Starts 2nd half of a friendly: ⚽ De tweede helft is begonnen! 📋 Opstelling FC Utrecht, tweede helft: Thijmen Nijhuis; Sylian Mokono, Mike van der Hoorn, Rick Meissen, Djevencio van der Kust; Luuk Brouwers, Mohamed Mallahi, Taylor Booth; Rayan El Azrak, Sander van de Streek, Othmane Boussaid.#utrqpfc pic.twitter.com/mQZL6BcxgH— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) July 2, 2022
Am I the only one who feels like Booth could be a breakout player for us? He seems fully capable of becoming a contributor for Utrecht this year. Its almost certainly too late for him to make the World Cup squad, but it’s easy to imagine him being worthy of a call in in 2023. The situation with Bayern was both I’ll-timed and unfortunate.
I just checked Transfermarket, which indicates that he signed a 3-year contract with them on a free transfer.
Booth starts. Livestream! Will likely take the set pieces again but won’t have Henk Veerman on the field as a target. https://t.co/TJF0WDufit— Daniel (@DanielSmith1022) July 6, 2022
Taylor Booth vs Queen's Park (friendly, 7/2/22) pic.twitter.com/n1KWXzQ99D— Justin Moran (@kickswish) July 7, 2022
Starts in friendly: 📋 𝗗𝗲 𝗫𝗜 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗖 𝗨𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘁 📺 Livestream 👉 https://t.co/edazKZm2N8#fcutrecht #vanuithethart #heeutr pic.twitter.com/4mixiZMlMp— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) July 8, 2022
Starts again, in a friendly. 📍 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐤𝐤𝐞-𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭📋 𝗗𝗲 𝗫𝗜 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗖 𝗨𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘁📺 Livestream 👉 https://t.co/xjtmIKi7K8#fcutrecht #cluutr pic.twitter.com/kmLj7FfqbO— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) July 13, 2022
He looked good here... Taylor Booth vs Club Brugge (pre-season) pic.twitter.com/ZeHRzWf2G0— Jack Stephen 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@USMNTZ) July 13, 2022
On the bench for a friendly: 📋 𝐎𝐧𝐳𝐞 𝐗𝐈📺 Livestream 👉 https://t.co/yvckWILTrA#fcutrecht #vanuithethart #kvkutr pic.twitter.com/Zk3IK2DDrB— FC Utrecht (@fcutrecht) July 16, 2022 No indication he played in the game.
Question? I know very little about this guy. My friends in Munich never mentioned him. I never thought about him until after I saw a line up. For those with some real insight, is he expected to be good enough for this level? I mean. Utrecht clearly thought something about him. Should I expect to see him make an impression when the season starts? Who does he remind folks of?
From what I've seen of him.... he can absolutely play at the Eredivisie level. I think Utrecht is a good place to cut his teeth. Personally, I think it is going to take him a handful of matches to adjust to the level, speed of play, and tactics of the Eredivisie. That's natural and expected. Once he does, there's a potential to shine. As for his game..... in my eyes.... he's built for that deep lying role where he can really get on the ball and be that transitional player between the defense and attack. He has an arsenal of mid-range passing and can ping the ball around the pitch accurately and efficiently with either foot. He's okay on the dribble but strength but a low-center of gravity at 5'9" means he protects the ball well. As the English say... he does mind getting "stuck-in" and is comfortable defending in from of the back 4. I would hesitate to call him a 6, more of a 8-ish player. I get the sense he's "soccer IQ" is good with his movements on and off the ball. Always moving and always scanning. The foundation is there for a good, senior international level player. Booth just has to take advantage of his opportunities and continue that upward trajectory. Booth comes with a heavy soccer background with both parents playing at the D1 level along with his brother, Zach, at Leicester City. I also want to say his Dad is a coach/ club director in Utah. I can't quite a finger of who his game reminds me of. The closest I've seen is probably Julian Weigl. Julian is taller and more of a 6 but their range of passing, movement, and ability to make late attacking runs is similar. No idea if anyone else has the same assessment..... take it with a grain of salt.
Now I haven’t watched a ton but I was with yi until weigl. booth played some wingback with BM2 and some RM in Austria so physically very different from Weigl. I agree with assessment of an 8 not a 6. Staying on former Dortmund players though… he actually reminds me a bit of Gonzalo Castro.