Encouraging to see the movement on the play that led to his goal. Nice little shift to create space to receive the ball from the winger in the first place. Then he sends the guy down the wing, making a penetrating support run pretty much the instant he sees that his teammate isn't getting to the endline. (Maybe he starts that run a beat or two earlier, but that seems like a quibble.) From there he keeps moving, more or less the way you would expect a player in his position to do, and gets rewarded for it.
As a bonus, there's a tremendous amount of skillful football from a variety of American-developed players housed in this reel: 1301379285886922753 is not a valid tweet id
A very promising performance. However, one of his negatives certainly showed is he has no faith in his right foot. Corona's golazo was set up by Efra not shooting with his right. He's not the first from the Galaxy system...He, Mendez, Jose Villarreal all way too dependent on their left foot (and all slow athletically). But his left foot is the best striking of the ball I've seen come through this country's development. A majority of corners he takes wind up dangerous and he's a ruthless finisher on that left foot. Focus on the opposite foot as an adult can improve somewhat. Jordan Morris went from an abysmal left foot to below average.
I’ve watched a ton of Efra’s games over the last 7 years, his right foot is solid. He could hit a good shot from 20-25 yards with his right no problem. One of his best goals in USL was scored on a 20 yard half volley with his right. On the ball Efra can do it all with both feet. For Efra the major concerns are work rate, attitude, and off the field decision making. If Efra decides to be a member of the team that day and actually work then he’s incredible. If not then he’s invisible. Ideally for Efra he would move from the MLS to La Liga because I don’t see him doing very well in the Premier League or Bundesliga where most teams are very fast paced and physical which isn’t Efra’s game. In La Liga Efra can get away with not being super athletic and having phenom level skill on the ball and he could carve out an amazing career
With DMs like W.McKennie and T.Adams players like E.Alvarez are less of an issue because he has cover. I hope for the day to see Pulisic, Alvarez, Reyna, Weah, Sargent all working through each other.
That's quite a line up. If McKennie and Adams are playing, are we in a 3-2-2-3 in that one? I have no opinion on whether Alvarez will improve his work rate and defense. I had heard from some people a couple of years ago that those were real problems, but recently it seems like he's both svelter and more willing to play both sides. Players develop, so this isn't particular to him. But I suspect that we will have enough strong two way players that he would need to be playing at the highest levels as an offense-only creator to be a first choice option or we're going to have a lot of busts. Because a lot of the competition is strong both ways. I hope he develops and chooses the US. But it the calculus doesn't completely change because you have cover. Yes, it makes it more feasible to go offense only... ...but it still factors strong into my evaluation. If the offensive difference is neglible but the defense is MUCH better for a player, why would I go away from the more complete player? It just means an offense only player needs to be much better than guys like Tim Weah and Gio Reyna.
I get your point but really hope and believe that the day isn't too far off that some of those choices (even if healthy AND maximizing or close to maximizing potential) have enough competition that they won't be on the field together...at least at times. Already, we have players not mentioned that potentially could be in the top groupings. (I know your short list wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list)
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔈𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔏𝔬𝔰 The story of @efrain_alvarez1's journey to the #LAGalaxy #LatinxHeritageMonth | #HHM pic.twitter.com/1cWbWwVhU0— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 30, 2020
Armchair Analyst: Latest USMNT roster has an Olympic flair November 30, 2020 Matthew Doyle As for Efra, the talent is there even if the consistency and off-field discipline have been questionable thus far in his young career. Still, the kid has had some moments: 16-pass build-up from the Galaxy -- who are a team reborn over the past few games -- leading to Efra Alvarez's first MLS goal.He had two of those passes and they were both superb. Champagne football. pic.twitter.com/dKgeNZeWUn— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) September 3, 2020 There is much about him and his game that suggests "The next Freddy Adu," for both good and for bad. Bear in mind that Efra can't play for the US -- even in a friendly -- until/unless he files a one-time switch, and that he will not file a one-time switch between now and next Wednesday. So you won't see him in this game. But I'll say it again: I do like that he's here.
