Curb Your Enthusiasm: US Youth National Teams, Prospect Hype, and Youth Development Thread [The DA is DEAD updates]
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
Watching the live stream on YouTube. What a beautiful, idyllic location for a match. It's snowing in Chicago right now, so I'm quite jealous of Brady.
Harriel nodded home in 9'. The US is keeping disciplined and structured in defense, not really letting Guinea do much centrally. Then the US really pushes vertically when they win the ball. They're playing like a well coached side with a plan.
Harriel nodded home in 9'. The US is keeping disciplined and structured in defense, not really letting Guinea do much centrally. Then the US really pushes vertically when they win the ball. They're playing like a well coached side with a plan.
I guess we never posted the U19 (a.k.a. U20) camp roster.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2024/03/twenty-four-players-set-for-u19-mens-youth-national-team-matches-against-england-and-morocco
GOALKEEPERS (3): Gavin Beavers (Real Salt Lake; Henderson, Nev.), Julian Eyestone (Duke University; Dallas, Texas), Diego Kochen (Barcelona/ESP; Miramar, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (8): Matai Akinmboni (D.C. United; Upper Marlboro, Md.), Noahkai Banks (Augsburg/GER; Dietmannsried, Germany), Luca Bombino (LAFC; Saugus, Calif.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Reston, Va.), Drew Murray (Freiburg/GER; San Jose, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas), Neil Pierre (Philadelphia Union; Hershey, Pa.), Diego Rossi (Parma/ITA; New York, N.Y.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Ethan Kohler (Werder Bremen/GER; Campbell, Calif.), Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Paulo Rudisill (Feyenoord/NED; Irvine, Calif.), Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.), David Vazquez (Philadelphia Union; Los Angeles, Calif.)
FORWARDS (6): Cole Campbell (Borussia Dortmund; Peachtree City, Ga.), Kristian Fletcher (D.C. United; Bethesda, Md.), Favian Loyola (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Rodrigo Neri (Valencia/ESP; Madrid, Spain), Nighte Pickering (Memphis 901 FC; Birmingham, Ala.), Marcos Zambrano (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; Gladwyne, Pa.)
These are players born in 2005 and 2006. There are some top players from this age bracket missing, including winger Esmir Bajraktarevic (with the U23s), CM Benjamin Cremaschi (injured), RB Reed Baker-Whiting (injured), CM Niko Tsakiris (just back from injury), CM Obed Vargas (injured), and CB Josh Wynder (injured).
The game against England was a closed-door friendly, but my understanding is that England brought a strong squad. The US won 3-2 with a brace from Cole Campbell. Noel Buck started for the bad guys.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2024/03/twenty-four-players-set-for-u19-mens-youth-national-team-matches-against-england-and-morocco
GOALKEEPERS (3): Gavin Beavers (Real Salt Lake; Henderson, Nev.), Julian Eyestone (Duke University; Dallas, Texas), Diego Kochen (Barcelona/ESP; Miramar, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (8): Matai Akinmboni (D.C. United; Upper Marlboro, Md.), Noahkai Banks (Augsburg/GER; Dietmannsried, Germany), Luca Bombino (LAFC; Saugus, Calif.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Reston, Va.), Drew Murray (Freiburg/GER; San Jose, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas), Neil Pierre (Philadelphia Union; Hershey, Pa.), Diego Rossi (Parma/ITA; New York, N.Y.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Ethan Kohler (Werder Bremen/GER; Campbell, Calif.), Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Paulo Rudisill (Feyenoord/NED; Irvine, Calif.), Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.), David Vazquez (Philadelphia Union; Los Angeles, Calif.)
FORWARDS (6): Cole Campbell (Borussia Dortmund; Peachtree City, Ga.), Kristian Fletcher (D.C. United; Bethesda, Md.), Favian Loyola (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Rodrigo Neri (Valencia/ESP; Madrid, Spain), Nighte Pickering (Memphis 901 FC; Birmingham, Ala.), Marcos Zambrano (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; Gladwyne, Pa.)
These are players born in 2005 and 2006. There are some top players from this age bracket missing, including winger Esmir Bajraktarevic (with the U23s), CM Benjamin Cremaschi (injured), RB Reed Baker-Whiting (injured), CM Niko Tsakiris (just back from injury), CM Obed Vargas (injured), and CB Josh Wynder (injured).
