Looks like it to me too. One thing I’ve noticed the last six months or so is that Corcoran is not as tall relative to his peers as he once was. Not that he’s short, but he’s probably average height now.
Jared Aguilar’s first goal in college is a diving header. I’ll have a broader update on the college kids in a week or two.
NTX announces roster decisions. Only real surprise is Hope Avayevu seeing his option declined - thought he was just as good as Bernie Kamungo last year. Injuries and his international status really held him back. He’ll be in that group with Chile Araneda and Andre Costa and Pablo Torre of guys that will very quickly find a spot at some other MLSNP or USLC setup. NTX in the market for starting CBs, Ws, and maybe GK depending on what happens with Eyestone and whether Montoya progresses.
Kamungo gets the callup to the US Olympic team that will play Mexico and Japan. Not provisionally cap-tying yet, so it's possible he's still deciding between Tanzania (for whom he's gotten a callup in the past) and the US.
'03 RB Collin Smith scored today for Birmingham. The team account described it as going by three defenders and the GK, which is maybe the biggest overstatement of the century, but it's still a fine RB's goal. Would love to see FCD reward him for his play on loan by putting him in the RB rotation for next year, but with Geovane Jesus' ACL tear they probably have to keep Twumasi for at least the beginning of 2024, and then there's a ton of competition there once Jesus gets back. We'll see. Smith's still just 19.
What do you think of Kamungo compared to the other left-footed RW's in the pool, Zendejas and Paredes? Better? Worse? Somewhere in-between?
I'm not the person to ask about parsing performances between leagues. Who knows how MLS compares to Liga MX or the Bundesliga? We'll see (or we won't) when they get their shots with the MNTs. On Kamungo specifically, I think his upside is somewhere between peak Jordan Morris and peak Paul Arriola, both of whom are pretty good stylistic fits for how he plays. There were some flashes that he could be a shot-creator as a 1v1 dribbler early in his time with NTX, but he's developed into a defense + dangerous receptions merchant. More physically gifted than Arriola, not as dominant as Morris was. Best used alongside multiple creators in a system that doesn't require him to carry a bunch of water in possession. Bongi Hlongwane is the best version of this player in MLS today with an honorable mention to Morris. I don't see why Kamungo can't be in that tier next season if he stays healthy.
USA Pan-American games roster can be found here. Nolan Norris and the two older Carrera brothers will represent the US and FCD at the event.
And Anthony Ramirez is back with Mexico’s U18s (really the U20s for next cycle). Just a week of training and a scrimmage.
FCD wins 6-0, and it's increasingly looking like Foro SC in the only club in the conference that can present a real developmental exercise. Goals from Salazar (x3), Baran, Grimm, and Marquez (the best of the bunch - scored in the 89th minute if you want to watch). Of note, a forward named Nyle Waugh came on as a substitute. I assume it's the same Nyle Waugh who was with Miami's Academy until recently, in which case (according to Transfermarkt) he's a young '06 (eligible for this season and next with the U19s) and Jamaican. Don't know if he's just trialing or if he's joined FCD full time.
Groups drawn for the CONCACAF U20 qualifiers to be contested in Feb-Mar 2024 to decide the final six teams that go to the U20 championship in summer '24. Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala are the most likely to call up FCD players for the competition.
And now a 3-0 win for a somewhat rotated U19 squad. Goals from Grimm, Pondeca, and Lopez. Grimm's and Lopez's (the first and third) are worth watching. FCD probably hit the goalframe four or more times and had another half-dozen moments where a cross in front of goal was a foot or less away from finding an attacker. In combo with some very nice work from the Racing GK, it could easily have been five or more. Racing clearly has some ambition to play soccer, but it was one way traffic outside of the first 15-20min of the second half. Oh hey! Former FCD Academy '07 CB Myles Nicholes was playing for Racing, doing his usual thing of gonzo ground coverage and four or five inexplicable brain farts.
