YNT-eligible lower division-pro players: 2022 IN-SEASON thread

I believe their most recent big news was one owner not paying players and then suing the league. Good times.

 

Kristian Fletcher looking very involved and confident in his first start for Loudoun. He's been one of the most influential players of the first half, including a big mistake or two. He turns 17 in a couple of weeks.

 

Personally, I think it's time to ramp up the Tony Leone watch. He's got great size and athleticism, and his passing is absolutely class. He's a 2004 (will still be 18 at the start of next season) who has already played a full 90 minutes at the professional level 30 times.

 

He has some intriguing tools, but the more I watch him the more I'm just not thrilled with what I see. I keep waiting for any of his tools to take a jump to a level that makes me think it can be a carrying tool at a higher level, and I don't see it. I think he's settled into an above-average USL player and one who shows some consistency, but I think he may have been a player that peaked early. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty good player. My assessment is going in the other direction though.

 

He's a year younger than Neal and same age as Craig, but I think Leone's the better player. I'm guessing you disagree (at least about Neal), but curious because I see Leone as the better defender and distributor of those guys.

Curious what you think of Thomas Williams, too -- another '04 center back who I think could be a great player. Then there's Che, who I am not sure about at this stage. Also, where do you rank Wynder in this group?

I haven't seen a ton of any of these guys, so I'm really interested in your thoughts on how you would compare these young center backs.

 

I don't think it's a crazy viewpoint. Leone is pretty good, but I disagree with what you're saying. Leone is only a few weeks younger than Craig. He's only like eight months younger than Neal also.

Leone is 2-3 inches shorter than both, although to be fair to him he does leverage his frame well and isn't a liability in the air. He moves better than Craig, but worse than Neal. Unlike those two, he's stronger and plays more physical. Neal has better positioning and reading of the game. Craig probably reads the game as well or slightly better. I think they're all good passers of the ball. I'd rank it Craig, Neal, and Leone, but it's close between the three. What I find with Leone's passing is that it has higher potential than it normally shows. He's not aggressive enough with it, so while he can play some very nice passes, it only plays like it's average because we see those nice passes so infrequently. What I think he needs to work most on is positioning, which isn't uncommon for a young CB (Craig also needs to work on this).

I think Leone is better than Williams, but it's not too big of a gap. I think Leone reads the game better. Williams has better tools, but his processing of the game is still slow and he's prone to errors. I like Leone a little more than Che, but not a huge difference. I'm not even convinced Che is a CB. I think I like Wynder a little more than Leone, but very close. Very different players. Wynder is more boring without such great upside, but I find him very reliable. Leone has more flashy elements to his game (as does Che), but I would suggest it's more likely that Wynder ends up better than both.

 

The positioning and reading of the game parts are where I have not watched enough of these guys to have a gauge on. I do think those are things that every player this age will need to grow in.

For Che, I don't see him having any options other than at center back unless he's an Azpilicueta type. It's kind of funny that he is one of our lower rated among these players given where he is right now compared to the others. Hopefully, that means this is a really strong group......

 

Games from last week.

Tampa Bay: Jake LaCava ('01) had a goal and an assist. Very simple plays. Didn't do much. Only played half the game. I haven't seen much of him this season, but he's statistically having a great season (10G, 4A in 1350 USL minutes). He's on loan from NYRB. Wouldn't be surprised if he's a contributor for NYRB next season. Underrated winger. Deceptively good dribbler and makes good decisions in the final third.

Loudoun: Tyler Freeman ('03) had a goal off the bench and had some flashes of brilliance. He's been very impressive this season. DC United has a logjam of young attackers, so I don't know if they'll have room for him, but he must be playing at a higher level next season. He's too good for USL, and it shows statistically (5G in 439 minutes). He was also good statistically last season in USL.

