I just don't know what we can do in cases like this. Its not like we haven't been calling him up to every conceivable camp we can. What are we supposed to do? Beg?
Maybe he's trying to go back and forth between both countries YNT's. He's played with our YNT's a lot of times. There aren't any cap tying games for him until 2019, so there's time for USSF to get him into the US set-up.
Anyone know anything on this beyond just that news? @hokeydokey @CreightonMCFCjoey @Peretz48 @ielag @kingshark @others who I may be forgetting that might have YNT or LAG info.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is let them go and see for themselves. Teens are notoriously fickle and can be pulled by a lot of factors.
I don't know anything beyond the information we've gotten, but I have a few comments. As we see with our German-Americans, virtually every country looks to add anyone who they can qualify for citizenship, assuming of course that they rate the player, so in that sense we shouldn't be too surprised. Until now, there haven't been all that many Mexican-Americans who started with the U.S. YNTs and then switched to Mexico. I think part of the reason that more haven't gone with FMF is because Mexico hasn't rated most of them. Because of the exposure and notoriety Alvarez has gotten as a prime prospect, Mexico has known about him for a long time. He's shown them enough that they want to get him into camp as early as possible. Movement to another YNT team has to be mutual, the player and the country wanting each other. Why more Mexican-American players have not gone to FMF teams is due, in part, to the FMF not really desiring them. In my conversations with young Mexican-American players I estimate at least 70% of them favor the Mexican men's national team over the U.S. Of course most of them are not talented enough to be considered for either nation's YNTs so the issue of which nation they'll play for never comes up. I believe that the FMF has not targeted more Mexican-American players until now because they didn't rate them as having full NT potential. Alvarez might be a harbinger of things to come. As the DAs improve, and the quality of the players improves, we should be seeing more highly sought players being courted by other countries, and not just by Mexico. Croatia wanted Pulisic real bad, but that was always a longshot for them. However, Mexican-American players, assuming they're deemed talent-worthy, are potentially more successful targets as many of them are 1st generation Americans, so the sense of attachment to Mexico that they've gotten from their parents can make choosing Mexico a real possibility when the opportunity arises. I don't know how Alvarez's situation will ultimately turn out, or if later on he's even good enough for either NT, but his callup is an interesting development.
it's not all bad. It shows MLS academy began to produce decent talent. When this era comming, talent war is inevitable. all these talent battles will put pressure on teams, MLS and USSF, just like Weston McKinne. I've read Garber already received some complaint and pressure from different forces. We need training compensation or other alternative approach to ensure player development system robust. Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
This is a harbinger of things to come in football in general as globalization continues. I was listening to a podcast the other day talking about how even nations that have traditionally not reached out to dual-nationals abroad are starting to develop networks to do it. Brazil, for instance, recently called up a Belgian (with Brazilian parents) to its youth teams. Sam Allardyce has recently talked about how England needs to do it. I don't think folks in other parts of the country understand how omnipresent Mexican club and national team scouts are in DFW (and presumably Southern California.) If you live in Michigan, you presumably have no idea. There was that story a couple of years ago about Mexican scouts being at girls' U14 ODP tryouts. I'll repeat that................girls U14 ODP tryouts. People can imagine how they swarm around elite Texas club soccer. And we've talked about how the owners of FCD seem paranoid about it to the point of not even wanting to "showcase" their players thru USL teams, etc. From an FCD perspective instead of an LAG perspective, we can think about Alejandro Zendejas. He was one of the most capped players in our last U17 cycle. He was omnipresent. He forfeited any USYNT/USMNT future so that he could go to Chivas. Think of the wasted investment the USSF made in Alejandro Zendejas........................... The list of kids that have switched recently gets longer from the goalkeepers (Romero, Herrera, Avilez) to the field players. Even Saucedo tested those waters. Maybe Saucedo realized he wasn't going to make their U20 team, so switched back. I don't know. I just don't know what we can possibly do about it.......................
