Gallegos creating all of San Antonio's danger. Needs to see more of the ball. This was a shot, looks like to me, but almost turned into an assist. https://t.co/8CamtlqWur— scuffed (@scuffedpod) March 8, 2020 Your XI vs. Philly 2 tonight! #BeLoud | #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/sjIuYiD2Qe— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) March 7, 2020 Gotta love '02 CB Hayden Sargis and '02 AM Mario Penagos both starting. Probably both should have gotten more looks the previous US U17 cycle. Three other '02s on the bench. https://t.co/qmkiNJvYzf— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) March 8, 2020
Gallegos was electric. Huge things coming from him. The Nyeman, Garay, Paredes midfield was very solid, but they didn't create much danger -- will be interesting to see how these guys stack up against teams with more grown men. Hopefully Lundegard keeps getting starts. All of those guys are 16 (have there ever been four 16 year olds start in the USL?) De Vries has very high upside and worth watching over the next couple of years. Carleton was ok playing as a classic 10 with two forwards in front of him -- there are still no signs of him being able to deal with physicality, which is where his game has really stalled.
U20 pool player and '01 Harriel played the first half for P2. I haven't looked into it but it may have been an offense-defense sub. As far as I can tell, he's still an amateur. Meanwhile, P2 recently signed '03 Jack McGlynn, who got into the Loudoun game, along with other relevant players for the Union, as partly noted above. https://www.uslchampionship.com/philadelphiaunionii-loudoununitedfc-2047008
Harriel is an interesting one, he sure plays enough to be on a pro contract. Maybe they haven’t given him one because he’s only giving up his NCAA eligibility for a 1st team contract. I’ve always thought it would be interesting if a player spent 2 years getting his associates while at a USL team.
#ATLUTD2 Starting XI vs @Chas_Battery pic.twitter.com/MdRMZVcNmx— ATL UTD 2 (@atlutd2) March 8, 2020 Bello, Tubbs, Bashti, Reilly, Goodrum and Wolff starting.
Okay, here's what I have for the 2020 USL Championship YNT Player Catalogue. I've probably missed a player or two, so please let me know. I'm not including amateur players right now, nor am I including MLS-contract players on MLS2 teams or affiliates, though I have included some who (subjectively) seem to be shipped off for the season to a non-affiliate. I'm also going to split it across two categories. The first category is 97s-00s — i.e. players who basically have no chance of ever playing in a YNT tournament because the only thing left is the Olympics and none of them are going to make it. Nonetheless, it's the YNT forum and we like our lists. Plus, some of these guys (esp from the younger half of this group) will turn into good players. Atlanta United 2 GK Gabe Rosario 99 AM Amir Bashti 97 AM Daniel Steedman 00 FW Phillip Goodrum 97 Austin Bold CB Brecc Evans 99 FW Roberto Avila 00 Birmingham Legion RB Jonathan Dean 98 Charleston Battery GK Paul Lewis 99 GK Darian McCauley 97 CB Kyle Nelson 97 FW Jesus Ibarra 97 Charlotte Independence Casey Penland 97 Hartford Athletic CB Alex Lara 98 AM Noah Paravicini 97 FW Dre Deas 97 Indy Eleven CM Cam Lindley 97 AM Andrew Carleton 00 FW Jeremy Rafanello 00 LA Galaxy II CM Adrian Vera 97 AM Jorge Hernandez 00 AM Kai Koreniuk 98 FW Augustine Williams 97 Las Vegas Lights GK Angel Alvarez 97 GK Edward Delgado 98 AM Grant Robinson 98 Loudoun United RB EruMuse Momoh 97 CB Jake Dengler 