Does Ansu become the youngest USMNT-eligible player to play in a professional match? He's a December 05. 86' — 14-year old Ansu Kanneh subs into the match for his professional debut. He also becomes the youngest player in club history to play in a @USLChampionship match.#RisingTogether— Phoenix Rising FC (@PHXRisingFC) October 4, 2020 I remember this article indicating that he's eligible for the US, but who knows if that's accurate. https://www.azcentral.com/story/spo...-kanneh-thriving-new-arizona-home/5539569002/
I’m a little unsure about what San Antonio is doing with these young players. Leo Torres (‘04) and Fabrizio Bernal (‘03) have barely played this season. Their total minutes combined probably won’t even reach 50 by the end of the season. Ethan Bryant’s return has now seen Bernal fall out of the match day squad. There’s really no positives there. Bryant is a non-prospect. Torres and Bernal are two of the best attackers in their age groups. Their are teams that are starting 05’s regularly. San Antonio needs to start using these kids regularly. Otherwise, I hope they leave to Europe. It’s not enough to only use Gallegos. There are other players they need to develop.
Caught up recently with rising San Antonio FC star Jose Gallegos. Talked about SAFC's title chances, playing one day in Europe and a national team future with either the U.S. or Mexico. https://t.co/bxAKCPflc6— Arch Bell (@ArchBell) October 5, 2020 San Antonio is in that weird spot that clubs sometimes get into. They're the best team in the USL. The balance of providing playing time for the kids while also gunning for the trophy................is a difficult one.
It’s really not. This is USL. The level isn’t high. They all are good enough to get minutes. It’s hard to play a team of all teams with half the team being fringe prospects. This would not be thay.
He's 23, which is a bit older than some of the guys mentioned in this thread, but hey, he's a '97, so it counts! Cal Jennings recently had a hat trick for USL Memphis, which you can watch here: They aren't flashy goals, but they are bread-and-butter goals where the finish wasn't automatic and he had to do some work to get into position. He has some nice physical presence. He was named the USL-C POTW for his efforts, so that's nice. Meantime, Chandler Hoffman keeps putting them away. I have no idea if the stats on Wikipedia are accurate, but if they are, it doesn't seem impossible that he might get to 100 U.S. professional goals with none in MLS. Has that been done since the league was founded?
USL League One. Currently the independent teams are in the top half of the standings, and the MLS reserve teams are in the bottom half of the standings. And of course TFC didn't even bother, pulling out for the season. To my untrained eye, the independent teams really improved year to year. NTSC isn't getting away with what they got away with last year. This Chattanooga/NTSC game is tied 1-1 in the 26th minute Cerrillo called for a handball leading to a penalty (according to twitterati, a phantom handball). Arturo Rodriguez scored on a free kick (see below). Thomas Roberts not in the 18, so I suspect he's with FCD. 26' - An absolute beauty from @aartur98 👌1️⃣-1️⃣#CHAvNTX pic.twitter.com/ATyE2V0o6l— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) October 7, 2020
3-1 NTX over the Red Wolves.When you win 3-1 on the road there are many Man of the Match candidates but I'm going with Nkosi Burgess who I thought was excellent.— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) October 7, 2020
Here's a photo-heavy feature on Alfonso Vazquez: Head coach Radhi Jaidi said Vazquez is young and still has much work to do. But Jaidi adds that Vazquez is "so intrinsically driven by success and coming to help in scoring goals.” https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-s...0201005-mvnwyz6livgu5e3smrm5kgnpym-story.html
The next big prospect out of LAG's academy is Alejandro Alvarado. He's an '03 B2B CM. He's got great foot skills, flair, touch, and passing. Keep an eye on him. Looks good. pic.twitter.com/XJ7qlrq2Yx— Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) October 7, 2020
Give @tylerfreeman23 the ⚽️, get your 🍿 ready! Rising 💫Check out the clips below for his time with @SportingKCII ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/U94SzLYNNw— Octagon Soccer (@octagonsoccer) October 8, 2020
I'm going to be doing a write-up of all the young Americans I saw in USL/USL League One this season. The playoffs of USLC are still to be played, and League One is still playing regular season games, but I think this is a good point for a season review. I'll add any additional thoughts at a later time. I'll make a separate thread for it to not clog this one. I have a list of over 100 players right now, so it'll likely take me some time. I don't know when I'll have it finished, but I expect it'll be some time within the next few days up to a week.