The game against England was a closed-door friendly, but my understanding is that England brought a strong squad. The US won 3-2 with a brace from Cole Campbell. Noel Buck started for the bad guys.
Good to see Diego Kochen in the mix. There are strong rumors out of Barcelona that Spain are very interested in the young man. I was under the impression that Cruz Medina was starting to lean toward El Tri. His star has dimmed lately but I’d like to keep him in the red, white, and blue for a while.
Reports are Zambrano got the third in the friendly. Noel Buck, born in Arlington, Mass where red coats marched on April 19, 1775 and playing for the New England Revolution, while representing England will always make me cringe.
Reports are Zambrano got the third in the friendly. Noel Buck, born in Arlington, Mass where red coats marched on April 19, 1775 and playing for the New England Revolution, while representing England will always make me cringe.
It's a weird situation. His dad is English and grew up in England, so you can see the influence. But the strange thing is that he seems to hold some sort of weird grudge against the US program. I've heard from a reliable source that his current plan if England doesn't work out is to pursue Wales, for whom he is also eligible.
I don't know if he's mad that the USSF didn't have him play up a cycle with the last U20s or if he's mad Cremaschi got a shot before he did or what.
He made his debut for Philly's reserve team in MLS Next Pro today. I watched most of his sub appearance. He was definitely a 14 year old boy playing against men and lost the ball at times simply by being outmuscled by adults. He also did this:
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1772007495860420759
Mbappe says he wants to play in the Olympics, so yes, France is holding something back.
Live that the squad clawed back from 2 down with two very nice (almost mirror image) goals. Between this and the very poised performance against Guinea, have to say this was a successful window. They seem ready.
The vibes are marching forward.
View: https://twitter.com/chuckme92soccer/status/1772385489602990310
View: https://twitter.com/chuckme92soccer/status/1772385489602990310
The Nations League being characterized as "CONCACAF's only A-level competition" is freaking hysterical to me. We just kinda all agreed - us, Mexico, Canada, Keylor Navas - that our best guys are happy to take a 2-game window super seriously, but a 6-game summer cup against Caribbean dregs is just too damn much. Our A-team says: Here you guys go, every two years we get together and play an absolute banger of a game against Mexico, there, ya happy? Call us when there's some real work to be done, okay? We're kinda busy over here.
Cavan Sullivan reached a deal with Philadelphia and Man City. He's signing the biggest homegrown player deal in MLS history and then joining Man City at age 18.
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1773053014992884167
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1773053014992884167
I think it's been confirmed that Buck wasn't invited to the U20 World Cup (i.e. he didn't turn down the US, nor did the Revs block him) which seems like a pretty big snub since he was already a regular starter in MLS at that point. Earning Bruce Arena's trust at that age is no small feat either. His UK passport was scarcely noted before that, so I think I buy that theory.
in non-Cavan Sullivan news,
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1773026523215204829?s=20
I'm told he was left off the U17 WC roster in favor of the Galaxy's Harbor Miller, and thought it a snub. So this makes two US/ENG youth dual-nats in the hopper, to go with Buck. Neither of them on the Yunus Musah / Folarin Balogun track, it would appear, but I don't know much either way.
I can't keep him and Kristian Fletcher straight, but I think KF is a winger and it says here CM is a left back. We can always use the depth at both. KF's star has fallen a bit since it was reported that Dortmund was offering him a U19 contract as soon as he turned 18. At least he's getting more sub minutes for the DC United first team so far this year than he was getting last year.
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1773026523215204829?s=20
Tom Bogert (@tombogert) on X
Sources: Manchester City nearing a deal to sign England youth int'l LB Christian McFarlane from NYCFC.
No deal totally agreed/done yet, but close. McFarlane would move next winter after 18th birthday.
McFarlane, 17, highly-rated talent. Eligible for US. https://t.co/iVGQQm11Ix
I'm told he was left off the U17 WC roster in favor of the Galaxy's Harbor Miller, and thought it a snub. So this makes two US/ENG youth dual-nats in the hopper, to go with Buck. Neither of them on the Yunus Musah / Folarin Balogun track, it would appear, but I don't know much either way.
I can't keep him and Kristian Fletcher straight, but I think KF is a winger and it says here CM is a left back. We can always use the depth at both. KF's star has fallen a bit since it was reported that Dortmund was offering him a U19 contract as soon as he turned 18. At least he's getting more sub minutes for the DC United first team so far this year than he was getting last year.
