Completely forgot about Kristian and that’s a big one. Kristian prefers to play as a left winger as well (every environment pre DC first team he was a winger by choice). Not sure with specifically him, Serge Ngoma, and Esmir that Nimfasha breaks into a 20 man roster unless Esmir plays as a 10 for this age group. Both Serge and Nimfasha are pretty similar profiles as well We’ve only seen two players play up at the u20 level while being u17 eligible in Freddy Adu and Josh Sargent. Freddy is arguably the best u20 World Cup performer that we’ve ever had and obviously is an anomaly. Josh Sargent played up because the 9 pool for the 1997/98’s was barren at the time but performed well. If Nimfasha is good enough to surpass the 05 wingers, who are a far superior group to the 06’s, by the time their u20 World Cup is rolling around then he should be getting integrated into the usmnt by then as they’re prepping for 2026 and will be less than a year out
He'll be 17 for the 2025 U20s and 18 for the 2026 WC. I think the odds are he participates in the former but not the latter. He won't be the best player on the 2025 team like he is on the current U17s. Someone like Cremaschi is more likely to make the 2026 WC team after playing for the 2025 U20 team.
I didn’t get to watch them closely due to my sons having games at same/similar times. Now that your mention it, my main source on the ages was one of Chelsea’s analysts. I took him at his word but someone suggested that after they lost to an MLS club (I forget which one) he may have been sandbagging or making excuses for their defeat.
England youth teams are built differently compared to ours. Their age groups at the academy level is done via school year so their Q1/Q2 is our Q3/Q4. I’ve yet to see an England academy team in person after numerous GA Cups that has truly impressed me, but this could be because a lot of their players are 6 months younger than ours. While Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Brazil teams have all looked the part, England’s have been a pretty big let down. England’s teams have all been smaller, less athletic, and less technical compared to the USA teams, especially at the u15 level. A good example is Chelsea’s team getting completely played off the field by NYRB while still having multiple England YNT players out there. Man United the year before had a couple big talents, but the median player in their teams was a bit of a let down for me. The academy teams I’ve seen from England at the u15 level in person are generally below the level of the top 10 MLS academy u15 teams based on what I’ve seen. Another thing to consider about English teams is their academy roster rules set by the FA. In England you can’t play for a team outside of I believe a 30-50km radius (don’t quote me on the distance here, can’t recall the official distance) until their u16 season. At u16 is when quite a few players switch clubs and the historical top English academies really ramp up. There’s a pretty noticeable difference in the u17 English teams at GA Cup compared to the u15’s. I have yet to see a European academy team that has looked to be at the level of what the Brazilian clubs offer based on the median player in the roster. The Brazil clubs have always been on another level compared to everyone
Not sure if this is the best place for it, but it's not a 100% wrong place for it so I'm going to run with it. I'm curious if there's any data (or anecdotal POV) about the percentages of YNT or MLS Academy players having played futsal as part of their development.
Great Q! Anecdotal but most all the top west coast prospects I'm familiar with played futsal especially at younger formative ages, at places like Rose City Futsal with Brazilian + Italian coaches. Sounders, Quakes and LA youth also heavy into futsal and other small-sided games. Just a few of the names that come to mind: Cruz Medina (dad ran/still runs? Bay Cities Futsal), Verhoeven (I believe), Tomo Allen, Harbor Miller (Toque), Nystrom brothers in Portland the list goes on.
Pretty consistent with what I've seen as well at u15 MLS Next tourneys except Shea Lacey, a super technical outlier. Timbers u15s didn't play them off the pitch during their GA Cup win run a couple years ago but did match up well.
Lotta new names, right? As well as a really big one from Madrid, correct? I did not realize he was a defender. And it looks like the Crew is now out of favor and it's the Red Bulls now bribing US Soccer. I cannot keep up.
No one organization can win the bribery derby every year. The wise ones pick their spots to strike. Next camp another leader will emerge since US Soccer has an insatiable appetite for grift.
Hopefully this is one of those sign him because he's going to be transferred to a bigger league things... 1727269176941965405 is not a valid tweet id
The deals like the ones Pukstas and Gutierrez signed recently are win-win for the players and clubs. They give the players some financial security (especially in the event of injury, which both have had to deal with). It gives them and the club the flexibility of time. That's the one big thing about the transfer market. The timing of offers from bigger clubs is highly uncertain. Now the players and club can pass on offers that don't work for them. Deals like this do require an element of trust between player and club. They have to realize they are in this together. Sometimes their interests don't align perfectly. This is the point where they have to trust each other to be able to take the other party's interest into consideration.
We may want to move these to the Olympic thread. Not sure talking about 03/04’s is too relevant for 08/09’s
They not only get guaranteed money -- which people should never underestimate -- but they also establish a baseline salary that the next job will increase if they get bought. Like any job, an early salary baseline raises all future salaries.
Just don't overprice yourself like happens to a lot of Mexican players. This is my theory about why Freddy Adu went on so many loans but was never/rarely signed permanently. It's not that he wasn't a good player -- it's that he wasn't worth the cost, which was high, and basically non-negotiable.
That's fair, although if you really want, you can take a pay cut. But that first contract is rarely prohibitive. It's the second one that can be an issue.
Not sure about that. He was sold for $2M, the same year when Jozy was sold for $10M. Nobody was, basically, buying his life story. His salary couldn't have been prohibitively high, he just never played well on those loans.
It seemed like he didn't even play very much, which I eventually started thinking must be due to contractual hurdles that were working against him. He had to have been good enough for some of those places he went.....
Wasn't good enough for any MLS clubs of that era either. Might have been a lower European league/MLS level player to start with, that was later ruined by all the hype.
Now we know why Recupero is playing for the Boston Bolts and not the NE Revolution. 1729027846977548364 is not a valid tweet id
Here's Scotland's roster for this: https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/s...or-friendly-tournament-in-portugal/?rid=14258 Italy's: https://www.figc.it/it/nazionali/ne...portogallo-i-20-convocati-di-enrico-battisti/ And Portugal's. One of the names on there looks Familiar. https://www.fpf.pt/pt/News/Todas-as-notícias/Notícia/news/42633/contextid/390
I'm curious how someone with a Euro passport knows they're good enough to bypass MLS Academy and will be able to bounce at 16? By all accounts he is, I suppose, but I'm just curious what that process would look like. Also, if he's with USYNT U-15's already, does that deflate some of the "kids only get pulled for USYNT from MLS Academies" hypotheses or is he just a unique situation and/or has the right contacts?