The 2023 U-20 Player Pool Thread

Good list of players. I think there are a few missing that I’d have there. Angel Bernal of San Antonio FC is an obvious name that should be there. I like that they included Fabrizio Bernal (as the only ‘03). Get as many players involved in the program as possible. I believe he’s yet to have been called into USYNT’s before. You make exceptions for top talents. Adrian Anguiano would probably be there, but he’s out long-term with an injury. Aaron Salinas could’ve been selected. I would’ve included Zacarias Escobar-Bowie and Juan Esteban Godinez Castellanos from Houston Dynamo. From FC Dallas, the Sanchez brother that plays RB (I always confuse their first names) should be there IMO.

 

Jeff Reuter provided a Twitter-style update on The Athletic that said Anthony Hudson has been in his role of U20 head coach for 470 days with no games. I get we're in a pandemic that cancelled the U20 World Cup and all of that, but it really feels like the youth development "strategy" for US Soccer is hope enough young players make it to Europe and then gel together in camps before competitions. There has to be a better way, doesn't there?

 

That's fair and I get that, but it would be nice for at least some games for the U20s to play together and get some "CONCACAF experience". Perhaps it's only something that can be done during winter breaks and during the summer, but even a 4-6 week stretch where they can train together and play some matches either against other U20 teams or even some USL League One or Two sides would be beneficial.

 

Maybe we'll schedule some U20 camps for the 2023 cycle in the summer during FIFA windows. Its not particularly urgent. I don't really want to take any of these kids away from their MLS squads right now if they have a chance of first team playing time. These regional ID camps for the kids not there yet are fine.

 

What do you think of David Kerr's top 50 ranking?

https://chasingacup.com/top-50-u20-players-spring-2021-edition/

 

I don’t like taking that approach. I’m only going to criticize someone’s work, if I believe the input for the product is very poor and they are misinforming their readers. I’ve criticized the TDS lists, as others have, for those reasons.

David does his work in researching for that list. We’ve discussed some of these players before. We agree on some things and disagree on others. It’s not for me to put an adjective or grade on it.

 

Too many players go throwing each but I think Uly is vastly overrated. Maybe he proves me wrong but when I have seen him on the field he has looked like an average MLS level player.

 

I think we'll finally find out once his loan to Houston goes through, which I'm excited about.

 

I don't know. From everything we heard, Wolfsburg was very high on him.
Its been a really tough year for him on and off the field.
I was hoping the opportunity with the Olympic qualifying team would help him get back on track.

Let's count the 2020/2021 Euro season as a mulligan for Uly (and some other young guys) and freshly re-evalaute starting this summer.
It'll be interesting to see if he's loaned out somewhere else or sold (There was that Dynamo rumor, but I didn't know if the source was credible).

Of course he's not eligible for the 2023 U20 cycle anyway.

I think David's list is fine. If we have everybody rank prospects, we'd all have them in a different order. After getting to see him, I would move Flach into my top 50 for instance. Definitely over a player like Dante Sealy. Once guys get into first team action and perform well, they zoom up my list. These things can also change week to week based on performance. Based on performance, Cade Cowell should keep moving up the rankings.

 

Player not on this list who will be or probably should be is Daniel Edelman. I expect him to turn some heads this usl season. One the most underrated 03’s. Coaching staff and first team players super impressed with him. Saw his first preseason game vs Hartford and he bosses the midfield game got away from Red Bull when they were subbed out.

 

When has it ever been either or? Players are playing at their clubs. But how does having zero U20 camps help?

You listen to players talk, they get a tremendous value from NT camps at any age. Having a coaching staff invested in your long term and willing to give constructive feedback with a different point of view, is only one benefit.

Most other countries are having camps. I can't help but feel that the pandemic is just an excuse to save money by not having these teams functioning. On a purely USMNT perspective, we are going to lose dual nationals. YNT involvement was key with Dest and many others. Right now, all the best dual nats are playing with Mexico or the Swiss or Germany.

 

Having spent too much time tracking U20 pools over the years, I generally suspected that the 01/02 pool was going to be the first one where virtually all the players called up were professional during the cycle. (The 99/00 pool had, by my count, 55 of 72 guys who were pros during the cycle.). It seems even more likely now for the 03/04 group. Once that happens, the number probably isn't going back in the other direction; there was a time during some of our lifetimes when it was at least somewhat interesting to track whether these guys turned pro at all. It isn't anymore.

 

I don't think Cowell or Clark, are gonna be available for this tournament.

 

It will be more of a release issue. Guys skipping the U20 WC to go right to the USMNT is going to get rarer. It will depend on the timing of the tournament and what the players are doing for their teams and what their teams are doing. You will get some Weah's and some Adams's every cycle.

The 2003's seem very MLS based. As long as they don't play for Atlanta (and I have no idea why any kid signs with them), they should be released.

 

This is 100% right in terms of player development, but it hasn't aged well in terms of qualification for major tournaments. The # of games and camps Mexico had in comparison to the youth level of ours in recent years is of the Godzilla vs Tokyo variety.

I see your point, but if we care about U23/U20/U17 tournaments, we need to spend the money and the time like we care.

 

Consider that during that post Couva era, the coaching staffs of most of our youth programs melted away and weren't replaced forever, and when they finally were replaced, they seemed to be replaced, not with good process running the hiring, but rather Good Ol Boys, next unemployed former MLS coach up running it.

There's a ton of evidence that it was a disorganized joke, and that it also was part of a plan to cut costs after the $$$ expected to come from the WC didn't materialize, and cash from friendlies was likely less than usual as casual fan interest in the USMNT completely cratered in 2018 and 2019. Im just speculating, but it seems reasonable.

 

Not saying there should or shouldn't be camps or whatever, but had the calendar not been upended by Covid, the 2021 U20 cycle wouldn't be over yet.

 

Me neither, I expect them to be in the senior pool. It's two years away and they're following a kind of discount version of Gio path. Gio really broke out basically when he was a bit older than 16.5, these guys are doing it at basically 17.5 or thereabouts. They're not the same obviously, Gio moved to Dortmund about four months before he turned 17, and immediately that fall looked like a star in the making with the team they put him on (forget which). These guys aren't there, but they certainly seem in that cohort of guys alongside Pulisic, rather than say, in the Aaronson/McKenzie who seemed to breakout more at the age 19/20 area than the 17/18 area like Pulisic, Gio, and McKennie.

It's super exciting, and I've got to say, after seemingly botching development (blame can go a lot of ways) with teens born basically in the later eighties through 1995, or not even finding them at all, it feels like now, we are seeing a lot more well handled situations, than off the rails Andrew Carleton type scenarios. It definitely seems like guys are being handled a bit better, and as a result, perhaps we'll see greater depth develop in every cohort imaginable.

For now, personally, if they can continue to play like this and not hit a wall, I see zero reason that C&C shouldn't be called in to experience a senior level camp in the summer.

 

And I think that's fair, but I also think it's quite clear the youth development program was kind of left to run off the rails for a few years, and it got by simply due to the glut of supertalents bubbling up. Not recognizing and appreciating Tab, who honestly, I had my issues with but scoreboard is scoreboard, was just the first of many issues (how Greg got the gig over him, let alone countless other options is utterly beyond me) not the least of which is just general funding and attention. Hopefully that gets better. We can't start kicking --- soon enough to help fill the coffers with much needed cash apparently.

 

I wasn't suggesting that the calendar is the key to the puzzle! Just one data point.

 

There’s no doubt that they wanted to completely retool the youth teams under Earnie. And I think it’s highly likely that COVID driven revenue losses led to their cutting.

But Tab was never going to stay. It was either the senior team or the pros — there was really no job that made sense for him unless he has no ambition to move up.

If people dislike Berhalter’s resume, Tab has far less of one. The move to Houston was the best for everyone.

 

I'm not sure melted away is correct. It was mostly, forced out. They still haven't replaced the U18 or U19 coaches and the U17 is vacant again, afaik. Years without these teams functioning. "But Covid!"...is what they say, but MLS Next is playing, Mexico YNTs are playing. How could the USSF be so out of money to just abandon YNTs? Why isn't anyone in the media at all on this story?