We'll see. I think he'll get plenty of playing time this season. Pomykal and Servania could be gone a lot with the U23s (and maybe the USMNT). Acosta will be gone a lot with the Honduran national team. I think the Roberts versus Tessman competition will be very interesting. And not just for FCD. For the US U20s as well..........................
Reading 3rd Degree's practice report and talk with Lucchi afterward I hadn't realized Tessman was another Alabama kid who moved at 14 to FCD Academy without his parents. I guess he stayed with a host family as FCD doesn't have a setup with rooms for kids. Interesting question is if staying with a host family is actually better for kids. I know Dallas Cup has done that from the start and there are stories of future pros loving it.
Yup. Alabama was a dead spot in our USYNT/USMNT battle of the states some years ago. Chris Richards, Tanner Tessman, Brandon Servania all have strong Alabama connections.
This is a really good point, but I think it can be viewed in two different ways. As for Dallas Cup, the players love the host families because of the experience. They get to see how American kids live which is often different than where they are from. As for host families in a residency situation, I am a firm believer that this creates a mentality that helps them on the field. A kid that leaves home at 14 and is put in dormitories with other kids his age is relatively easy to adapt to. A kid that leaves home at 14, is put with a family that has rules that must be followed, isn't for everyone. The ones that do this and are able to succeed are really impressive to me. It shows a desire to reach their goals and a willingness to sacrifice for it. So to answer your question, I think staying with a host family develops players mentality more than those staying in a dormitory type situation.
I was leaning that way also. They'd also have a second family that advocates for them (hopefully) which is probably needed at that age.
Can someone explain the hype surrounding Tessmann compared to Servania or Pomykal before they were signed? The hype he’s gotten makes me think he’s going to become a better prospect than Pomykal. Unless there’s so much talk because it’s preseason.
I think he has added hype because of getting accepted at Clemson where he was going to be a placekicker. There were stories from the Clemson coach that he could make field goals of 50+ with either foot. many were complaining he would hurt a possible soccer career by playing football for (at least) a year. Since there has been no confirmation on the FCD webpage it's still speculation that he has been signed.
Pomykal wasn’t hyped, but was really good prior to becoming a pro. Tessman is similar to Pomykal in that sense. Little hype prior to becoming a pro, but he’s very good. Servania has no hype prior to playing at Wake Forest. He did well there, but it’s still only college soccer.
tessmann has the kind of imposing size and physicality that we have not really had in many midfield prospects. maybe otasowie?
I think there's several factors: 1) People love will-he-won't-he stories. Will Tessmann focus on football or soccer? Will he sign with FCD or not? There was less drama with Pomykal. 2) FCD's reputation for youth prospects is growing + younger guys have more visibility thanks to North Texas SC and the USL/ESPN+ deal. In the end, though, outside of our extremely small corner of the soccer internet, I don't think there's actually much more hype about Tessmann.
I think you're selling him a little short. He won the "Golden Ball" as the Best Player of the U19 DA Playoffs last season. And he was a member of the Central Conference Best XI (although teammate Johan Gomez won Player of the Year). So there are folks out there who think very highly of him (in US soccer circles at least)..............not just our little corner of the internet
even if the nuances of champions league soccer prove beyond him, that kind of skillset plays awfully well for concacaf qualifying where more and more the usa is looking at a physical disadvantage
People can poke holes into FCD as much as they want....................I suspect its the only MLS club whose ownership routinely makes these sorts of comments. This was at the league kickoff today. FC Dallas' Clark Hunt says something you don't hear as often from MLS teams as you used to:"We feel that we have a responsibility to the U.S. national team" when it comes to player development.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) February 26, 2020
I'm not saying that Tessmann isn't good. I'm just saying that most US soccer fans have no idea who he is. The same was true for Pomykal when he signed for FC Dallas. There's a lot of buzz about Tessmann in the more more hardcore prospect-watching circles, but when you are in those circles it's easy to forget how small they are.
That's fair. The casual youth fan probably only knows the star players from the US U17 World Cup squad. The Gio Reyna types. But................Tessman, Pomykal, Cannon, McKennie, Servania, Cerrillo, Roberts, Richards, Ferreira (obviously), Jesse Gonzalez (obviously), Johan Gomez, and most of the recent FCD academy players of note haven't been. For various reasons. Those that were U17 regulars? Alex Zendejas, who has fallen off the face of the planet (I think he had some really serious knee injury). Coy Craft, who has also fallen off the face of the Earth. Bryan Reynolds, who's yet to break out. The list continues. Its almost as if the US U17 World Cup inclusion isn't necessarily a harbinger of future success............................
The casual fan is literally just learning about Gio Reyna. This board qualifies as super hardcore. I have a friend who is just hardcore; he knows Gio Reyna but not Tanner Tessman. Even at a USMNT game, I bet the average fan can at most name 1-2 people who have never had a cap.
I was just watching Tessman's podcast featuring Judson Burns and Johan Gomez, and at about the 7:45-8:20 mark Tessman talks about making the best of your opportunities and mentions rising up through teams, Gomez starts winking at the camera and states "We know what that means, we'll see in a couple of days... a happier ending{than Burns at Clemson}", maybe I'm reading too much into this, we'll see in a couple days.
I don't think he would. one of the semi-endearing things about paulson is his open not-giving-a-spit for development. (the openness part, i mean.)
Part of the reason that some of the even very hardcore types didn't have Tessman front of mind is how his North Texas season played out. He had a string of 5 consecutive starts early. During this stretch he was one of the more interesting young guys to watch in USL, good for a few good gifs a game, and starting to get some attention from a slightly wider audience (super hardcores + standard hardcores). But even then he was overshadowed by Pepi and, to a lesser extent, Jonathan Gomez. Then what happened is he made only 4 sporadic starts for the rest of the year (I'm not really sure why). This dry period coincided with the secret committee voting to turn their coordinated twitter activity entirely toward the u17 World Cup pool. Tessman faded from public consciousness. A similar dynamic played out with Jose Gallegos in San Antonio (his dry period due to injury).
Not a conspiracy. Players were brought up to the academy to fill holes on NOrth Texas, and often one of the holes wasn't in Tessman's position. Simply due to first team players needing game time (like Thomas Roberts) and already have midfielders on NTSC contracts (the Rodriguez brothers, etc.). By the way, it looks like Twumasi is going out on loan to Austin Bold again. That would open up a developmental roster spot for Tessman with the FCD first team. Confined, Ema Twumasi is going back to the Austin Bold for another loan. Should be announced this week.Right of recall I assume will be in place, Twumasi progress has him higher up depth chart. Should factor in Dallas this year some.— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) February 26, 2020
I could be wrong and didn't find a definitive answer in the rules & regs, but I don't think you get roster space relief for a loan if the loan has the right to recall. It has to be a full-year loan.
I'm sure this is correct because if he is recalled then you have too many players - unless there is some way you can then loan out someone else to clear up that spot. BTW, if they are going to sign Tessman it would seem today or tomorrow make sense because of the depleted roster at midfield and actually needing Tessman for the first game maybe even as a starter.