YNT-eligible MLS players: 2020 In-season thread

When has he been better than solid? His stats may point to it until you actually go look at the goals and hang your head because most of them come from MLS defending gaffe’s. Busio does a good job keeping up at the MLS level but he doesn’t take risks like he should.

I do think he was one of the issues for the u17’s. When you play as the 10 for a team that scores only one goal in a tournament then there is a major issue. When your striker barely gets any chances then there is an issue. There were a lot of problems with that team but don’t act like Busio wasn’t one of them. He did a lot better in the USL but that’s expected. But for the USA 17’s and at the MLS level he hasn’t been Euro prospect good.

Busio gets overhyped because he is a good prospect in an age group that is very bad. He’ll be a good pro and do fine in MLS but I don’t see him going further. You have prospects who peak early all the time and I think that’s going to be Busio. He’s good but he isn’t special which you need to be to make it in Europe.

 

People here were gushing over his debut a couple of years ago. I was the one saying, "woah!" to everyone. He was overrun (which is understandable for a 16 year old to have a hard time keeping up with Quioto and Elis) despite his assist. He has gotten much better and more professional with his defending. You imply that I am using his goal scoring streak last year as part of my reason for enthusiasm, but those goals didn't really impress me at all. In fact, I wouldn't point to specific stats or plays to make my point. Instead, I consider things like the technique that he shows on the ball every time he gets it. He is smooth and fluid. He sees the field. He plays with pace and crispness. His passing is accurate and sharp. He glides when he dribbles and has some creativity. He has great physical tools in his balance and graceful spurts. He's clearly not a 100% slam dunk as a top professional, but I would say he's pretty clearly above the MLS pay grade.

The U17s were simply not able to play through Busio. The numbers of touches that he got had to be abysmal, and that was mostly because of how players like Scally, Armour, Gray, Yow, Leyva, and Saldana struggled. Watch his 45 minutes against Brazil to see how capable he was of instigating and carrying the team once they were able to get a foothold in the attacking half.

I don't think that age group is "very bad." They played like shit at the World Cup, but that seems to have been a lot due to over reliance on the system, some key weak spots in the team, and a really strong group.

 

One strength of an U17 cycle is also somewhat judged on the players that didn't get called up to the WC. We know about the 00's that didn't make the 2017 WC like Aaronson, Soto, Ledezma, Richards, Keita, etc.

But looking at the 02's, there's already the likes of Paredes, Dunbar, Tomkinson where we were wondering at the time why they weren't on the roster. Give it another year or so and there'll be a few '02's that we'll be wondering how they never even got called into a camp that cycle. I don't think it'll be as strong as the 00's obviously, but it'll be a very solid class with an enormous headliner in Reyna.

The '19 U17 WC roster was also by far the youngest squad we've sent to an U17 WC. 13 players born after 6/1/02.

 

Paredes on

 

Solid kick save prevented a Paredes goal.

 

I like Paredes but he needs some seasoning. He seems to make the wrong run a lot to me as well as being disjointed in defense. I'm intrigued on A) how good he looks in training, B) whether DC management has requested for him to play, C) whether he would get these minutes in the regular season, and D) whether there are any marketing advantages of having a player named Paredes and a player named Walls playing together for the national team.

 

The group stage games count towards the regular season standings. I think it's positive he's been a sub in 2 of the 3 group matches, and he hasn't looked out of place.

Ben Olsen generally isn't a big squad rotation or young player type of coach (or a good coach regardless of age of the player). So I think that's a good sign for Paredes's future minutes.

 

That's oddly negative about a 17-year old who was a big spark for a sluggish DCU side.

Individual positives are: thinks a half step ahead already, and he has solid technical ability to usually pull it off. Defensively I think that applies too. Only thing you can say is maybe he doesn't conserve energy. But he was baiting opponents into passing to pick off and pressure, forcing TO's. Also has shown poise and tenacity, two very important intangibles to add to the i.q. The physical aspect of speed is there too.

Negatives: I'd just like to see him get stronger, display more dynamism, and conserve. There were a lot more positives, and at least 2 of those are very fixable.

The building blocks are there & he already belongs. Not charity by any means for DC to play him. Should get even more run on merit from what I've seen.

 

The same guys who are preaching that dropping stock didn't like Busio in 2018 and were telling that he didn't deserve his minutes.

 

Paredes had more mistakes than good plays, but his teammates were worse. 15 yards pass missing a target by 10 yards was a norm, if by a chance a pass was able to find a partner, that partner would inevitably bounce the ball over a side line even while standing in a centre circle.

