To be fair, I’ve only seen 3 games of his, all losses with the U14 team in Houston at Rayados tournament. Maybe I’m just a bad luck curse. I was excited to see him due to all I’ve heard about, but it was nothing like I expected. Good player, but I’ve seen many 07s at the same level, if not better. Definitely good enough to continue to track over the next few years.
I’ve watched a lot of his games because I’m super interested in watching Inter Miami in general because of Beckham’s persistence of wanting to bring academy players to the first team. The first thing I think of when watching Perez is that this kid is next level in speed of mind and his ability. But I’m very concerned about players catching up after his age group goes through puberty just like with Evan Rotundo.
And these are Aaron Heard in u15 GA Cup qualifying from October (no Union games from February are online): https://streamable.com/qcgxf
I know people say he's a great athlete, and he is, but this is against players two and three years older than him. He's athletic compared to these players, but not so athletic compared to them that he could have success without some ability other than athletic ability. He shows that he clearly has some soccer skill, besides the athleticism. He's also only 13 (maybe 14), and has plenty of time to develop, so I think the concerns about his athleticism are overblown. When you are as athletic as he is, you don't need to be top level in skill, IQ, passing, creativity. Having enough will lead to being a good player, and at his age old against much older players he already shows soccer skills. I wouldn't pencil him in yet for stardom or to reach the USMNT. It's way too early to suggest that, but I think he's a name that people will still know in 10 years. Whether that's as a star for the NT or a mediocre professional, it's too early to tell. How will his game develop?
Would you be able to do a Matthew Cochoran highlight video? It wont be nearly as exciting as Heard or Darboe but his soccer IQ is insane and he is a player who I think should be in pen for this cycle all the way until the 2028 Olympics because I think he's that good.
This 2006 group should have followers of US youth soccer pretty excited. I think this group is very strong. Fantastic work by @watke putting these clips together. We really haven't seen these kids on a national stage yet, but it looks to be a really, really good group. A Cochran, Cajamarca, Gill midfield, with Darboe and Heard (cutting in) playing the wings is fun to imagine just from what we've seen so far. As with most American kids 13/14, the big question is how to bridge the years from 15-18 to ensure they are put in competitive situations every day in training.
The early standouts are up there with the 2003's but it will still take 2-3 years for us to really say which age group is better. There is a lot of very talented players but they need to keep progressing so we can put them in the Reyna/Pulisic/Clarke prospect tier.
One of the three midfielders may not be starting in this cycle. Axel Perez definitely has the ability to come in and get a starting spot even though he's a 2007. If he retains his skill as he grows over the next two years he becomes a 5-star prospect and a locked in starter.
It would be helpful if someone tracked down the call-up list for the regional camp mentioned here We’ll be well-represented at today’s @USYNT regional camp. 🇺🇸- Coach @DegeerDan - Lorenzo Avalos - Mateo Lopez- Erick Luna- Cruz Medina- Edwyn Mendoza- Jermaine Spivey- Oscar Verhoeven #VamosSJ pic.twitter.com/gvotiZMZNi— Quakes Academy (@QuakesAcademy) February 20, 2020
That would require our awesome Federation to actually put out a list so we can track it down. In the past week, they have not put a word out about the U17 match against England or Denmark, and not published one word on the camp you mention. You can't make this stuff up.
So the Fire website (where he apparently was before Minnesota) lists his hometown as Madison but his nationality as Gambian. Is he also an American citizen? Or is this a Jesus Ferreira / Moses Nyeman situation where we expect him to naturalize at some point?
Nati Clarke of SKC. He is a 2005. He has elite athleticism, is great with both feet, a great passer, and a very good defender. His position isn’t locked down yet but he could go far for a good number of spots. He is a high floor, very high ceiling player like Pulisic and Reyna.
US Soccer seems to have posted the list of players called into the west region ID camp sometime this past week (and backdated to Feb. 20, but, hey, fine). https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...-with-west-region-mini-camp-in-chula-vista-ca
Looks like invitations are going out for the central region '06 ID camp, presumably this month. Congrats to U-15 DA player Diego "Future" Rodriguez on getting called up to the U.S National Team Camp in the U-14 Bracket!Felicitaciones a nuestro jugador de la sub-15 DA Diego "Future" Rodriguez en ser seleccionado al campamento de la seleccion sub-14 de los Estados Unidos! pic.twitter.com/bYJ7DVaDaP— RGV FC Toros Academy (@TorosAcademy) March 6, 2020
Correction: The coach yelled out things to Brandon all the time. It's just that Brandon goes by "Toro", a connection I did not make at the time.