Jason Kreis on Efrain Alvarez: - has not made a decision yet - USSF heavily interested in making the switch - Berhalter and staff were impressed at the Dec. camp - mentioned that he did not join Camp Cupcake 2.0 because of the longevity and wanted a break - may consider making a final decision before this summer
Happy for the update and I'm supportive of dual nationals taking their time in general, but this part is a bit concerning on two levels. 1) He only started 6 games and played 718 minutes last year. He shouldn't need a break, and frankly given his somewhat average production (1 goal, 2 assists), should welcome the extra coaching. Given there have been concerns about his work ethic, professionalism and fitness in the past, he really needs to be taking every opportunity he can to improve in those areas. Missing this camp is a lost opportunity, and you don't typically reach your full potential by failing to maximize your chances to learn and grow. 2) At the very least, it doesn't show much commitment to our program and/or a desire to build on his last camp. It's possible he's just more interested in Mexico, which would be fine. He is clearly very skilled, but his physical limitations and potentially sub-optimal mindset make him far from a can't miss prospect.
i cant say i disagree on the needing a break, but it is worth considering the mental toll of last season beyond the physical toll.
Efrain is one we'd all like to have in the pool. Why wouldn't we? We want as many talented kids in the pool as possible. But also one I sense most of us don't view as a "must get." Write out your starting XI of US U20s. is Alvarez in it? Not in mine...................... By the way, he is older than both Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna.
Honestly, I think he’s one of the most overrated players in the pool. Essentially, he’s Andrew Carleton with a work ethic. And that makes for someone who is a good youth prospect but who is very unlikely to become an international level player. He’s too slow and chubby. I like size on a player. But his isn’t muscle. He’s all baby fat. And at the elite level, you can’t just be a good soccer player... you have to be an athlete too. And he’s not that.
I agree in today’s game his athleticism will limit him and I don’t know if he’s good enough for teams to carry him as a luxury player. I think he has to be too good to drop to play, if that makes sense. Like Klinsmann-era Dempsey. And I don’t think he’s that good.
If he had a work ethic, he wouldn't still be out of shape and would be trying to get his stamina up to play on both sides of the ball. That may be just his "style", but whether stamina or production, he never got an extended number of starts last year on a bad LAG team. He's more like a dual-national Andrew Carleton.
I use to weigh 215 at 5'6 and I was considered chubby. Now I weigh 164 at 5'6 and still considered chubby. Hooray for genetics.
The existence of Reyna changes things, because I genuinely believe that Reyna is a generational player whose floor is not far away from “Best American Player Ever”. I also think that Reyna will play the 10 even though he’s not a traditional one. Efra is still a tremendous player and talent though and many are selling him short. All this stuff about athleticism is missing the forest for the trees. Soccer teams have two jobs: Score goals, and stop the other team from scoring goals. Players need to do one or the other at an elite level. It’s not a running competition. Efra will never be an elite defender. Who gives a shit? He’s a 10. Every decent 10 in MLS is ass at defending. You play him because he helps you score goals. Right now his goal creation stats are on par or better than Aaronson despite being two years younger and on a much worse team. Right now he’s a good creator from the wing, but not elite. He needs to make a jump in 3 key metrics this season to enter “best creator in MLS” territory. First is his shooting percentage; 25% on target isn’t cutting it and strongly suggests he’s taking bad shots. He’s averaging 0.21 xG/90 but it’s dependent on volume. He’s got to pick his passes better. He’s one of the riskiest passers in the league and it’s not paying off for him. Part of the issue is that LA is so bad off the ball, but you still have to play the right pass and not force it. Finally he really needs to be more consistent on ball. He completes a ton of dribbles at a high success rate, but he still gets dispossessed more frequently than the best 10s. This is somewhat athleticism but more positioning, off ball movement, and working well with teammates. He’s also got to get at least 2000 minutes next season. The skills are there but if you’re not on the field you’re not using it.
Aaronson is 1000 times the defender Efrain is, plays more of a box-to-box role, had better per-minute production, and was a leader on the supporters shield winner. There's a reason he moved to RBS. Efrain got ~600 minutes on a much worse team, often being used as an attacking sub. He's not a bum, but he's far from comparable to Aaronson. There are very few 10s that don't defend. The ones that can get away with it in MLS have the team built around them, like Higuain. They're also usually older DPs who can't defend as well anymore partly from older age. Basically, guys like Valeri and Lodeiro don't have to defend. Everyone else does, Aaronson and Efrain included. If Efra isn't filling the stat sheet, and he has not done so yet, then he needs to try on both sides of the ball.