It's worth adding a brief retrospective to these comments. Two days after the game that Davide saw, Khalil actually made his first start. Yesterday, he started again, paired with Barrett up top, as Mike Enfield slid back into midfield and Kamani Hill went to the bench. Incidentally, Patrick Ianni is also doing very well for himself at UCLA. Is he not quick enough for the U-20's?
as an ODP player, Patterson suffered from the UVA problem...George G was so hot for his Virginia players that other like Patterson got thrown to the wayside. Patterson should have been a national player while in high school but the national coaches weren't recruiting him for UVA.
Thanks for clearing that up. Shouldn't Sigi be bringing him in? It seems really strange that this guy was a walk-on at UCLA and is now basically running the midfield attack (along with Enfield) as a sophomore. He has exceptional ball skills, composure, and tactical awareness. What's his story?
Well i just looked him up, cuz i was wondering myself, i guess he used to play ODP back East in Region 1, but he never got called to ODP in California. He played with the Irvine Strikers that were national champions in 2002. He was a walk on to UCLA, but played in 16 games as a freshmen, and now, has played in all 18 regular season games for the Bruins this year. THat is all I know.
Are you assuming that because he played ODP he's eligible for the US U-20 team? They've allowed many players without citizenship to play ODP ...
No, no, he is an American citizen-- sorry for the mix-up, I was just responding to where he has played before-- I know he is eligible for U-20s.
Both did well tonight. Freeman had a very good two-way game and Dalby was solid at dmid, though a little slower (speed of thought) than the rest of the team. Wynne looked very good too. He didn't appear to me to be a heydude clone. Very tenacious defensively and he got forward nicely, though I don't remember any crosses coming from either fullback. I think Sigi did a nice job bringing in this backline.
Wynne right and Freeman left. Both were good defensively and combined well going forward on a few occassions. I was surprised that these two weren't fixtures in the pool prior to Sigi taking on the U20s. In the center, Owens won most 50/50s, was well positioned and looked more than capable. Phelan had some early trouble with positioning but stepped up his performance in the second half. As was noted, Westberg made his first save in min 88. That's attributable to solid defense although Honduras wasn't the most stringent of tests. It's still early for Sigi but I have confidence that he'll put together a strong group. The real puzzle is what to do at forward. From what I've seen, there are not alot of options.
It's a testament to Freeman's versatility that he played on the left as he is the starting right bacl at UVa. Certainly will make him more appealing to the MLS folks. With Wynne, I understand to a degree as he didn't have a youth national team pedigree and has earned this call-up with a solid freshman year at one of the best team's in the country. But Freeman is a Bradenton alum and has two years of college ball and played with the U18 team, yada, yada, and has the aforementioned versatility so I thought it odd he wasn't more in the mix. But, he's having a great year at UVa and he too has earned it. Kudos to Sigi for rewarding both of them for their solid seasons. Has Owens grown any since his days with the 17s? He was always a bit undersized, for adults, to play CB if he didn't get any taller. Otherwise, I really like his game. Regardless of the opponent, it's good to hear the D played well, especially minus Spector. This team will score some goals, so if the D plays well, it good do some good things. I have to figure that when Capano and Gaven are in the mix, Fredster plays forward. It enables more of the talented pros to get on the field at the same time. As for the other forward, it's up in the air, for sure. And, most of the options are small, slashing, withdrawn strikers so there's no target option that I know of, at least not from the 85-86 group. The good news is that it may force the team to play more actualy combination passing and not relying on high balls to a target guy since, well, there ain't one. Hard to believe there's not an adequate targer forward out there in the 85-86 pool. When I have some time, I'll see if there's one in the college ranks having a good season.