99 CM Brandon Williamson 98 FW Josh Fawole 98 FW Christian Sorto 00 Louisville City RB Akil Watts 00 Memphis 901 DF Jackson Morse 97 AM Pierre da Silva 98 AM Matt Hundley 00 NYRB II GK Wallis Lapley 97 CB Joe Fala 97 LB Samad Bounthong 97 CM Barry Sharifi 97 CM Kyle Zajec 97 FW Sebastian Elney 97 North Carolina FC RB D.J. Taylor 97 AM Manny Perez 99 Orange County SC CM Daniel Crisostomo 97 AM Edson Alvarado 98 FW Kevin Coleman 98 Philadelphia Union II RB Issa Rayyan 00 CB Ben Ofeimu 00 Phoenix Rising AM Lagos Kunga 98 Pittsburgh Riverhounds FW Lukas Fernandes 98 Portland Timbers 2 RB Harold Hanson 99 CB Aedan Stanley 99 AM Carlos Anguiano 99 AM Gio Calixtro 00 AM Ryan Sierakowski 97 Real Monarchs GK Jimmy Slayton 98 RB Steve Jasso 00 CB Michael Wetungu 98 CM Jordan Pena 00 AM Christopher Bermudez 99 AM Arturo Rodriguez 98 FW Joe Gallardo 98 Reno 1868 LB Yosimar Hernandez 97 CM Jared Timmer 97 CM Emilio Ycaza 97 FW Benji Kikanovic 00 RGVFC RB Andrew Samuels 97 CB Robert Castellanos 98 AM Nico Lemoine 00 AM Christian Lucatero 97 AM Isidro Martinez 97 AM Luka Prpa 98 FW Garrett McLaughlin 97 FW Juan Carlos Obregron 97 Saint Louis FC AM Nichi Vlastos 00 San Antonio FC GK Carlos Mercado 99 AM Jesus Enriquez 97 San Diego Loyal LB Edwin Lara 99 CM Morgan Hackworth 97 SKC II GK Remi Prieur 97 CB Danny Barbir 98 CB Sam Raben 97 AM Will Little 98 AM Jaret Townsend 98 FW Wilson Harris 99 FW Enoch Mushagalusa 99 Tacoma Defiance CB Sam Rogers 99 LB Nick Hinds 97 CM Collin Fernandez 97 AM Shandon Hopeau 98 AM Jesus Perez 97
And here's the players from 01 and beyond. It's actually a fairly small list, as many of the interesting players to follow are already on MLS contracts, or are still on amateur contracts. Atlanta United 2 FW Jackson Conway 01 LA Galaxy II RB Mauricio Cuevas 03 CM Adam Saldana 02 Loudoun United AM Ted Ku-DiPietro 02 Louisville City LB Jonathan Gomez 03 NYRB II CM Caden Clark 03 Orange County SC GK Aaron Cervantes 02 CB Blake Malone 01 CM Francis Jacobs 05 FW Diego Lopez 02 Philadelphia Union II CM Jack McGlynn 03 AM Selmir Miscic 03 Sacramento Republic CB Hayden Sargis 02 AM Mario Penagos 02 San Antonio FC AM Jose Gallegos 01 AM Leo Torres 04 Sporting Kansas City II GK Brooks Thompson 02 CB Kaveh Rad 01 Tacoma Defiance CM Josh Atencio 02 AM Azriel Gonzalez 01 AM Danny Robles 02 AM Ray Serrano 02 AM Marlon Vargas 01
17-year-old @LAGalaxy Homegrown Cameron Dunbar with a very impressive introduction to the pro ranks with #LosDos. #RGVvLA #LAGalaxy pic.twitter.com/zO9cBtJ58L— Nicholas Murray (@NJEMurray) March 9, 2020
I thought Nyeman and Paredes both had good games. Moses continues to be played out of position in this reserve team, but he did manage to still have a good performance. The Union team had a lot of young Americans. I thought the two best were Ofeimu and Huckaby. They struggled a little at the end with the pace of the back up striker for Loudoun, but barely put a foot wrong aside from that. Freese was good, as well, but he didn’t have that much work. Those were the Union youngsters that I thought stood out, although I wasn’t watching their team that closely. I was watching more to see how Nyeman would play.
Nice pass from Hayden Sargis yesterday leading to Sacramento's goal. Icyyyy. ❄️ pic.twitter.com/buoj5B2de2— Sacramento Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) March 8, 2020
Dunbar with a goal and an assist. Cuevas with a free-kick goal and played a key part of the build-up to the third goal. And Perez subbed on had an assist, drew the foul for Cuevas' goal and was otherwise excellent.