We can accept this as part of the battlefield and try to deal proactively with it. We can make every player in and near the program feel as valued as possible given that it's obviously a competitive endeavor. We can make our case, and stay in close touch over the years. We can reach out to players they identify before we do. (And, yes, we can also, in the end, hope for the best.) Losing American-born-and-raised players to good teams is something we are going to have to get used to. Mexico is the obvious culprit -- they are right next door, have millions of expats in the U.S., have strong MNT and YNT programs and a powerful league, and can make make pretty much the same pitch we can about stardom and opportunity. And Mexico is now putting Americans in their World Cup-level pools. It's anybody's guess what the scoresheet will look like in a decade, but if we are a net loser of top players in the next bunch of cycles it will surely be to the detriment of the program. I'm not sure "shrug" sends a particularly compelling message. If Pulisic had decided to play for Croatia after the U17 tournament people would've stormed Soccer House.
For all we know, he could be playing for us in a few months. Don't make a big deal over it. We'd prefer he doesn't play at all with Mexico and only wants to play for us, but him attending one camp for Mexico doesn't now mean he's definitely going to play for Mexico.
First, many others in our pool have flirted with other NTs. It's not a problem. Second, if he does pick Mexico, I'm still fine with it. Looking down the road 10, 20, 30 years from now, if the sport really takes off and we see more prospects like Pulisic (as Alvarez appears to be that level of quality, to be a bit premature) every year, then it will be good for CONCACAF as a whole. More competition in the region will make us better in the long run - just look at what the new, more competitive qualifying format has done to the level of talent in (or rather throughout) CONMEBOL. If the best development happens in the US to the point that Mexico has to take players from our system, I think that more often than not we'll still have the better talent (and that's assuming that every single Mexican-American/Central American/Caribbean-American prospect chooses the 'other' side, which is unlikely). For first generation players, who can blame them? It's more of a hot issue because Mexico is our biggest rival, which is a bit unique in the world soccer landscape by way of the sheer number of dual nationals between us. I think that so far the dual national river has been flowing toward us, but it's bound to change course sometimes. I don't think my child would play for Norway, and I don't think yours would either if you moved abroad, so let's sit back and see what happens and be happy that our system finally seems to be producing some good, consistent talent. It doesn't make the Development Academy any less interesting to follow - if anything it makes it more compelling. And finally, I like our sporting culture. It's what drew guys like Brooks and Boyd. If somebody gets a sample of something different - as the Mexican NT most surely is - and prefers that, then I don't really want them changing what I like about watching the USMNT. Anyways I'm happy for the kid, it must be nice to have the choice and he's certainly got a bright future.
A brief profile of Chaz & Josh Burnett who have been representing T&T: http://www.socawarriors.net/foreign-based/18232-us-based-burnett-keen-to-step-up.html?fb_ref=Default
Check out @3four3's Tweet: Efrain Alvarez starts & gets an assist with the 2002 MX NT 2-1 win over Cruz Azul 2001s.https://t.co/PM13vXmpez pic.twitter.com/R8mHlILPlf— 3four3 (@3four3) September 23, 2016
Probably not. They have several of these "domestic" camps but only play Mexican club teams or other FMF youth squads.
Called into the Mexican U18s: Avilés Carlos Daniel (Dallas FC) Portero His FC Dallas profile (spelled Avilez): http://www.fcdallas.com/players/carlos-avilez https://miseleccion.mx/la-seleccion-nacional-mexico-sub-18-inicio-concentracion/
Bolded for truth. Xolos not only hold tryouts and have youth teams in San Diego but they tryouts as far as Temecula, CA which is about 75 miles north of Tijuana.
They have a huge advantage in that they are a border club and players can move to San Diego even without a Mexican passport and even before age 18. They don't do much of this, but they do have a lot of players living across the border rather than in TJ.
Yup. Just wanted to highlight how pervasive they were here in San Diego/OC/IE. They not only have scouts at DA games but they also have folks who watch local youth soccer at all levels. Its crazy how influential they have become in such a short time.
If we look at the history of youth yanks in Mexico, I think we'll find its the clubs outside of Mexico City that are the most aggressive in their recruiting. The clubs in Mexico City have a huge talent base to draw from already. Its been Tijuana, Tigres in Monterrey, and Santos in Torreon that have been some of the biggest recruiters in the US. Which makes sense. They're the closest geographically to the US and don't have the same local talent base as other clubs.