That's the way they played this summer but Freedy will need to be withdrawn as he is most effective on the run with the ball at his feet. We'll see. Owens is listed at 6-0, 170 and he looks it. I think he does fine at CD. I was glad to see him back in the mix as I think he's solid and can help this team. Edgar - The midfield play was choppy due to all the people (each team effectively had five in the midfield) and all of the fouling. With Gaven and Capano added to the mix, we will have a very strong midfield and may have to continue with a 5-man set up to get everyone on the field. Jay Denny got minutes last night but did nothing spectacular. He seems to be at least equal to what we have stateside though. Memo was a withdrawn forward and did not have a good outing. Szetela was all over the field last night as per his usual self. Although they played better when he moved out right, I love his defensive presence in the center. I think he's very disruptive on defense and very effective starting the attack. Capano had played the DM role for Rongin but I'd push him forward, have Danny play DM and put Gaven on the right.
I have no idea how good most of these guys are or if their listed heights are legit or if they play like target forwards, which being tall doesn't always equal, but here are some college kids with good size who are having pretty good years. Adam Cristman, So. F, Virginia (1/8//85) - 6-0, 180 http://virginiasports.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/cristman_adam00.html 19 games, 9 goals, 3 assists Paul Dudley, Fr. M, Duke (8/6/85) - 6-7, 200 http://goduke.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/dudley_paul00.html 19 games, 3 goals, 6 assists Rodrigo Hidalgo, Fr. F, South Florida (8-21-87) - 6-1, 175 http://gobulls.usf.edu/Sports/Athlete.asp?s=Soccer&i=509 17 games, 6 goals, 6 assists Kamani Hill, Fr. F, UCLA (12/28/85) - 6-0, 175 http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/hill_kamani00.html 18 games, 2 goals, 4 assists Marcus McCarty, Fr. F, Memphis (N/A) - 6-0, 180 http://gotigersgo.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/mccarty_marcus00.html 15 games, 8 goals, 2 assists Scott Milroth, So. M, Charleston (5/25/85) - 6-5, 180 http://www.cofcsports.com/content/?/sports/msoc/roster/msoc_bio_milroth_scott 22 games, 5 goals, 3 assists Brad North, So. F, Northwestern (1/21/85) - 6-1, 185 http://nusports.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/north_brad00.html 22 games, 9 goals, 5 assists Dale Weiler, So. F, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2/1/85) - 6-2, 165 http://uwmpanthers.collegesports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/weiler_dale00.html 21 games, 4 goals, 15 assists Dudley and Milroth are listed as midfielders by their colleges but I'm guessing they could handle the switch to target forward, especially given their size.
I'm a little bit wondering why Stephen Bickford hasn't been brought back for a look see. Target forward? Speed forward? Give me the kid that scores.
I still remember Peterson was very good with his run and dribble in last College Cup. The usual right back is Purdy of UC Berkeley (I may need to check out on him) and the left back is the guy who plays for Argentina club. Both of them are over 6 as I remember. As forward, we may not need a target guy. A triangle of Marino-Esky-Gomas did wonder for DC United. So how about a Alvarez-Gaven-Adu?
Kamani plays on the edges, not really a target forward. His game is more speed and skill. At least that's what it was this season at UCLA where he played as a right outside mid/forward. But what about Chad Barrett? Not really dominant in the air like a true target forward, but he has a nice combination of strength and skill. He checks back and holds the ball up really well.
For another non-target forward, has anyone seen Ricky Schramm play? He's a Georgetown sophomore who was born in 86 and was just named Big East Offensive Player of the Year. The previous two winners of that award were Josh Gros and Damani Ralph.
Ordonez isn't in Argentina any longer, he's at Dartmouth. I don't think Purdy is a lock at right back either. He played as a central defender in Korea and I think he plays there for Cal. Freeman and Wynne have a real good chance to start for this team because nobody stepped up to seize those positions last summer. Sturgis will probably be the other option on the roster.
Agreed. And both had strong college seasons this year and it doesn't hurt that either played well in a shutout Friday.
Pretty sure he was a full-time holding mid this season, although I do expect him to slide back into central defense next year.
How about Curfman? He is pretty good at the left back in last U-17. One thing is puzzled me that US soccer website never mention the U-20 team misses Spector but keeping saying it misses Gaven.