I'm not sure if this is the best thread for this but it is an interesting read and a promising concept for an Academy. Does anyone have the skinny on Bamba or the Success Academy? How this Bronx teen got a spot on the elite Red Bulls Academy soccer team https://nypost.com/2022/05/31/how-this-bronx-teen-got-a-spot-on-elite-red-bulls-academy-team/ edit: From the Academy website The Success Academy soccer program was launched with the lofty goal of reshaping America’s pay-to-play model, a model that unjustly excludes kids and families who can’t afford the steep fees to access the game. SA’s soccer program founder, Boris Bozic, started at SA Harlem 1 with 125 kids, some of whom, like Yacouba, had never played soccer before. Others had never played sports of any kind. “At first, I thought it was a joke,” Yacouba said, about Bozic’s desire for him to play on the after-school soccer team. “I tried it out. I was like okay, this guy actually cares about me. So I’m going to take this more seriously, and I just got better at it.” https://www.successacademies.org/education-blog/yacouba-bambas-path-from-the-bronx-to-the-red-bulls/
Upon further digging, I couldn’t find him on any NYRB roster. I’d never heard of him and then he pops up in NY Post and AS Marca on the same day as the “next USMNT” star. Great publicist for a 14 year old. Had you heard of him before?
He's #15. https://us.soccerway.com/matches/20...ork-red-bulls-u15/real-salt-lake-u15/3780863/ I've heard of him, and have watched him play a bunch this season. I wouldn't put him in the top 4-5 on his team. These types of articles can often overrate the ability of players for effect to make it seem like a better story.
Good finish by Indiana Vassilev. Wonderful assist by Bryce Duke.Duke has low-key been one of the best value additions of the the season. pic.twitter.com/a64C0DZ0Rt— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 26, 2022
Indy Vassilev gives us the lead with his second goal in the 90th minute of the match. MIAvMIN | 2-1 pic.twitter.com/pQwZGByVYz— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) June 26, 2022
GABRIEL SLONINA WHAT A SAVE!!! (via @MLS)pic.twitter.com/bCuL61EPsK— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 26, 2022 GABRIEL SLONINA ANOTHER MASSIVE SAVE!(via @MLS) pic.twitter.com/1AWZExklNz— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 26, 2022 We have our first change of the game:➡️ Rodriguez⬅️ YarbroughHomegrown, Abe Rodriguez is making his MLS debut!45' + 2' | 0-0 | #PORvCOL— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) June 26, 2022 HISTORY MADE🏆Last night, midfielder Indiana Vassilev became the first player in @MLS history to score both a game-tying and game-winning goal after entering the game in the 80th minute or later. pic.twitter.com/YdPoptxUWe— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) June 26, 2022
Cam Harper showed his inexperience in defense on the second LAFC goal, switching from his man to the ball carrier, leaving him open to score. It was a 2-on-2 transition though, those are hard. Tolkin looked pretty good as usual.
Indiana Vassilev and Bryce Duke named to Team of the Week, after their stellar performances over the weekend. Congrats Indy and Bryce! 🌟⚽https://t.co/0T4Oi1eddg pic.twitter.com/7jOAg9Ebug— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) June 27, 2022
Also of note from last night's Chicago - Philly match,Olympic eligible LB Andre Reynolds earned his first ever MLS start in his 4th pro season While the Fire marketing department gets exceptional mileage regularly running out 'Dre and his brother Justin, three Fire coaching staffs have found little use for his services. That said, he is a fan favorite and put in a solid 65' performance facing Ale Bedoya much of the night.
‘05 Serge Ngoma, 16-years-old, scores his first goal in @MLS to put us up late!!!@Audi | #RBNY pic.twitter.com/hbzm4WdgqI— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 1, 2022
He’s been injured of late. Good to see he’s back and scoring is a bonus for a kid his age in MLS. He should probably play full time with the USL team though.
Leyva started for Seattle and went the full 90. Dobbeleare and Atencio subbed in in the 2nd half. Nothing really stood out. Toronto looks bad. Leyva had some strong challenges.
Gabriel Slonina, always performing at top level in MLS. There was a verbal agreement in place with Chelsea for €10m - Chicago Fire waiting to see if after departure of Petr Cech the deal will collapse again. 🔵🇺🇸 #CFC Slonina was already really close to Chelsea in January.— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 5, 2022
He’s more or less been mistaken free the last 2-3 games. I wouldn’t mind if he continues to stay at Chicago to improve his game and then moved a year from now. The U20 tourney proved Brady isn’t ready.
I expect that any sale will involve a loan back to Chicago until the next January window. We'll see. If Slonina wants to go, and the money is right......................its going to be really difficult for Chicago to turn it down. Do people think FCD wanted to sell Pepi, Reynolds, Tessmann, and all those guys last year? Of course not. All three probably would have benefited form staying in MLS a little longer. But they want to go...................
What did Brady do wrong? He gave up 2 goals in 6 games. If anything, I think it showed he's ready. He won goalkeeper of the tournament. He was the only keeper there that wasn't making errors. Goalies this age make a lot of errors. We've seen it with Slonina.
Indeed. What I thought I learned is that Chicago should feel fine selling Slonina now. He'll likely be loaned back for the season anyway. Then they can prepare to pass the baton to Brady. If for whatever reason they think Brady isn't ready, they can sign some gap filler. They already have Spencer Richey on the roster, who's been a starter in MLS. I don't know if people pay much attention to the MLS standings. Chicago is one of the worst teams in the league. They have bigger problems than the goalkeeping position. Only SKC has fewer points than Chicago. [Talk about a team who we thought were on the cusp of doing special things with their academy that has kind of stalled. SKC. The amount of leash that Vermes seemingly has is incredible.]
Chicago can't score. I'm not sure of all of it, but some of it is just a lack of speed/dynamism. SKC has gotten destroyed by injuries. I'm not a fan of Vermes' lack of youth minutes, but I'm not really sure a single bad year on a club legend coach that's driven by injuries is all that surprising.
I get it, but a lot of MLS clubs have injuries. Its part of the deal. You have to build depth to overcome injuries. They're the worst team in the league. That can only get you leash for so long. From the youth perspective, how many SKC academy players were part of the U20 team? I guess they had Jayvin Van Deventer called in to one camp. How many are expected to be part of the U17 team? They had zero players on the U17 team in May. It just seems like SKC was a team we thought was on the vanguard. Doesn't seem like it. Their academy director, John Parry, just decided to leave as well. If I did a Clint Eastwood ranking of MLS clubs in terms of their academy output...............SKC would have dropped down precipitously over the last couple of seasons. Teams like say, San Jose, have passed them by.
You probably weren't watching Leyva closely, so I don't blame you, but I think you are underselling it. He won nearly every challenge, if not every one. I can't believe people (not you) say he's bad at winning challenges. It's simply not supported by what happens when he steps on the field. I thought his passing was a little sloppy, but thats an area he's usually pretty good with. The decision-making was still good and quick, but execution wasn't always there. He's a little of an odd looking player. His running style looks un-athletic, and he may be carrying a few too many pounds, but he does tend to get around the field well. I'm hoping he can get more minutes in the upcoming weeks.