NYRB II: Caden Clark ('03) had some nice flashes offensively and with his pressing, but it wasn't consistent. I know he's taken some heat this season, and I'm not suggesting he's been good, but I think this kid has very good potential and has shown better play in the past. His work-rate at times can be excellent, but it's not consistent right now probably because he's not playing regularly and probably isn't in good shape. Also, I think his foot skills can be elite at times. Better than the foot skills of any of the attackers on that U-20 WCQ team (Sullivan, Aaronson, Hopkins, Cowell, Luna). It's not amounting to much right now, but between the potential he has with his foot skills, work rate, and a knack for end-product, I would not write off his potential. It's possible he doesn't reach it, but I do think he's one of our higher ceiling 03's.

Curtis Ofori ('05) had another good game defensively. I think he's gotten a lot better over the course of the season, and probably will earn a first team contract going into next season. He's not ready to replace Tolkin next season, but I would think he could handle some limited MLS minutes in 2023, and then take over for Tolkin in 2024. Tolkin may be sold before that though.

Louisville: Joshua Wynder ('05) had another game where he barely put a foot wrong. It's true that Louisville has had very little defending to do in recent games, so thats part of it, but I think he's starting to look a little better with his positioning and starting to do a little better with aerial duels. Those are the two areas he needs to work on the most.

Atlanta II: Nigel Prince ('04) had a pretty good game. To start off, the team lost 5-0, so no one was much better than pretty good among the defense, but Prince did a lot well, and the things he didn't do well are very fixable IMO. He was called for a penalty that led to one of the goals, but it was a very weak call. He was penalized for being stronger than the attacker. He also has shown some small wobbles with his positioning and he sometimes will overrun the ball or misjudge the flight, but his interception skills are absolutely elite. He reads the game well, he's very good in 1v1's, he's fast, he's strong, he has good size. He wins most headers. His passing isn't a strength, but it's getting better and I think it's barely a weakness, if it's even a weakness anymore.

He reminds me a lot of Miles Robinson. He made a lot of very nice interceptions in this game. The few errors he makes are all repetition errors IMO. He doesn't get consistent minutes for this team. I think if he did get consistent minutes he'd start to become very consistent.

Efrain Morales ('04) was having a pretty boring game, which would be a good thing for him, and then he got caught on the ball late on and it led to a goal. He split the game between playing as a double 6 and CB. I still think he's starting to get a little better with his decision-making. He still makes some big errors, but the small errors that he'd make a lot are starting to get a lot fewer in number.

Vicente Reyes ('03) had a pretty good game. He can be too aggressive with his distribution from the back and sometimes he gets caught on the ball, but I like his potential. He has a lot of tools average or better. He's one of the better '03 GK's. I have no clue why Roccio Rios is the starting GK for Atlanta's first team. Garces is much better than him, but I think even Reyes is better than him. Luke Brennan ('05) didn't play that many minutes, but made a pretty good impact. Nearly scored a nice goal, but the goalie made a great save. He's starting to adapt to the pace of the game more of late at this level. While I don't think he's overly dynamic offensively, he can score some goals, dribble a little, he's an average or better athlete, he makes good decisions, and he's very versatile positionally.

 

I know many disagree, but I prefer Che as a RB.

 

Isn't his real spot as a RCB in a three back set. Azpilicueta is an ambitious player to compare him too but he plays all three spots across the back line just like Che and I think he's best as RCB in a three back set. Having watched soccer for a while sometimes it's pure luck for certain types of players as to what formations are in vogue at the moment. Right now three back sets are getting a lot of looks but five years ago those players were tweeners and on the bench mostly. Second forwards are the mostly bench players right now but just wait some team will succeed with a two forward set and it will become the rage. I mean right now where would a team play Romario?

 

They really missed their chance at a great name Santa Barbara Psych. Could have possibly gotten some love from actors from that show. So many great guest stars they could have possibly gotten make appearances. FCD always has a guest start scarf the Lamar Hunt statue. so something similar and a free hotel stay might be a fun getaway for LA actors.

 

RWB in a back three, if I was to be precise. I don’t think he’s a CB, back four or three.

