YNT-eligible lower-division pro players: 2019/2020 Offseason thread

McKennie did not go to a USL club because the USL did not sign youth players then under any circumstances (only way was to be loaned from an MLS club) so it was not a viable option.

Ledezma and Soto were both at RSL who had the Real Monarchs who were a USL Championship side which is a huge step up from the USL League One which NTSC is in.

Mendez stayed at Galaxy because of one reason: the Kleibans. His agent was the brother of Alex's coach so of course they're going to stay at Galaxy as long as possible. If Brian wasn't there now then Mendez and Llanez would not have stayed there unless they were guarenteed first team minutes and the Galaxy would not give them USL minutes. That is a situation very similar to Kobe Hernandez Foster who is represented by Gary and did leave the Galaxy after being treated poorly similarly to how JOGO is being treated at Dallas.

Why don't you bring up players like KHF and Bryang Kayo who left their clubs or is it only a problem when they leave the FC Dallas academy?

 

What I hope FCD does is just shut down their academy. Shut it all down tomorrow. That's what people on these boards seem to want. Let's just shut it all down. LAG, RSL, Philly. Shut it all down. MLS is getting in the way of development. Shut down the whole league. Let's go.

I'm out. Done. Have nice lives guys.

 

When an MLS academy actively obstructs a players development when learning they won't sign at the club why should that player continue to stay there?

It's as simple as would I rather play in the DA or the USL Championship for the next two years before going to Europe. Why would a player choose the DA over the USL Championship when they're Europe and not MLS bound?

 

Have a word with yourself. I guess I don't understand why folks like to defend MLS and their member clubs because they are running a business, but can't see that the player and his representatives are also running a business.

In the end MLS and its member clubs will be around for hundreds of years (we hope), but a player has a limited window that they need to capitalize on. Why is it that you want to place the blame on the players when in reality the blame falls at the feet of MLS and their antiquated roster rules? I will readily admit that MLS had to set these up in order to protect the league and ensure long term viability, but they have struggled to adjust and now are their own worst enemy.

 

I like this move for Gomez. Not everyone wants to be in MLS, and that is fine. Louisville is a top USL club, and whether or not they have a track record of developing players is irrelevant to this individual situation. That is a great level for him right now -- it will offer a big challenge and opportunities to learn in a relatively intense environment. It's a little bit risky, but he most likely has some positive leads in Germany and some reassurance from Louisville that is hopefully reflected in the contract.

I say this as a huge fan and advocate for MLS and MLS academies, and I don't think FCD has done anything wrong in this situation.

 

MLS academies are where we should prefer players to develop but when a kid outgrows the DA and it is time to either go to Europe or sign a HG deal and they choose Europe then if their MLS club tries to sabotage their development then they need to find a club that will help their development until they head abroad. This is JOGO's exact situation.

 

We are still at the beginning of this journey of building a system of player development that is up there with the best in the world. Expecting everything to be running to 100% perfection at this point is ridiculous. MLS has done a great job of building the infrastructure and making tweaks along the way. This is clearly a place where MLS and USSF need to consider some more tweaks so that the academies get some kind of compensation down the road, but these types of situations will be inevitable for the foreseeable future. Definitely not a reason to overreact and throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

FCD is developing a lot of talent. But they are running into problems with MLS rules, contracts, and players being educated and well represented. FCD is rarely in front of these problems, they seem to learn from failure though.

McKennie leaves for free as FCD was waiting to offer a deal. FCD signs all their good kids down to 15/16 years old.

All these good kids need playing time but the coach feels he needs to win now with foreign talent. Replace the coach and sell many of the foreign players.

Cannon wants to leave for Europe but he is so good and cheap FCD can't lose the competitive advantage. Cannon is ready to run down his contract, not happy, and will leave for free. FCD extends him, for a good raise but not TAM money (I suspect), but puts in a release clause which is a new thing for them.

At some point, through this trial and error, FCD will have a real advantage with their academy. They already do. The amount of salary they have saved with HG players more than pays for their academy and all the players they have lost for free. That is the great thing about MLS and the salary cap, you can make money on your academy just by not buying foreign players. NYRB and FCD have some of the lowest payrolls and still compete, because of their academies. Mr. Hunt would have to pay $millions to put the same product out there.

 

1. Choice is a good thing.

2. There are many paths that lead to good (and bad) places.

3. Talent (and health) tends to win out.

4. Playing, as long as a player is playing, at a higher level is better than playing at a lower level.

5. Money is often a factor. We don't know the numbers, but we do know that there is a cap to what the USL League One salaries can be.

6. Independent USL clubs getting into the business of signing young prospects to develop and sell is a good thing for American soccer.

7. So is competition.

Let's just chill and see how this unfolds.

