Yanks Abroad 2017-18: Pulisic & Friends
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
I'm so pissed about this.
This is extremely frustrating. Gonzalez is undoubtedly under pressure from club, fans, media, parents, etc. But the USSF did not put their best foot forward with him. Dual nationals like Gonzalez like both the US and Mexico. It doesn't necessarily take much to sway him from one option that he likes to another option that he likes. There are factors that are working against the US (parents probably pro-El Tri, plays in Mexico) so you have to play this recruiting game of inches well. The USSF did not. Fuck this.
Sometimes these recruiting battles feel like a huge win or huge loss and don't amount to anything. I have a bad feeling about this one. We're not just talking about some academy kid like Green or Zelalem, this is a player who is getting business done in a good league at age 18. At a position where we desperately need help.
This is bad.
I'm so pissed about this.
This is extremely frustrating. Gonzalez is undoubtedly under pressure from club, fans, media, parents, etc. But the USSF did not put their best foot forward with him. Dual nationals like Gonzalez like both the US and Mexico. It doesn't necessarily take much to sway him from one option that he likes to another option that he likes. There are factors that are working against the US (parents probably pro-El Tri, plays in Mexico) so you have to play this recruiting game of inches well. The USSF did not. Fuck this.
Sometimes these recruiting battles feel like a huge win or huge loss and don't amount to anything. I have a bad feeling about this one. We're not just talking about some academy kid like Green or Zelalem, this is a player who is getting business done in a good league at age 18. At a position where we desperately need help.
This is bad.
Stories confirming are starting to pop up online. The Mexican Federation are being a bit coy, only saying that things are progressing but nothing signed yet.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, indeed.
It sucks, but you know what, whatever. We're not winning the World Cup during his career. He would've been nice to have, but maybe they'll learn from this and come correct with future prospects. I think it's important that we not live and die too much with US Soccer - because generally, it'll be more death than life.
And hey, maybe he turns out like Rossi and we end up not caring that much.
And hey, maybe he turns out like Rossi and we end up not caring that much.
I’m sure USSF didn’t do a great job but that Big Soccer post reads like a lot of spin to me. The biggest problem / f up is the USMNT didn’t qualify for the World Cup and Mexico did, not that a couple interim coaches didn’t reach out enough. With no WC, the US was the underdog especially considering he plays professionally in Mexico.
Tedesco is experimenting with Weston McKennie at CB during the winter break.
https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/schalke-s-domenico-tedesco-plays-weston-mckennie-in-defence-guardiola-style-467848.jsp
Christian Lucatero is reported to be signing with Necaxa in Liga MX. He was the Dynamo's most celebrated prospect, but he didn't get much playing time for their USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley over the last two years. They declined his option and offered him a USL contract. Understandably, he walked. I'll be really curious to see how he does south of the border - I don't have a feel for whether this is the Dynamo mishandling his development or whether he's just not that good.
http://www.chron.com/sports/dynamo/article/Ex-Dynamo-Christian-Lucatero-signs-with-Liga-12485540.php
DC United prospect Eryk Williamson is expected to sign overseas. DCU's central midfield situation is crowded and Ben Olsen is somehow still the coach; I'd look abroad too. There has been a rumor that Schalke is interested, which I am taking with a large grain of salt. I don't think Williamson is good enough for that move to make sense for either party. Scandinavia or maybe 2.Bundesliga would make more sense.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2018/01/08/d-c-united-expects-homegrown-prospect-eryk-williamson-to-sign-overseas/
Rubio Rubin's career is a ruin, but he still has interest per Goff:
https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/schalke-s-domenico-tedesco-plays-weston-mckennie-in-defence-guardiola-style-467848.jsp
Christian Lucatero is reported to be signing with Necaxa in Liga MX. He was the Dynamo's most celebrated prospect, but he didn't get much playing time for their USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley over the last two years. They declined his option and offered him a USL contract. Understandably, he walked. I'll be really curious to see how he does south of the border - I don't have a feel for whether this is the Dynamo mishandling his development or whether he's just not that good.
http://www.chron.com/sports/dynamo/article/Ex-Dynamo-Christian-Lucatero-signs-with-Liga-12485540.php
DC United prospect Eryk Williamson is expected to sign overseas. DCU's central midfield situation is crowded and Ben Olsen is somehow still the coach; I'd look abroad too. There has been a rumor that Schalke is interested, which I am taking with a large grain of salt. I don't think Williamson is good enough for that move to make sense for either party. Scandinavia or maybe 2.Bundesliga would make more sense.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2018/01/08/d-c-united-expects-homegrown-prospect-eryk-williamson-to-sign-overseas/
Rubio Rubin's career is a ruin, but he still has interest per Goff:
Jake Rozhansky signs for Maccabi Netanya in Israel. He's a central midfielder who spent two years at UVA and two at Maryland.