I do agree with your general point though.

 

I saw on the Twitters that recent U19 YNT defender Tiago Suarez made his USL debut for Sacramento this weekend. Anyone see how the kid did?

Size and bloodlines make him very interesting.

 

Yeah, and don't know if people know this.
He's the son of a capped USMNTer.

Son of former Dallas, LAG, Chivas defender Ryan Suarez.

Us old-timers remember when Ryan Suarez was considered a potential USMNT RB/CB.
Drafted 7th overall by Dallas, and had some really good moments in his career.
Just never developed into a top player. Dallas fans were very frustrated by his lack of development. He was shipped off to LAG (with Paul Broome) in a trade for Ezra Hendrickson.

[By the way, there is still an active player from that 2001 draft. Unbelievably. I could give everybody a million guesses, and they wouldn't come up with it. Also a Dallas draft pick. Joselito Vaca is still playing for Blooming in Bolivia. He left MLS in 2004!!!]

 

#LAGalaxy loan Marcus Ferkranus to Phoenix Rising FC for remainder of 2022 USL Championship Regular Season.

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 26, 2022

 

I'm glad Ferkranus is getting loaned and will get a place to play regularly. The situation where he's one of our best U-20 CB's yet can't get regular USL minutes is completely crazy, but the problem is now solved.

 

Alan Torres (03) looked like a decent player for his age in his outing tonight for Forward Madison, who is on loan from Indy Eleven. On the other side Omaha has an 01 Ryan Jiba playing LB. Jiba has played fine but has a cool background, born in South Sudan raised in Salt Lake City, played 2 years at a community college, and is now pro.

These lower level teams open up interesting pathways.

 

Congrats to @TLeoneJR on being voted to the @USLChampionship Team of the Week!

Leone becomes the 6th Lights FC player to be selected as a starter on the league's TOTW this season.

Including those picked as subs, Lights FC has now had 9 different players in USL's TOTW in 2022. pic.twitter.com/RCabLCc2ft

— Las Vegas Lights FC (@lvlightsfc) July 26, 2022

 

WA 🛫🛬 AZ

Eric Kinzner has joined @FCTucson for the remainder of 2022 on loan from the Tacoma Defiance.

More ⤵️https://t.co/HfvozYgFkR

— USL League One (@USLLeagueOne) July 7, 2022

 

Games from last week. I added a few from the week prior I didn't get to.

Week prior:

Colorado Springs: I thought Isaiah Foster ('03) had a pretty good game. Nothing spectacular, but didn't have many real hiccups defensively. The other team scored a goal that he had involvement in, but he didn't do much wrong. One of those situations where a few nice offensive plays beats some good defending. There were a few players on his team who could've taken some fault, and his was rather minimal.

Las Vegas: Antonio Leone ('04) has become pretty reliable, but for some reason he's started to play more tentative. Doesn't take that many risks with his positioning or his passing. I know he has potential to play more risky and I've seen it before. It's possible the aggressive nature he had at lower levels he doesn't have the same potential to play as he's gotten to higher levels, but I think this is more of a tactical decision with how the team asks him to play. He doesn't play poorly this way, but he has potential to be a real difference maker IMO. I just don't see much notable with Nathan Ordaz ('04). He's probably a good academy or college level player, but for this guy to get call ups to both the US and Mexican U-20's is a little surprising.

Combining last week/week prior:

Birmingham: Mataeo Bunbury ('05) is a lot better at RW than LW. I find that at LW he doesn't know what to do. He's left-footed, very one-footed, and doesn't have tremendous speed or skills, more slightly above-average in both categories. He can make some plays, but it helps him to have more room to use the inside of the field. I would prefer Bunbury not play for Canada, but I don't think it would be a big loss if he plays for them. He's a fringe level prospect IMO.

Colorado Springs: I didn't see much from Duncan Jarvie ('04) worth noting, but I did watch this game. He played 80 minutes.

