World Cup 2022 - Qatar

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:54 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:14 pm I used to have a spreadsheet for Yanks Abroad back in the day. We've talked about it... It was something like 20-30 guys, most of them kicking around places like Sweden or second division in Holland or way down the ladder in England. 90 percent of the guys we tracked had dual citizenship or something that got them around the work visa issues.

These days, not only is Yanks Abroad damn near impossible to fully follow, but you need a spreadsheet for the guys coming out of the academies in the 15-16 yo range to have any hope of staying current. Let alone which of those guys are seeing serious European interest.

We're moving into the land of needing Rivals or other high school football and basketball services to track these kids... I'm not really trying all that hard, but it's something we didn't use to have to really think about or put effort into. You'd hear about Landon or Freddy or whoever long before they hit the professional scene. Lots of hype, because there were only a handful of guys emerging every few years. Almost all of them would start to debut on U17 teams, which was the easy way to keep tabs. Now we've got guys like that popping up in their first year of MLS as a 17-year-old kid and unless that's your MLS club, you have no idea who they are.

Pretty fucking cool, really.

I used to obsessively follow Yanks Abroad, reading how Americans fared every week in all the major Euro leagues. I even somewhat followed guys in random leagues in Asia. Once we hit that patch where there were a lot of Americans in the EPL, I most just followed them and few guys in Germany and Holland. Especially when Beasley was getting Champions League time at PSV. At some point, I scaled back my soccer time to just Arsenal and the USMNT games, I don't spend much time reading or watching beyond that. I was watching Dortmund games during Pulisic's time and following with Reyna, but now that it's pay platform only, I'm out. I never watched MLS, but I used to at least know the names of star players before their USMNT call ups. I guess from reading articles about up and coming players getting consideration, or who might be called in a year down the road, and I guess I don't really find those articles anymore.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:25 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:31 pm https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler-s ... 0&yt0=Show

Well, there you go. Punch in U17 and you come up with 44 dudes.

Remarkable.

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:52 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:25 pm
mister d wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:31 pm ...g.ri.n.d.r...
Well, there you go. Punch in U17 and you come up with 44 dudes.

Remarkable.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:57 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:52 pm
Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:25 pm
mister d wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 2:31 pm ...g.ri.n.d.r...
Well, there you go. Punch in U17 and you come up with 44 dudes.

Remarkable.

Well played.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:59 pm

Seems wrong but I'll take your word for it. Really 44 16-17 olds getting starts in MLS? Guess I'm biased cause Atlanta united is all I see.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 4:14 pm

Why do we (and Colorado) have a 17 year old named Yaya Toure who isn't Yaya Toure's kid?

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:39 pm

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:59 pm Seems wrong but I'll take your word for it. Really 44 16-17 olds getting starts in MLS? Guess I'm biased cause Atlanta united is all I see.

I mean, I wasn't saying that... It's 44 guys that according to that website have some kind of value in the transfer market. Very quick scroll through and I'd say the bulk of these kids are on "farm teams."

But just opening the filter up to U18 and that's what's up.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:30 pm

Gonna rename the kid N'Golo Kante and see if he gets a look

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 6:32 pm

Early this year I kept getting invited to DC United season ticket holder events (which I am not). But the meetings were just web meetings where they would have a topic and speakers. One of them was a conversation with the academy staff. They talked about what they look for in players, how they tactically are developing the kids, what training opportunities look like, how they evaluate, and the path up the ranks from academy to Loudon United to DC and beyond (with exit ramps for leaving the academy, college, pro-path, and non-DC United pro-paths). It was an interesting discussion and perspective. And why some players are signed at certain times and others are not.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:32 pm

How many kids from here make it to international club or national team without going through an MLS academy?

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:40 pm

No idea. All I know are anecdotes. Pulisic was not an Academy player.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:55 pm

tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:40 pm No idea. All I know are anecdotes. Pulisic was not an Academy player.

He was a us development academy kid with the PA.Classics. In think Michigan Rush was a similar club. And he has a year in England as a kid.