Mission accomplished, Tab Ramos has confirmed to Ives that Timothy Tillman will join the U.S. U-20 team for a training camp in March.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/ramos-bayerns-timothy-tillman-ready-to-join-us-u-20-team/gor3063lle2b1j8gdcwci2pzj
Since my original post last winter, Tillman has played in official games for Germany's U19s (last October). The U19s advanced to the next phase of U19 Euro qualifiers in March, so it's interesting that he's switching now. Tillman was a bench player for that squad, so perhaps he understands that he probably doesn't have a long-term future with Germany.
Tillman spent some time training with the first team during preseason and even got into a game or two, but from the chatter gleaned from Bayern fan boards, he's stagnated this year. While he's been playing regularly for Bayern II, he doesn't seem to be viewed as a player who could potentially have a future at the club. It's hardly damning if Bayern is above his ceiling, but we also don't have a good sense of his floor, either.
I certainly welcome his addition to the U20 pool if he follows through with switching to the US, but I'm not to excited just yet. Possibly because I'm too bitter from losing the guy who might have been our starting DM for the next decade.
Tillman spent some time training with the first team during preseason and even got into a game or two, but from the chatter gleaned from Bayern fan boards, he's stagnated this year. While he's been playing regularly for Bayern II, he doesn't seem to be viewed as a player who could potentially have a future at the club. It's hardly damning if Bayern is above his ceiling, but we also don't have a good sense of his floor, either.
I certainly welcome his addition to the U20 pool if he follows through with switching to the US, but I'm not to excited just yet. Possibly because I'm too bitter from losing the guy who might have been our starting DM for the next decade.
Things can be two things. They were behind the 8 ball by missing the WC but then proceeded not to call him or otherwise try to keep him in the US program. I’m shocked, SHOCKED that the 3 visits from bow tie wearing Dutch guy (aka USMNT lead scout Thomas Rongen) to an 18 year old Mexican American kid from California wasn’t enough.
An update on how Pulisic is getting on this season, and some analysis about his EPL future, how he's focusing, what he's working on.
Joel Soñora has gone on a year-long loan from Stuttgart to Talleres in the Argentine Primera.
http://www.clubtalleres.com.ar/joel-sonora-es-nuevo-refuerzo-de-talleres/
He's attacking midfielder who was once on the US U17 team back in 2013. Now he's 21 and seemingly going nowhere for Stuttgart II.
http://www.clubtalleres.com.ar/joel-sonora-es-nuevo-refuerzo-de-talleres/
He's attacking midfielder who was once on the US U17 team back in 2013. Now he's 21 and seemingly going nowhere for Stuttgart II.
Hopefully he finds a new loan before the end of the window. CCV started well, but his form has dipped lately and I think he was likely to play less in the second half of the season.
Pulisic has looked dangerous more than a few times vs Berlin but they're down 1-0. I know they're announcers for a US network but they've been hyping him up a lot too.
McKennie was subbed in on Sunday, then came out with a knee injury. Schalke now says he's out six weeks.
Could be worse.
Could be worse.
Wow, Man City!!!! It's the Return of Mix!!
More seriously, CFG is doing some shuffling here. Diskerud had a contract at NYCFC that the club wanted to get rid of. So now he signs for Man City, where he will undoubtedly be loaned out and hopefully sold for a modest profit at some point.
19 year old forward Alex Vedamanikam has signed with Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2.Bundesliga. He's from Albuquerque, spent some time with RSL academy, then played his freshman season at New Mexico where he was a rotational starter.
http://golobos.com/news/2018/1/29/mens-soccer-vedamanikam-inks-professional-contract.aspx
Never heard of him before.
http://golobos.com/news/2018/1/29/mens-soccer-vedamanikam-inks-professional-contract.aspx
Never heard of him before.
Steve Cherundolo has left Hannover U17 to take a job as an assistant with Stuttgart. Thus ends Cherundolo's continuous association with Hannover since 1999.
http://www.vfb.de/en/vfb/latest/news/professionals/2018/trainerteam-ilija-aracic-steven-cherundolo-/
Stuttgart's new manager Tayfun Korkut managed Hannover from 2013-2015.
http://www.vfb.de/en/vfb/latest/news/professionals/2018/trainerteam-ilija-aracic-steven-cherundolo-/
Stuttgart's new manager Tayfun Korkut managed Hannover from 2013-2015.