The timing of everything seemed to many that he was upset that he didn’t get a call up to the September camp. His comments about not getting “the time of day” from the US came between the roster release and the camp itself, and Cremaschi did get called up, so it looked like that was a trigger. It’s entirely possible that he was upset about not getting into the U-20 squad. That was for the U-20 World Cup last year, and it made sense to keep the team as intact as possible with many of the same players who helped them qualify. I don’t know what his actual reasons are, though I’d hope that it is because he feels a strong connection to England and/or Wales, not because he feels snubbed.
Correction: you are mixing up your U17-eligible fullbacks named Miller. Harbor Miller '06 recently signed a homegrown contract with the LA Galaxy and is considered a decent prospect, but he's a RB and was not in the picture for the U17 WC squad last year. McFarlane's competition was Peyton Miller '07, a left back from Connecticut who has signed a homegrown contract with the Revs.
Miller is an athletic left back who was fairly recently converted from the wing, so he's a threat going forward and still learning the nuances of defense. I've read a few prospect watchers who prefer Miller to McFarlane, so this is not necessarily a snub or the wrong call in the long run. I don't have an opinion of my own, because I've only seen a bit of Miller and even less of McFarlane.
goes to show I should leave prospect news to the pros.
I just haven't heard much lately about who's entering the senior player pool picture, other than the handful of U20 WC guys like Paxten Aaronson and Diego Luna, Paredes, maybe Rokas Pukstas if he gets a move.
I just haven't heard much lately about who's entering the senior player pool picture, other than the handful of U20 WC guys like Paxten Aaronson and Diego Luna, Paredes, maybe Rokas Pukstas if he gets a move.
TBH, the main reason for this is simply that the senior player pool is rather static at this point in time. The last cycle (2018-22) was a perfect storm for wholesale roster turnover because the incumbents were either old guys on their last legs or Lost Generation placeholder types and therefore highly vulnerable to replacement, and there was a rising generation of good talent.
Now that good talent generation is in place and they're still young. Jedi Robinson, age 26, was the third oldest player who started against Mexico. The senior roster is now full of early-prime and entering-their-prime guys who are all either getting better or holding steady.
It's just a lot harder to break into the USMNT than it was four years ago and the 04-06 generation probably isn't going to be as strong as the cohorts ahead and behind them, for various reasons. We'll still get USMNT contributors from this cohort sooner or later though. The 04s are a shallow birth year but are exceptionally strong at GK (esp. Slonina and Brady), even though one of their top guys retired a year or two ago because he decided pro soccer wasn't for him and wanted to be in a band. GKs develop more slowly, so that will take time.
The spots that I think are most ripe for upgrading are:
1. GK — I've always been a fan of Turner but if he's in bad form, we're in a tough spot at this position
2. backup fullbacks — Scally is fine, but not invulnerable. Backup LB is worse; it doesn't even have a real incumbent and is basically like a rotating flavor of the season
3. CB — I don't think any of these guys are on the level of some starters at other positions. Richards can get there, but we need more top talent here. Unfortunately, the near-term pipeline at CB isn't looking great.
4. winger depth — with Reyna looking like primarily a CM option in the 4-3-3, it opens up competition behind Pulisic and Weah. Reyna, Wright, maybe Tillman can play out there, and there's also Aaronson, but a good winger has an opening here.
With Reyna's performances lately and the emergence of Johnny and Tillman, CM is looking pretty full. That being said, Johnny and Tillman still need to fully establish themselves in the USMNT. It's amazing what's happening at forward, where we have multiple guys killing it in good leagues who can't get an A team call (Vazquez, Pefok).
I'm not so worried about the that blip in 04-06 because, like TB said there are stronger looking classes coming up and we already know how the current (still very young) crop looks. It's entirely possible that players like Dest, Lund, Scally, Richards, Brenden Aaronson, Johnny, Yunus, Gio, Flo, Rico, Malik, Sargent, and Weah will be in the picture for the 2030 World Cup. A bunch of them will even be in their prime years then. Hell, CP and Tyler will be 31 and not totally out of the squad. It's just so much harder for young players to break into the squad now.