Louisville: I thought this was a weaker game from Joshua Wynder ('05). A lot of small positioning errors. Nothing that ended up hurting the team too much, but it wasn't one of his better games. It also shows how high his floor is that his weaker games aren't catastrophically low to lose his team a game at his age.

LAG II: It was very similar for Jalen Neal ('03) as a described above for Wynder. He had a weaker game, but it wasn't as if he was mostly at fault for a lot of goals. His team did give up 5 and he had some minor blame on probably two of them, but wasn't majorly at fault for any. Like Wynder, his bad games aren't that game.

Atlanta II: Efrain Morales ('04) looked pretty lost in this game. He's getting better in that he's keeping the really big errors to a minimum, but he still does tend to almost rotate games where he's able to eliminate the smaller errors and games where he makes a lot of them. My opinion of Luke Brennan ('05) is starting to go up. I don't know that I think he's great at anything or that his upside is that high, but he's a very valuable player to a team. He can play like five positions, and he gives good effort everywhere. None of the positions you feel like he's completely lost. Thats because of his effort level and above-average soccer IQ. This game he was at RB, and while he isn't a RB, you wouldn't have known.

Also need to keep mentioning that Justin Garces ('00) is ridiculously good. I think he's the best player in USL. What he does for this very bad team is crazy. This game he single-handedly kept it close. Not YNT eligible, but he's young for a GK. It's a joke that Rocco Rios Novo is starting for the first team over him. Garces is much better.

Loudoun: Kristian Fletcher ('05) is starting to adjust more to this level. I thought this was the best game I've seen him play this season. He was creating a lot of dangerous attacking chances, and nearly scored a few times. I'm starting to see the idea that he's more of a LW than CF. While I think his skillset is better suited to CF, the way he likes to play the game of finding space to cut inside on his right to shoot fits LW better.

Sacramento: Santiago Suarez ('05) is a player I had never seen play before. Or if I had years back, I didn't know that I did and he's improved significantly. I was very impressed. The 6'5 listing looks wrong to me (I would say 6'3 or maybe 6'4), but for a big CB he's a good athlete. He moves well for his size, and average for a CB of any size. Defensively, he reads the game pretty well and I didn't have many problems with his positions. He had very few weak defensive plays. With the ball, I would say he's about average. He's not a real inventive passer that initiates the buildup, but also not a liability. It's possible he'd take more chances with his passing if this wasn't his first career game or he was playing on the right side as opposed to left side (he's right footed). I was impressed though and I hope he gets more games. He's certainly one of the better '05 CB's.

Fernando Venegas ('04) also had his pro debut. Suarez played the whole game. Venegas only got the second half. Unlike Suarez, I knew Venegas game pretty well. I thought he had a good debut also. Not too much worse than Suarez. He's not as good of a prospect as Suarez IMO, but still someone with upside and a flashy style of play. He's a gambler type of CB. He tries to carry the ball as far as he can, make risky passes, or try for spectacular and aggressive defensive plays. It gets him in trouble, but he's a good athlete, so he recovers pretty well. He's listed at 6'2 205, and that looks accurate to me. He's powerful, pretty quick, and good in the air.

He only made a few errors in this game, but each time he recovered well and he was able to make some other good defensive plays and nice passes. I think it's unlikely they'll continue to give two young CB's regular playing time, especially considering this was only the debut for both players, but Venegas is an under the radar player to watch for. If he can eliminate errors and still play that same style of play, there's good potential in his game.

 

Games from last week. I added a few from the prior week I didn't get to.

Week prior:

Las Vegas: This was probably the best game I've seen of Antonio Leone ('04) so far in USL. He was great. Best player on the pitch. He was a little more adventurous with his passing and how high he was winning the ball. No real errors either. As I've mentioned before, I think his conservative style of play this season is tactical, and less about lacking potential.

