I see your point, but I think the National Team should resist the temptation to use Weah before he's ready. I think a big problem our NT is about to run into is that we are starting to produce a lot of players who are better than older contemporaries who are in their early-mid-late 20's. Do I think Weah brings more as a winger right now than Arriola? I do, but I also don't think it means he's ready for the NT compared to his overall ceiling as a footballer and I don't think just because he brings more as a winger that we should persist with playing him out of position. He needs to develop as a CF. Its one thing to play against Bolivia as a winger, its another to play in the Champions League out of position. Won't work the same way, so I think thats why we need to let him develop optimally wherever PSG chooses to develop his game over the next few years. We want him to be playing for one of the best teams in the world, not just someone who can beat Bolivian's U-23's. We gotta find the balance within the NT of not rushing players (like Weah, Parks, etc) who maybe are a little more raw in their style of play and also better than some mediocre older players, and letting them earn their spots eventually by making improvements. And the same applies for more pro ready players like Sargent, Adams, etc. Everyone's gotta earn it, and seeing improvements and needing to earn it should apply especially in the cases of the younger players who we will rely on for 10-15 years. Let their progression at the club level determine this. I really am not a fan of these call ups like Weah, Parks, Sargent when they've combined for 8 pro games. I'm not saying any will turn into Julian Green, but the possibility is there. I don't think Klinsmann did his career any favors, at all.
Because he wasn't an automatic starter the first year, and was not considered one of the best players. Your reference is nearly irrelevant. There was a full year that happened prior to what you've referenced, and thats kind of the point. He showed improvements. Maybe try to spelling his name right. I tend to like your posts, but I find that you often make errors in judgement from tuning into a big youth tournament after not following the rest of the cycle. Its your choice what to do, but I think on a few cases you've written off certain players with limited info (like you telling me Chris Gloster sucks because you saw his worst tournament of like 10+ during the U-17 cycle). I just don't really see much of a grounds for you trying to criticize my opinion here. Have you seen Wright play once outside of a one U-17 tournament three years ago? There's always a chance I'm wrong, I'm not infallible, but I've yet to see you put forth much of an argument against Wright that doesn't involve one youth tournament three years ago. Its a weak argument, IMO.
In any other circumstance, im with you. I think we have extraordinary circumstances here. This leans me to being ok with any type of experimentation as long as its not too far out there. I cant lie. I was scared that we were going to have a repeat of Gyau (Czech game?) when Weah went down. Honestly, see nothing wrong with Greens career trajectory at this point in his career. He has a solid foundation and could offer help to the team in several positions.
It's always harder to score on better keepers but from watching replays Sargent doesn't rush his shot he looks for where to shoot it and picks between the keepers legs. The keeper almost closed that hole but it glances off one leg and still goes in. That is what makes Sargent a good forward. He doesn't rush and just kick it as hard as he can.
Yeah, well... I still think Carleton is better than Weah but I’d rather have that argument another time. And Akinola led the U17s in scoring and it wasn’t close. The team was good enough to overcome his inefficiencies when it was clear Weah should be starting. But Akinola was always in the right place at the right time for a tap in. So I can kind of understand playing him, though I would’ve given him a shorter leash once he started to be exposed and when his lack of technical ability and tactical awareness would be an issue. But I agree, we don’t need to put down Weah to exhalt Sargent.
I dont look at it as 1 player being better than the other as much as I look at what each individual can bring to the team. I think Carleton has all the qualities to be a deadly no 10/ creative att mid. A position we need. He has some physical limitations he may have to overcome but he has the tools to do it.
Since we don’t have a choice, we kind of just have to deal with where PSG decides to develop him. But hasn’t that kind of always been the problem with Weah? He’s not really a wing, but he’s great at running on the counter and cutting in. He’s not really a center forward, but he has a great finishing ability and shot.
There is one theme that I have seen oft-repeated here that I am going to address ... which is the idea that Weah played selfishly. That as soon as he got anywhere near goal, he puts his head down and shoots. I saw it stated in this thread a number of times earlier in the thread, but kept getting too distracted to post about it. To cut to the chase, I think that is patently false. At the game, I found myself screaming at him to freakin' shoot the ball, several times. He seemed more than happy to try to play tiki-taka with Sargent or Pulisic at the edge of the box, rather than take a touch to get the ball out of his feet and smash it from 18. It was frustrating. We might be able to complain about his decision-making, but Weah is far from a selfish player.
