Youngsters in MLS (1997 or later)

People want TEP to play regardless of if they are good or not and can actually help the team now is one of my takeaways from this board.

 

I wonder if Dallas missed their best shot at selling Acosta. Last spring, he looked good in CCL, looked good in the qualifier at Azteca, and was obviously a year younger. Then he (and the club) had a real dip in form, and now he's just coming back from injury. He now might be too old to be of interest to the develop and sell leagues (Belgium and Holland) and not good enough for the finished product leagues (Bundesliga and EPL).

 

Maybe. But we have no credible reports that FCD ever received offers for Kellyn Acosta. In order for there to be a seller, there needs to be a buyer. All I ever saw was gossip.

From the vantage point of a team gunning for trophies, it didn't make sense for FCD to sell Acosta last Spring anyway. They were clearly "going for it." Midway thru last season the club was challenging for the Supporter's Shield. We still thought of them as a contender. Hayes wasn't viewed then as he is now.

Then the frickin' wheels fell off the bus..............................!!!!! One of the most dramatic implosions in league history.

I understand where you're coming from on this, though.

 

Was Pomykal injured to start the season? No, he just didn't play.

Was Servania injured to start the season? Maybe, its hard to know. Its a fair point about Ferreira, but now he's fit, so its no longer a viable excuse.

 

Yeah, I wasn't implying that it was Dallas's fault. Sometimes there's just unforeseeable bad turns of events that cause a season and a player's form to go in the toilet.

I was just trying to suggest that it's not as simple as "sell Acosta so that younger guys can get minutes."

 

Why are people so confused about this:

Before the season started I said Pax was going to be a reserve player with sporadic starts depending on fixture congestion/injuries. Mauro Diaz is the starting #10, and it turned out that it was Pax who was out with knee surgery. And it wasn't a sudden, impact injury like an ACL tear. It was something that was hampering his play prior to the surgery. Everybody gets this, right? Did people not see the Dallas Cup game against Arsenal? Did they not see that he wasn't right? I don't get it.......................

Nothing has changed here. When Pax is fully fit, and by going 90 against Tigres U20s it seems he's just about there, he'll be back in the 18. Just like he was before the surgery. And I still predict that he'll start some games.

As far as Servania goes, he was never going to be in the 18 as a rookie to start the season. We all knew that. He was always going to build into a role as the season progressed. Unfortunately his surgery put him behind schedule a little bit. If FCD wasn't deep in central midfield, maybe this would be a different story. This past weekend they started 3 American central midfielders in Acosta, Hayes, and Ulloa. With Carlos Grueso, a full Ecuadorian international, on the bench.

I'm as big of a fan of Servania, Pax, and the kids at FCD as anybody. I want them to play. But it has to make sense.................

 

FCD even said prior to the season, they were envisioning a Reggie Cannon 2017 role for Servania, which was get acclimated to being a professional soccer player in MLS, play USOC if healthy and get ready to be a factor in 2019.

This is better than a spring and fall of college soccer and not taking care of the injury that had been bothering him for years.

 

Once Pax plays, everything will make sense again. Until that happens, I'm going to hold you personally accountable.

Anyways, back to the Acosta stuff.

7/17/2017:
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...urce=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_m_medium=t

Clavijo says there's interest after a strong Gold Cup, but no offers. "We are a team that would like to move players, but at the same time, we need to make sure we are ready to win a championship. We want to win an MLS Cup championship. I don’t say we are not moving forward in making any [transfer], but we’re not looking to make any moves." He continues on about how they'd prefer to get it done in January since they want to make a run and don't have great cover at that time.

7/31/2017:
https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2017/0...opean-interest-ideally-now-would-be-the-time/

Acosta says if he's going to move, that transfer window would have been ideal because of preseason and being integrated before the World Cup (lol).

8/15/2017:
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2017/08/15/dan-hunt-offers-kellyn-acosta

Hunt says there's no offers for Kellyn, but more than anything else I think that's more with Dallas not wanting to sell because of their season in progress unless it's a boatload of cash.

End of MLS Season:
Dallas falls apart, people say Kellyn looks bad after a long season with a Gold Cup in the middle, and needs time off.

1/3/2018:
https://www.fcdallas.com/post/2018/01/03/fc-dallas-signs-homegrown-midfielder-brandon-servania

Servania signs, Clavijo says in the video that Kellyn is "maybe going somewhere".

2/22/2018:
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...elder-kellyn-acosta-sidelined-six-eight-weeks

Kellyn gets injured, and he's just now back in the thick of things with Dallas.

So yeah, Dallas definitely missed their window with Kellyn because they just weren't that interested in selling. However, rereading these quotes, I'm inclined to think that they do plan on getting Kellyn out of Dallas this summer. They have Hayes to take over now, and this is the absolute latest that Kellyn would've wanted to leave.

