Norris joined the Academy going into the U13 year. Like Scott, he’s more of a story of development than scouting. No. 3️⃣5️⃣We've signed defender and Academy product Nolan Norris to a three-year contract with club options for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) November 16, 2022
I don't know what kind of future Norris and Scott have with the first team. I'm just glad FCD is getting back on the signing train. They do have a couple more U17s that they can in theory sign if they want. No rush, though. I totally agree that there's an opening there for Smith. At the moment anyway. We'll see what kind of other signings they make this off-season. I do think that if they use an international slot on the Colombian U20 forward Mulato, then they're out. So at the moment it looks unlikely that they can sign an international player to block Smith. [One international slot will be freed up when Jara leaves in the summer window. He has a weird contract. Runs out in July.]
They’ve got nine slots for next year (their 8 + 1 from Nashville). I think 8 are accounted for as of right now: Mulato, Jara, Martínez, Paes, Tsiki, Obrian, Velasco, Quignon. Martinez, Obrian, and Jara should all be close to green cards (having arrived 2+ years ago) and Tsiki’s an interesting case having been in the country for 4 years already when he signed with FCD.
Ah, I think you're right. I missed that Quinonez was cut loose. That was my 9th. By the way.........................this would cause seismic problems. It's hard for me to believe that it's come to this.
Aaaayyyyyyyy ‘04 Manny Martinez playing for the Honduras U20s! Maybe playing his way onto the roster for the 2023 U20 WC. With Kris Kelley gone and Tarik Scott signed, he’s the top FW left in the Academy for me (and the best FW prospect left above the U16 level aside from Anthony Ramirez). Cool story: joined FCD-Premier from FCD Gulf Coast as a U16, bumped to the Academy as a U17 and won a starting spot that he hasn’t really given up since. Felicidades a los legionarios, Emanuel Martinez y David Ruiz que también debutaron con Honduras Sub-20 🇭🇳💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/D4SROBHZVy— HondurasFútbolTV 📺 (@HNFutbolTV) November 17, 2022
I think the U-17’s are very weak this season. Only about 3 guys I rate to any realistic extent, Urzua, Eyestone, and Molina. The 06’s just haven’t progressed much beyond the initial guys that had hype. It obviously hurt that Corcoran left, but Gabriel Brandon has hit his level where his game stalls out, I’m afraid. So has Jared Salazar. I’m not sure Canizalez was really ever that good, and he hasn’t improved much. Then there was the Kelley brothers lawsuit that probably ends both of their careers at the club. Eyestone looks a little better this season. I think he’s become more coordinated and his feet have gotten a little better. I wouldn’t have an issue with him getting a HG contract eventually, but I don’t see how he fits with the first team depth chart. He’s not as talented as Carrera and he’s two years younger. Teams rarely have two HG keepers. Urzua is pretty much the same player he’s been for the last few years. I think he’ll help the first team eventually, but I don’t see him as someone who will do much more than help the FC Dallas first team at some point. Molina is a fringe level wingback. I don’t think he’s a first team caliber guy. I liked Ty Reynolds more than I like Molina, and he didn’t get a contract. I think Molina could be a pro, but I’m not convinced it’s at an MLS level. I hope we see the 07’s more consistently playing with the U-17’s, and not only 1-2 of them per game, because watching the 06’s is dreadful. I wouldn’t be surprised if the U-16’s would beat the U-17’s, if they played. Am I missing anything @Agent_Orange?
Sorry, I forgot they changed the jersey numbers this year. Alanis is #57. #64 is Parker Jackson. #63 is Luis Moreno.
Not selling all my Salazar stock yet, and, while he's not a huge favorite, I think you can't write off Vargas. My big issue with the U17s is they should have gotten the same treatment the U16s did this offseason. Should have brought in 8-10 new kids, because the '06s were never managed to support a full squad when they got to higher age groups. Even as a very good U15 team, they only had 14-15 Academy-level kids in the rotation. They lose Corcoran, they lose Kris Kelley, they lose Tate Jones, and they see a normal rate of stall outs and suddenly they're weak. Always important to remember: none of this matters if they get one really good first-team prospect or more than one pretty good first-team prospect out of this group. Development is a numbers game and the numbers are small.
Speaking of Ty Reynolds, any idea where he wound up? I thought he was going to San Diego State to play but don't see him on their roster. Is he playing Pro somewhere or out of soccer already?