It only a problem if your formation doesnt have a role or position for him. Hes a wing/Inside Forward. He can play as a secondary striker and a winger but his skill set screams wing forward to me. Run out a 433 or an assymetric 4231.
I think the difference is that Omar or Benny or Wondolowski don't get interviewed at every spare minute and in those interviews, is not asked to relive the nightmare. I think, unlike everyone else except maybe Alex Morgan, Pulisic is the #1 marketing tool of US Soccer at the moment. Bradley, Altidore, Dempsey, Howard, didn't have to fly 12000 miles to play in that game Monday night to sell tickets. Bradley doesn't talk about the WC at all. Altidore is on Twitter getting upset at fans. Pulisic is being treated differently than everyone by everyone. I think he handles it well. I think he takes all the heat off of McKennie, Adams, Carleton, Sargent, Weah, etc.; which is helpful. I think in the years to come, McKennie will take much of the media load off CP. I think CP could forget the nightmare in Germany but was probably forced to relive it over and over the last two weeks. Fans boo'ed Bradley and the media said over and over how horrible and unfair it was. I thought that was completely appropriate from the fans and Bradley has never really had to address the failure at all, much less in hundreds of interviews, like Pulisic. Once again, the Captain just letting it all fall on the Kid. Just like he let CR and Panama, and Honduras hack the crap out of him.
Green has only played CM for 6 months, maybe a little longer. He already turns and takes space better than Bradley, Acosta, Adams, Delgado, just about every multi-capped USA midfielder not named McKennie who is under 30. He has an excellent first touch and is very comfortable with defenders on top of him. Like everyone else in our pool, he is not great in the final third. He looks 35 now, but is only 22. Will be interesting to see if he takes another leap forward in becoming a CM this next season. I wonder if it is better for him to go back to GF and play #10 or go to a better club where he would probably be a #8. The club games I watched him, he doesn't shoot nearly as much as he does when playing with the USMNT. It could be he is trying to make an impact or it could be he is not sure what his teammates are doing so just shoots. Could be a bit of both.
I wasn't clear. I was talking about what team he plays for next season, not the position. Will he got out on loan or will he stay with PSG? If he's not going to make PSG's match day squad regularly, I'd prefer he go out on loan.
That's if we play with two forwards, which we seldom do against stronger teams. If everything goes according to plan, I can see our sort-of-empty bucket making a return, with Wes + Parks centrally, Pulisic + Saief (or Green) wide, and Sargent + Weah(?). Up front. Having seen little of both Parks and Weah, I must admit I'm more impressed with the former and a bit disappointed with the latter. But this has been just a preview. Of course it won't be a true "empty bucket" because both Parks and McKennie are capable of going forward, and distributing from a more advanced position, or even scoring in the case of Wes. Also, I feel some underrate Parks. He didn't have enough time to affect the game, but I think his passing is very good, he looks very composed on the ball. That's what you want from a creative CM.
I think a lot of people don’t really understand how good Carleton can be. I think people who just follow the pro leagues and the senior NT have seen him play with Atl and Atl 2 and see his turnovers and lack of defensive aggression and think he’s overrated. Everyone who doubts him should go back and watch some more of the U17 games. Those 2016 Nike Friendlies were pretty good competition and he and Sargent were practically flawless. They both just seem to make the right decision in the final third any time they have the ball and work perfectly off each other. You can’t see him do that now because Atl 2 is such a shit team that he has no one he can work with. We really don’t have a lot of guys who can make the final pass like he can. We don’t have a lot who can finish like he can. We don’t have a lot who can create something out of nothing like he can. He still needs to get better and more consistent defensively, especially if he’s going to be a 10. He also needs to pass the ball more at midfield and not try to dribble out of everything. Although, I watch Pulisic try to dribble out of everything, even in his own end, and everyone thinks he can do no wrong. But I guess that doesn’t make it okay. I’m rewatching the Bolivia game right now and in the 13th minute, McKennie sprung Pulisic down the right sideline. Pulisic passed midfield and started running diagonally towards goal. Sargent drifted out to the right side, which left his defender right in Pulisic’s path. They double teamed him and Pulisic gave the ball away. Last week with Dortmund, Pulisic went up and down the right side on similar plays and the CF stayed in the middle or drifted to the left to open it up for him. Chemistry is very important to success.