 

Pomykal left a Dallas Cup match, and soon after he had surgery. Didn't play another game prior to the surgery, so to say it was definitely something that he was hampering him isn't something that I think we know to be true. I think that sounds like a sudden injury. Unless you have information that we don't, which you haven't shared already, I don't know why we'd believe it was the reason why he wasn't playing before he got injured. And then to think that, we'd also have to assume Dallas knew about it, and was "managing" it at that time.

Besides, just because you didn't expect him to play that much doesn't mean that everyone else should hold that opinion. I think you stated you thought he'd play 1000 minutes this season. Just for arguments sake, lets adjust that to 750 for him missing 8 of 34 games though injury. He's missed so far about 8 weeks and we were told the injury would be a 4-6 week injury. 8 of 34 games also isn't 1/4, but why not be generous with the math here to FCD? He's still not going to play 750 minutes this season. Last season he played 282. Will he reach that? I think probably not.

I don't know how this is defensible in any way, unless you are under the belief he's regressed, and not worthy of these minutes. He missed the exact same amount of time last season, so we can't blame the injury. Making the bench doesn't matter. The minutes do. There is never going to be a situation where FCD has absolutely terrible players all around their attacking positions that allows Pomykal to get unlimited minutes. If FC Dallas plans on developing him, he'd cut into the minutes of players with better resumes. How is it alright for Reynolds to play out of position at the other end of the field (a striker playing RB), but we have to confine Pomykal to only playing the #10? He's not allowed to play either wing?

 

Forgot about these graphs, which I think are way more fun to look at. They're U20 graphs, which is 1 year younger than thread eligible, but they're more revealing to me. This means to count this year you're a '98, last year you were a '97, etc.

This is where you really see an improvement for playing time. I changed the colors to separate U20 WC years.

 

-dallas signs lots of homegrowns
-dallas also loses some really good local kids to europe
-a few BS posters, "dallas doesnt develop homegrowns'
-well dallas just started 4 (FOUR!!) at the weekend
-oh..... well they all aren't USMNT caliber
-also, a few of the younger ones have been hurt to start the year
-oh.... was player X hurt? "maybe, it is hard to know" (LOL at this line)


rinse and repeat the dallas convo, yet one specific poster will always disregard facts presented. its clockwork.

 

People should be complaining about the Dynamo vs NYCFC game which had nothing besides domestic goalkeepers and 1-2 old Americans.

And idk why everyone gives up on any US player that stays in the MLS past 22. Although I have to admit I pay less attention to them.

Look at the year Zimmerman has been having so far. He sucked in years prior even though he looked promising years ago. Yes you can argue he’s got one of the best CBs next to him, but the defensive plays he’s making and the consistency are still impressive. And yes it’s still a bit early.

 

For 2018, I assume the minutes are projected for the year? If so, I wonder if they will change significantly as the year progresses? (I would guess that more minutes would be given later in the year)

Also, maybe I'm missing something but do you have any idea why the U20 minutes woud be greater during a world cup year?

 

Andrew Carleton is traveling to New England with Atlanta’s first team. Hopeful that he gets minutes.

 

Yeah, I just ratio'ed the minutes based on how many games the teams have individually played so far. I agree that you'd expect minutes for young players to increase as the year goes on.

As to minutes for U20's being higher in the WC years, I noticed the same thing and was confused. It doesn't really make sense, but the trend is so obvious it's hard to ignore. Here's my best guess:

Prior to this year, the year's with WCs have more minutes, and those are the years that include the oldest odd number years. On top of that, those players are eligible for the WC itself. In prior years, it has always been difficult to develop even-year players because there was no step between the U17s/DA and MLS, unless the player was good enough to play a year up at the WC level. Considering the U20 WC qualifying squad is filled with a bunch of players who are the oldest year eligible, those guys get a lot of quality minutes internationally, and come back to MLS and play a bunch of minutes. Since there aren't a lot of guys who get a lot of minutes for the U20s who are even years, that doesn't happen for them.

That's the best I can come up with. If what I said is even remotely true, then it makes sense that there's a bunch more U20 minutes since younger guys have played loads of USL minutes (McKenzie, Trusty, Durkin, etc. all lived there last year). I'm sure there's more to it, but that's my best guess. Still confusing, though.

By extension, this supports the idea that even now, these boards underestimate the impact of USL. Prior, it was difficult to become an MLS player after the DA because pro minutes are almost required to make the leap. The issue with that, of course, is that MLS minutes are needed to make the jump to MLS minutes, which obviously is an issue. Now with USL, players don't need MLS minutes to play 1500 minutes the next year at MLS. I don't remember who was doing the research (it may have been you) about breakout players, but USL is about to shift the whole paradigm.

 

Thanks! I think that what you said makes sense and is a plausible explanation. Because the U20 minutes are relatively low in number (even less than U21), they are much more sensitive to one or two players getting large numbers of minutes (and they count for a shorter period of time which leads to more drastic year to year shifts). but your hypothesis is the key.... a small number of players getting much greater playing time for those years could lead to those drastic but consistent year to year swings in minutes.