The MLS academies are not the only Academy style clubs. Sargent's team in St Louis, the Bethesda teams that Gedion Z and other DC area kids play for are similar.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:08 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:55 pm
tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:40 pm No idea. All I know are anecdotes. Pulisic was not an Academy player.
He was a us development academy kid with the PA.Classics. In think Michigan Rush was a similar club. And he has a year in England as a kid.

The MLS academies are not the only Academy style clubs. Sargent's team in St Louis, the Bethesda teams that Gedion Z and other DC area kids play for are similar.

I mean...ok. Pipeline up here where Q played is an Academy style club. But it's not Academy. It's not like Pulisic came through Philadelphia Union like Aronsen did.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:23 pm

tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:08 pm
wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:55 pm
tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:40 pm No idea. All I know are anecdotes. Pulisic was not an Academy player.
He was a us development academy kid with the PA.Classics. In think Michigan Rush was a similar club. And he has a year in England as a kid.

The MLS academies are not the only Academy style clubs. Sargent's team in St Louis, the Bethesda teams that Gedion Z and other DC area kids play for are similar.
I mean...ok. Pipeline up here where Q played is an Academy style club. But it's not Academy. It's not like Pulisic came through Philadelphia Union like Aronsen did.

Oh I don't know. .Some of those academies are probably better setups than some MLS academies. Dempsey played for the Dallas Texans and Crossfire in Washington (that sued to get development money on transfers). Scott Gallagher in St. Louis. Growing up in Baltimore the top club was Post 138 (or something like that..if you played college soccer it was because they got your recruited). Solar, Baltimore Celtic, etc. BIG Country with lots of good players and coaching.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:30 pm

It is impossible for me to imagine a player coming to MLs out of a rec program. Yes, the clubs like you are describing are class ( or can be). But FC Dallas and Union are doing it at a higher level now. My point was you don’t necessarily need to have come through one of those mls linked development academies.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:34 am

tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:30 pm It is impossible for me to imagine a player coming to MLs out of a rec program. Yes, the clubs like you are describing are class ( or can be). But FC Dallas and Union are doing it at a higher level now. My point was you don’t necessarily need to have come through one of those mls linked development academies.

I think the MLS academies are still too new to have an accurate assessment of their success. From my understanding, and maybe Red Bull Academy is different, but there is a huge difference between the MLS academies and ECNL type academies. The MLS academies are full day affairs, they leave school and get tutoring onsite with Red Bulls, and it's every day. ECNL academies are just more intense travel teams with better players and coaching. I don't know if kids live at the MLS academies, or if they have to live close enough to drive there every day. The brother of my daughter's former teammates played at Red Bull academy for a year, and left to play PDA (ECNL team) because they weren't happy with the education aspect, and the demands of having to drive him early morning and late evening every day.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:30 am

The Sybian wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:34 am
tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:30 pm It is impossible for me to imagine a player coming to MLs out of a rec program. Yes, the clubs like you are describing are class ( or can be). But FC Dallas and Union are doing it at a higher level now. My point was you don’t necessarily need to have come through one of those mls linked development academies.
I think the MLS academies are still too new to have an accurate assessment of their success. From my understanding, and maybe Red Bull Academy is different, but there is a huge difference between the MLS academies and ECNL type academies. The MLS academies are full day affairs, they leave school and get tutoring onsite with Red Bulls, and it's every day. ECNL academies are just more intense travel teams with better players and coaching. I don't know if kids live at the MLS academies, or if they have to live close enough to drive there every day. The brother of my daughter's former teammates played at Red Bull academy for a year, and left to play PDA (ECNL team) because they weren't happy with the education aspect, and the demands of having to drive him early morning and late evening every day.

and there a huge differences between MLS academies. DC v. RSL's Arizona setup is HUGE. Same with the Union.

