The coming boom in multi-eligible player recruitment

And how do we know that Mexico is making "false promises?" Any actual evidence of that accusation? They're inviting kids to camps and the kids are accepting the invitations. Its called recruiting. Any actual evidence that Mexico promised David Ochoa, Julian Araujo, or Efrain Alvarez anything other than an opportunity?

 

All three of those players have had less of an opportunity with Mexico than they would have had with the USMNT. And that's fine if someone just prefers Mexico, but Ochoa and Alvarez in general should not have been in any rush to decide either way.

There's also a difference between inviting someone to a camp versus pushing them to make a permanent decision that's irreversible at such a young age.

Meanwhile Mexico is prioritizing locking in as many guys as possible now as opposed to focusing on guys who actually have a credible chance of playing for them in the near future. What other purpose do they have for trying to recruit Alex Mendez for instance?

 

Did you read my post at all?

We don't know what is said. I've acknowledged that.

What we know is that there is a pattern of minimal cap-tying minutes / one time switches and never getting another chance or just getting a token friendly. The player clearly did not have a real chance to compete and Mexico is just stashing them, promises or not.

It's a highly suspicious pattern of behavior. It could all be coincidence, but the chances of that reduce with each passing player.

 

That's their decision and not ours.
I don't think these players are naive fools that believed the FMF was/is making a lifetime commitment to them. They preferred the Mexico route.

We just ignore when the USMNT does it. Folks should be able to rattle of names of players that filed one time switches to the USMNT that would have been better off staying with their previous nations. I'll start. Tyler Boyd (New Zealand), Kenny Saief (Israel), Teal Bunbury (Canada). Everyone keep going. Its easy to add to the list.

There's literally no evidence pointing to what you guys are talking about. Mexico has camps and invites players. Those players ACCEPT the invitations. Do people believe the players are idiots and think federations are making lifetime commitments to them? Every federation will dump you when there's a better choice available. Ricardo Pepi committed to the USMNT, turning his back on Mexico. Is it possible that a year later he won't make the World Cup squad? We better believe it. Would Nicholas Gioacchini have been better off not cap-tying himself to the USMNT as he was eligible for an interested Jamaica? Maybe. What about Bill Hamid and Sierra Leone? The list goes on and on and on.

What I see is a lot of guys trying to delay permanently cap-tying themselves for as long as possible. Jonathan Gomez is a recent example. Only accepting invitations to non-captying events. I suspect both nations have invited him to cap-tying games and he's turned them down. But he's now at the point where he needs to make a decision. He has to weight his heart and the opportunity that both nations can provide. And he's not stupid enough to believe that the FMF or USMNT won't drop him the second a better player comes along.

 

I don't think you actually read my post at all.

I specifically addressed Boyd. Boyd got 500+ minutes including a full Gold Cup AND Nations League. I would not be saying that about say, Efrain Alvarez if they didn't bench him immediately after cap-tying.

As for Saief and Bunbury... I have no memory of the details of the latter, but I'm specifically talking about how Berhalter has recruited. Perhaps the US has been predatory before. I do not think we are ethical angels.

I simply think what Berhalter is doing is better, and the signs point to players needing to be very careful with Mexico.

You can say, oh it's the player's choice, but every con victim makes a choice as well. Doesn't mean what the con man is doing is ethical.

Some of these players will indeed, be suckers. It's how it goes.

 

I don't think they are naive fools, but I also think that lots of younger players don't always make the right decision or are easily swayed by false promises and what not. You see it all the time in college basketball/football recruiting.

That's not quite the same situation. The Canadian program was a complete wasteland in the days of Teal Burnbury. It was the US or a Canada program that at the time had no hope of doing anything. Similarity Saief's choices were the US or an Israel team that isn't close to being able to qualify for a World Cup or a Euro Cup. Neither decision was very similar. As for Tyler Boyd he got plenty of playing time for the US once he committed, his main issue was mostly that his club situation fell completely apart and really hasn't come back together.

Ricardo Pepi played more minutes than any striker did for the United States in qualifying. He's probably going to the World Cup, but if he doesn't it won't be because of a lack of opportunities.

