Youth Yanks Abroad (1997s or later)

If we are in the business of being fair, he played like 500 minutes last season. He didn't play a lot and play poorly (like Julian Green for example), he played very little. The other Schalke loanee had the same problem. He did pretty well in the games he played. He started off very well, and was unlucky to not get more goals than he scored. Then he had a few bad games, and he played a handful of minutes the rest of the season. He had lost his spot. Thats what some of these loans are like. I see no reason to be concerned about his future. He's a talented player. He actually outplayed McKennie last preseason, if anyone here remembers.

 

'00

Best rumor of the week was about the Roma - US club partnership. It sounds like there is a chance that agreement is starting to pay off. PDA left back Gennaro Nigro impressed Roma during a training stint earlier this year. There might be a contract in the future?

— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) June 26, 2018

 

Haji went on loan to B2 where you have to play better than everybody else on the team to stay in the squad. On his best days he was average so sandhausen dropped him from the squad.

 

Yup. That's the good part about going on those types of loans, but also the bad part. Sanhausen is interested in winning games, not giving players development opportunities.

Bundesliga 2 is a brutal competition man. The gap between 4th place and relegation was 8 points. No time for "learning experiences." There's no such thing as a comfortable mid-table team there.

 

Wright's a guy worth holding out hope for. Some of the stuff he did, especially at the U17 level, amounted to "pwnage," but there were also signs of some vision, creativity, quick and positive decision-making in the box, and good finishing technique with power and placement. All of that given his physical gifts would seem to make him well worth investing in. At some point the guy was going to take some lumps as a young professional, and I guess we'll see where it goes from here. There's talent there to be sure.

 

I’m not convinced he’s anything special on a McKennie level. But you don’t need to be special to start at forward for the US team.

 

It would be great if Wright reached that level, but even hitting the Bobby Wood mark of not quite good enough for the Bund, but pretty solid in BII is enough to make a player at worst 3rd team right now.

 

It was his first year at the 2.Bund level, and unfortunately he didn't really show much with one goal in 586 minutes over 15 appearances. That said, it was his first year and he has room to continue to develop and prosper. I have seen a variety of players at that age struggle and then put it together and vice versa, have a good year and then fade. He is 20 this year, so let's see if he can hit the Conor Casay level of production at that age in the 2.Bundesliga with 7 goals in 19 appearances.

 

Wood really didn't break out in B2 until age 23. He scored like 6 total goals from in age 20, 21 and 22 seasons. Obviously, we want players that are better than Bobby Wood, but way to early to write him off at this point.

I would no longer consider him an elite prospect, but still the type that could turn into a good pro and USMNT player.

 

If the current U.S. "elite" standard is a Big 5 league contributor by 20, well, it didn't happen. But that's not the standard for MNT contributors at this point, as has been noted. On the flip side, he arguably hasn't done much more (or less) than, say, Mario Rodriguez managed at the same age. It doesn't look like Rodriguez is on track to catch up to Wood, which just illustrates how big the gap is I suppose.

 

Wright obviously still has work to do to even reach Wood level. This season will be a big one for him. Hopefully he can get consistent playing time.

 

Well Wood also blew out his knee right about at the same age Haji is now. So that goes a long way to explaining some low goal numbers. But yes hopefully Haji can be a typical American late bloomer. That's certainly better than nothing.

 

He's not really a late bloomer. He's been one of the best and most talented in his age group for years, as DMN said. How I would term it is that he will likely take longer to develop than Pulisic, McKennie, etc because he plays a more "toolsy" game that won't manifest itself as quickly as some other types of games will. Those guys play relatively simple, straight forward, very athletic and hard working games. CF's take longer to develop (than any other position) to begin with, and Wright's more of a raw, toolsy player than a polished CF.

It doesn't help that he barely got any minutes last season. Give it a few seasons. Altidore only had 22 goals in his first 105 pro games. Then at 21/22 with AZ, he broke out.

 

Wright is definitely not one to give up on. This past season was a relative disappointment, but few if any other US youth strikers have his raw talent. He's a year and a half younger than Novakovich, who is fairly firmly in the national team pool moving forward, and just got off a (very good) season in the Dutch second division. Nova, too, looked to have a toolsy game, that now has seemed to come together.

