YNT-Eligible MLS Players: 2018 In-Season Thread

Yeah it seemed that Robinson was tasked with just hounding Villa anywhere around the field. So that's a good sign that Tata tasked him with that (although it's also possible that Villa was trying to target the young CB).

 

What lol? Thats such a huge difference in play I think hes confusing USl L1 with Englands' L1. Wass a weird thing to say after the compliment.

 

Between EPB, CCV, Glad, Robinson, Trusty, McKenzie, and Richards, I think they'll be alright. I'm not too worried.

 

He is right, though. And they are trying to Englishize it. The top division of the USL is now called the USL Championship. The 2nd division, or what was called USL D3, is now going to be called USL League 1. So the third division in England is called League One, and so it will be in the US.

I don't really know where Roberts will be next year. There's been some scuttlebutt that he'll be chosen for an extended Bayern Munich loan like Chris Richards has been this season. I'd be fine with that because of Pomykal's presence. So Aranguiz and Pomykal fighting it out for #10 playing time with the first team. Roberts off in Germany. And let the USL team figure itself out.

 

Yeah i know they are making a d3, but the level will be very low. He wasn't wrong though it was just an underwhelming thing to say after the praise he just gave. I wouldn't mind the bayern loan thing next year

 

Have heard the same thing on Roberts to Bayern, further the reason FCD made him a HG was in order to sell him. Hope that is correct.

Hearing Pomykal either plays next year or gets out of his contract and moves on to Europe. Sitting around at FCD another year won't do him much good. If I am not mistaken, he fired the agent that got him into the FCD HG deal and now has Weston McKinney's agent so hoping he can make the move overseas sooner rather than later.

Time will tell if the USL D3 team is a good thing for HG players. I initially thought it was a good thing, but if the level is too low, it may be better for the U18 kids to stay in DA and look to move at 18 instead of getting locked down in a HG and playing USLD3.

 

Zusi moved to right back at 30, Lennon at 20. Huge difference in terms of the ability to learn and grow into the position. Limited attackers get moved from wing to fullback all the time, its just in most countries it happens at Lennon's age or usually even younger, not in your late 20's or early 30's like we've seen with quite a few MLS players.

 

Its going to take a while for USL League One to really develop. Right now I'd view it as a first professional experience for kids moving from the U19s to the pros (whether foreign or domestic). And a place for fringe first team draftees & homegrowns (the Cano, Reaves types from this past year) to try to impress the first team staff. Hopefully FCD uses it like Seattle has used their USL team. Lotsa youngsters.

And you are definitely right that FCD signed a bunch of these youngsters to HG deals so they can get compensation for their sales........................not because they see them as long-term members of the first team. An obvious reaction to losing McKennie for nothing, and something clubs like RSL are having to face now.

That strategy will fail too if they don't sell the youngsters when the offers come in. Then the next batch won't sign the HG deal in the first place.

As far as Pomykal goes, this U20 CONCACAF Championships and World Cup might be more important to him than any other player. The games so far have been essentially meaningless. But I'm sure this second phase and then the WC (hopefully) are being watched by plenty of scouts. Gotta do something to catch their attention.

I do think its premature to say Pomykal doesn't have a role next season. We'll see. We just don't know. There should be a significant shakeup. Lots of players not under contract. The TD position just switched from Clavijo to Muzzi as well. Will be interesting to see the ramifications of that. It was probably Muzzi's decision to sign Aranguiz, for instance.

 

Another question is if FCD requires their players to sign a HG deal before letting them play with the USL team. For example, a talented 03 or 04 kid FCD wants to play on the USL team. Do they require him to sign a HG deal or can the kid play for the USL team, keep his options open for college and potentially Europe at 18 without getting tied down to FCD until he is 20? Common sense says FCD will not want to let a kid play USL, use FCD resources and then bolt at 18 but then some kids may turn down the USL team to simply stay with the DA team.

Interesting times for US based clubs and how do deal with the youth elite players.

 

Pomykal is still going to be an interesting test case and surely many of the current future HG are watching to see what happens to him. He has been a good soldier at FCD, signed early, but has been given no opportunity to play for the last 2 years, even though he excels during National Team call ups. If he isn't given a real shot next year he needs to leave. Hopefully with the shake-up he is given a run of 8-10 games as a starter.

It will be interesting to compare the current 17-19 year olds at FCD with Blaine Ferri. Blaine turned down overtures from FCD to go to Europe. If he is in a first team Bundesliga team in a few years and the HG FCD kids are in USL3 or cut from FCD all together, it will be impactful. surely the individual talent of the player matters but washing out of Europe is still seen as better than washing out of FCD or USL3.