It feels like in a lot of cases the program just needs to hold on for the younger reinforcements to arrive. That's especially true at GK where there are several top prospects including Brady, Gaga, and Kochen. They won't all pan out, but betting odds are that one of them does. To a lesser extent that is true at fullback with players like JoGo, Bryan Reynolds, and Caleb Wiley. Gomez is a good example of what happens when players go to Europe at a young age. He transferred to Real Sociedad who put him on their B team in in the RFEF Primera (third tier in Spain) where most fans just lost track of players like him. This season he was loaned to Mirandes in La Segunda, and even diehard Spanish fans like Diaz, Bosox and myself aren't really going to watch them play. Sure, there are some sickos out there keeping tabs on him, but JoGo is goen from the national conscience. Since week 8, he's played in every game, only one off the bench, and going the full 90 for every game except for one other game. Meanwhile Sociedad have two left backs on their roster right now who will not be there next season, so it's possible that he ends up seeing time in San Sebastian by then. Real Sociedad are known for promoting players from within their youth ranks, and usually 60-70% of their senior roster is out of their academy.
CB is kind of worrying, but it's a late developing position regardless of what Pau Cubarsi is doing right now. Richards has looked good in the past for the US and has looked great recently at Palace. That being said, he was pretty bad this last window. I'm more inclined to think that it's just poor form at the moment. But past that things thin out quickly. I still like Jalen Neal a lot, and others like Wynder and Kobi Henry are in that same JoGo witness protection program. I hadn't really seen Noahki Banks play until last week and he looks promising too. There are some others too, and one or two will hopefully develop. Tim Ream will eventually be out of the picture so who partners with Richards becomes a very important question. CCV, Miles, Austin Trusty, and Mark McKenzie are all interesting but not inspiring. Again, it would be great if one or two of the younger guys hit a big developmental spurt in the next two years.
TB raises a great point with the striker pool. Years ago we were hoping for one of Sargent, Jesus, Dike, Pefok, or Wright to pan out. Pepi was just emerging. Zardes was still starting for the USMNT. Now we have Sargent and Wright doing well in the Champo, Pepi killing it off the bench at PSV, recruited Balogun. Pefok is still recovering from that miss in Mexico in terms of fan perception, but he's playing well for a legit Bundesliga club and can't get a sniff of the roster. It went from having no striker to trying out how to fit three on to a 23 man roster.
It feels like in a lot of cases the program just needs to hold on for the younger reinforcements to arrive. That's especially true at GK where there are several top prospects including Brady, Gaga, and Kochen. They won't all pan out, but betting odds are that one of them does. To a lesser extent that is true at fullback with players like JoGo, Bryan Reynolds, and Caleb Wiley. Gomez is a good example of what happens when players go to Europe at a young age. He transferred to Real Sociedad who put him on their B team in in the RFEF Primera (third tier in Spain) where most fans just lost track of players like him. This season he was loaned to Mirandes in La Segunda, and even diehard Spanish fans like Diaz, Bosox and myself aren't really going to watch them play. Sure, there are some sickos out there keeping tabs on him, but JoGo is goen from the national conscience. Since week 8, he's played in every game, only one off the bench, and going the full 90 for every game except for one other game. Meanwhile Sociedad have two left backs on their roster right now who will not be there next season, so it's possible that he ends up seeing time in San Sebastian by then. Real Sociedad are known for promoting players from within their youth ranks, and usually 60-70% of their senior roster is out of their academy.
CB is kind of worrying, but it's a late developing position regardless of what Pau Cubarsi is doing right now. Richards has looked good in the past for the US and has looked great recently at Palace. That being said, he was pretty bad this last window. I'm more inclined to think that it's just poor form at the moment. But past that things thin out quickly. I still like Jalen Neal a lot, and others like Wynder and Kobi Henry are in that same JoGo witness protection program. I hadn't really seen Noahki Banks play until last week and he looks promising too. There are some others too, and one or two will hopefully develop. Tim Ream will eventually be out of the picture so who partners with Richards becomes a very important question. CCV, Miles, Austin Trusty, and Mark McKenzie are all interesting but not inspiring. Again, it would be great if one or two of the younger guys hit a big developmental spurt in the next two years.
I would just send this word for word to the Koleosho camp...
TB raises a great point with the striker pool. Years ago we were hoping for one of Sargent, Jesus, Dike, Pefok, or Wright to pan out. Pepi was just emerging. Zardes was still starting for the USMNT. Now we have Sargent and Wright doing well in the Champo, Pepi killing it off the bench at PSV, recruited Balogun. Pefok is still recovering from that miss in Mexico in terms of fan perception, but he's playing well for a legit Bundesliga club and can't get a sniff of the roster. It went from having no striker to trying out how to fit three on to a 23 man roster.
