I’m really hoping to see Javier Casas get a little run out this year for Chicago. I think he has the best long term career potential out of the Fire field player homegrown
Yup. Curtin seems like he's going to stick with it. We've talked about this before with clubs such as FCD, RSL, NYRB, etc. Are you willing to stick with the gameplan of giving minutes even when the results aren't going your way? Evidence points to yes with Philadelphia. That's because the plan is coming from the top in terms of ownership and the front office. They've played 3 MLS games and haven't won one yet. We're not neccesarily concerned, because there's fixture congestion. They're doing well in the CCL. But there's so much parity in MLS, that just a little slip (after losing some key players)................that you can quickly become an also-ran. I'm on the record as saying I expect Philly to take a step back in terms of results this season. If they're in the middle tier fighting for a playoff spot, will they start the kids? We'll find out................
Philly might even speed up the young player minutes if the Vets don't get it together. I'd rather lose with players with a lot of upside than mediocre vets. May be a cautionary tale of too soon hurts players confidence though.
Jumping back to this point, I could see two effects: 1) inspiring players to get into coaching: we see some former USMNT vets not get into coaching (say, a DMB) and all else being equal, you'd like more guys trying their hand than not. a Jim Curtin or Jesse Marsch having success does provide a role model. 2) apprenticeships: Obviously you see lots of coaches who were assistants or just communing with Marcelo Bielsa having success. So far in the American game we mostly see Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley playing that role. Unfortunately I'm a bit worried about progress on this front. Our fanciest American coaches don't really have American assistants. Conversely, while I appreciate teams like Atlanta and San Jose upgrading the coaching standard in MLS by bringing in talented managers, there haven't been a ton of American coaches taking in some knowledge from Almeyda, Heinze, etc.
Hard to say, coaching isn't for everyone. you don't see a majority of former NFL players get into coaching even though there is a definite market for American coaches. I tend to believe that the it wouldn't affect the numbers of prospective coaches very much, if at all but that is just an uninformed opinion on my part. As far as the apprentice angle, that is potentially a good point but I was looking at it as beneficial/harmful for player development. What is more beneficial to player development in hte US, a guy like Marsch or Curtain (successful andproven to be good at developing talent) coaching multiple players in the first team and having relatively close contact with other young players in their organizations OR having up to 1 or 3 slightly older US players on his team in Europe? I don't think it is really a slam dunk either way, but I think that having a quality youth oriented coach in MLS is extremely valuable. Now a hypothetical US coach that is successful but does not play youth would not be a loss to MLS player development (IMO).
Flach and Fontana start the second leg against Atlanta. Turner, Sullivan, and McGlynn on the bench along with Real.
Yeah I loved that. And I know it was only a cameo, but the fact that Curtin is even putting him in, in situations like this shows how much Curtin likes him. Curtin is absolutely not afraid to keep his subs unused or not play players he does not believe in - Fontana spent over a year glued to the bench without even cameo minutes - so I am excited to see how this continues.
I expected the young kids to play in this game. They were up three. If you can’t trust them to play up three, they shouldn’t be on the team. Will we see them in the MLS game at the weekend? At some point they need to get some more minutes. This was the game to give them more minutes. A few minute cameos is better than nothing. It still shouldn’t be enough to escape criticism. Philly talks a big game. Now they need to prove it. I’m not saying they are full of it, but I’d certainly question what they did with this game, and it’s a reminder that they should be held to account this season.
Philly looked as a young inexperienced team that almost got in trouble despite of outplaying Atlanta for 70'. Flach had a very strong game and still was fully at fault for the goal that changed everything. CCL isn't the place to put kids in. I doubt that losing big would be very helpful for their development.
Most of the Philly kids are CMs, and Philly started two 21 year old American CMs in a CCL match. If they don't ease some of these guys in, there will be something to complain about. Or if any of them were better than players like Martinez or Monteiro, I could agree. But for now... it's a very young group except for the guys playing.
You can see the talent but it looked like he was really laboring to make the right moves. Physically he’s got to get stronger and quicker in short distances. His passing is so good but that won’t be enough, he’s got to add the other pieces too.
Union signing Daniel Gazdag from Hungarian League. Not quite $2 Million transfer fee...seems to play #10. Likely won't join the squad until after European Championships.
Wow that was faster than I thought, just saw an updated rumor yesterday and now Trasnfermarkt and Tannenwald are reporting it. He seems to have played an equal amount of time at the 10 and as a striker, and has a good goal scoring record. For the Union as a whole, it's exactly what we need. For the HGs, the only one this may hurt right away is Fontana. Though he should still get minutes as the first offensive sub off the bench, plus he has been playing at the 8 recently too. Sullivan may be pushed out a bit, but he was only getting token minutes anyway and would still be in line for more based on how often our strikers get injured and fall out of form. Aaronson was on the outside looking in anyway and this just means he can focus on growing on U2.
I've seen a few of his games and he never really impresses me. I don't think he moves well enough to compensate for an average touch and reading of the game. He struggles when anyone gets close to him and puts him under pressure and quickens his thought process and movement. I think he'll be a solid pro but beyond that he doesn't seem to have any special touches to his game.
McGlynn likely was born in Ireland. McGlynn, Craig, and Sullivan all have access to an EU passport. McGlynn also apparently has access to a Republic of Ireland passport with parents from there so European interest is presumably on its way.Likely one of the most underrated USYNT prospects. Been a YNT starter for a rather loaded '03 age group and has been sharp in MLS at 17. https://t.co/FtzqnUi4W5— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) May 10, 2021 Indeed. It appears that Conor was born in Navan, County Meath, Ireland and very likely Jack too, but Queens is where they mostly grew up. https://t.co/gRcmj6X7TK— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) May 10, 2021
England does not, nor would Scotland or Northern Ireland. Ireland would. And you can get an Irish passport pretty easy — you don’t need to be born there.