Sean Okoli with one hell of a goal in the USL last night. Take a bow Sean Okoli. This is a terrific goal https://t.co/GBPH84AfBK— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) April 9, 2016 Danny Garcia scored the first goal in USL San Antonio's history as well. .@dannyyboyy11 will go down in the SAFC @ToyotaField record books. #OurClub pic.twitter.com/RkEKC2QAYB— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) April 10, 2016
I've been thinking about this and I believe the most telling feature of this group is how much the '95s and '96s are overshadowing their seniors at a comparatively early point of their careers. Typically, the numbers should veer much more to the 93's and 94's since they are at a stage of their career where their roles have solidified. For instance, Colombia had 3 younger players in their team and started one. We had seven and started 4 in one game and 6 in the other. That's not typical. Does this mean we are in the middle of a significant shift in talent generation? I think so.
I really don't think we should be reading into YNT coaches player selection as a method to know if there's a big shift in talent. They aren't experts, even though they are paid to be.
Put it this way, we got better than before but not nearly as good as our opposition. What good is it if their "roles" are solidified yet we get steamed rolled by the opposition.
I'm not really comparing to other countries. Instead I'm saying that there seems to be a lot of quality difference between those two age groups. Still to be seen what we'll get by 2022 yet the early returns seem clear.
Bryan Olivera, a '94 with a bunch of experience abroad who was at LAG2 last season, is now at NASL Ottawa on loan from Fluminense. He came on as a late sub on Saturday and was somewhat involved as a busy midfielder who was looking to make things happen.
Danny Garcia is doing so crazy things with San Antonio. Turning on the style............ He reportedly had interest from other MLS clubs, but chose to stay in the state of Texas to be close to his family. He just had a son that was born 8 weeks premature. .@dannyyboyy11 back at it again with the quick feet. 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/VhdSYBZjX2— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) April 17, 2016 👀👀👀 @dannyyboyy11 #OurClub pic.twitter.com/1cT9T5Y71e— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) April 14, 2016
Here's an interesting feature on Cristian Mata: From literally digging ditches to having a bobblehead night in his honor on June 17, Tulsa Roughnecks striker Cristian Mata has seen his life’s journey come miles and miles in a very short time. A former standout goal scorer at Union High School and the University of Tulsa, the 22-year-old native of Mexico said his soccer future has been reborn as a member of the United Soccer League Roughnecks, all while remaining close to home. “I almost quit on myself and quit on soccer,’’ says Mata, who left TU to participate in a Seattle Sounders combine and then tried out unsuccessfully for a Mexican first division under-20 team. “I had to get a job, and I didn’t wake up a day without knowing I had to get back out there.’’ http://gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/14124/cristian-mata-comes-home-to-roughnecks
Kljestan was going to go on loan to LAG for Anderle (I think) but MLS didn't allow it because he was subject to allocation. This was a while ago, it was a different MLS in some ways. According to this article he's on 'the list.' http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/...er-rules-including-revised-player-acquisition
Yes, I think so, assuming he's still on the Allocation List as a YNT player. I haven't seen an update to the list in a while. EDIT: Here's an updated list as of this past March -- http://www.mlssoccer.com/allocation Mario Rodriguez has replaced Marc Pelosi in the YNT list but otherwise it's the same group, including Flores.
So the Fire are first in the allocation order? They might be able to use Junior. Of course, I haven't seen Junior play in a long time. I'm not sure what role he'd play.
Totally random but it's funny to me. There's an 80% chance? Like they are playing roulette to see if he can go
Another player in this group who just hasn't advanced. Of course, I don't think our expectations for him were the same as for Junior Flores. Colorado Rapids loan Zach Pfeffer and Dennis Castillo to Charlotte Independence http://www.coloradorapids.com/post/...er-and-dennis-castillo-charlotte-independence
Pfeffer seems the classic case of an early maturer. He got big young and allowed him to compete with pros but just never got any better
I don't know about that. I always thought he was a guy the Union signed out of their academy (along with Jimmy McLaughlin) just because they wanted to sign somebody out of their academy. The same reason Houston signed Navas Cobo. I mean, Zach Pfeffer played a bunch for virtually all of our youth teams. But can anybody list a bunch of impactful moments he's had for club and country since he was 18. I'd struggle with that.
That may indeed be true. But I think another reason it is true is that he was pretty strong even as a 16 year old. He just never really improve any of his skills.