EPB has been loaned to Kortrijk in Belgium for the rest of the season.
I think a club of this stature is below his level, but he's being loaned at the end of the window and needs to be in a place where they'll want to use him right away.
I think a club of this stature is below his level, but he's being loaned at the end of the window and needs to be in a place where they'll want to use him right away.
Interesting day in the Bundesliga for the Yanks. Pulisic with a sub-par performance despite an assist. He was subbed off in the second half.
Old friend Aron Johansson came on as a sub and was very involved in Werder Bremen’s comeback at Schalke (McKennie obviously still out for a month more). He nearly knocked in a rebound that led to the first goal and had a nifty pass to set up the winner at the death.
https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1153018947671
Old friend Aron Johansson came on as a sub and was very involved in Werder Bremen’s comeback at Schalke (McKennie obviously still out for a month more). He nearly knocked in a rebound that led to the first goal and had a nifty pass to set up the winner at the death.
https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1153018947671
https://www.realmadrid.com/futbol/cantera/cadete-a/andre-luis-queiroz-costa
Andre Luiz Queiroz Costa, a 2002 at Real Madrid, is apparently a Brazilian-American who grew up in Miami. He previously spent a couple of years with Leganés.
Andre Luiz Queiroz Costa, a 2002 at Real Madrid, is apparently a Brazilian-American who grew up in Miami. He previously spent a couple of years with Leganés.
Matt Miazga has been fined by his club for grabbing an opponent's dick. He avoided suspension by the league, though!
That pass was filthy by him. Should have had a goal himself, too, at 63'. And it wouldn't have been a golazo for him to tap in the slightly-errant shot at 75', either.
Highlights here. Bobby Wood started at CF for Hamburg.
Highlights here. Bobby Wood started at CF for Hamburg.
I grew up with and played with a kid who was in the u15 and u17 USMNT cohorts...I remember him telling us how dudes were grabbing nuts all the time at that level on crowded set pieces.Matt Miazga has been fined by his club for grabbing an opponent's dick. He avoided suspension by the league, though!
He only played 4 games, but started 3 of them and played 250 minutes. Wonder if he got hurt?
UCLA midfielder Brian Iloski has signed with Legia Warsaw. Soccer adventures in central/eastern Europe rarely end happily (often without paychecks), but at least Legia is one of the biggest clubs out there.
Schalke announced that they will sign Atlanta United academy winger Zyen Jones when he turns 18 in August.
https://schalke04.de/knappenschmiede/personal/u19-zyen-jones-ab-saison-20182019-ein-schalker/
He was in the picture for the U17 World Cup last year, but ultimately didn't make the cut.
https://schalke04.de/knappenschmiede/personal/u19-zyen-jones-ab-saison-20182019-ein-schalker/
He was in the picture for the U17 World Cup last year, but ultimately didn't make the cut.
If it will bring us another Pulisic or two, I say let a thousand flame-outs burn. This is what we want, absolutely. If they're ready, if they're young, and if they're serious about their career, they have to go to europe. The top 1000 players in the world, the ones who make a difference at the world cup and make fortunes in their careers, are 95%+ in the big-5 leagues in Europe, or maybe big 5 plus Eredivisie and the English Championship. Aside from the odd trophy piece bought by a Chinese or Russian club, or MLS Designated Players I suppose, they're basically all there. The average Championship team would absolutely roast every team in MLS, and they pay their players like it, despite being a second division.
I'll absolutely let the odd Bedoya (who had a legit Ligue 1 career) or Johannsson, or the hundreds more that TB could probably name, go up in flames - because some of them rise to the challenge and will be far better players than they could ever become at home. Those who flame out can still make a journeyman career for themselves somewhere, perhaps back at home. Let's hope Andrew Carleton is next to try to climb the greasy pole.
So yeah, if this Jones kid can break through at Schalke, and Haji Wright have a good finish to his loan spell in the 2.Bundesliga, then between them and McKennie they will soon start getting appointment-viewing status for me, along with Dortmund, Newcastle and Stoke. With Hamburg (Wood) and Wolfsburg (Brooks) not far behind.