 

Exactly. This stuff is constantly evolving, and it involves some insanely complex parts. I think it's impressive how much progress MLS and a some of it's clubs have made in such a short time, but there is so much more to it than that. It's a long term process that will continue to unfold and improve.

To add, as others have also said, USL involvement in the player development space is absolutely vital for us to get closer to optimizing our system of player development in the US.

 

I think it's fine that Gomez is going to Louisville. It's nice that it's a Championship club, though I think people are probably overrating Hackworth's developmental skills -- I don't know how much a youth coach really does.

That said, he's familiar with Gomez and presumably will be more willing to give him PT.

It's merely the consequence of both FC Dallas and Gomez doing what they felt was best for themselves and that's okay on both fronts.

There might have been a better mutual solution out there -- a contract with a release clause, maybe? Or if they could find a buyer, Scally/Richards type contract?

But perhaps Gomez wants to position himself as a completely free transfer. Or perhaps FC Dallas didn't want to do that for whatever reason. Or perhaps things had gotten acrimonious enough that it wasn't going to happen anyway.

I don't think it speaks to much other than FC Dallas having really a ton of talented young players and American fans not being used to this kind of action.

That said, I do understand Clint's frustration. Whether it's here or the FC Dallas thread, the vast majority of the board here just seems to constantly sh*t on FC Dallas.

That doesn't shock me: this fanbase is largely miserable. It's hypercritical, wildly impatient and entitled, and quick to eat its own. And the attitudes toward FC Dallas are indicative of that.

Very few here are actually visibly happy that FC Dallas are developing so much talent for American soccer -- and showing other clubs that it can be done. Instead, people move on immediately from that positive to constantly nitpick everything else.

People criticize when players sign with FC Dallas. They criticize when they don't. They criticize when they promote one player over another (despite a pretty good track record of evaluating talent). Despite finding playing time for young players, the criticism is that they have too many young players, and it's terrible that those players should have to compete with each for time. They get criticized for not selling 18 and 19 year olds.

I'd imagine it's exhausting for an FC Dallas fan. I stick around here because of the information and the fact that very few people have my interest in talking about USMNT this much, but the negativity is pervasive and a bit sad.

Before I get a response, this is not to say FC Dallas or anything is above criticism. But it's amazing the negative response to a club that producing more young talent for the US than anyone else.

 

One other point.

FC Dallas has one of the best left backs in MLS in Ryan Hollingshead.

His back-up, John Nelson, was the best LB in college the year he came out and would probably start for 2/3 of the teams in MLS.

I understand Gomez is good. But was he gonna beat those two out any time soon?

As good as Gomez may be, Dallas doesn't have a pressing need for him right now and combined with the limitations that come with a USL League One salary and the limited number of slots the team has you can't really fault either side for the choices they made.

 

Hack did a good job with Sands when he was on loan at Louisville since he wasn't getting time in NY. That's gotta count for something.

 

Nothing wrong with any of that. But there is some "counting your chickens" with FCD. Have they developed "so much talent"? For the YNTs, yes. For the USMNT? Not really. If you look at a best 11 where nobody is played out of position, there are no FCD players. There is a backup, probably two, and a starter with U17 time at FCD.

It is this final step where they get all the nitpicking, because it is the most important! All those YNT players, but they have not developed in the U23 ages to NT players.

Many reasons for this probably. Some (no USL team, not playing younger players) have been addressed recently with great results. But when these things were pointed out previously, critics were told they are the best and why crap on them?

The final piece for developing world class players is moving them when the player, not the club, is ready. That is where most of the criticism is coming now. I expect FCD will come around and do this. But the criticism now is certainly fair.

But no doubt, 20+ other MLS teams are worse.

 

The Union II team has signed Jack McGlynn to a pro contract

✅ Impress in preseason
✅ Earn That 🐍first🐍 contract
✅ Get ready to put in work

Jack McGlynn is joining us for the 2020 season! 👏👏👏

📄👉 https://t.co/qfoSOJqaaQ#UnionII | #DOOP pic.twitter.com/GhwZ3dHnLP

— Philadelphia Union II (@PhilaUnionII) March 6, 2020

 

McKennie
Pomykal
Cannon

Those are debatably first choice players. Servania and Ferreira have made senior team debuts at very young ages. Tessman, Roberts, Sealy, and Gomez hold the type of place in their respective youth national teams that put them on a potential track for senior team contrubutions, too.

That's nine players with a five year age span. I'd say they are developing players at national team level. It's definitely a lot more than any other club has done.

 

I think FCD should get some level of credit for McKennie, who is Best XI. And of course, given injuries, we probably should be looking more at impact on the 23, where players like Pomykal, Cannon, Zimmerman, Ferreira are very possibly playing.