'03 NYCFC academy product Eligio Guarino made his pro debut and first start today for NY Cosmos. One of two U18-eligibles to start in NISA this season along with '04 Shane Kaemerle of Cal United. https://t.co/BKWLPZDqAZ— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) October 10, 2020
via @Balerion. They have a very good young American coach. Fun team to watch. Root for them to win the USL Playoffs. LA Galaxy stuff historically gets overhyped, but I feel like Los Dos has been a little under the radar this season. Only MLS2 team in USL to make the playoffs despite playing an extremely young team.I believe only Philly II had more minutes for US-eligible players '00 or later https://t.co/QVge1CuE4E— Jamie Hill (@_jameshill) October 11, 2020
BREAKING: Sources tell @thebgnfm that the Philadelphia Union 2, Portland Timbers 2, and Orlando City B will not play in the USL in 2021. https://t.co/labJJR3RuQ— Phillip Grooms 🌊⚜️ (@phillgrooms) October 13, 2020 So that's that. Presumably the reserve league is happening, which I guess needs a thread. Gotta say I'm not excited about this. USL reserve teams were perhaps the greatest thing to happen to player development for players signed to MLS contracts, and now that's gone for a lot of these guys. I don't see how an independent reserve league could ever rival what USL had to offer.
Everyone is looking at this with the big assumption that USL wanted MLS to stay in the league. We have heard USL teams and others suggest they are not happy being seen as a "reserve" league as MLS teams send our teenagers to play. There have been competitive issues with teams rolling over MLS 2 teams. It's not a stretch for USL to have asked MLS to comply with some standards and that combined with MLS wanting to control its own development pipeline results in this decision. We know USL wants to build a vibrant lower division which is hard when a bunch of teams draw almost zero fans and get run over a lot of the time
I completely agree with this. Note the comment above. LAGII was the only MLS reserve team to make the playoffs. In USL League One, its likely that no MLS reserve teams make the playoffs. North Texas has a chance, but they have to run the table. If you're the USL commissioner, you like the stability that being associated with MLS can provide. But these teams aren't competitive, most provide nothing in terms of attendance or "juice." They keep adding more and more independent teams, and you wonder why they need these MLS reserve teams. There are 5 more independent teams planned in expansion (Oakland Roots, Queensboro FC, and Rhode Island in the next two years. Buffalo and Des Moines on the horizon. League One is also adding with the Rochester Rhinos planning to join that division). As I said in the academy thread, I look sorta 25 years down the road on this one. I see the MLS reserve league being similar to the U20 Liga MX team. Clubs can still loan players "too good" for this MLS reserve league to the independent USL Championship teams in the coming years. The quality of those teams is going to improve and improve. I don't get too worked up about this stuff, because the pace of change is really fast. Five years from now there may need to be a whole frickin' reorganization in the USL with too many independent Championship teams.
Don't get me wrong. I think it was a great accomplishment for LAGII to make the playoffs with such a young team. They're already out, though. They lost 4-1 to Reno, after getting their doors blown off by Phoenix in their last regular season game. So there are no good MLS reserve teams in that league. That's fine, because their goal isn't to win in the first place. None of us really talk about results in this thread. But then we should ask ourselves..................does this model work for the USL? USL clubs are busy developing their own youth development platforms and structures. Hell, Phoenix has their own affiliate in League One!!! (Tuscon)