U17s vs. Morocco, Nov. 14, 2025 (Pre-/PBP/Post-Match Thread)10:45 Eastern

According to who? The vast majority of his pro appearances have been at CF. Like, 90% of them.

 

Our youth players are more skillful than in the past. But watching their goal scorer sauntering 15 yards fom goal as 4 or 5 of our guys jog casually toward him .... sometimes I really want one Omar Gonzalez to run through the wall to make a last-ditch sliding block on a ball he gave away.

 

Man City should have a real discussion with Philly. He's better off in Philly if he plays, but I'm not sure Carnell has the imagination to understand how he can generate upside for a strong Philly team.

I simultaneously think he's a good prospect but also that this needs to be a wake up call for him and his agent.

For his agent, I don't think Dortmund is likely to happen soon. They are playing a 352 more often than not, and are prioritizing speed at the top. Yes, someone might get sold, but I think's he's a ways away from getting real minutes.

For him ... he's got to work on his speed and overall game. I think he's at a tipping point where he can absolutely be a nice player at a certain level, but the lack of top end athleticism is a barrier that he's going to have to overcome.

Like, I think he's going to be better in a vague, objective sense, than say, Kevin Paredes but I'm not sure a team doesn't prioritize the athleticism over his skill set.

So he can succeed in the top flight -- I think seeing what Brenden Aaronson is doing is also a guidepost. But where I think fans will look at the skill gap and lean Albert, what he's got to understand is that at teams that the work rate and athleticism are often a larger priority for those teams than skill -- it's a must have to survive defensively.

He needs to be more impactful offensively. You blame Segares but I doubt there was an instruction to make 4 yard passes. I'm not saying Segares optimized him but I also think the best players assert themselves, and he didn't. If Segares held him down, Maxi let him.

I think a good career outcome is Maxi Morales, and yes, that's a bit of the NYCFC talking, but one of the better/underrated 10s in MLS seems like something that would both be an above average outcome but also feasible.

Zendejas' career isn't a bad look, either. I don't think either is an insult and since they will both end up with 8 figure career earnings easily, Maximo shouldn't as well.

I just don't think he will ever be a good enough offensive player to play a no-defense 10 at the highest level, and while playmaking winger is a thing ... it's pretty rare in the top leagues who want speed, speed and more speed from those roles.

It's always hard for me to tell if this is because he's a great prospect or because he's played against adults at this point.

The wake up call for the midfield is there. I get physical maturity comes when it comes, but they better all hit the weight room and they better all work on sprint training.

Terry was the best, I guess, but I really struggled to see a guy that some people really put up there just a year or two ago. He was just a guy in this tournament.

Where are all our Weston McKennies?

 

I've only seen him a few times, but it's been at winger. And he plays like a winger. Maybe they are trying to make him a striker, but I don't see the point. Maybe just because RB doesn't always play with them?

Is he playing like a Red Bull striker -- which is all vertical with space? He's certainly not a possession striker.

 

Those goals looked good. That's like 50% of what I've seen of him so I will defer.

No one should be compared to Haaland, but at least he's tall, I guess.

 

Not to get too body languagey, etc., but the two dads who constantly worry about how their kids are ranking are also the two kids who seemed to spend most of the tourney trying to prove their individual worth instead of playing with their teammates.

It reminds me a bit of Reyna and Pulisic ... no one really talked about it much, but go back and try to find instances of them combining. Good luck.

Cavan fed Albert a lot this tourney ... less so the other way.

 

Mentality. An expectation to win isn't there. Same with the 20s.

 

What reporter? Are you talking about Matt Hartmann?

I'm not trying to obtuse about this, but it's like the Arsene Wenger quote with Zelalem. I like Hartmann, I do, he's more critical than most, but he doesn't have any ins with Dortmund and he's a US prospects reporter. His context is very limited in many ways.

Dortmund has zero reason to not talk up Albert, but if we're trying to figure out what Dortmund really thinks they have, give me a German-language report by a Dortmund reporter who cites inside sources -- nothing public. If there's some Dortmund Times beat writer saying he's hearing real buzz on Albert, I will chalk that in the win column.

Anything said publicly will be rosy. Anything English language is meant to market to Americans. Anything by a USMNT guy is going to be hopelessly slanted even if unintentionally.

I don't think he's Junior Flores and I think he's better than Campbell or Jack Mize, but I watch a decent amount of soccer and there's clear gaps here that are particularly relevant at Dortmund, which is now playing for speed.

I am sure he is one of their top prospects and sure they are training him as best they can to be a starter, but I am also sure they are aware that he's far from it right now and that he has some core weaknesses that may make it far less likely than Pulisic and Reyna.

The hit rate on prospects is simply very low. I think he'll hit in some respect, but I'm not sure it's going to ever be real time at Dortmund.

Youth production numbers are largely pointless. There's tons of guys with big numbers who never come close to making it. It's good his don't suck, but big numbers don't mean much.

