Nimfasha has very good speed over 40 yards, but really outstanding speed over 5-10 yards and even better speed with the ball over 5-10 yards. His ability to change direction is also elite (this particular quality separates him a bit from Julian Hall and Jamir Johnson). His purely soccer qualities (such as finishing and ability to find seams in the defense) are also quite good. At his peak I expect him to be close to Pulisic level although not beyond that level.
Johnson is rather short and pretty explosive, but not elite explosiveness. I think Berchimas is a better athlete than Johnson. Jamir is a good all-around winger that happens to be athletic, like Berchimas. I think Hall is taller, rangier, more explosive, more powerful. He reminds me athletically a little more of Cowell, but like Cowell there's real questions if he has the soccer IQ and pure technique that I'm pretty sure Johnson and Berchimas have.
Don't forget about Berchimas Berchimas makes no mistake from close range!@crownlegacyfc scores twice in under 3 minutes to take the lead! ⚡ pic.twitter.com/8bbuzeHsMl— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) March 24, 2024
That's a pretty clean round off back layout right there. Some leg separation but that's probably safer on grass and in cleats.
18 year old by the name of Aron John has outplayed Berchimas this year with 4 goals and 2 assists in 600 minutes...added the game winner late on Friday. Not saying he is a better prospect by any stretch, but has come out of nowhere to be one of Charlotte FC best 2nd team performers so far this year.
Assist for Nimfasha Berchimas (08)… he is playing against 05/06s https://t.co/0aGkJY3dBH— Youth Soccer Central (@yscentral) June 7, 2024 Cooking with Keyrol. 🔪 #U19MYNT pic.twitter.com/2OeuL1hPHR— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) June 7, 2024
Playing up is a good sign. Playing up and shining is a great sign. That's what Sullivan, Berchimas and Albert have done to varying extents. And playing up at a young age as they have been is more meaningful than playing up a cycle with the U20s. Right now Berchimas is playing up two U20s cycles. Sullivan, Berchimas and Albert will make their pushes into the national team when the Pulisic, McKennie, Adams generation are in their late 20s/early 30s. The two groups will obviously not be in their primes together but there should be some overlap when both are close to their primes. One just past it and one just approaching it. You'll also have the Reyna/Musah/Balogun/Tillman/Pepi group in its prime. The amount of attacking firepower will be unprecedented in U.S. soccer history. How far the team goes will probably turn on how the goalkeeping and defensive talent pans out.
We’ll have a lot of goalkeeping prospects hitting their prime at that point too in Slonina, Brady, Beavers, Kochen, Schulte, etc. It’s really on the backline where things are less clear. But at least by 2030 Chris Richards will be 30, but it feels like we’re really banking a lot on Neal and the current U20 group to develop.
Current U-20 cycle: 05's/06's Next U-20 cycle: 07's/08's Berchimas is an '08. He's playing up two age groups technically (U-18/19, U-20), but an '09 (Sullivan, for instance) would be up two cycles.
For some reason I thought he was ineligible as he was for the U17 World Cup but he does meet the age minimum (which requires you to have been born on or before December 31, 2009).
He won't for qualifying. He's not ready for it. U-20 WC is May/June 2025. If he is playing for the Union first team the first few months of next season (a leap from where he is now, but it's theoretically possible), I think it could happen that he sneaks into the U-20 squad at the last moment, but that's presumptive. I think the odds are not higher than 50%, although I personally don't think it's super unlikely that leap is made between now and this time a year from now.
Berchimas update Berchimas makes it 4️⃣ with a ROCKET from distance! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/HXScbj2bC5— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 1, 2024 Please everyone take a second and watch 16 year old Nimfasha Berchimas shake his defender out of his shoes 👀🇺🇸#USYNT pic.twitter.com/t1NLJk93ij— USMNTrev (@Eyesandvibes) July 1, 2024 🇺🇸 16 year old Nimfasha Berchimas scores his 2nd goal of the season for Crown Legacy. He’s had an underwhelming year so far, hopefully he can get going before potentially being part of the US U20s this summer 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HcrJ47va8A— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) July 1, 2024 🇺🇸 2 excellent goals for a quick brace off the bench for 16 year old Nimfasha Berchimas. Also the 5th assist of the season for 18 year old Aron John 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/PLtGMZFz9R— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) July 1, 2024
John also had a goal and now has 6 goals and 5 assists in 900 minutes as an 18 year old...no idea if he is a legit prospect, but he is putting up counting stats in Next Pro.
Berchimas hadn't been at his best yet this season, but that changed quickly. These young players are inconsistent. Carrizo has went through the same thing this season. Luca Moisa had like a year and a half where he didn't play well. He didn't really look ready for the first team. Hopefully he can now have a strong second half to the season with Crown Legacy. Might also be part of the US U-20's for WCQ.
Definitely have my eye on him and Keyrol. They have a huge 18 months ahead of them, big door opens tomorrow for them to lay down a marker. I do think they both could break down doors earlier than people think. I don't think they're waiting 4-5 years to break through w/the national team, if they can put it together with their clubs over the '24 and '25 MLS seasons (Berchimas) and with Liverpool the next 18 months (Keyrol), they can start knocking on the door by winter '25-'26. A lot of "if's" but while we have depth at WF, and Striker, none of the guys behind Balo, and Pulisic are legit locked in long term, Weah's club form has just never solidified, the Aaronson's have stalled a bit, Paredes has been incrementally doing things but not laying down any hammers, Pepi didn't get the minutes last year, Wright and Sargent remain "are they?" question marks having done the business in lesser leagues....There are openings if these guys can drop the hammer over the next 18 months, it's not a 4-5 year thing for me, if they are to be stars (possible, not a lock by any stretch) we should know that the potential is there by the time they are 18-20 which is basically WC '26 for both of them. We'll see. Very, very excited after a bit of doldrums in between Covid and '23 when we produced a lot of depth, but no stars (Luna seems to be ready to put the lie to that, maybe). It's starting to get super interesting.
Yeah. The next year or two will be very important for Figueroa and Berchimas. Banks too. We've sort of gone through a bit of a consolidation period for the senior team. But that's gonna change over the next two years. Some exciting new talent is going to force itself into the squad.
Odds are, if someone really young is going to make a senior team impact, it's likely to be at winger. It's where the physical tools mean the most relative to everything, and young, dribbly, wingers are often like baseball pitchers -- at their most impactful fairly young. It's also a position where you can play and be a defensive liability. Berchimas has an edge on guys like Figueroa -- striker is much more of a mental position where experience often matters -- and Sullivan, who in central midfield (whether CAM and CM) will face bigger issues with size and overall importance of the position -- you simply need to be much better to be a CAM and more solid to be a CM than a winger who gets time.
Outside of Pulisic we have decent but not great options at winger. The competition will come mainly from within the next gen group: Berchimas, Campbell, Hall, Johnson, Albert, Hassan. It is a very strong group. Makes the loss of Bajraktarevic less consequential.
Let’s be real. If Figueroa was progressing well he wouldn’t have been released for this tournament. He also barely made it onto the roster. I don’t think he’ll be the starting CF for this team.