There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, IMO. In Jones' case, he's leaving behind a very crowded situation at attacking midfield at Atlanta (big stars, new foreign acquisitions, other domestic prospects like Carleton) and going to a well-regarded academy in Schalke, so it would seem to be a good move for him. In Year One, Atlanta was very impressive in most ways, but Tata has yet to show much inclination towards playing young players. Atlanta needs to change that to retain all of their academy talent.
Going overseas is usually a good move if (a) the Euro club is one that brings academy players through to the first team, (b) the player can psychologically handle the experience of moving overseas [loneliness, cultural barriers, etc], and (c) the player is willing to cut bait when the writing is on the wall instead of pulling a Junior Flores (who is unbelievably STILL on the books at Dortmund).
In limited viewings Jones has actually struck me as a guy who is more of an athlete than anything else and I'm a little surprised that Schalke signed him, but it's possible they like his raw materials and think they can teach him a few things. Or maybe he's just better than I think he is. They are clearly interested in American youth; McKennie looks like a big hit for them. I don't think Haji Wright is going to hack it there, but Nick Taitague might. They had a few other guys on trial a few months ago, too.
The best players want to play in the best leagues. MLS clubs have been investing heavily in youth infrastructure, but too many of them have not fully followed through by adopting an organization-wide philosophy that's inclined towards taking chances on young players and giving them playing time, then selling them when reasonable foreign offers come in. Resistance to selling is something that makes sense for individual clubs for two reasons. One, MLS clubs are weirdly "small" clubs on the global scale despite having largely big-time club owners in terms of wealth. They don't need the money like a middling Belgian league club might. Second, MLS rules are configured in such a way that player sales don't generate enough "usable" revenue that can be plowed back into salaries. Teams often get more on-field value by riding out a player's contract and letting him walk on a free.
I think what fans, media, and owners are now seeing is that the league needs to decide what it wants to be with regard to youth development. If they want to mostly resist selling players, they will retain some players, but those players will possibly stagnate AND other players with eyes on Europe will bypass the league entirely.
We are seeing teenaged players bypass MLS at an increased rate because the US is scouted heavily now, the number of talented teenagers with good potential is possibly larger, and because players talk. MLS now has a well-known and well-deserved reputation for being too conservative with young players and too conservative/unreasonable about selling good players. I think MLS can and should be part of the pathway to the best teams and leagues in Europe, but we need to see more affirmative steps made by the league and individual clubs in order to make that happen.
Danny Barbir, a 20 year old center back, has signed with Astra Giurgiu in the Romanian League.
http://www.afcastragiurgiu.ro/stiri/stiri-club/1262-danny-barbir-–-3-ani-si-jumatate-la-astra.html
Barbir was on the 2015 U17 squad while he was in West Brom's academy. He didn't make it at West Brom and signed a USL contract with Vancouver last September. The Whitecaps shut down their USL team this winter because they don't meet D2 standards and Barbir wasn't offered an MLS deal.
I've heard that Barbir hasn't progressed much since his U17 days, but we'll see. He was one of those kids who was close to fully physically developed at age 16, so that's not too surprising. U21 center backs are not a big area of concern for the US player pool, anyway.
Other than Steaua, Romanian clubs seem to come and go. I'm guessing most are unsustainably funded by rich businessmen who lose interest and/or capital. Astra has risen to prominence recently, playing in Europe in each of the last five seasons, twice reaching the Europa League group stage after notable playoff round victories over Lyon and West Ham.
EDIT: I should also note that Barbir is Romanian-American, so it's not too surprising to see him pop up there.
http://www.afcastragiurgiu.ro/stiri/stiri-club/1262-danny-barbir-–-3-ani-si-jumatate-la-astra.html
Barbir was on the 2015 U17 squad while he was in West Brom's academy. He didn't make it at West Brom and signed a USL contract with Vancouver last September. The Whitecaps shut down their USL team this winter because they don't meet D2 standards and Barbir wasn't offered an MLS deal.
I've heard that Barbir hasn't progressed much since his U17 days, but we'll see. He was one of those kids who was close to fully physically developed at age 16, so that's not too surprising. U21 center backs are not a big area of concern for the US player pool, anyway.
Other than Steaua, Romanian clubs seem to come and go. I'm guessing most are unsustainably funded by rich businessmen who lose interest and/or capital. Astra has risen to prominence recently, playing in Europe in each of the last five seasons, twice reaching the Europa League group stage after notable playoff round victories over Lyon and West Ham.
EDIT: I should also note that Barbir is Romanian-American, so it's not too surprising to see him pop up there.
Junior Flores is only 21, but his career has been riddled with an unbelievable amount of bad injury luck and terrible career management.