The FC Dallas Academy played two friendlies against CF Monterrey’s academy today in Frisco.FCD U-17s won 3-0 with 2 goals from Ian Hughes and 1 from Nayrobi Vargas.FCD U-19s won 3-2 with 2 goals from Diego Hernandez and 1 from @northtexasSC's Pablo Torre.— Garrett Melcer (@GarrettMelcer) November 18, 2022
There are some super interesting 07’s at Dallas but none that I’d consider to be true high potential’s. A couple that I would place into the Nolan Norris/Tarik Scott tier of they could be homegrowns but future ROI isn’t guaranteed. Caleb Swann, Bryce Outman I think are the brightest two. Outman pending physical growth could be an excellent player, his continued YNT involvement is a good sign of his athletic development being far from over Zach Molomo in their 08’s now that he’s converted to a left center back I would consider to be a true high potential talent, that’s one I think Dallas fans can truly be excited about. He has the technical ability to distribute out of the back. He has the athleticism to cover ground, protect threats in behind, and consistently win aerial duals. He’ll have to improve his 1v1 defending but so does every newly converted CB. LCB’s as we know are super uncommon so as a YNT but I’m super excited
I think Nicholes has very high potential, but he may be one of those players who figures it out in his early 20’s as opposed to the next few years. He doesn’t consistently perform as well as he should yet, but you can’t teach that level of athleticism and then pretty good ability to pass the ball.
Agree that it was hard to see what's happening on the far side of the field. Do you know who was the left-footed player that was playing on the right side? It was either the RCM or the RW, but I'm not sure who. There might've even been two of them, which complicated figuring out who it is, but one of them made some nice runs inside on their left and showed some good skill and passing. Luna doesn't look as good as what I saw last season with Barca AZ. Unfortunately that can happen for players going from season to season in these age groups, but he probably can still be a capable contributor for this team. I've seen #16 for Houston a few times this season. Don't yet know his name, but I agree he's very good.
The starting RCM and RW were Vo and Lee respectively. Lee is definitely a lefty, and Vo's pretty two-footed. The action you're describing sounds more like Vo in this game, but hard to know without seeing specific plays.
Need to start going to Dallas Cup pic.twitter.com/lXZGBN6BDn— Kranks (@dis_possessed) November 19, 2022
I think the issue with jumping from USL-C to MLS is less that their isn't a robust transfer market between the two leagues because most players in the league are on short-term contracts anyway and can be bought for free, it is that the gap between MLS and USL-C is extremely large. I am sure that Aaron Guillen could play in the MLS and be a 4th or 5th CB on a roster, but most teams are just going to want to use that position on a younger player or a player off the books, etc.. There are being some players that have played MLS and then dominated USL and then got a 2nd bite at the apple, but most just are not good enough as the gap is too large...Enzo Martinez is an example. Drafted by RSL, never made impact, played USL and got better and was 1st Team All-USL in 16 and 17. Rapids signed him. Played 22 games in 2018 with no real impact. Back down to USL and was 1st Team All-USL again in 22.
1. - This is the rule change that is reasonable and would benefit college players the most...it would allow them to play in the summer with MLS Next Teams versus PDL. 2. - This has already been covered, but only 9.9 scholarships for the entire team or 25+. Legitimate Top 25 type prospects can likely get a full ride (or close) at a top school, but otherwise almost everybody is paying out of the pocket plus all the other expenses with going to college. Reason why some pretty good players end up at odd schools...likely got a full ride and didn't at the top programs. 4. - I get the NIL argument, but personally don't see how you could go pro and then just hop back into college and play the sport that you were pro in. There are also ways that you can play both sides of the fence. A Gap Year is becoming fairly common. You delay college, but don't sign pro deal and basically play MLS Next Pro as an amateur. Seth Wilson took 3 gap years before going to college at Akron this year. There are also quite a few schools that will honor your scholarship in perpetuity if you turn pro early (Reggie Cannon can always go back to UCLA on a scholarship despite enrolling for 1 semester). You honestly lose nothing by going to college for 1 soccer season. You miss a few pro games for a season of college games and can go pro during the off-season...even playing 2 college season and missing 1 pro season is that much of a sacrifice. I get chasing the dream, but unless you are a Tier 1 prospect...I would be surprised if your overall life outcome (realize this is subjective) isn't better for those that played college soccer.
I don’t buy that. You are always going to get examples like that from one division to the next. Same thing people say comparing leagues like MLS and Championship. Besides, most of the players discussed to get a chance in MLS from USL are younger players, so what you reference with that is a non-issue. Of course, MLS is better, but I don’t think it’s any more of a gap between first division and second division than other countries. Despite that, the difference between the amount of transfers between the top two divisions is much greater in other countries compared to this country.