Colorado Springs: Isaiah Foster ('03) had a very effective game at LB. Did his defensive work well. No errors. His defensive IQ is good. He is average or better on the ball, and he's athletic. I don't know that he's good enough to make it into the US U-20's for the U-20 WC, but I think he's good enough that he deserves a call in to the team. I also think he's probably going to get a move to MLS or Europe after this season. He's a good prospect IMO.

Last week:

Birmingham: Matthew Corcoran ('06) had another respectable showing. It's not all great. He needs to play more physical, but almost everything else I like what I see from him. He's adjusted to this level well. For a kid who will be 16 the whole season and the youngest regular in the league, you would have no clue if he was 16 or 26. He belongs at his age, and thats about the most you can ask of a kid his age. I'd like to see him start getting more minutes than he gets, but its understandable that given his age most of his appearances are for 10 minutes or less.

Mataeo Bunbury ('05) was really good in one of the two games of this week, and average in the other. One of these games he played 45 minutes, which included an assist and a goal. He was playing RW as opposed to LW, which suits him better, and Loudoun couldn't mark him. Their defending was often very naive, so that played a part, but he also deserves a lot of credit. This was the best I've seen him play. If he can play like this consistently, he's better than I've credited him for being.

Loudoun: Kristian Fletcher ('05) played two games this week and I thought he was better in the 20 minute performance he had than the start. Despite that, the start was the game he scored a goal. The start wasn't too bad, but not his most effective game. He's really starting to adjust well to this level and you see him using more flair and attempting more passes. He's a pretty talented player with a lot of different tools. I was a little underwhelmed early this season in his appearances, but he's starting to get better and you see why he's as highly rated as he is.

Ignacio Alem ('06) was subbed on late in both games and had some positive appearances. He brought some energy, and had a nice dribbling sequence or two. Matai Akinmboni ('06) was completely hit or miss. He was subbed on to play LB in one of these two games. He's not a LB, so that might contribute to it, but he struggled with his positioning. I find that positioning for young CB's is a big adjustment once they get to the pro game. 1v1 he was very good.

LA Galaxy II: Johnny Perez ('03) had a pretty positive start. No goals or assists, but he did create a lot of danger. Jalen Neal ('03) had a pretty good game until stoppage time where he takes some blame for the tying goal. Two of his teammates let a ball into the box bounce before it got to him, so I suspect he thought it would've been dealt with, but he completely fell asleep and let a player get behind him to get to the ball and put it in. I find it hard to say a performance was good when a player takes a pretty substantial amount of the blame for a goal, so it was no better than an average game IMO, but if you want to just look at the total performance, it was a good performance for 90+ minutes.

Atlanta United II: Efrain Morales ('04) had a pretty average game, which is good for him. He had one error to let a player in behind for a 1v1, but Garces bailed him out. Aside from that, he did pretty well. I wouldn't say he was great or even good, but it was certainly not a performance where you are criticizing his play. For him, thats not too bad. We are starting to see more of these performances of late where he's limiting the errors.

One area I find pretty peculiar about him is that despite needing to put on weight for physical duels and many young players struggling aerially when they are physically weak, that does not apply to him. He is excellent in the air. Rarely loses any aerial duels. His timing and jumping ability is really good. He has a lot of defensive talent. He just needs to limit the errors. He's not just a good athlete with some technique. His ability in a number of defensive areas is often very impressive, and he makes defensive plays very few can make.

Alan Carleton ('05) had a very good cameo off the bench. He was making all types of good and incisive attacking plays. This was probably his best appearance so far in USL. He came in and instantly troubled the defense. Hopefully he gets a start soon.

 

This is only my opinion. I know some people rate him higher than me.

I don't think that route will be available to him. Those guys are all already in or headed to Europe with plenty of high-level clubs interested in them. They all were HG caliber players, if they went the MLS route.

I'm not convinced Pickering is at that level or all that close to it, especially if we are putting him in the specific bucket of those three, who are all top talents in their age group.

Then again, if he performs at a very high level, the route will be available. Time will tell.