The 2021 U-20 Qualifying Thread

There is a lot of depth in this group; That is a very good thing, I would say. At first glance, I thought the group 2001 and later would be weak, but I had the same thoughts about the current group U-20 and they really shut me up.
In the next U20 team, if you look at each position, you can say that there are 2 or 3 players that look really promising or maybe the players who have something special appear a few years later, like Ledezma or Aaronson.
I must say that I never thought that USA It would generate so much talent in a relatively short time, which is something very exciting for the future.

 

The full image so people don't have to click on the tweet to see it...

 

One thing that stood out to me is that behind Scally at RB is an unattached player, a converted forward, two 2003s who'd be playing up a cycle, and a couple of names that I kind of felt were scraping the bottom of the barrel. I'm not a huge fan of the CB depth either. Not that it's that bad but it feels weaker than other cycles. But overall there's talent in the cycle. I'm also certainly not opposed to dropping some starters from those starting spots and replacing them with someone else listed behind them. It's just a very early look at the pool with nothing set in stone.

 

GK: Las, Wilson
DF: Araujo, Akanyirige, Scally, Cuevas, Gomez, Bello
MF: Booth, Tessman, Atencio, Chifamba, de la Fuente, Llanez, Nyeman, Reyna
FW: Ocampo-Chavez, Hoppe, Diaz

Las
Scally-Araujo-Akanyirige-Gomez
Chifamba-Booth
Nyeman
de la Fuente-AOC-Reyna

Defensively, that looks like the strongest U-20 cycle we've had. It's lacking holding mids and attacking depth.

 

I'm not sure when the last time I saw Akanyirige make a game day 18 for either Reno or SJ. Is he dealing with injury issues?

 

I think he is. He hasn't been listed with the U-19's either.

 

Position by position preview. 100 players who could factor into the 2021 cycle.

GK: Damian Las ('02), Seth Wilson ('02), David Ochoa ('01), Kris Shakes ('01), Collin Travasos ('01), Nicolas Defreitas-Hansen ('01), Logan Kowalczyk ('01), Max Trejo ('02), Brooks Thompson ('02), Eliot Jones ('03), Gavin Krenecki ('03), Aaron Cervantes ('02), Chituru Odunze ('02), JT Harms ('02), John Pulskamp ('01), Alex Rando ('01)

Analysis: Las plays the position at a higher level than any keeper we've produced in years. He might end up the best player on the team. There's some depth here, but I don't feel there's anyone else terribly high-end. We won't struggle for back ups to Las, but if for some reason Las didn't play with this team, I don't think there's any great alternative. There's some depth because '02 has a lot of depth and '01 has some depth, as well (despite lacking top-end talent). Ramos likes to have keepers play up a cycle. I don't see the '03 keeper crop as being a strong one. Eliot Jones could contend for the 3rd spot, but I wouldn't be sure of it.

RB: Joe Scally ('02), Mauricio Cuevas ('03), John Hilton ('01), Natnael McDonald ('01), Cristian Escribano ('02), Ricardo Ibarra ('01), Erik Centeno ('02), Noah Hall ('03), Juston Rainey ('03), Bryan Reynolds ('01)

Analysis: Scally is another good candidate to be the best player on the team. His hypothetical positional versatility might factor in, so having depth here wouldn't be the worst thing. I think the depth here is sufficient, but its not great. A player like Mauricio Cuevas is a good back up, but thats a player who'd be playing up a cycle. Ideally, the younger players are depth players, not starters. There's some depth here with the rest of the players, but no one that good, unless Hilton regains his prior form

CB: Julian Araujo ('01), Jacob Akanyirige ('01), Blake Malone ('01), Nathan Toledo ('01), George Campbell ('01), Erik McCue ('01), Leonardo Sepulveda ('01), Judson Burns ('01), Tayvon Gray ('02), Nico Carrera ('02), Axel Alejandre ('02), Mason Judge ('02), Antino Lopez ('02), Kenneth Nielsen ('02), Casey Walls ('03), Justin Che ('03)

Analysis: I understand the point ChuckMe is making about this position, but I have a slightly different opinion. I think the '01 year is incredibly strong at CB. '02 and '03 are very weak, so this should be a pretty old team in central defense. I don't see many 02's and 03's in contention for this team, as of now. It probably all evens out to an average cycle in central defense. I tend to think a starting CB pairing of Araujo and Akanyirige would be better than anything the 2019 cycle will put out.

LB: Jonathan Gomez ('03), George Bello ('02), Julian Hinajosa ('01), Nico Benalcazar ('01), Kobe Hernandez-Foster ('02), Adam Armour ('02), Anthony Sorenson ('03)

Analysis: Like usual, there is a lack of depth at LB. There aren't many names. However, a top 2 of Gomez and Bello is very good. Bello is better now, but I think Gomez is the better prospect. It should be a good battle between these two for the starting LB spot. The other can sit on the bench, and the team therefore won't need to use any more options. If for some reason another LB is needed, I I think we've used worse at the LB position, although its not a strength past the top two.

CM: Taylor Booth ('01), Tanner Tessman ('01), Cole Bassett ('01), Ian Hoffmann ('01), Justin Haak ('01), Cameron Duke ('01), Owen Otasowie ('01), Euan Clark ('01), Jahon Rad ('01), Nelson Martinez ('01), Lawson Sunderland ('01), Indiana Vassilev ('01), Takuma Suzuki ('01), Trevor Burns ('01), Josh Atencio ('02), Mario Penagos ('02), Peter Stroud ('02), Adam Saldana ('02), Takuma Ikeda ('02), Elton Chifamba ('03)

Analysis: There are a number of names here. I think the problem is that the top-end isn't that good. The best CM might end up being Elton Chifamba. I wouldn't be surprised if he played a similar role in the 2021 cycle to what Adams played in the 2017 cycle.