With a 30 man roster, I could see a shot for Cavan if he explodes in MLS next spring. It's tiny, but there's the added element that if FIFA does this, there's going to be a whole lot of coaches who have no interest in stocking 30 guys itching to play.

 

I think it's the opposite. I think they expect to win. I don't think they entirely understand what it can take.

Our fanbase is similar; they disdain work rate, endurance, defense and effort. Those things win. Playing for the team.

Morocco is a good team but we should have won this.

 

Is not Euro vs MLS vs MLSNP for this age group. If you are good enough, then you should be representing your country. Here I'm getting the feeling MLS players are given preferential. Sometimes kids don't want to play MLS because they don't want to be tied down to a contract. Usually, these are kids that have multiple citizenships, like Makupovic.

 

Maybe fear or hatred of losing is more accurate.

 

Both. Cupps has been a top prospect for 2-3 years now. He's hitting all the marks. In the last pre-World Cup camp this group leaked goals. In stepped Cupps for the tournament and the leakage stopped. Causation, or correlation when pretty much everything else was the same? He stands a decent chance of getting a long look for the U-20s.

 

All true. MLS academies aren't perfect but at this age group it doesn't look like there is much of a dropoff in quality from European academies. Half of the Moroccan kids play in Europe (mostly France) & they weren't head & shoulders better, they just won a PK shootout.

 

I might be in the minority here but I thought Mathis played well today (and all tournament)- and I'm glad he had the opportunity to take the penalty. He has never been on Cavan's level, that might change in the future, but people don't realize how good Cavan is right now. It's unfair to compare Mathis or any other u17 player to Cavan because he's so special.

To me, Mathis has the potential to reach the same level a Pulisic, if things go well. But I feel Cavan has the potential to be even better. We'll see. Lots can and will happen over the next 10 years

 

I didn't see the game today, so I can't speak to it. I have it recorded, but I don't think I'm gonna watch it, to depressing, and life's too short, for now, with so many games going on this weekend, and kiddo duties.

 

Are you sure? Any hard data on that? Cavan's goal in the first game from Albert's assist, Cavan's cross to Jude today after Albert's pass.

 

Maybe not. I definitely noticed multiple times today when he really should have passed, he didn't. One was on a break where Cavan would have had a one on one. But perhaps he just wasn't capable.

But no, no actual mass data.

 

You know, Albert scores that penalty and he is the hero. He missed it and everyone sees so many weaknesses in his game. What was wrong that's him taking that PK, never should have happen after a hard foul, especially with the kids.

 

Agree pretty generally across the board.

On McKennie - based on recent years, he’s probably not called into this tournament, and likely and one of the academies likely to churn out pro talent (like McKennie, Tessmann, McGlynn, Aaronson, etc…)

 

I do think he was good as well, especially as an 09. My YNT watching only goes back a decade, but this was one of the best performances of a guy playing up (aside from Cavan and Berchimas).

If Cavan wasn’t there it’d help the curve. And I do still think Mathis will come good - he’s still an extremely effective slasher (a little different than our typical winger/10 hybrid prospects). He just isn’t going to explode onto the scene soon like some are suggesting, he requires time to get to a pro level.

Its not like thats saying he’s a bad prospect. If he debuted at the same age as Pulisic, it’d be 1 year from right now.

 

He'd have been the hero, but I agree he shouldn't have taken it. I also think it's a complete failing of a youth coach not to have a clear directive. Don't make 16 and 17 year olds figure this out in the moment. This isn't a 27 year old making a call -- just tell then so and so is your pen taker and do it.

The weakness in his game that I see is simply his top end speed. I don't really subscribe to poor soccer spatial awareness of whatever it was. I do think he plays a bit selfishless in a sports sense, but he's a winger; most do. I also don't really think it speaks much to any clutchness though I do think you have to get it on goal, especially at this level.

The speed will be a concern until he proves it wrong. A penalty miss or make doesn't change that.

 

The speed isn't a concern for me, and not just because unlike let say Berchimas or Cavan, he isn't an early bloomer. I'm not sure he is a winger, actually. I do understand why he is playing there with BVB, exactly like Gio did. That's the place where a kid should start while playing way up, but he looks like a natural #10 to me. Cavan isn't #10, he is #8 btw. And yes, PK that's coaches mistake, and not the only one.

 

Just a FYI.. Cavan hasn't been the default penalty taker for his club teams in the past. Saidi mostly took them during the Union youth days and various people took them with Union II. He even skipped a couple penalty shootouts with Union 2 last year.

 

I was shocked that Cavan didn't take the penalty. His technical and mental levels were on full display on his previous effort. I'd love to hear an explanation from the coach as to why it wasn't Cavan.

 

I agree he has the tools to be an 8. I realized today that he could probably play the 6 too if you really wanted, since his reading of the game and tackling are also very good.

But I do not think he is an 8. A guy that good at beating players with the ball at his feet plays further forward. If there’s no 10 and it’s between playing 8 and wing, I’m guessing he plays wing in the pros.