We already have the 2017 Breakout Youngster thread but I thought it would be cool to get a feel for who folks believe are the top 20 prospects. This list from Fox Sports is 21 and younger and has some glaring omissions and head scratching inclusions but it is interesting nonetheless. My idea is to limit the list to prospects who have a wisp of chance of seeing the pitch this year with their first team (so that would include kids like Pomykal but exclude pure academy players like De La Fuente) but not attach arbitrary age limits. Edit: This list have several that have already earned full NT caps and/or are regular starters for their club. Since this is stars of the future, we should probably leave guys like Pulisic off of ours but I will leave it up to you. I'll provide my list in a subsequent post but here are the first ten Fox Sports prospects... Julian Green Desevio Payne Brooks Lennon Erik Palmer-Brown Haji Wright Cameron Carter-Vickers Matt Miazga Joshua Perez Kellyn Acosta Rubio Rubin
The next ten: Luca de la Torre Amando Moreno Gedion Zelalem Justen Glad Ethan Horvath Paul Arriola Zack Steffen Lynden Gooch Emerson Hyndman Christian Pulisic
I'm trying to keep this list short so I removed anyone with a full NT start. So for me the best prospects with no full NT starts would be: Zelalem, EPB, Wright, CCV, Gooch, Rosenberry, Perez, Carleton.
That Fox Sports list is poor, IMO. Reads like the list of someone who just follows the mainstream, not the YNT's.
My list EPB CCV Hyndman De La Torre Brooks Lennon Joshua Perez Weston McKennie Brandon Vazquez Mukwelle Akale Gedion Zelalem Nick Taitague Ebobisse Haji Wright Kai Koreniuk Tim Tillman Marlon Fossey Tyler Adams Seb Saucedo Andrew Carleton McKinze Gaines I left off some guys that I rate highly either because they already play regularly (Parker, Redding, Glad) or because they are not quiet out of Academy status (Pomykal, Ferreira, Lederman et al) Saucedo absolutely has to get to a setup that values him but I still have high hopes. Sabbi needs to start playing at Las Palmas Atlético to make this list. Keaton Parks and Shaq Moore could surprise us in the future. Guys like Craft and Williamson could have made it but I am not as familiar with their body of work, nor with the play of most NCAA prospects.
My main issue is with the title of the list- prospects and stars of the future. How do we define all that? Pulisic is no longer a prospect, he's now a core member of the USMNT. Is he a star of the future or a budding star of the here and now? How young do we go? Is it fair to compare a possible prospect, like Perez, with someone who is already in the full USMNT camp, like CCV?
I left it pretty open in the OP as far as age limits. And obviously the Fox list included at least ten who could no longer be considered prospects. For my own list, I didn't include prospects such as De la Fuente, Xuxuh, Lederman, Garcia-Morillo, etc. who don't seem likely to to get out of the youth academy in near future but you certainly could do so. I think CCV is still a fair inclusion, albeit an easy one, because he has yet to reach his promise, though he will likely do so sooner rather than later. Hope this helps.
Yeah, I'll get around to it. I just couldn't really focus yesterday, given it was election day, so I was in no position to actually put any thought into anything.
My top 15 in the precise order of potential/upside. 1) CCV 2) Tillman 3) Weah 4) Green 5) Zelalem 6) Perez 7) EPB 8) Taitague 9) De La Torre 10) Hyndman 11) Lennon 12) Akale 13) McKennie 14) Gooch 15) Haji Ferreira/Carleton types are too young for now.
McKennie is that far down for you? Jeez. I bet the kid turns out to be the best of this bunch. Carleton is the talent to do what Pulisic is doing, he just needs to put it all together going forward. Heard that Ferreira is special, but I haven't watched him enough to judge
You're right, I should have taken your stance and put BJIV at the top of the list since playing in the states automatically makes one world class.
Any number could jump to the top. What's between the ears is the biggest factor yet the toughest to tell from afar.
Pretty good list. I didn't have Green or Weah but the rest are in my 20. I left Green off because scoring a goal in the World Cup kind of put him out of the prospect category for me. I could have gone with Weah. He has had a game or two with the U-19s IIRC. I'd like to see him in a USYNT game or two before I go all in. My Carleton inclusion is based on his already having a pro contract at such a tender age (and he's damn good).
By the way, I think it bodes exceptionally well for the future that we could easily expand this list.
I don't know if players who can't play for youth teams are really considered prospects, so I'd say its 97's or younger. I'm not going to include any players that aren't currently in our NT set-up. 1. Carter-Vickers('97) 2. Pulisic('98) 3. Wright('98) 4. Palmer-Brown('97) 5. Carleton('00) 6. Glad('97) 7. Ebobisse('97) 8. de la Torre('98) 9. Taitague('99) 10. Perez('98) 11. McKennie('98) 12. Ferreira('00) 13. Redding('97) 14. Durkin('00) 15. Akale('97) 16. Pomykal('99) 17. Silva('98) 18. Weah('00) 19. J. Vom Steeg('97) 20. Gloster('00)
Great thread always interesting to look back and say oh yeah I thought that guy was can't miss and wtf is he doing now or vice versa.