Goal Keeper Stats Week 1 (so far).Ratings from FotMob.https://t.co/46jyoiBhVe pic.twitter.com/Rd2KO2J0yP— ben goshorn (@TheSoccerGoose) March 8, 2020 Cervantes underrated
Reminds me a lot of KHF. I like his crossing/set piece ability slightly more and passing slightly less, but similar players. 1236833733463945219 is not a valid tweet id
Dunbar: https://streamable.com/mjoph Perez: https://streamable.com/ef83f Paredes (Watke): https://streamable.com/lyjkg
Some comments on a few of the players from first week games. Sacramento: Hayden Sargis ('02): I've never rated this guy's game, but I realize that he's highly rated, so I wonder what specifically I wasn't seeing. I hadn't even watched his play closely when watching Sacramento a few times in the past because I never got the impression he was a real prospect and he didn't stand out. However, he's definitely made his way onto the radar. In this game, he showed some good and some bad. I liked his ability to play out of the back (with both feet). He hit some very good passes, but he also didn't make the best decisions playing out of the back. Some passes were telegraphed and some were bad decisions to play passes that were very hard to complete. Defensively, he was over-matched physically. He lost a lot of headers and was slow to 50/50 balls. I think he projects well in this area of the game, so I wouldn't be concerned, but in this game he struggled in that aspect. The biggest weakness appears to be his mobility, which I'd suggest is below-average, but not terrible. Mario Penagos ('02): Not the best game either, similar to Sargis. It was a mixed bag. He had a few nice sequences offensively. He's a very smooth offensive operator. I've commented before that he reminds me of Mihailovic. What I liked most in this game and I think is the most underrated part of his game is his defensive contribution. He was playing as a #10 in this game, but I think he can play as a #8 because he's very good defensively for a finesse central midfielder with creativity and good passing ability. He could've been more active in the game offensively. He looked a step slow offensively, so that's something he can work on is adjusting to the pace of the faster game. LAG II: Mauricio Cuevas ('03): As I've said before, I'm definitely a big fan. He plays a more understated style of game than some other top fullback prospects, and is consistently very good. He's a good all-around player athletically and defensively. In no way am I trying to criticize the work of Watke with making these videos because he does a great job, but he missed a very important defensive play by Cuevas to throw a defender's shot off in the box. It was excellent emergency defending, and is worth highlighting. A goal and an assist from fullback isn't bad either. Going forward, his crossing is elite (as good as you'll find in the YNT system), and he does have very good passing. I also think he rivals KHF with taking set pieces among fullbacks. I'm not convinced by the Galaxy's ability to bring young Americans through, but Cuevas is the best of the bunch not yet integrated into the first team. Cameron Dunbar ('02): He had a very efficient game. A goal and an assist for a game that he had very few touches. When he did get involved in the game, he made things happen. The easiest way to describe Dunbar's game is that he makes plays. He attacks when he has the ball, and tries to create goal opportunities. With some continued development this season and proper usage, I think he could find his way onto the MLS roster later in the season and make a run at the U-20 WCQ roster and U-20 WCQ roster, although the team is deep at his position (winger). Eric Lopez ('99): I thought he was excellent. He had one or two shaky moments, but aside from that, he stood on his head and he turned a 4-3/4-4 game into an easy 4-0 win. It was an even game, but Lopez made numerous stellar saves. I've often been impressed by Lopez, but he never advances up the depth chart at the Galaxy. MLS isn't known for giving young keepers much of an opportunity and the Galaxy are among the worst in the league at integrating academy players, so he might be a lot better than his reputation and we wouldn't know (unless we watched him play with regularity). I think this guy is a good player that with the proper opportunity could become a breakout player at the GK position.
Manny Perez was outstanding last weekend for NCFC. It sucked that his last season was derailed by injury, he’s a constant threat with the ball. Also for NCFC, “03 Luke Hille made the bench. He’s a midfielder, don’t really have an idea of how good he is.
I managed to see the last game before play was suspended, which included Tacoma. Leyva had an inconsistent game. He was rather anonymous for a guy regularly making the 18 for the first team during the first half, but he had a very good second half. The kid is still only 16, so while he should be good enough to put his stamp on a game like this, some inconsistency is not unexpected. Atencio had another very strong game. I’m not sure why he hasn’t yet signed in Europe (Turned 18 on January 31st) or with the Sounders first team yet. He’s good enough to have more leverage IMO.
From the inbox, In These Tough Times edition: "Fans of North Carolina FC and the North Carolina Courage can still get their soccer fix, as both teams will have memorable matches broadcast locally by Capitol Broadcasting Company throughout March and April. The games can also be streamed via the North Carolina FC and NC Courage YouTube channels. The fun begins this weekend with encore presentations of the NC Courage’s 6-1 win over the Orlando Pride from September 2019 and NCFC’s 1-0 win against Saint Louis FC from October 2019."
This story says a USL2 organization in Florida is hoping to move up to USL1 (and, thus, go pro) next year. https://www.hometownnewsvolusia.com...cle_3f2daefe-6d2d-11ea-835a-df23fe4cf189.html
I feel like there could be like - and this is no exaggeration - easily 15 USL Championship or League One/NISA teams in Florida. The two MLS farm teams, the new Miami team and Tampa are already there. But Jacksonville, Daytona, West Palm, Naples/Ft. Myers, Sarasota/Bradenton, Lakeland, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Panama City, Destin/Ft. Walton, Pensacola, Key West and Ocala. Most would probably be D3 but a few, like Jacksonville, could probably be USL Championship. And with so many in-state, it would keep the travel costs pretty low and make it easy for fans to travel.
I love these stories. This type of thing was going on all over the place in baseball in the 1890s, 1900s and 1910s. By the 1920s, baseball was considered America’s pastime. I’m not saying that is what is going to happen with soccer, but these are definitely the steps that have to happen over and over again if a country is going to reach it’s potential. My three dream USL1 cities? Little Rock, Arkansas, Jackson, Mississippi and Boise, Idaho. If you have Pro Soccer in all three of those cities, you have turned the corner and the end result is inevitable. Right now the league is talking about USL1 expansion in Boise, Portland (Maine), Fort Wayne (Indiana), High Point (North Carolina). Those all look like good options to me - at least location-wise.