I’m interested in learning more about Kochen. My naive assumption is that a kid coming up through La Masia is getting regular high level practice with his feet & is getting high level coaching on distribution.
Because the Chicago kids don’t get that. Igor Dimov, the Fire’s director goalkeeping for the academy & Fire II, prepares great shot stoppers. And he’s doing it again with the Pats - Patryk Stechnij & Patrick Los, both ‘07s who have been playing for Fire II and involved in some USYMNT set ups. But none of the kids in the Chicago pipeline play with their feet or get much experience with any distribution besides “send it long.” Zach Thornton, senior club keeper coach, has been doing a nice job helping Slonina and Brady improve in these areas, but it’s still rudimentary stuff by MLS standards.
The Fire have a great thing going with this keeper pipeline, so I’m not suggesting they mess around with it. But I wonder of Kochen brings a different skill set to the position that would give the US a dimension we’ve never had before.
Because the Chicago kids don’t get that. Igor Dimov, the Fire’s director goalkeeping for the academy & Fire II, prepares great shot stoppers. And he’s doing it again with the Pats - Patryk Stechnij & Patrick Los, both ‘07s who have been playing for Fire II and involved in some USYMNT set ups. But none of the kids in the Chicago pipeline play with their feet or get much experience with any distribution besides “send it long.” Zach Thornton, senior club keeper coach, has been doing a nice job helping Slonina and Brady improve in these areas, but it’s still rudimentary stuff by MLS standards.
The Fire have a great thing going with this keeper pipeline, so I’m not suggesting they mess around with it. But I wonder of Kochen brings a different skill set to the position that would give the US a dimension we’ve never had before.
For whatever reason I feel like I never end up worrying about CB, or at least less than other positions, historically. We’ve always been able to find guys even if it ends up being the next version of Zimmerman, nothing fancy but mostly competent and won’t kill you.
Of course, as rguilar says above, ideally we’d see the same kind of development at CB from a young guy that we’ve seen at, well, just about every other position.
Of course, as rguilar says above, ideally we’d see the same kind of development at CB from a young guy that we’ve seen at, well, just about every other position.
I am also someone that worries about the CB depth, whether for the USMNT/USWNT, the Revs or my son’s team. Lol
The CB position is also one of those late developing positions. Whether the skill set arrives later through physical maturation or just the fact that in youth levels it’s almost an afterthought. I had posted this link in one of the development threads last year:
http://www.americansoccernow.com/articles/where-are-the-young-american-centerbacks-a-look-at-the-ongoing-development-gap-in-the-back
There is a gap in the 2001-2004 years so far with just a few promising prospects. Jalen Neal is just one of a few in that age group.
The author interviews a few different people about their thoughts on it.
A couple of reasons are put forward:
Basically teaching everyone the same and not identifying CB players at the younger level and teaching specific Defensive techniques leads to some of the lack of talent at the position at younger level.
The CB position is also one of those late developing positions. Whether the skill set arrives later through physical maturation or just the fact that in youth levels it’s almost an afterthought. I had posted this link in one of the development threads last year:
http://www.americansoccernow.com/articles/where-are-the-young-american-centerbacks-a-look-at-the-ongoing-development-gap-in-the-back
There is a gap in the 2001-2004 years so far with just a few promising prospects. Jalen Neal is just one of a few in that age group.
The author interviews a few different people about their thoughts on it.
A couple of reasons are put forward:
- Covid related gap during core development years.
- A lack of developing of the position at a younger age, specifically the 11-13 age group
- The position is just a late bloomer one.
Basically teaching everyone the same and not identifying CB players at the younger level and teaching specific Defensive techniques leads to some of the lack of talent at the position at younger level.
In regards to Richards, how much of his struggles this past window come from playing in the DM role? Plus switching managers at club level, a lot is going on for him.
These are all fair points. The field condition itself might have played a role in his line breaking passes too, which seemed a little off. That being said, there were a few bad soccer plays by him this window, including when he inexplicably jogged back and got beat for speed against Jamaica leading to a 1v1 on Turner. He seemed unsure in the air as well, something he has improved over the years. I'm not worried about him going forward at all. I consider him the future rock in the center of the defense post-Ream.
