You thought we were done? pic.twitter.com/sCr4BVackQ— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) January 23, 2019 GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
The youngest in Bay Area sports history. BREAKING: #Quakes74 sign 15-year-old @QuakesAcademy product Cade Cowell as Homegrown Player: https://t.co/6WoStMyWjW @SutterHealth pic.twitter.com/WLy59uXC2S— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) January 23, 2019
Earthquakes Sign 15-Year-Old Academy Product Cade Cowell as Homegrown Player https://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/...-academy-product-cade-cowell-homegrown-player Why did I even bother guessing lol
Cool. So the "we're done, well not exactly" deal is continuing to pan out. I'm still hoping that we sign another striker, but my expectations are low, well, abysmal actually. Cowell is another speedy winger. We won't see him this year, or he won't play a big role. He's 15. But down the road, he might be a decent player for us. (Our academy is starting to produce some guys worth playing.) Could we play Hoesen and Espinosa up top in a 4-4-2? Like this? - - - - - - Hoesen - - - - - - - - - - - - - Espinosa Vako - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TT - - - - - Godoy - - - - Judson Lopez - - HC - - Kashia - - Lima - - - - - - - - - Vega That's not dreadful, but it's not inspiring either. Go Quakes!! Stinky 2019 coming up!! - Mark
He plays a few years up for the US U-17 National team. He has real promise. Ranked one of the best on Top drawer soccer for 2022.
Yes, I think I read in a previous write up on him that he runs track at school as a sprinter so he apparently does have some wheels.
Nice to see the Quakes continue to focus on building the homegrown pool. Does anyone no how this compares with other MLS teams? We signed a couple last year and another this year. I'm going to be real excited five years from now!
Agreed! There was a lot of criticism that Almeyda and the FO did not take the draft seriously and were not preparing for the future. Here is a current list of homegrown players. We are right in the middle in terms of utilizing this designation. I think of Dallas as the team that has done this best so far, but with three super young signing we'll need some time to evaluate what your team has done.
Someone from the youth national team forum is keeping a google doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YNrItJje_3YeZesuEwAj8j77hpbUhrv08vxPQOfmqZg/
I’m stoked I’m it, I love seeing the academy signings, especially after we were so late to the party getting our academy to bear fruit
Seems like there is a lot of enthusiasm for a 15 year old unknown player. If he becomes the next LAndy, we only have to wait 4 years for him to make and impact and 10 years until he is in his prime. If he is the next Wondo, look what we have for the next 20 years! Wow, that will be great for our club!
Well, look at the alternative: he signs with someone else. That age, that skill, with speed, playing multiple age groups up and surviving... that bodes well. There are not many who do that. If he is as good as that projects... he actually gets sold at 18 to a Euro club (earlier if he has an EU passport). So he is just a source of funds. A little less good and he breaks out for SJE... and then gets sold. One more tier down and we can build a team around him starting in 2024. One more tier... you get the picture. But why not be enthusiastic? Just don't be naive.
Yeah I've seen 12 years enthusiasm and 9 years of academy players. If he becomes a big time player and is sold to a European club, then he won't be here to help the Earthquakes. Therefore, his isgning was all for not and it will have defeated its purpose. We need players who can come in and contribute now or rather ones who can help us in March, April and May 2019 , not in July 2029.
Even if he doesn't pan out, this is a good sign. The fact that we think we should sign a fifteen year old to our first team means that we're making progress with the academy, and that's what it's for. I get your skepticism, but this could be really good for us too. Even if not Cade, some player or six are going to break through at some point and give us quality first team minutes. This is way better than not having an academy. Go Quakes!! - Mark
That, and its much easier to stomach a wooden spoon if 3-4 of your guys are locals, especially youngsters from the academy, than a bunch of mercs who still give you a wooden spoon. If we got guys like Lima, Thompson, Marcinkowski, one or two others starting, and we still lose, ya know what? thats a lot.....A LOT.....easier to put up with because you're supporting a grass roots local product. I want to be known as an academy club, like Dallas is. Thats what I want San Jose to be known for. We are never gonna be known for making a 20 million dollar splash on a River Plate starlet. Might as well try and grow it local.
The same aspirations were made about this guy 5 years ago and the jury is still out... 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019.........
yeah, and then Nick Lima happens. Sitting here and writing off youth prospects wishing for mercenaries is just foolish, and Im glad we are getting away from that myself. I could literally write an entire paragraph of mercenaries that didnt pan out here, in comparison to simply Tommy Thompson. Signing mercenaries constantly is what got us wooden spoon honors this year and sent us into this tailspin. If you're gonna suck, at least suck with a robust academy. Do we really want to get into our DP history here and how disastrous its been? You could make a very clear argument that we have been more successful with our homegrowns than our DP signings. Tommy Thompson will never be as much of a wash out as Erickson or Geovanni.
Apples and oranges. Nick Lima was in college for four years and was 22 when he signed with the Quakes. I saw him when he was 18 at Cal and he was a great player as a freshman but those 4 years of college ball, helped him mature even more.
1. have you seen Cade play? 2. what do you think college system's true end game is -- winning games or developing players for a professional career in soccer? 3. don't you think playing in a professional setting for the next four years, even at a lower level but still guided by hopefully a continuous system that he will "graduate into", will also help him mature?
What is your definition of mercenary? While I don't think that you are advocating a team of primarily homegrown players (even the top tier European teams don't have a team with primary homegrown players), I'm not sure that I understand your point. I believe your point that it's cheaper and more palatable to lose with homegrown versus high priced "free agents". Losing is losing in my book. It doesn't help much if there local.
No more wooden spoons. I want to see home grown players on our roster, which will allow us to spend more on at least a few foreign signings. I want a consistent identifiable style of play, a methodology, a plan. I want us to look and act like a professional soccer club. And no more stinking wooden spoons!! GO Quakes!! We're going to suck again, aren't we? - Mark