BY the way, what on earth is going on with the SKC academy? FCD shouldn't be blowing them out like that. That's troubling. SKC academy really seemed like they were on a good track, but seem to have lost their way. You can say that about the organization in general. Probably will miss the playoffs again, although they still have a chance (like FCD).
That's the youngest Carrera, Juanito. Nico was always pretty big, but Antonio was small for a while. Went from being notably little at the beginning of his U16 year (first video) to basically his present height by the end of his U17 year (second video), so there's some precedent for a big growth spurt.
I think they were hurt a lot by some of the newer MLS clubs of the last five years. Some of the areas they were recruiting in the past are now given over to newer clubs. Their territory to recruit is so small to begin with, and it's not exactly an area that has produced tons of amazing players. They've also had some unfortunate situations with their most promising players, a lot of which I think comes down to bad luck and the types of things that often get in the way of a promising 14 or 15 year old player turning into a good player for the first team.
A ton of their guys were from North Carolina, right? And then they had a couple of prospects simply quit, although I think one's back. SKC never played their kids that much. Busio was so talented they kind of had to, and there's quite a few academies without even a Busio, but they've never been kid friendly under Vermes who is trying to milk his veterans. Vermes has been great for SKC, but in the evolving MLS, they have to lean into development more than ever since they are never going to be big budget. Vermes may not be that guy. I feel like St. Louis has a much better long term strategy to that end and I'd be moving east along I-70 if I was a young player.
Yes, that was part of it. Also Missouri, which a large part of it is now STLC’s territory. They were taking from what is FCC’s territory I believe, and then now all teams have started adopting Michigan, which has no team that has exclusive access to. Don’t get me wrong. They could find ways to do better with recruiting. RSL finds players from every corner of the country, but a large part of it for SKC is that their recruiting has gotten a lot more difficult as MLS has expanded and these homegrown territories still exist.
Looks like Salinas is doing well at Furman ... but Starnes & Hernandez haven't been rostered ... Anyone know what's up there? https://x.com/FurmanPaladins/status/1701680760669814992?s=20
Neither has played a minute this season. Would guess it's injury related (especially since Starnes was a fixture in the lineup last year).
Anyone have any access to MLS Next standings and schedules? I havent't been able to access them, and having talked to some coaches, they haven't been able to access the standings. Wondering when all this with the new platform will be fixed.
You try to take this stuff with a grain of salt, but PrepSoccer (a TopDrawerSoccer competitor whose rankings actually seem like someone’s looked at them) named Steel Cook, Saul Rios, and Jordyn Eason as three of the top six boys players in the TX class of 2027 (old ‘09s and young ‘08s). Not a negligible honor.
Yeah, I was figuring the same... Just wondering if anyone had an update. Unfortunate for both of them.
FCD UPSL v Texas Spurs, 9/20/23; Lineup: Gomez; Nieves, Shreiner, Brandon, Anguiano; Grimm, Baran; Buttrill, Salazar, Medrano; Vargas · Just some loose thoughts as I watch live tonight before the first team kicks off. Was planning on watching the UPSL game, but it’s 4-0 30min in and doesn’t look like it’s going to get better. · They spell Mason Grimm’s name as “Máson Grimm”, which makes me chuckle. He commonly drops between the CBs to dictate possession. Played some in that role over the weekend too, based on his YouTube all-touches videos. · I guess Baran is just a CM now? Kind of bold to take a highly successful winger and force him inside. Wasn’t super impressed with him in Mexico. Struggles to find the game in the middle of the field. · GOAL: 1:30 or so. Baran and Vargas force a high turnover, Baran slips Vargas in behind down the left, and he finds Medrano open at the far post. · Spurs are not especially well-coached / tactically cohesive, but they are mostly guys that played lower-level college ball. Memphis, Texas A&M Corpus, etc. Some quality out there. · The commentator uses Vargas’ full last name (“Vargas-Valerio”), which, like, I get that aesthetics aren’t everything when you choose how to style your name, but the hyphenated version is so cool. “Nayrobi Vargas-Valerio” would be a top shelf name in pro soccer. · GOAL: 17:00 or so. Brandon steps forward to intercept a forward pass. Plays forward to Medrano, who bumps back to Baran, who shoots from 30ish yards. It goes in, and the ball bounced in front of the GK, but probably should have been saved. · Something to be said for the fact that this is the third game the U19s have played in the last five days and I thought moving to a more training-heavy model that eliminated this kind of congestion was a key part of how the US developmental system improved in the last 20 years? Why are we adding games for this quality of competition? · Salazar not sharp early. · GOAL: 24:00 or so. Vargas gets the ball up the left wing from Nieves, and hits Baran in behind on the underlapping run. Baran carries into a 1v1 before squaring to Salazar, who scores past the frantically recovering defenders. · GOAL: 26:45 or so. Salazar hits a long flat CK toward the back post, where Medrano fits the header into the far post.