 

I'd love to see Oscar adjust, play a 4-3-3 and have Gruezo behind a rotation of Aranguiz, Pomykal and Servania. Quit being so defensive. Ulloa can be the backup #6 to Gruezo. Dan Hunt wants Barrios to be FCD's Josef Martinez but maybe failed to realize that Martinez puts most of his chances away and barrios doesn't. Ferreira is the closest FCD has to JM. If they don't bring in another forward I'd rather see him than waste time with the group that can't hit the broadside of a barn. These kids are ready for minutes and will improve quickly if played.

 

I know you were referring to FCD giving those young kids a chance, but in terms of USL eligbility I know the teams have a certain amount of "amateur" slots. This allows for players to play in professional games, but no professional contract so players are still NCAA eligible and not tied down. I know players like Justin Garces played for AUFC2 using this mechanism amongst other players. I don't have a clue what the allotment is though.

Every USL team I know of has used them extensively, so I would I imagine FCD would do the same. How much they use those slots is anybody's guess though.

I know Atlanta has used these amateur slots for depth when there was a lot of injuries, but also to gauge how players react in pro environments. I bet FCD will use these slots at least a little bit.

 

That's interesting as I didn't know that. I'm hoping that eventually the 3rd division is made up of U19's like Germany's U19 league and the really good prospects use it as a jumping ground to the first team while others move on to the 2nd division for more seasoning. I'm even more hopeful that the MLS teams will eventually have a 2nd and 3rd division team.

 

Who are these lot? Not questioning you, just wondering if it’s staff, FO or parents.

If I’m honest (I would never mean any I’ll will to a 17 year old), Roberts is the one HG signing that makes me scratch my head. I’ve seen him play a couple dozen times and just don’t see it. I am not convinced Pomykal will make it, but for me Pomykal is twice the player.

Granted, Roberts was on the young side at Dallas Cup last year, but not younger than the International teams. He was played off the pitch.

I’ve been wrong before, but this one befuddles me.

 

I've mentioned this before. One of the least talented academies in MLS, IMO. They get their results from running a good system. Their talent is really mediocre.

I know that might be hard to comprehend, but there's a lack of real prospects in the "pro-radar" years, as you said. Between their U-19 and U-17 teams, I'm not sure if they even have five prospects. They might have as little as 1-2, and none high level.

 

Changing positions in early 20's is better than late 20's, but its often still very hard. There's a lack of natural defensive instincts in Lennon's game. That shouldn't be surprising, considering he's always been an attacker. I'm not trying to criticize Lennon here. He was moved to RB out of necessity, and I think he's a good player who had a good season. My point here is that its in his best interest to play in the attack next season.

 

Didn't Petke sign a contract extension this time a year ago?

Is Dell Loy really gonna eat two years of paying Petke to hang out down the shore with his kids?

 

Was this sarcasm and I missed it?

CCV
EPB
Glad
Trusty
McKenzie
Richards
Sands

 

Philly seems happy enough to release their guys for anything. RSL usually does, too. Barring injury, I think we'll get at least McKenzie, Trusty, and Glad, and that's good enough for me.

 

Whenever you;re getting depressed about U23 backs getting released don't get mad get Glad!

 

During our last regular season home game, we presented @ReggieCannon15 with our DBG Player of the Year award. This was an emotional time for both sides and we are so proud of the work Reggie does for FCD. Special thanks to our friends the @SoccerCooligans for grabbing this video! pic.twitter.com/gvGm3Z7Hel

— DBG • Dallas Beer Guardians (@DallasGuardians) November 14, 2018

 

I think we're about to get news on the next homegrown signing out of FC Dallas...………………….not a surprise. From the most recent FCD practice report:

FC Dallas Practice Observations November 15th https://t.co/p1MtucOUgQ #FCDallas This one took a day+ to get done, real life sometimes gets in the way.

— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) November 17, 2018

There are quite a few academy players invited today, some (or most really) are chosen to participate because they don't have school at the time of FCD's training. Here's the list: Gibran Rayo, Joel Bustamante, Nathan Toledo, Dante Sealy, Beni Redzic, Mouhamed Sow Sow, and Sergio Osorio. In the pics on here, you can spot academy players as they are in red shorts.

One Academy player of note who is NOT in red today is Edwin Cerrillo. Instead, Cerrillo is in first team gear. An academy player in first team gear is usually an indicator that said player is about to sign a Homegrown deal. Reinforcing this, later in the session, when the first team is done for the day and does some cooldown stretching, Cerrillo goes with them instead of staying out with the rest of the Academy and trialists. I.e., he's with the first team, not the Academy.

I've been saying for a few months that Edwin Cerrillo would be the next Homegrown and it looks like that time is upon us.

[Folks will remember that we noted a similar step RIGHT before Thomas Roberts signed on the dotted line. Wearing the first team training gear and not the academy training gear. Cerrilllo had committed to Maryland.]