I do have faith that the CB position will be fine long term for all of the reason above, and the article that @nayrbrey posted above really summarizes the reasons well. There are enough young guys out there, and the position does develop late. Last cycle, the USMNT was relying on guys like Matt Miazga, Aaron Long, Walker Zimmerman and so on. We forget that Tim Ream was on the outside looking in at one point during qualifying. One window, maybe the second qualifying window, he had to stay in London for family reasons. The next window he was not on the original roster but called in after another CB (Zim???) had to back out due to injury. The rest is history. As long as you have options, things tend to work themselves out.
The Tab quote at the end of the article speaks to it but I imagine in addition to it being a late bloomer position it is also a reflection of where we have been as a growing organization. At youth levels we probably aren't that far removed from playing hoofball while we figured out how to develop more skill in the midfield and all that. Now we can generally knock it around up and down the system so maybe you're free to think about the CB position in different ways than you were before. And we're just getting better at development in general.
We produce such great athletes with SIZE in this country, it's hard to imagine we can't channel that into real long-term success at the CB position.
We produce such great athletes with SIZE in this country, it's hard to imagine we can't channel that into real long-term success at the CB position.
Historically, I believe that part of the USMNT struggle to find good ball-playing center backs is that guys with size, athleticism, and a modicum of passing ability were used as DMs at the youth level, where they'd have more impact in terms of winning youth games, and switched to CB too late (or never at all).
It's hard to believe given his relative lack of on-ball ability, but Aaron Long was a CM through college and in his early pro career. He was dumped by two MLS organizations and going nowhere until RBNY signed him for their reserve team on the condition that he commit to playing CB. He was USL defender of the year in his first season there and the rest was history. USMNT fans love to hate Long, who even at his peak was middling for the US, but he had a spectacular career trajectory based on where he was after two pro seasons.
Geoff Cameron was a CM until his early pro career as well. George John, who was a FC Dallas CB I liked who never quite made the USMNT because of injuries, was another college CM --> pro CB conversion.
It just makes me wonder what's possible if players were ID'd as defenders at the pro level early on, so the conversions happened earlier. They get more reps at their long-term position and an earlier start on mastering the finer points. This is also true for the winger --> fullback conversion as well.
Anecdotally, it does seem like MLS academies are being more swift about determining if a prospect's true long-term position is further back on the field and pulling the trigger sooner. I wonder if the 2001-04 gap is still an echo of the right guys being stuck in the wrong position for too long.
The good news is that since CBs develop later, guys like Mark McKenzie may ultimately show that they've got more improvement in them. We'll see. I don't love the mantra of "there will surely be late bloomers", which was something that turned out to be empty wishcasting during the Lost Generation years. However, sometimes it pans out!
It's hard to believe given his relative lack of on-ball ability, but Aaron Long was a CM through college and in his early pro career. He was dumped by two MLS organizations and going nowhere until RBNY signed him for their reserve team on the condition that he commit to playing CB. He was USL defender of the year in his first season there and the rest was history. USMNT fans love to hate Long, who even at his peak was middling for the US, but he had a spectacular career trajectory based on where he was after two pro seasons.
Geoff Cameron was a CM until his early pro career as well. George John, who was a FC Dallas CB I liked who never quite made the USMNT because of injuries, was another college CM --> pro CB conversion.
It just makes me wonder what's possible if players were ID'd as defenders at the pro level early on, so the conversions happened earlier. They get more reps at their long-term position and an earlier start on mastering the finer points. This is also true for the winger --> fullback conversion as well.
Anecdotally, it does seem like MLS academies are being more swift about determining if a prospect's true long-term position is further back on the field and pulling the trigger sooner. I wonder if the 2001-04 gap is still an echo of the right guys being stuck in the wrong position for too long.
The good news is that since CBs develop later, guys like Mark McKenzie may ultimately show that they've got more improvement in them. We'll see. I don't love the mantra of "there will surely be late bloomers", which was something that turned out to be empty wishcasting during the Lost Generation years. However, sometimes it pans out!
Get the Cavan Sullivan hype train going…
https://theathletic.com/5374618/2024/03/29/cavan-sullivan-manchester-city-14/
It’s kind of crazy watching this video (from the article). Our 14yos look like absolute pros.
View: https://twitter.com/RonanSullivan12/status/1651411611632926720
https://theathletic.com/5374618/2024/03/29/cavan-sullivan-manchester-city-14/
It’s kind of crazy watching this video (from the article). Our 14yos look like absolute pros.
View: https://twitter.com/RonanSullivan12/status/1651411611632926720