I get it, but the things you saw vs Bolivia are the things he’s always done. Get a shot, shoot it right at the keeper. Get a ball down the right wing, take too many touches and cross it after it’s past the end line. One thing I’ll say to USSoccer’s credit is he looks like he’s improved his ability to combine with teammates and his movement looks like it’s improved. I could see him as a striker because of that, though I still doubt his ability to hold the ball up and hold off defenders.
I agree 100% about Parks-at least his offensive ability. But I don’t think you can ignore what people are saying about his defense. Right after the match ended, a couple people were talking about how bad he was defensively. I didn’t notice it myself because Bolivia was so bad that late in the game I knew they just weren’t going to even come close to scoring. So I kind of tuned out when they had the ball. But if he’s going to be either a 6 or an 8, he has to be good defensively. Especially if his competition for the position includes guys like Adams and McKennie. But his passing was something else. There was one moment where he received the ball at the edge of the box in the defensive zone. He was facing the corner, turned towards his own goal and realized the defense was closing in. He took a glance to midfield as the defender approached, and then fired a perfect pass across his body down the touchline to Pulisic that completely ended any threat and sprung a counter at the same time. He had a couple moments like that where you were just left in awe.
Sargent had less goals than Carleton and Ayo because Sargent was a better player. That's why his coach made him Captain.
That's why I'd always pair him with Wes. Cherub Face is good at recovering balls, Parks is good at distributing. With dribbling wingers who like exchanging positions (Puli, Saief, maybe Weah), it could be interesting to watch. Of course if only Wes is protecting the back line, we need solid CBs. With Miazga, CCV, EPB, JAB, and even Zimmerman in the radar, it may prove enough. We're not going to beat the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain or Argentina any time soon though. The important in the '22 cycle is surviving the Hex.
Durkin was the main captain for the first year of the cycle. At times, Carleton was the captain, as was I think Goslin and one or two others. It switched around. You are reading way too much into Hackworth's captaincy decisions. The captain of the 2015 team was Hugo Arellano. He certainly was not the best player on the team. Probably shouldn't have even been on the team. Acosta captained the 2015 U-20 WC team. Was he the best player on that team?
While I certainly believe that simply counting goals is not always the best way to judge a player, I don't understand the conclusion that a player who is a forward scored less goals BECAUSE he IS the better player. That's a very odd position.
We were talking Nike friendlies https://www.ussoccer.com/us-under17...national-friendlies/161204-u17mnt-v-bra#tab-1
Green is better in tight spaces than most of our pool save a couple players. Agree with you. There seems to be a narrative floating around that hes already failed at 22. Prior to the Bolivia game he had 3 goals in 8 games. I remember when Green was called up to play Cuba and another team in a friendly. JK called him out he then scores in both games. Evidence is starting to point to the fact that he shows up for big games or when the pressure is on. World Cup, relegation survival do or die battles. It would be a mistake to discard him. Good question, in regards to where his best position at club is. I think for the nats we lack no 10s. Seems like we are starting to get congested with options in the middle of the park.
That's also why I'd love Parks in a midfield with both Wes and Adams. Their athleticism and tenacity compliment his Berbatov like calm and vision perfectly. I'm really, really hoping we see all three start against Ireland. That's a good test for them against an experienced but not necessarily exceptionally talented opponent and will show if any of them can truly step up against France.
I think with the way this team has been playing, you’d need better defenders as CMs to defeat those good teams. But when you’re trying to survive CONCACAF, having a big guy like Parks who can open up a bunker a bit would be a big asset.
Im going to have to respectfully disagree. I watch quite of few of the youth matches and I dont see him doing anything different many youth prospects his age. Occasionally, even a world class player will take a touch too many. Or make a wayward cross and even make the wrong decision. There seems to be a disconnect between what top scouts in Europe see and what many of our fans see. If Weah was so hapless as many describe, then PSG would not be interested in him at the levels they are showing. If he was just bumbling down the wing making bad crosses and bad decisions he would not be where he is at.