 

Just so we're all on the same page, its great that dallas loses good local kids to Europe. That's fine. South America and Mexico too. They can only sign so many. What on Earth would Dallas do in midfield if they'd also signed McKennie, Hyndman, and Parks? What if Alejandro Zendejas wasn't sold? There are other DFW developed midfielders like Dillon Powers, Lee Nguyen, and company.

Rising US star McKennie pays tribute to years spent in FC Dallas academy
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...share_button&utm_campaign=social_share_button

 

Teams should start looking for midfielders made in Dallas?

 

Terrific! and timely article from Buzz at 3rd Degree / DMN concerning the state of the developmental players and how the y progress from that to being in the game day rotation.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/soccer/soccer/2018/06/03/crossing-gulf-fc-dallas-roster-divide

Since it's behind a paywall (one of the few things keeping me paying for a prescription BTW) I will talk about a couple of points. He lists players in two groups - those who are ready for games and those in development. He talks about how Hayes and Cannon did the work last year for their chance this year and that Pomykal and Servania might have crossed the line into being ready were it not for being injured and he expects them to push again.

 

FCD is really good from U12 to U17. After that, they are better than 2/3's of MLS teams, which is not saying much. U17-U23 they are not in the same ballpark as NYRB and are being outpaced by Philly and RSL too. But still probably better than 2/3rds of the league. Sad but true.

All the above from a USMNT perspective. Probably a 26 yr old HG starting for FCD is good for them.

 

There's nothing in there that should be a surprise for those involved in these threads. Pomykal had crossed the development bridge and was involved with the first team prior to his injury. Now its just about reintroducing him to a squad that's been firing on all cyclinders in his absence. Not as easy as it sounds. We're hearing great things about Servania, and his debut should be coming. Ferreira is a little further back and a couple of injuries in a row have really hampered his ability to move up the depth chart. As Buzz says about Reynolds............

The sky's the limit with Reynolds, but that's a long ways off. Honestly, at this point, he's as likely to never play in MLS for FCD as he is to become a star.

 

Andrew Carleton started today against DC United and had a pretty good game considering it was his first MLS start. I was at the game and the loudest non-goal cheer of the entire time was when he was announced in the line-up and when he was subbed off.

Here is his post-match session with the press:


Got an interview with the local sports radio station here in Atlanta

.@andrewcarleton7 is on the Full-Time Report right now with @MikeConti929 & @Longshoe. @ATLUTD with a 3-1 win today!! pic.twitter.com/qYxJeZpYfV

— 92.9 The Game (@929TheGame) July 21, 2018

And here is his assist that doesn't actually count as an assist because it took a deflection in the box off the head of a DC player

What a move, @AndrewCarleton7
What a finish, @JosefMartinez17#ATLUTD takes the lead! https://t.co/liwG485otH

— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) July 21, 2018

here is he talking about that goal in particular

.@andrewcarleton7 had quite the game for his 1st #MLS start.

Here's what he said about the level of play, his cross on Josef's second goal and how he can finish on some of those goal chances. #ATLUTD #UniteAndConquer pic.twitter.com/j3r0XxDXO5

— 11Alive Sports (@11AliveSports) July 21, 2018

All in all, he played his butt off and it was great to see Tata applauding him every time he did something well with the ball. Tata was visibly impressed with him and gave him a nice greeting when he came off the field. I think a lot of that has to do with the defensive work he put it, which is priority #1 for anyone on the field in Tata's system. Speaking of his defense, Atlanta's first goal started with Carleton intercepting Rooney's pass and leading the attack.

1020767610365988864 is not a valid tweet id

He had two shots on goal that went straight to the keeper but I'll say that's still good considering half of our team tends to blast shots into the 10th row. He had control over both shots, he just needed to hit them a little more to the left or right

He had several nice moments where he received the ball in tight spots and switched the field. All in all, he just showed a lot and I'm really exciting because he definitely earned himself more time after today.

 

Here's a cool moment:

I asked @andrewcarleton7 if he allowed himself to think about playing against a legend in Wayne Rooney. His answer will surprise you. #ATLUTD #5Stripes @ATLUTD pic.twitter.com/sTfec1MVkk

— Caleb Johnson (@ATLjohnson18) July 21, 2018

When asked about sharing the field with Wayne Rooney: "Playing against someone who's been one of the best players in the world was a really awesome feeling, but I think I was more excited about being out there with Chris Durkin, someone that i grew up playing with in the NT... It was a pretty special moment to be out there battling with him."

 

Looking at Andrew Carleton makes me feel so old

 

Ezequiel Barco benched after alleged romantic overtures toward teammate’s girlfriend

Well, I expect this means Carleton's teammates will certainly be rooting for him to keep Barco on the bench now..