FCD is back-to-back-to-back in the MLS 22 under 22 list Pepi in 2021, Ferreira in 2022, and now Velasco in 2023. 2023 22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR | MLSSoccer.com
Velasco is Zeke Barco 2.0. Unproductive high-priced foreign signing. It's pretty offensive that the "MLS journalists" ranked him first. He's not any good. Kamungo from his own team is outproducing him by a lot!
Hey, we don't actually win anything. Give us this one!!! Barco just played an important role as River Plate won the Primera Division in Argentina. I get your point, though.
Well, this answers the question about GK (maybe). NTX signs Botafogo's U19 GK, a Nebraska-native that was with Flamengo for half a decade before joining Botafogo in 2021. Young 2005. A 2+1 contract, so it's not just a tryout year.
"He's not any good" is, imo, an overstatement. He's been an average-ish MLS starting winger as a young player, which isn't nothing. Disappointing that a DP isn't doing more? Sure. Are there six or seven other kids I would comfortably pick over him? Yes, but, in a year where there isn't a clear #1, I'd guess the recent callup to the best national team in the world and his awesome performance against Messi/Miami probably put him into the top 10 on more ballots than anyone else (I doubt any one player was first on more than ~10% of ballots).
Others can feel free to disagree, but if you are an attacker and you don't have end product, you aren't an effective player, in my opinion. Goals win games. Work-rate, dribbles, fouls drawn, all that stuff is important, yet it's hard to quantify, and I find it hard to put that in the same category as directly influencing a goal. If a player in your front four isn't pulling their weight in producing goals, which are IMO disproportionately the most important quality for an attacker, I think it's hard to be an effective player. It's true that Velasco is young. He's only 21. He absolutely can still improve, and there are Americans around his age that are still highly regarded without having great end-product, but I think it's hard to say a player is currently an effective attacker without that component. His potential, that's an entirely different discussion and subjective, but I think it's also then hard to say one of the oldest players that qualifies has the highest potential when he's not really turning it into production yet.
Velasco wasn't great as a winger, but when Dallas has shifted him to an attacking mid role, he's been very good. #1 feels a bit overhyped based on a really fantastic game versus Inter Miami, but if Dallas continues to play him in the center, I think everyone is singing a different tune next year.
The whole list is highly idiotic. Velasco #1, isn't even more stupid than Brady #17, or Camungo #19. Quality of "MLSsoccer staff" is down, way down. As well as the whole site. Atrocious.
I will say this about that 22 under 22 in 2023......................... There were no OUTSTANDING resumes amongst the U22s this year. There were no Pepi or Ferreira seasons froma statistical point of view (the winners the past two seasons). #2 on the list is Cremaschi. What exactly has he done in MLS play? 2 goals and 4 assists. Almost that entire 22 under 22 this season is based on potential and not actually 2023 performance. Cade Cowell is in the top 10, and he's had a very disappointing season. I would have had Chris Brady a lot higher. He's at #17. And if he was at #2 on the list, would anybody have thought that was strange? Jalen Neal isn't in the top 10. He started for the USMNT this summer at the Gold Cup. If he was at #3 would people have thought that was crazy? If Gutierrez was #1 with his 2 goals and 7 assists, would we have thought that was crazy? That's a better season statistically than Velasco or Cremaschi. If you scrambled the top dozen USMNT-eligible players on the list and then represented it to us................we'd all think the same thing. There's a lot of parity without that Ricardo Pepi-like breakout. I'm sure the voting was very close. So I get the criticism of Velasco as the #1 choice.............but if anyone else on that list was #1, we'd probably think the same thing. There's no clear winner.
Came on for the last 20min against Mexico and assisted what turned out to be the game-winner in a 2-1 win. Reviews were generally positive. The game against Japan on the 17th will be streamed (unlike the Mexico game) and I'd expect Kamungo to start.
3rdDegree’s reporting that ‘08 Andre Saucedo is going to Mexico U15 camp. Also notes that he’s probably eligible for Peru as well. Wild to me that it’s taken this long for him to get a national team callup, but good luck to him anyway. FCD’s Andre Saucedo called for Mexico U15 camp #FCDallas #DTID #SomosFCD https://t.co/bQz9L1YhnJ— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) October 13, 2023