I agree in general with counting chickens -- we all need to stop that a bit, both with US-based prospects and European prospects.

But that said, I think there's also some patience required here. The wave of FC Dallas is aged roughly 20 and younger -- only Reggie Cannon is over 20. There's plenty of time for development of some players.

Any national team is made up of a number of different types of players, but I tend to think of them like this:

1. The Stars -- Usually mainstays on the national team for about a decade on a team of the US' level, they are both around for multiple cycles and tend to be the difference makers on the squad. Pulisic and Adams, for example.

2. The One Cycle Guys -- Perhaps they last more than one cycle, but the spirit here is that these guys are quality players for the national team but probably only at their peak, for a shorter time. Aaron Long fits this for me -- he's a starter now but for 2026 there's a good chance someone else is peaking as he's declining. Same likely with Jordan Morris -- this is HIS cycle, but I don't imagine when he's 31, he's starting at winger. In the future, someone like CCV or EPB might be here -- we write these guys off so early, forgetting that they can improve.

3. Guys That Don't Deserve to Be There -- The players who are there because there's no one better, but really aren't up to expectations. We know who they are.

Category 1 are generally outliers. There's not going to be a great pattern to them -- you need genetics, personal work ethic. I don't think we're going to see individual clubs ever monopolize this except through recruiting. The Whitecaps aren't a great developmental program because of Alphonso Davies, for example.

It's Category 2 that I think a strong development system really hits home. A program like FC Dallas will pump out a Star once in a while, and maybe more than most, but it's not something you can manufacture. But there's a lot more players with Category 2 upside that can be put on the assembly line, so to speak.

It's still an open question on whether someone like Pomykal can elevate to a Category 1 -- but he's quite definitely a Category 2. But what is Paxton going to look like at 25? Or Tessman? Or Ferreira?

Yes, many players peak early in soccer, and most superstars are stars young. But that doesn't mean players don't continue to improve or that those players won't play a key USMNT role.

 

McKennie never played for FCD in the age range where they have not had as much success. It could be, playing for FCD Academy to 17 and moving is the best path for success.

Pomykal has 5' and one cap for Berhalter. Great YNT player. I think he is better than Roldan, but Gregg doesn't think so.

Cannon is a backup to Dest, maybe Yedlin.

Servania, Ferreira have been U23 players and were in the last camp on that basis. And, yes, again, lots of YNT players. But Cannon is the only USMNT player that has played past 18 for FCD. He really only got a shot because of injuries to others and he is not first choice. He might not even be in the 23 if Gregg plays Adams at RB.

This should all change if FCD follows through on moving Cannon and Pomykal higher. But they haven't. They didn't develop Acosta or Hedges and Zimmerman beyond what they were at 19/20.

But lets be honest about what they have accomplished vis a vis the USMNT. NYRB has three starters and a backup in a Best 11 for Gregg.

 

I like the player. I wish he was a little more athletic, but he progresses the ball extremely well in midfield. Tremendous left foot, smart player, has a good work ethic that mitigates some of the lack of athleticism. He was good enough for a first team contract IMO, but maybe that’ll happen next year.

 

And then there were three. SAFC signs goalkeeper Carlos Mercado for the 2020 season!

⬛️🟥 https://t.co/qPWXNn3xls #Defend210 pic.twitter.com/dCQlkh3yCz

— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) March 6, 2020

📰 NEWS: We've signed defender Lamar Batista from Los Angeles FC! ✍️

Welcome to the club, @Lamarbatista! 🤝

⇢ https://t.co/DAnGsbBvPv#RunItBack pic.twitter.com/PpCJ3Hc2D1

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) March 6, 2020

Welcome Lara to #Team1!
_________
Name: Edwin Lara
POS: Defender
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
DOB: 9/8/1999
_________#SDLoyal#Team1#LoyalToTheSoil pic.twitter.com/NDmC2duDLf

— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) March 6, 2020

FWIW, the graphic has Lara in a Mexico kit but he already filed a one-time switch to the US.

Today we announce five additions to our roster ahead of the opener on Saturday. https://t.co/F5u5DIdMOU#t2fc pic.twitter.com/vEdQAMK2SZ

— Portland Timbers2 (@TimbersFC2) March 5, 2020

Confirmation of Aedan Stanley to T2.

 

McKennie played until he was almost 18 (once month before his birthday). He was in the first team at Schalke within a year, so he clearly was already pretty close to contributing.

FC Dallas deserves a proportionate level of credit there.

While I agree that we sometimes overproject success of youth, I think it's okay to project some. We have to.

People give credit all the time to Llanez, Ledezma, and a slew of other moves. If we're going to project their contributions, certainly we can project Paxton Pomykal as well.

 

Carleton starting for Indy.