The current state of our youth national teams

Yes, they were quite good at turning and dribbling out of trouble to move up field and in the 1-2s, 1-2-3s quick combinations. I think they showed more soccer IQ in the small group dynamics than we did. Also this seem the be most subdued Honduras we have played. There were minimal theatrics, minimal rough play, no nasty challenges, and little time wasting. We deserved a red card more than they did.

 

Yup. The thing with Tab was that he learned from his mistakes after the 2013 U20 World Cup.
Hell, he learned from them mid-tournament. Complete shift in tactics between the Spain and France games.

I will say that Tab's draw at the 2013 U20 World Cup was as bad as the US has had at any event on any level.
Being drawn with both France and Spain? Yikes. People should go look at the future stars on that France team in particular. That Spanish team was considered stacked at the time too as they were coming off a championship at the 2012 Euro U19s. Those guys all turned into solid professionals at the highest levels, but not many stars there. The third team, Ghana, featured 10 future senior internationals.

We rolled into that event against loaded rosters of future stars with a roster of guys that barely reached MLS level: Daniel Cuevas, Benji Joya, Juan Pablo Ocegueda, Mario Rodriguez, Jose Villarreal, Javan Torre, Danny Garcia, Oscar Sorto, Alonso Hernandez.......................the list goes on and on. It's amazing how much of that roster is out of the sport. Last I saw, Jose Villarreal was playing in the Phillippines.

So I think that on top of Ramos making mistakes, our expectations were totally out of whack from reality for what he could do in the 2013 cycle. The talent just wasn't there for Ramos like we thought it was.

Truth be told, THAT is why folks are so frustrated by Kreis. The talent IS there in MLS to have qualified for the Olympics................even without all of the Euro-based guys. We weren't facing France and Spain. We needed to beat a relatively mundane version of a Honduras U23 team. I don't think that Honduras team was as good as the one from 2015. Hell, I think the squad he selected was good enough to not just beat Honduras, but to win the whole thing. Tactically, he got it all wrong. And he seemed incapable of making impactful adjustments with the group. Jason Kreis ain't Gonzalo Segares. He's had experience coaching on bigger stages than he just faced.

 

I think the influence of a coach is massively overrated in general, and particularly with YNTs. I think systems (which are often, but not always, tied to the coach), selections, and preparation are far more important. The modern approach is to have the manager separate from the systemic decisions and recruitment decisions.

Berhalter’s system right now is the system. I don’t know how much that is USSF diktat, and how much is his own preference. I do think that USSF leadership made it very clear the parameters under which the system had to operate, specifically in regards to buildup and possession.

In the end, Kreis is not Tata Martino or Bielsa or Pep. He’s also not a total disaster. I think the issue with this team was system, selection, and prep time.

 

Was with a group who spent yesterday going down rosters and watching videos of various YNTs who have played the past 6 months.

Nearly every prominent footballing nation has bad some kind of camp and friendlies in multiple age groups except the US.

Many of these countries have had camps all the way town to the U15 level. What’s the consensus on why the US hasn’t? Is it strictly Covid related or financial?

 

How can it be strictly Covid related? You said every other country is doing it. MLSNext is playing. Youth soccer everywhere is playing. College soccer is playing. High school soccer is playing.

USSF has used Covid as an excuse to stop all non-money making operations. Which is everything but USMNT and USWNT. They had to do the Olympic team, but they didn't actually give them any camps or games.

They have been doing U14 ID, but maybe they have a grant for that or the kids pay to participate.

 

Well...................we have been having region ID camps across the country.
Folks will remember there were camps for three different age groups in Texas alone.
The ones in Texas were run by Gonzalo Segares I believe. US U15 coach and interim U17 coach?

Its just that we're not having full national camps right now.

I imagine we'll have camps this summer during the FIFA windows.
They'll start back soon.

 

We've had quite a few u20s called up for the full NT in the past 12 months. 14 total according to wikipedia. I suspect that if we added the U23 cps it would be a full team.

We are in strange, unknown territory here. Zero players can be said to be incumbents from the previous cycle. A full starting lineup of u20s have been called up to the full NT. Outside the keeper, the only surefire starters are U23s. Add in Covid restrictions and the number of European based players. This is not a cycle that can be easily compared to previous cycles. Go ahead compare and criticize but tread lightly on common knowledge or standard procedure as the basis of your arguments.

 

Internal and external politics.

 

The idea to centralize everything at Soccer House in Chicago is f**king stupid. The scouting has been lazy and sloppy. The communication below GGG has been piss poor.

 

I’d be severely disappointed if we don’t see a full camp for the 06’s and 03/04’s in late July/August. With the DA going all the way until July 3rd they won’t have one in June.

 

It is funny that the idea was to have everyone mingling at the water cooler all day. But then Covid hits, and everything is video conferencing anyway.

 

Change this to USYNT.

What’s a USMNT opinion that'll have you like this? pic.twitter.com/uaGkIwP9mw

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 14, 2021

 

The two of us have way too many of these

 

I was never much of a Uly fan. Just never really saw it. I think he ends up as a mediocre MLS winger.

 

tanner tessmann has less than two years to make a big leap forward if we want him to be a national team contributor

 

I’ll give a few.

1. Gallegos has done well to come from nowhere and make himself known, but the expectations are way too high.

2. Che is presently nowhere near as good as the reputation he gets. It’ll be interesting to see how his reputation evolves with him no longer at Bayern.

3. I appreciate the success Busio and Cowell have had, but our National Teams are getting better, and I don’t think either has the talent to be a fixture for the National Team, regardless of their success and notoriety at club level.

4. Gomez is currently the best natural LB in the USMNT player pool.

5. Nyeman isn’t looking likely to reach his potential for reasons that aren’t his own doing.

 

No no no, they have to be hot takes, not sensible takes.

...I don't know enough about this crop to offer one. Maybe this counts. I've never been much of a fan of George Bello. I think he mainly is an excellent athlete that matured faster than his peers, but there's nothing special there in terms of talent/ability soccer-wise.

 

After maybe a half season, MLS minutes will not further development or add transfer value.

MLS teams outside NYCFC, RBNY, and Philly have no idea how to sell a player and mostly get in the way.

Getting playing time at fullback in MLS is one of the easiest jobs to get in professional sports.

 

Juan agudelo will win the ballon d’Or

 

What exactly can Gomez do or what exactly does he want USSF to do?

 

Mr. Gomez, you were a member of the USMNT. You better have told our biggest rival, the Mexican Federation, an emphatic No.

 

Make what you will of this but David Ochoa has liked one of @usmntonly posts that highlights a comment critical of the USSF’s outreach to Mexican-American players.

Another chapter in the David Ochoa recruiting battle saga.#USMNT #SeleccionMexicana #ussoccer #USSF #MLS pic.twitter.com/zBvVArtMyN

— Mauricio Morales🇵🇷🇺🇸 (@MLS_Prospects) July 14, 2021

 

At what point are they going to actually hire youth national team coaches? Has the woman's lawsuit bankrupted everything?

 

Gonzalo Segares is the u17 and u16 YNT coach. u20’s I’m not sure about, it may still be Anthony Hudson but I’d rather have someone else