The 2023 U-17 Player Pool Thread

This might be the Portuguese Fed's YouTube, but it doesn't look to me like a place where YNT matches are shown. Just leaving here in case it turns out to be useful.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FPFutebolOficial/videos

 

The #U17MYNT rounds out play in Portugal today!

🇺🇸 USA vs POR 🇵🇹
⌚️ Noon ET

🎥 » https://t.co/C0MGwbSey5 pic.twitter.com/qCxDNClHwa

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) May 10, 2022

 

The link works. Made a match thread.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/us-u17s-v-portugal-5-10-22-game-thread.2120823/

 

Are the Nike friendlies coming back this year?

 

Does anyone know if there's a replay to access? The link on the US Soccer website doesn't have one.

I can't imagine they were the initial ones that produced the production of the game. I can't remember the last time they streamed a non-competitive youth international game. I suspect they probably copied the stream from another source.

 

It may not be until 2023. The U-20 WCQ is this year because it allows easier access to every team's best players to schedule the qualifying tournament for the summer. They also couldn't do that next year because the U-20 WC is usually early Summer in odd years. If the U-17 qualifying is this year, it'll likely be later in the year. Could be the first couple months of 2023 though, and I wouldn't be surprised.

 

I believe the game was streamed on the Portuguese Canal 11. According to this article, I found on the FPF website it says it was streamed there. That would explain the green Portuguese logo at the top of the live stream and the words "sel. sub-16". Unfortunately, the Canal 11 youtube channel doesn't have a vod of the game. At least not yet.

https://www.fpf.pt/pt/News/Todas-as-notícias/Notícia/news/34660/contextid/186

 

Jokes aside, I worry about stuff like this... with Axel Perez only being the latest.

Years ago I said that if Emerson Hyndman ever wanted to be a national team regular, his family should consult some doctors and get him on HGH, Messi-style.
Some people around here (eg Clint Eastwood) did the usual patronizing "now now" finger wagging... well he's 26 with 2 caps and none since 2016, so it sure looks like he didn't reach the national team potential he showed as a YNTer.

 

Emerson Hyndman also crossed my mind as a comp for Axel.

Isn't Emerson bigger than Messi? I think the issue has to do more with quickness, balance, strength and skill. Messi's low center of gravity helps with his style of play.

And then there was Maradona.

 

I'm going to get pretty esoteric here but stay with me. Someone mentioned no second gear, which I agree with but there are those players who have a quick startup and faster 1st gear than others. I put Emerson Hyndman in the slow hip movement and slow start up and no 2nd gear. Players like Wil Trapp, Matt Corcoran, R. Canouse, K. Parks. Others who have no 2nd gear but have a soft touch play the right pass but move around pretty well with no 2nd gear are players like Maxi Moralez, C. Gil, E.Reynoso. I liken A. Perez more in the 2nd group than the first. I think he moves pretty well with the ball and starts up pretty quickly.

 

I would also add that Axel has a pretty good motor which can make up for a lack of second gear.

In addition to Hyndman, another interesting comp is Luca de la Torre. A Luca de la Torre who can make that incisive pass in the attacking third is a pretty valuable player.

 

A Matthew Corcoran mention. What happened to him? he was the next big thing, left FCD for greener pastures and with all these youth games no callups and he is now invisible.

 

Corcoran had an injury at the end in preseason that set him back pretty significantly. He was doing well, and now has to earn back a role with a veteran team that already had a lot of defined roles. He’s been fit for a few weeks, and has made the bench. Hasn’t gotten into a game yet. I heard he’s very close to a debut.

 

Just to go off of my last point, I think we easily forget about youth players that get injured. If McKennie is injured for two months, he’s on the cover once a week of a newspaper in Turin. If Corcoran is injured, can you even find information about it?

It’s easy to forget about these kids, but sometimes I have to remind myself when I try to watch a game and I don’t see a player on the field that there’s a good chance the kid may be injured, and it’s not anything that the club would feel is important enough to publicize. At any given time a number of our good prospects are going to be injured. That’s how soccer is.

 

I've been out of the loop for a few months with YNT stuff and don't know much about any of the U17s. Is there a general consensus on who the best prospects are at this age group? I'm familiar with Corcoran as a bit of a fan favorite, and Medina recently appears to have emerged as the star. Is anyone else a locked in starter?

 

For my money Medina and Soma were the best players in the last tournament they played in.

 

I think that if you asked the coaching staff if they have started forming firm opinions on who the locked-in starters, they would have plenty of opinions.

I think Kochen is the starting GK, Verhoeven at RB, Hawkins and Hall as the CB’s, probably no locked-in starting LB, Medina as one of the CM’s, and Barajas at RW. Those guys have been at most of the camps and usually play the starter minutes for tournaments. I may have missed one or two, but I’m doing this off of memory.

As for who are the best players, I’m not sure there’s the same consensus about that. I think if you want to find some players that everyone rates highly then Medina and Wellings are probably two of the only ones. From there, a lot of varying opinions.