirements to play D-1. Now, I hate to assume, but, it doesn't seem like academics are the highest priority (though I could easily be wrong) so if he got an offer - and being left-footed and having an EU passport will help him do that - he could be gone. Not likely, but not impossible, either. Finally, regarding your comparisons to the last U20 team, remember 2 things. First, the older MLS gets and the more success our national team and our young players have, the more acceptable and "the norm" it will be for kids to leave school early to go pro. That Lewis and Onyewu and Yi etc.. are all pros now makes it easier for these kids to make the jump. Second, all these kids are trying to make the Olympics and they're all competing against pros for spots on the Olympic roster. And, the clock is ticking... The last U20 had the advantage of time, since after Argentina there were over 3 years till Athens. Also, they were older and didn't have a prior group of U20s already in the pro ranks with whom they'd be competing for an Olympic roster spot. By contrast, the current 20s have a little over a year till Athens and just a few months till the first qualifiers (suposedly in the late fall). Plus, each one of them has a large pool of pros, most of them older, in front of them at their positions. It's not impossible, but it will be very hard for them to beat out these pros for an Olympic spot if they return to school in the fall. Look, I won't be shocked if all 5 of these guys are playing college ball Sept. 1 but it's not unrealistic - and it's certainly not silly - to think they could get offers or will turn pro after the WYC.
Individually, any of the five guys you list might get a good offer. In 2001, I thought that Salyer was one of the team's less promising players. Even so, he eventually got a contract at Werder Bremen. The World Youth Cup is a great shop window. Still, it's a big leap from getting high-profile exposure to signing a pro contract. Mid-April is way too early to expect much to happen, especially for five different players at once.
Shirley said he will probably go through one more year of school, but that playing professionally is his dream. He looked pretty decent going foward and hitting crosses at the Combine. It wouldn't shock me if he could play his way into a contract (if he makes the team). Might want to consider Justin Moose in that category too.
Given the rapidly changing nature of the U.S. soccer scene, I'd say that basing it completely on past history is a little silly. I've got my $ on Klaas and Cochrane to take a stab. Marshall has his Stanford deal which makes me wonder if he'll ever come out early. Grabavoy apparently decided that if he didn't get an offer by Bayern Munich(2-3 yrs ago)that he would wait, which I thought was a little strange---now, he's the back-up trying to get time with the U20s. I'd be making a deal with mom and dad saying I've done half the college thing for free, now it's time to let me do what I want to do(assuming going pro is really what they want to do). [sarcasm/on]I mean, c'mon, so many players have had to retire from MLS from career ending injuries and all...[sarcasm/off] These guys values as youth players will never be higher than right around the U20 World Cup---and it's still before the MLS season this time. They should also talk to Twellman and Salyer about turning down P40 to try and go play in Hunsville.
If you're going to disagree with my point, you need to add three more names to that list ... and remember, mid-April. BTW, you've been around these boards for a while. Surely you remember how people were blowing smoke about all the players that would go pro right after the 2001 U-20's. Now it's starting again. In that respect, very little has changed in the past two years.
Why? Those are the guys who I think are going to take a stab. Marshall went to Stanford and Grabavoy got rejected by Bayern Munich and evidently decided that going to college was the best thing. These two have questionable attitudes towards soccer IMHO, why would you choose Stanford if you were seriously thinking of leaving early? Kind of like that Skalecki kid going to Princeton. Sounds like they might be more interested in other things to me. Perhaps. There is the added aspect of the Olympic games thrown into the whole decision making process. None of these guys would be eligible for 2008 either. Klaas, Cochrane, and Marshall, should they turn pro in April, would have as good a chance as any of the other slightly older pros(Stokes, Pause, Lewis, etc.) at making the Olympic qualifying roster. Grabavoy would have less of a shot unless he turned pro in April and had some kind of Martino-like year. Klass can play in the PDL easily, where would Marshall and Cochrane play? Grabavoy could play somewhere easily too perhaps.
But I was criticizing the suggestion that five players could go pro. If you think that only two players will go pro, then you're agreeing with me (vehemently). I'm a big fan of Klaas's game, but the only way that he makes the Olympics is through a rash of injuries. There's no way that he overtakes Onyewu and Thompson. By contrast, Lewis is among our defensive frontrunners.
I'm with Beineke here - Klaas is a good player but he's going to have a tough time beating out Gooch, Stokes, Lewis, Stokes and even St. John's Chris Wingert, a favorite of Mooch for his versatility even though he stayed in school. Gooch is out of sight over in France but let's not forget what a stud he is. 6-3, 195 fast and greaceful and strong with great ups. Needs to work on his tactical stuff but hopefully the French will pound that into him.
I don't think that Thompson is going to be competition at RB. I definitely don't see him as a RB in MLS since I think he lacks the technical skills. I think Onyewu's height also has little to do with his potential Olympic team selection. Outside backs are not called on very often to use their heads and their skill with the ball and distributing is more important IMHO. Onyewu and Klass are the only two natural right backs that I see. Lewis is naturally left footed, Stokes is a center back, and Wingert is a left back who will probably not even make the team because of his amateur status.
Onyewu is the run away leader at right back, there really isn't anybody else even close. But to what you were saying about his height not being a factor, I think its a big factor. Its true that most wing backs don't use their head very often but Onyewu can and does. Not only defensively he is excellent in the air on set pieces and also when pushing forward in the run of play. That gives him a big advantage over anyone else in the right back pool. The statement about Lewis being left footed really isn't true. He's an ambidextrious back. He can play on either side or in the center. But he probably will only be looked at on the left because of the gaping hole that we currently have there.