The IMG model being replaced by the clubs has not yet paid off. Sure there is room for more than 40 kids to shine now but those IMG experienced kids did often make their mark at MLS and above (Adu, Altidore, Beasley, Beckerman, Bornstein, Bradley, Convey, Cronin, Donovan, Farfan, Gaven, Gyau, Johannsson, Eddie Johnson, Perry Kitchen, Lambo, Lichaj, MacMath, Magee, Mapp, McInereny, Onyewu, Orozco, Pearce, Perk, Quaranta, Rogers, Saad, Shea, Spector, Szetela, Subotic, Wagner, Yates, Zimmerman).

testuser2 · Post by **testuser2** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:41 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:30 am and there a huge differences between MLS academies. DC v. RSL's Arizona setup is HUGE. Same with the Union.

We have a kid from our club in the Union residential academy. https://www.yscacademy.com/ A few others are in PA Classics, but still live at home. I think both compete in MLS Next. Generally it's 1 or 2 kids at each age group that we have that made the leap. Once they join those clubs we generally only see those kids between seasons or in pickup games. Usually we have around 20 kids at each level. So a really small club. It has worked well to get kids from a rural club an opportunity that really want to make that leap to the next level.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:06 pm

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 1:43 pm

I know there was some skepticism about Pepi in these parts but...

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:29 pm

Can Euro clubs sign MLS players outside the transfer window?

I've got nothing against Pepi. Looked great in his first match, I just won't let myself get excited about any young prospects until they prove they have staying power. Been burned too many times. I'll be following his progress and rooting for him wherever he goes.

Post by **brian** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:40 pm

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:29 pm Can Euro clubs sign MLS players outside the transfer window?

I've got nothing against Pepi. Looked great in his first match, I just won't let myself get excited about any young prospects until they prove they have staying power. Been burned too many times. I'll be following his progress and rooting for him wherever he goes.

Can during the winter transfer window, right? Would be the perfect time for a Euro club since an MLS player would have been done playing for at least a few weeks most likely so they'd be rested.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:41 pm

brian wrote: ↑Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:40 pm
The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:29 pm Can Euro clubs sign MLS players outside the transfer window?

I've got nothing against Pepi. Looked great in his first match, I just won't let myself get excited about any young prospects until they prove they have staying power. Been burned too many times. I'll be following his progress and rooting for him wherever he goes.
Can during the winter transfer window, right? Would be the perfect time for a Euro club since an MLS player would have been done playing for at least a few weeks most likely so they'd be rested.

Article said they expect a deal completed in the next two weeks.

Post by **brian** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:42 pm

Huh. I don't know then. Maybe it's still pegged to the winter transfer window, but they can work on the deal beforehand.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:39 am

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:24 pm

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:34 am

Official now.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Sat Oct 02, 2021 4:36 pm

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 12:57 pm

A major upset in Africa. Nigeria have lost at home to bottom feeders the Central African Republic. The group is now thrown wide open.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:00 pm

degenerasian wrote: ↑Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:34 am Official now.

Average high in Edmonton in November is 30. Average low is 18. Fahrenheit.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:03 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:00 pm
degenerasian wrote: ↑Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:34 am Official now.

Average high in Edmonton in November is 30. Average low is 18. Fahrenheit.

Game is at 7pm so closer to the low. The sun sets at 4:30

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:05 pm

Like that venue selection a lot. They ought to ride that advantage through qualification. Know the turf is better now but even little black bits have to get real hard if it's sub 20.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 1:46 pm

Belgium and France about to kick. Great day. Baseball. Usmnt. Futbol Americano.

Eta thought this was qualifying. Haven't paid much attention to a nations league.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 2:20 pm

Also Japan lost again. If they are to make it, it may have to be via the playoff route. They host Australia on Tuesday in what is now a huge game.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 3:13 pm

Super weak call against Belgium. Must happen 500 times a game across the field. But dude falls like a bitch and they gift a goal. Really dislike that about soccer. Guy didn't even make the call. Super slow mo.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:07 pm

Here it is-we finally get Adams/McKennie/Musah in a game that counts. If this doesn’t work, im joining a monastery

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:47 pm

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:47 pm

That’s CONCACAF!

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:48 pm

that was a fucking red card. what a joke.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Oct 07, 2021 6:50 pm

Everyone clamoring for a video review doesn’t realize that in CONCACAF, that gets upheld!