As for Gioacchini he's had way more opportunities than any of Araujo, Ochoa, or Alvarez and I imagine will continue to do so next cycle, even if he's not currently likely to make the World Cup roster.

It's not about whether a federation is making a lifetime commitment to you. It's about what sort of promises or assurances are being made to you, and whether they are realistic and accurate.

Bill Hamid probably screwed up playing in that Gold Cup game if he really wants to play for Sierre Leone. At the time it looked like he had a long term future with the USMNT. It's clear now that he doesn't. His situation is unfortunate because he's locked in by a single game. But it's also the case at the time Sierre Leone wasn't even on the radar.

The dual national dynamic with Mexico is fairly unique compared to the situation with other countries. Both countries are fairly similar in level and there's a way larger number of dual nationals to fight over. We don't have those circumstances with anyone else.

The thing is someone like Gomez doesn't have to commit. He can play for either country for the U20s without being permanently cap-tied.

 

Bunberry was the most predatory of the caps, but that was 12 years ago.

Bunberry was 20 really had accomplished nothing professionally when we cap tied him and didn't really have any short-term future with the USMNT outside of Camp Cupcake. He played in 4 fairly meaningless games. To be fair Canada was completely in the wilderness at the time.

Saief was 23 when he made the switch and was playing at a fairly high level at Anderletch. We all thought this was a pretty big get for the US and he was part of the plan for the US in meaningful games, but got injuries and got scratched from the 2017 Gold Cup squad and the start of the Qualifying cycle and has really never been the same.

Boyd was 24. He got 10 caps including the 2019 Gold Cup and 2019 Nations League, but his form has dipped while the wing options have improved drastically since that time. You can't really say he didn't get a chance, but in hindsight likely the better choice would be to stick with New Zealand. Can't predict the emergence of Reyna, Aaronson, Weah though...

I think the biggest issue is when you cap tie young players especially young players who likely are not going to feature for you A-Team for years if at all. They are naive. Nobody has a real accurate grasp of their long-term potential. To tie up their entire international future is pretty scummy whoever is doing it.

If a players is further along in their career then not that big of an issue. They are less naive and have been around the game long enough to make an better decision of where their future lies. It won't always be the right one in-terms of playing time, but at least you are closer to a finished product and less likely to be taken for a ride.

 

Yup no need to decide until you're at the point where you actually have to do so. I think some guys just like to have the decision over with so they can focus on their careers and I agree that national teams also want guys to commit sooner rather than later.

 

🇺🇸🇲🇽 | Dual Nats

Gregg Berhalter is considering calling up Cade Cowell and Jonathan Gomez to the #USMNT for the Nations League. pic.twitter.com/fINQcemYVH

— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) May 10, 2022

 

Fully for calling Gomez, he might be closer to the real roster than it seems. Let's Cowell with his perfect Spanish go to Mexican camp, should be fun.

 

Completely agree. The whole Cowell to Mexico story is the agent doing his job. There’s nothing to it IMO.

 

Lots of rumors online that Jonathan Gomez is going to be named to the US roster for the June camp. We'll supposedly find out real soon.

Gregg Saban about to work his magic again?

 

We'll see if he's named or not, but hard to complain in any way about Berhalter's work when it comes to dual nationals.

 

1527704365355745280 is not a valid tweet id

 

Hard to not believe that if Slonina is announcing his international future today then he’s decided to play for Poland.

 

Gregg Saban strikes again.

 

Glad I was wrong. Did he accept the spot on Poland’s roster and changed his mind or did they release that roster before he decided if he wanted to be on it?

 

I suspect Poland named him to their roster hoping he'd accept. That forced Slonina to make a decision now. Maybe that's what Poland was after. Commit or do not. There is no try.

 

Can’t win every recruitment. Flip one of Azcona or Perez, and I think that’s a good outcome.

Called Up 🇩🇴⚽ Edison Azcona has been called up to Dominican Republic National team for its upcoming 2022 Concacaf Nations League matches. https://t.co/1xHlB0sUJT

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) May 20, 2022