YNT-Eligible Lower Division-Pro Players (‘01-Younger): 2023-24 Offseason Thread

Former USYNTer Kobe Hernandez-Foster reappears with Birmingham Legion. Still really young as he's an '02. Let's hope he can get back on track.

i know every player has a unique journey but this journey has baffled me at every turn https://t.co/QBEzVNoCaE pic.twitter.com/DvzITUK6wq

— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) April 7, 2024

 

His game doesn't work as a midfielder from what I've seen in USL so far. Never understood why he was moved there. Doesn't have the athleticism to make enough defensive plays, so you need a very strong defensive player in there with him. Theoretically, you have to be able to defend as a LB too, but you don't have to cover as much ground. Some LB's don't bomb forward and he could use his passing to contribute in-possession as a LB.

Doubt he ever becomes more than an okay MLS player at this point.

 

That's where he is. He is so limited athletically that USL might be his ceiling.

 

Speaking of Birmingham, what's up with Corcoran? Thought he had a really good U17 World Cup. Is he injured?

 

Guess this explains why we haven’t seen Corcoran in action for a little while. Torn labrum looks like a rough one. https://t.co/2yglGaiJSS

— We Are Being Overrun in Midfield (@OverrunMidfield) March 28, 2024

 

Might explain the signing of Hernandez-Foster.
Cuz they also lost former MLSer Mikey Lopez to a torn achilles.
Needed to find midfield help from somewhere. Cheap help.

That's a bummer for Corcoran. I assume that's a torn labrum in the hip?
[I guess it could be shoulder, but that would be a weird injury for a soccer player.]

As a worrying comparison, Paxton Pomykal was out more than 6 months after surgery on his labrum.
FC Dallas midfielder Paxton Pomykal faces six-month recovery after surgery | MLSSoccer.com

Its a bummer for Corcoran. He just turned 18 in February, so this was presumably the time he really wanted to impress Euro clubs and garner a move overseas. Now he's in for a long recovery.

 

Remembering the early days of the Scuffed podcast when so much time was spent discussing guys like KHF, AOC, Mendez, Ledezma...

 

I never got any of those guys, frankly, except Ledezma, who I still hope makes good.

But people were obsessed with Kobe Hernandez-Foster. So obsessed and I never got it. I find it kind of funny that everyone in the space now is like "oh, it's clear his athleticism is terrible" when that was not a comment back then even though it was pretty clear he wasn't very athletic.

But I think we've moved past the obsession with skilled but unathletic players simply for scoring Kleiban points.

 

Well, Ledezma was the RSL kid of the bunch. Along with Taylor Booth. I guess Soto is the one I associate with Ledezma. He's at least still going.

That LAG generation really fell short, and its depressing. Even Mauricio Cuevas is a mystery now.
He's 21 and not playing at an MLS level this season.

I think Llanez could have had something...................................
As far as I can tell, he's not playing with anybody this season.
You get the feeling from twitter, etc. that there was stuff going on off the field with him.

 

A lot of skill players without much athleticism + a coach who de-emphasizes work rate and defense + a weird brother/agent who hypes the hell out of them = disappointment.

I do think some personal things came up, and the adjustment to a new culture was rough on many of them. I think Llanez could be a decent pro -- I don't think he quite has the speed to be a high level winger. Same with KHF -- that's an outside position, you can't be slow. And I really like Cuevas' offense, but he was something of a defensive disaster with the youth team so clearly work needed there.

There's a consistent thread.

It's a worldwide player pool. You can't have glaring weaknesses at the top, especially not ones you impose on yourself. The irony is that the Kleibans were so disdainful of MLS but none of these guys is even getting MLS time. I mean: look at the Galaxy's attackers -- Puig may be the spiritual brother of Alvarez in defensive effort, but he's a wizard (and in shape), but those wingers ... they are electric. The physical tools just aren't there for the academy kids.

 

We also, by the way, have a high "failure rate" of young USYNTers that sign with MLS.
There have been a lot of FCD homegrown signings that haven't made it. Even USYNTers that we thought had good potential. Some hang onto careers for a little bit before moving in other directions. Beni Redzic...................has played 31 minutes at an MLS Next Pro level this year. I was told by one poster on this forum that he was "too good to sign for FCD." Same for Seth Wilson (although he had a pretty traumatic injury).

Its just that these guys who go overseas are ones we really put under the microscope.
As ussoccer mentions above, there were doubts about a number of these guys from the start. Or like Nico Carrera and Jonathan Tomkinson. U17 centerbacks. Doubts from the start.

We'll have a relatively high failure rate regardless of where prospects sign. Just the nature of the beast.

 

Nope, there were my comments that no way he can play FB being slow, and small.
But there were plenty of admirers of "a magic left foot", of course.

 

McGlynn and his magic left foot have a similar issue.

 

To some degree. At least he isn't required to chase fast wingers for 90 minutes. He is also 6'2" or something, so there is a chance he puts some muscles on that skeleton.

 

McGlynn is also better right now than any of them ever were. He's gotten stronger this year and is a good (maybe very good MLS player) at only 20 years old.

He has limits. Slow is slow and you aren't going to make slow fast, but he can definitely improve his weaknesses and already is starting to.

Not every one dimensional player doesn't make it.

 

I definitely wouldn't level at Llanez that his speed was an issue. That is very much not an issue with him. Never has been. Some of the others, sure.

 

What is Brian Kleiban even doing these days? It's been a while since he was coaching, right? Hard to believe someone that obsessed with the game and player development would stay away for so long.

 

Coaching at an LAFC affiliate. Doesn't seem to be a leader or coaching director. Just a listed coach.

Formerly Real So Cal.................pretty influential youth club.

staff | LAFC So Cal Youth (realsocal.org)

 

I saw that but wasn't sure if it's accurate. When you click on the bio, it goes to an error page.

 

Certainly not at the level he topped out at. At the highest level, though, I'm not sure he's quick enough to be an effective winger. It's a position that puts such a premium on speed and quickness these days.

Even at the MLS level, it's becoming harder and harder.

But yeah, I wasn't mostly talking about Alvarez, KHF, Mendez, etc.

 

Llanez is quick. He’s like Kristian Fletcher. I know people wouldn’t want to believe it, but that’s his skillset.

Alas, he hasn’t made it, so sometimes having the ability isn’t enough.

 

I'll take your word for it, but I never saw that elite separation.

He was my favorite of the group. Where is he now?

 

Because he is quick, but not fast. He is a dribbler, dribblers are quick by definition.

 

This is through like 3-4 games...

180 players aged 2006 and younger have played in MLS Next Pro this season
2006: 110
2007: 49
2008: 18
2009: 3​

180 players aged 2006 and younger have played in MLS Next Pro this season 🤯

Via @USMNTReport pic.twitter.com/OLsn5o81g1

— Youth Soccer Central (@yscentral) April 12, 2024

From this account:
https://twitter.com/USMNTReport

 

'23 USYNT 🇺🇸 U17 WC GK, Duran Ferree ('06), got his first start of the season with Orange County today and got a clean sheet 🙌. He had 3 saves, 67% passing, 10/19 long balls, and even won a couple of duels. What a game by Ferree 👏#USYNT #USMNT #ForCounty https://t.co/adglRGMjKB

— Zach McCabe (@zjmccabe) April 14, 2024