 

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I like him. I'm just too lazy to write positives sometimes.

 

Nyeman doesn’t play once again. This is where I’m sure I’ll catch flack from someone like @gogorath. It seems like some will justify that Nyeman hasn’t seen the field yet that Paredes saw the field in all three games.

I like Paredes (I was the original Paredes fan on this website), but he’s not ready to be a contributor in MLS yet. He probably needs one more season. I want to see young Americans contribute. Paredes isn’t much of that at this point. He’s not anywhere near as good as Moses is. I don’t find it an acceptable substitute to be giving minutes to a worse player with lower potential.

We’ve now went three games where Nyeman hasn’t even seen the field for this sub-par MLS team. Again, why are our best young players signing in MLS if they aren’t going to receive immediate playing time?

Nyeman trained at a few clubs in Germany in the offseason. Usually players on pro contracts don’t do that, but there obviously was interest in signing him eventually, even if it requires a transfer fee.

Are we going to be saying in another year or two that this is an Alvarez or Araujo situation? I hope not, but when Ben Olsen is making statements like the best players will play, and Nyeman ends up one of three field players to not see the field in the first three games, while he’s using a player the same age regularly (Paredes), and a borderline non-prospect a year older more often than Moses (Yow), this is turning into a problem.

I couldn’t care less how many training sessions Olsen has watched. Nyeman has to be playing more often if he’s signing with your team. It’s one thing if all the young players aren’t playing. If it’s that, we can write it off easily as a dinosaur coach who doesn’t want to play young players, but there’s an even bigger problem when the coach is giving minutes to all but the best academy products. That’s the point you start to wonder if it’s the type of thing that will eventually change. The coach might not rate the player. He didn’t rate Durkin either.

 

I don't know what's going on with Bello. From what I've seen recently...................I'm starting to be concerned. Not just in this little statistic, but I'm worried about the development of his "soccer IQ."

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I have not thought of that angle, but if you coupled a two semester college schedule with the ability to play as a amateur in USL-C or USL-1 then that path from a developmental perspective is much improved.

The fact that you can play as a amateur with a USL club before college, but can't after enrolling is a hypocritical rule that should be changed.

Until the college path is year long then players are really forced to make a choice between soccer and education at age 18 and really if you are not Top 50 or need money and can't afford college then college is the best choice for your long-term future.

 

We just bought a back up guy, Mark Diemers, who can play AM, CM and DM. On top of that we have Leroy Fer for that spot too, who's performance in the midfield has resparked interest from Koeman to consider him to be put back into the Orange selection. Also available for that position is Jens Toornstra, who's a former Orange selection player. Then we have another huge Feyenoord talent, Wouter Burger, available for that spot.
So I dunno where that rumour comes from as that spot is covered for from experienced to top talent players.

 

I'm gonna watch him play today, just to see if he's worth attention, especially from his tactical capabilities.

 

Anybody heard of any plans for MLS beyond the Tournament?

We know these games count as Regular Season games, but what regular season?

 

beginning to think that post mcdonough/tata atlanta doesnt really have much of a clue about anything. clearly have struggled with questionable youth development, now a boring manager and poor player acquisition decisions.

 

well we are about to get some more data on busio

 

...and a decent busio corner leads to a scramble in the box before it falls to russell for the 1-0 at 51 seconds lol

(thank you audi that will be $1000 for youth development please)

 

On the Busio front. Outside of the corner, I he hasn’t really gotten into this game yet after 12min which is still early.

I do want to remind people that towards the end of last season he was quite influential as a #10. If anyone can find some clips of his play in the last quarter of the season last year, that’s why he’s getting the price tag he did.

He needs to show that type of performance this season though.

 

its hardly surprisign that a guy who has rarely played in the last 5 months struggles to find the match, but yeah if this is a showcase match for him there hasnt been a lot to get excited about

 

after that wonderful analysis of why aaronson cant get on the ball more i am anxious to see one on why busio cannot get on the ball ever

 

a moment just seemed to illustrate his issues this half well. busio tries to make a vertical run when an option to relieve pressure is whats wanted

 

To be honest, that is the pass map for our whole team. That is clearly the Frank de Boer tactic to go backward unless there is a clear opening. I think it's very dumb. I wouldn't worry about Bello for now. He get's himself in the right positions for attacks, I mean he literally played winger in the 2nd half. But like all our other attacking players, he needs josef to finish some of chances he is putting in.