This roster is so depressing. Jordan Morris so bad too. Lleget is horrible and doesn't even start in MLS does he? The MLS all star team legit might not qualify again. Very bad players
Hey, friends. U-20 WC starts on Friday. USA has a manageable (easy) group and should look to advance to the knockout stages. Though the team is without its best eligible players as Tyler Adams and Josh Sargent are both technically eligible for this team (Pulisic and McKennie are both only a year overage), there are still plenty of players that should be interesting to watch:
Defenders:
Chris Gloster - Kind of lost in the shuffle behind Sargent's xfr to the Bundesliga, Gloster made a similar move to Hannover last spring. He spent his age 18 year getting double digit starts for the Hannover II side while playing LB but, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) for him, Hannover was relegated. There may be opportunity for 2nd tier minutes next year for Gloster which would be a good step up in competition for his age 19 campaign.
Mark McKenzie - Certainly already a familiar name to MLS fans, McKenzie was elected captain of this side so one would assume he's in line for starter's pt. He was nominated for MLS ROY last year after playing 20 games at CB for Philly. He has already turned 20, but he's also already gotten his first senior team call-up. McKenzie seems to be, in both stature (he's under 6ft) and pedigree, far behind the 8-ball in the CB line for a senior team job, but if he keeps getting the armband at every level he becomes impossible to ignore.
Chris Richards aka, that guy FC Dallas sold to Bayern, Chris Richards certainly looks like a nice CB prospect. These guys tend to develop later, though, and so my hopes on him are tempered. He looks primed for a loan next year to a Bundesliga II side since it seems unlikely he would get any PT at all ahead of Süle or Hummels. There's an interesting battle that will probably happen here with Richards and Matthew Real, the latter who was a reliable cog in the CONCACAF Championships in November where the team secured qualification.
Midfielders:
Alex Mendez - The hero of November, Mendez signed at Freiburg as a 16-year-old and is one of the youngest players on this team having just turned 18 last fall. That didn't hurt him in November as he and his lefty rocket scored a goal in the semi and then two more in the CONCACAF U-20 final to secure that championship. His goal against Costa Rica was eye-opening. Skip to 1:14:
Mendez is, unfortunately for us, still eligible for Mexico, though continued appearances for the US bode well. He looks like a left-footed FK taker for the next 15 years though and I would be very happy if he were just capped ASAP.
Paxton Pomykal - Hard to believe he just turnd 19 as he debuted three years ago for FC Dallas, Pomykal is now a regular, already playing in 9 of their 13 matches this season. He featured in November as well and, though he doesn't inspire with a weapon like Mendez' left, Pomykal is a facilitator who uses his body well, isn't afraid of a tackle, and seems to get himself into good positions. He looks like he should be too good for MLS but he doesn't look like he's athletic or physical enough to leave the league. I'd be cautious on his future prospects as I think he's limited against faster competition but Will Trapp is getting consistent call-ups and I thought/think the same thing about him.
Richard Ledezma - Maybe the most athletic of the three, Ledezma is also still young, even for this bunch, and wasn't on the CONCACAF Championship roster. Tough ask, then, to break into this squad that had so much success. He was well-thought of, enough, to get a transfer to PSV Eindhoven and it certainly doesn't suck to have a top tier Dutch team think highly of you. We'll see if he can get minutes.
Forwards:
Tim Weah - Obviously his name bears mention. Not the best season for him as a loan move to Celtic only led to sporadic PT. PSG now says they will sell him and Palace are said to be interested. He actually may be in a fight here for PT, though, as Sebastian Soto, Justin Rennicks, and Ayo Akinola are all on this roster and the MF looks loaded as well. Tim told Celtic he wouldn't compromise and risk his spot on this roster so he WANTS to be here. Have to think he's going to get the minutes if only a guy who isn't guaranteed probably isn't stiffing his club like that, even if it is only a loan.
Sebastian Soto - The next "next" for American strikers is Josh Sargent but Soto would be that guy if Sargent weren't around. He scored 17 in 24 matches for Hannover in the U-19 Bundesliga and, like Gloster, finds himself in an interesting position where he could reasonably see good minutes in the Bundesliga II next year after just turning 19. There is opportunity here, although with a good tournament here Hannover might be faced with a transfer offer they can't refuse.
Next two days are worth your time if you're a fan. U-20s playing (tourney favorite) France in RO16 at 11:30AM tomorrow and the Senior team plays a GC warm-up against Jamaica on Wednesday night at 7.
if u have it DVR'ed, go to the 58:50 point in the game, immediately after we make 2 subs. Defensive midfield has zero idea what they're doing... could've given it away in a more dangerous position that we eventually did seconds later, because the kids have zero on-the-ball ability loool
hey, priz, these players tonight were selected from among 50-somethin' approx players in the player-pool(lol as if we have close to that type of depth). They are a fair representation of the horrid level of quality, u dumb ass