 

Can't emphasize that enough.

For players born in 1998 or later playing in what I'll say are the 9 most relevant leagues in Europe to Americans (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Portuguese 1st Division, Eredivisie, Championship, 2. Bundesliga), Haji logged the 90th most minutes. Out of players Transfermarkt lists as center forwards, secondary strikers, or strikers, he ranks 12th.

If anything, the signs point to him being an early bloomer. We're used to Christian and Weston type explosions right now, but using the same rankings, Weston ranks 50th and Christian ranks 8th. That is very not normal.

 

Just to put my comments into context, I don’t think Novakovich is all that special either. If I had a draft pick I’d take Wright long term. The problem I guess is I follow US prospects and I follow just general football prospects and the levels, except for a few guys, are so dramatically different when I say I don’t see anything special from these guys it doesn’t mean they might not have US careers, it’s just that they won’t raise the US level at all.

 

Dillon Keane ('01) signs with Stoke.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkgQ_1Whefl/

 

The problem with Wright is we just don't get to see him that much. I don't think any of us have a really good feeling for where his game is at.

Yes, he was good for the U17s. Yes, he was good for Schalke U19s.
But we can make a list of players that were really good at youth levels that never made that "next step" for whatever reason.

Yes, the forward pool for the USMNT is pretty shallow. But we do have guys that actually play on a regular basis. Julian Green played over 2000 minutes last season in Bundesliga II. Just being on a living and breathing forward doesn't get you callups. Haji needs to take the "next step." I personally wouldn't even have him in my U23s right now.

What I kinda worry about is Haji Wright becoming Brek Shea 2.0.
That's not a terrible thing. Brek has USMNT caps and a long pro career. I just kinda look at Haji (when I've seen him) and think "What difference making skills does he have?" He's got good technical skills for a guy that's 6'4." Yeah. But a pro club is going to use a smaller guy with better technical skills. He's got really good physical tools, but are they difference making physical tools? I don't see it yet.

I haven't given up on him. Its kinda like Mukwelle Akale. What am I supposed to do with Mukwelle Akale? At some point you actually have to do something in first team football in order for me to take notice. A kid can't be a "prospect" forever. These are 21 year olds.

 

I watched most of his appearances, and gave reports at the time. He was doing well. Unlucky not to have another two or three goals. That kind of happens for most players in their first pro games. They are somewhat wasteful in front of goal. And some of it was bad luck. As i had mentioned, his teammates hit the post I think twice when they should've scored on what would've been assists from him. Once that team's injured players returned, he wasn't given a chance the rest of the season.

He's not Brek Shea. Brek Shea is a different type of player. That comes off as a lazy comparison, IMO. They don't even play the same position.

 

Celta is interested in Amon. Maybe in a season, but he's been too stop/start the past half season. He needs games, and to build up a solid level.

Jugadores muy interesantes en el @FCNordsjaelland , como el central Victor Nelsson, el LI Mads Pedersen, el EI Jonathan Amon, 19, 21 y 19 años respectiamente.

— Paco Chavarria (@ferreries1000) June 25, 2018

 

Agree. He needs a full club season before a move up and hopefully able to showcase his talents at the U20 WC.

 

Check out @USAprospects’s Tweet:

'02 #usynt Maximilian Göggel makes jump to Stuttgart U19s https://t.co/JITcB7Qy9P

— Joey (@USAprospects) July 2, 2018

 

Ayy, Ballistic United product. Neato. I wonder if he really is from SF, or somewhere closer in the East Bay. Anybody know?

 

Ben Lederman trialing with Gent?
http://www.voetbalnieuws.be/news/308505/aa-gent-denkt-aan-exspeler-van-fc-barcelona

 

🖊 | Contract extension to Jonathan Amon!

The 19 year old winger have signed a new contract until 2022

Read more 👇🏻https://t.co/KagJmZRZhj#Amon2022 #vierfcn pic.twitter.com/r4COAiF2Ni

— FC Nordsjælland 🐯 (@FCNordsjaelland) July 3, 2018