CAM/Wing: Konrad de la Fuente ('01), Ulysses Llanez ('01), Marcelo Palomino ('01), Luis Arriaga ('01), Cameron Harper ('01), Jalen Anderson ('01), Marlon Vargas ('01), Carter Payne ('01), Cameron Fisher ('01), Elio Firmino ('01), Gio Reyna ('02), Gianluca Busio ('02), Cameron Dunbar ('02), Gilbert Fuentes ('02), Griffin Yow ('02), Ray Serrano ('02), Beni Redzic ('02), Daniel Robles ('02), Julian Anderson ('02), Moses Nyeman ('03), Tyler Freeman ('03), Sam Sarver ('03)

Analysis: These positions always look good on paper, and I don't think this position looks all that bad on paper, but I thought the 2017 and 2019 cycles looked better on paper at these positions. The first 7-8 options here are very good, but I think there's a distinct lack of depth due to '01 and '02 having very weak depth in these positions. 3 of the best 7-8 options look to be 03's.

Center Forward: Stefan Stojanovic ('01), Alec Diaz ('01), Matthew Hoppe ('01), Charlie Kelman ('01), Johan Gomez ('01), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez ('02), Diego Lopez ('02), Sagir Arce ('02), Ricardo Pepi ('03)

Analysis: It looks a little weak. Not that many names, and there might not be a real standout, although I think Ocampo-Chavez has a case for being a standout.

 

Do we think any college players will play any sort of roles on this team? Or has the talent level of US YNT surpassed any college players?

 

There's not likely to be many, if any, college players on the final WCQ and (hopefully) WC teams, but it is still normal for college freshman to be part of the process early in the cycle. The successful ones tend to move into the pros quickly. The less successful ones stay in college and are more likely to drop off the U20 radar by the end of the cycle.

The reality is that non-MLS DA players are going to wind up in college unless they sign abroad.

Muse, McKenzie, Perez, Keita, Servania, Amaya, Dorsey, and Rennicks all got call ups as college players this cycle; none are college players now.

 

Danny Levya is in the Sounders 18 today. He can make this squad playing up. Quality.

 

Sorry, I just wanted to ask a couple questions regarding this awesome comprehensive list.

From what I gather, isn't Hoffmann more of a Wing/Outside back? I haven't watched him recently so I could be wrong.

Isn't Gray, also more of a CDM at least from what he has played on the YNT up until now? I do agree he has played CB with his academy, but I was just curious if that is where you see him ending up.

Do you still rate Akanyirige as highly, I have not heard much since his signing a year ago, do you have any insight on his progression by any chance?

Is Benalcazar a LB? I have only seen him really play CB at the YNT level, do you think that is where he projects long term?

What about Gomez makes you think he will surpass Bello, sorry, I am a little ignorant to Gomez, haven't heard much about him until now. Do you think Hernadez-Foster has a chance of making the roster?

Again, great list, you're a better person than me for it.

 

To be clear are you saying that you think Akanyirige and Araujo are both better than Chris Richards as central defenders at this age?

 

Richards is too old for this age group. He is a 2000, 2001 is the oldest age group for this (2021) U20 cycle

edit: sorry Pegasus, misunderstood :/

 

ussoccer97531 commented that the two central defenders from this cycle were better than any of the cycle before which included Richards. I was trying to figure out if he really thought that these two were even better than Richards or whether he forgot about him.

 

I meant as a pairing.

 

OK, thanks for clarifying. I didn't want to express an opinion until I understood yours. It is an important point that the pairing itself is more important than how good each individual are. They need to compliment each other and fill in what the other is missing. That usually means that both players won't be twins of each other.

 

I don’t like the other options in the current cycle, besides Richards, especially considering McKenzie’s lack of match form. Outside of him, the best option is Araujo, who isn’t part of the current cycle as opposed to being part of the 2021 cycle and playing up due to a lack of options. The best option right now as an alternative to those players might be Sands, who I think is much more of a natural defensive midfielder.

 

@Soccerfan12435 and @ussoccer97531

 

This is good. I do think Matko Miljevic factors into the mix after making his debut on Sunday for Argentinos Junors. He can play all across the midfield.

He spoke to Arch Bell after the game and hopes the U.S. team calls him soon. I would imagine that would be for the start of the 2021 U-20 cycle.

Piggybacking on Brian’s post, Matko told me last night that he hopes to get a U.S. call soon. “Que me llamen.” https://t.co/4tuhtbNXl5

— Arch Bell (@ArchBell) April 29, 2019

An ASN interview from last year.

 

It would be good to see what happens with him from here until next year when the new U20 cycle begins. I understand that if in a hypothetical case, you receive a call from both Argentina and the USA, he prefer to play with Argentina.
Less than a year ago they called him with Argentina U20, they could be watching him for the next cycle.
Although Miljevic seems to be a good player, I think the U20 of 2021 team has a lot of talent in the midfield. In my opinion, Roberts, Palomino, Booth, Busio, Haak and some others like Arriaga, Duke, Bassett or Leyva could be on the team, so I think the team would be well covered in those positions, but Miljevic would not be a bad idea as a replacement player

 

Hey just bumping this, really want your opinion on this lol

 

If Armour is still making USYNT teams in the coming cycle I would not be surprised to see him go to college. He's a Duke commit and that quality of education is hard to pass up, especially because it's close to home. From my knowledge he has not made a decision about college or pro yet.

Axel Alejandre is another non-MLS guy who's committed to UNC.

These two would be the most likely college players to find their way onto the squad next cycle and if I'm being honest I don't see it being likely for either of them.