Reyna’s development went to a higher level once he started developing athletically. He got bigger and faster. He went from a player who couldn’t possibly be anything other than a central player who could play as a winger, although that still isn’t his best position. Athletically, he went from about average to above average. He also either developed his ability to play a team game or he started playing that way because he realized he had to at higher levels. If he had that ability the whole time and didn’t play that way, it’s very hard to account for that watching youth games. I watched him play a lot with USYNT’s and NYCFC. He didn’t play a team game. Many people have pointed this out. He absolutely did show improvement in his play during 2019.
No he didn't, he still was the best player on the field every time I saw him. Compared to someone like Mathis, Dempsey, and even Bradley he was a humble schoolboy. And arrogance isn't unique among top attackers on any level. No, I act like I don't know about other incidents. But Wicki was a peach.
Eh, Gio gets pouty on the field and so does Pulisic. I hardly think that’s some disastrous defining character trait. In interviews he seems thoughtful and far from the arrogance people say — but he still wants the ball. That’s not a terrible thing. From the timelines given, we’re still a year+ out even before Reyna — who was always known — really popped. Tough to even set expectations for this given the rate of change at this age.
I know that we have gone back and forth on this a little before but I think you overstate the negatives of his "attitude" problems. The list of athletes who are really good at a young age displays some of the types of things he has is long and most of them grow out of it or soften those things over the years. I also like some of the attitudes, he plays with some bit of an edge that I think is good. At Dortmund, since joining the first team we haven't seen/heard a lot about this as a major issue.
As long as he works hard, and his teammates like him, I think by definition there's no issue. Both those things seem to be true.
Don't forget that he's kind of dedicated his career to his older brother who died. Could explain some of the sourness when things aren't going well as he may feel he's disappointing his brother.
It's easier to be a "team player" when you're surrounded by world class talent at Dortmund. He wouldn't see the field there if he didn't play a team game. At the YNT level, Reyna was the star player in every game he played and he tried to win games on his own, which unsurprisingly backfired at the U17 WC.
From my option as a senior DMV soccer dad, there are three 06 top talented kids in DMV area are - Aaron Heard, Garry Zhang and Nino (Alessandro Maldonado). However, Nino is not as impressive as before. Aaron is very talent and however, he needs to work harder. I watched all of the 06 YNT id sessions for the region, he hasn't shown much hardworking and efforts. Garry Zhang is a super smart player in the field, super quick decision making, very very technical with quick moves, and he is the player who can change the game. He has been playing the start holding mid position in the DC United 06 team for three years and has been selected to all of the 06 YNT id sessions for this region so far including the id center in Philly in April. Unfortunately, he got injured in the game before the id session in April and missed it, otherwise, he has a very good opportunity. From many coaches' opinions, he is the best holding mid in the DMV area in 06 age. As a late bloomer and a September born player, he just started his puberty recently, many coaches and I believe he will have a bright future. For Adrian, as an early bloomer, he has a strong body now and however he needs to play smarter and quicker instead of always relying on his body, also he needs to improve his left foot. For Neil Das, also an early bloomer, he is a good technical player but needs to play smarter and quicker. For Dash, he is physically super strong and fast, however, he needs to play smarter. For Matai, with 6'2'' to 6'3'' height and big body, he is unbeatable as a CB, he is already a man.
If you watch the DC Unite 06 practices and games closely in this season, you may get some idea. The YNT id center in Philly in April is much harder and the standard is much higher than previous id sessions. there are five 06 players selected from current DC United 06 team, one goalie, one CB, one CM and two strikers. There are two 07 players selected from the 06 team. the five 06 players plus one of the 07 players is the current top 6 players in the team. These six players are very hard to beat at least for now.
The six players are: Luke (GK) Matai (CB) Garry Zhang (CM, 6 or 8) Adrian Buri (Striker or wing) Nacho Alem (Wing or Striker) