The coming boom in multi-eligible player recruitment

I'm might be mistaken, but I recall something like a year of black out period after the last game. No?

 

Might be the last senior competitive game.

 

If he plays in a senior competitive match, he can still switch if he doesn't play more than 3 matches with the US (competitive or not), but he would have to wait 3 years, I believe (or at least 2) from his last match with the team.

Which means if he plays a match for us, it's the US for Qatar 2022 or nothing.

The system is designed to basically allow for players who have fallen completely out of one team's pool to get another chance to play international ball. It's designed to try and combat predatory cap-tying, like what happened to Jonathon Gonzalez.

It's not intended to keep the recruiting game going.

 

If you are under the age of 21 and play for a National Team then you can play up to 3 cap-tying non-Tournament games and then switch to a National Team down the road, but you have to wait for 3 years.

I would say the rule is more design to allow young players who are called up at a young age, but then don't pan out on the National Team level to then drop down a rung to another team that might need them...going from US to El Salvador for example.

If you are a player than is going to keep getting called into WCQ and Major Tournaments then it is going to be hard to sit out those 3 years.

 

It would have been interesting if Dike and Zardes weren't hurt.

One can make an argument for Pepi right now simply based on performance level and being "in form."

The only #9s I definitely have ahead of him going into the qualifiers are Sargent, Hoppe, and Pefok.
And Hoppe can be used on the wing if Pulisic isn't quite ready, etc. NOne of those three is unassailable in terms of their position on the roster. They're not banging in goals for Real Madrid. There's at least the potential for a fast riser at the #9 slot.

Whether we use Pepi or not probably depends on how the games are going.

WCQers aren't a time to be "casting a net." The only thing that matters is the result.
The ugliest 1-0 win in the history of mankind against Canada suits us just fine.
You really do want to go with players that have worked with the team and played games that have mattered with the group.

 

Great point. I think there is something to that these FCD kids are easier for us to retain. I don’t know that it’s one reason as opposed to many, but I don’t think it hurts that these kids grew up on USYNT’s with friends from FCD. All the young Americans at FCD right now have been on major YNT rosters growing up, and they all could be USMNT the future, depending on how they develop. Many exports from FCD to Europe are on the USMNT (McKennie, Cannon, Reynolds, Tessmann).

The obvious question from there is how that extends to a player who left FC Dallas, yet grew up playing with Pepi, Che, Sealy (Gomez). I think the FC Dallas/USMNT pull is less of a factor, but I don’t think it’s a non-factor. I think FC Dallas has been an overall positive for our NT program.

I’m much more worried about the dual-nationals in California. The agent for a few of them (Codron) has already helped push one of them to playing for Mexico and another may soon follow. An additional player has opted for Mexico due to what is perceived as strong pressure from his father to play for Mexico. There has been speculation that LA Galaxy pushes these kids towards playing for Mexico. They have numerous former Mexican Federation employees on staff in high profile positions at the club.

If that speculation is inaccurate that they are pushing these kids towards Mexico, we know pretty clearly that former employees (Kleiban’s) have been very critical of USSF to the point where it’s speculated they have pushed players towards playing for Mexico.

There is also an enormous pull in some of these cities these kids are growing up in within California of Mexican culture. I think the pull for these kids in California towards Mexico is stronger than the pull in Texas. I think Texas has a stronger culture of being from Texas than there is of being from California. I think it’s easier for a Mexican-American to call themselves Mexican growing up in California as opposed to calling themselves an American growing up in Texas.

I also don’t think this will only be LA Galaxy. I think LAFC and San Jose are situations that have to be monitored. I think players such as Araujo, Perez, Cuevas, Alvarado, Valdez, Alcala, Leone, Duenas, Torres, Moyado, Ceja, Cano, E. Ochoa are part of the next crop from California that USSF will have to do a great job of recruiting because we know Mexico is already recruiting some of these kids, and they are having success in California.

 

If you are US Soccer you would definitely prefer players play for FC Dallas than LA Galaxy...the biggest influences on these type of decisions are going to be family, agents and friends.

In LA all three of those could all be pulling towards Mexico.

In Dallas most likely at minimum your friends are going to be pulling towards US and the culture around Dallas is American. Look at Johan Gomez. Best friends are Tanner Tessmann and Judson Burns.

Player on LAG are likely hanging with other Mexican-American players in the Academy and chatting with Dos Santos and Chicarito after training and living in a much more Mexican-American culture.

 

https://www.fcdallas.com/news/usa-or-mexico-ricardo-pepi-speaks-about-his-international-future

 

Seeds of today's decision were sewn a long time ago. https://t.co/V6qKwtoqqn

— Will Parchman (@WillParchman) August 26, 2021

 

Gregg Berhalter on Ricardo Pepi, after the forward chose the USMNT over El Tri today:

"We’ve been talking to ricardo for much longer than Mexico had been involved. ... For us, it's not about what Mexico is doing. It's about what we're doing."

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) August 26, 2021

 

I've heard Ochoa barely speaks Spanish while Pepi was crossing the border back and forth weekly.

 

Man, I love Ricardo Pepi. Firm and clear decision. No waffling. No saying, I'm in this camp and we'll see what happens. He's made up his mind and made it clear. I really love the fact that he said he made the "decision with his heart." I think most assume the heart of Mexican-Americans is with with Mexico. Not in this case at least.

pic.twitter.com/5qxHtNjQiG

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) August 26, 2021

 

i think its one of the best statements like that ive read

 

It's the loyalty factor, but I also think playing at FCD helps. They're a pipeline to the nat'l team. He has a lot of friends already on it.

The Galaxy is the opposite. Their players are being steered to Mexico by their former employed Dennis Te Kloese. That was a huge impediment to the USNT when he got hired in our biggest fb market. IIRC, Mexico already had an academy set up in SoCal, and were planning this about Texas, but had not gotten to it yet. Edit: @Kombucha @ussoccer97531 & @Clint Eastwood previously alluded to an aspect of this.

But I don't have doom about Araujo yet either. He would be following a similar timetable as Dest, who wouldn't commit when it would cap-tie him. If Julian plays in one game at wcq'ing, I think he's committed until he's at least 21. So he may just need more time to think about it and look for a better spot, where if he plays, it's going to be a real role. But neither outcome there would surprise me.

Mexican accounts that have some following are reporting Araujo to Mexico, but they were doing the same when it came to Pepi. I think it just reinforces how much b.s. comes out of that sphere. The Ledezma reports are so farfetched because the guy's injured, played for the US right before it, he's half Mexican, & playing in Europe. I think they want attention and to generate animus from US fans to try to actually sway players they want. If there's not animus they'll make it up. I saw under a report Pepi was going to US, but before it was official, an anonymous account calling him a slur. C'mon, guys, try to hide the manipulative tactics better.

 

Is this supposed to be a joke or are you being serious? I can't tell.

 

Not a joke.

 

Jaurez is a lot bigger than El Paso while San Diego and LA and that whole S Cal are are much bigger than Tijuana so it makes sense that people from El Paso would go to Mexico more than thos from S. California. Of course that's by percentage as SC has a much bigger population that in overall numbers and they are probably higher.

 

But people in San Diego/Tijuana also cross regularly
There are a lot of daily commuters that cross the border dauly

 

I don't really know if FCD steers dual-nationals to the USMNT. I've never heard that they do.
All I know is that we have a very good track record of recruitment and retention with them. Nico Carrera is another that Mexico seemed to be interested in.

Current FC Dallas academy USMNT..................
I'll cheat and put Reynolds at left back. If Roma can do it, then so can I.
If and when Jonathan Gomez commits, then we can insert him there.
There's no keeper to install. That would have been Jesse Gonzalez if he hadn't frickin' done whatever the hell it is he did. He wasn't charged with anything, but nobody will touch him. So I picked a guy.

----------------Pepi--------------
Ferreira----------------Pomykal
----McKennie-Tessman------
--------------Acosta---------------
Reynolds-Richards-Che-Cannon
----------------Wilson----------------

 

There are.

But San Diego is physically very large -- so where you live in San Diego is going to have a pretty big impact as well. Most of the Mexican-American population does live closer to the border, of course, but a large # of people are an hour+ from crossing.

Much of LA is realistically 2 hours+ to get to Mexico. I don't know El Paso, but it is both physically smaller and much, much less populous than San Diego (and LA is a whole different story).

 

He is from Oxnard. 4 hours drive from the border.

 

It’s worth pointing out that Pepi didn’t say he crosses the border regularly anymore. He mentioned how he did so years ago. I think it takes a real leap in logic to believe a guy who lives in Dallas and has a job that requires him present in Dallas (or other states) is taking trips back and forth to Mexico every week.

I’m not sure about Ochoa’s Spanish skills. I don’t think I believe that he doesn’t speak Spanish well, but I also know that this is a problem with some of these Mexican-American dual-nationals. It’s a factor for a number of them with which country they choose. However, if it applies to Ochoa, it clearly didn’t end up mattering with the decision he made.