Same lineups as against SKC last weekend except Scabin came back in for Guzman and Montoya started over Wheeler. Wild to me that Carrera may be first choice over Rios, but, once again, FCD’s been very good with GKs recently so they get some benefit of the doubt.
2-0 win. Both goals by Buttrill with assists from Baran and Salazar. Best defensive performance I've seen from this group in UPSL so far, and they probably "deserved" another couple goals on the balance of chances. Ramirez skill show in the 71st minute. Both he and Salazar were denied some pretty assists via lackluster finishing. NTX Legends put 11 guys behind the ball for most of the game, so the exercise was in finding chances against a dense block. Baran drives like a freight train down the middle when he gets some space - could see him doing very well next year in the "Tomas Pondeca role" NTX used down the stretch.
How did Dante Sealy do in his start for the first team last night against Philly? I didn't get to see the game.
I thought he was pretty impressive. Still a bit raw, but he clearly has something, and Philly had to react to him multiple times. I think with a bit of structure and a bit of skill improvement, he'd go from exciting to very good very quick. But those are big ifs. Note: I only watched the first half as I moved over to the Open Cup final at halftime.
Wasn't that impressed watching live, but the stats paint a more flattering picture than I would have expected. Obviously they're going to have a conversation with him about Philly's goal and defending the weakside in transition moments generally, and he's still got an unnecessarily loose touch, but he led the team in touches in the penalty box, passes into the penalty box, and carries into the penalty box. For a team that struggles with that stuff, it's a useful skillset to have.
And now he gets called up to the Polish U18 (2006s and younger) national team. They'll play Sweden, Slovakia, and Czechia.
Wow! Diego Garcia gets the call-up with the US U17s for their World Cup warmup camp. Someone else will probably have a better sense for whether he’s got a realistic shot at the roster, but I’m sure that’s validating to be included here at the end anyway after not quite breaking through in New Mexico. From FCD's perspective, you've got a YNT-caliber talent in your system that you didn't have this time last year because you were proactive about bringing guys in. Similar story as Kamungo in that sense. Makes NTX's next roster reload in the spring that much more exciting.
Only my opinion, but I'd say Garcia has no real shot. Corcoran I think may have a better chance, depending on if the coach simply wants to explore other options for the back-up DM after Mendoza struggled the last tournament or if Mendoza simply wasn't released due to SJ's playoffs. Hard to know. Either way, I'm pleasantly shocked that Corcoran made it. I've heard so many things over the last few years that have made me believe he had no shot for the U-17 cycle, and then it was still going to be an uphill battle after that too.
Very similar lineups this morning against visiting FC Cincinnati. U17s unchanged in a 2-1 win (Contreras had one of the goals), and the U15s brought Kurpiewski into the XI to replace Eason (would guess that moved Cook to the FW line) in another 2-1 win (Cook and Velazquez with the goals).
Sylvester and Contreras with the goals yesterday, Guandique assisting the latter. Cincinnati has improved this year at the 17s, recruiting kids from Inter Miami, Philly Union, and Solar. All contributed yesterday. Their academy has been a mess lately but perhaps it's on the upswing.
Garcia and Corcoran started in the first game against Brazil, which was called off at half for weather. I *think* they’re playing next to one another in a double-pivot in this lineup.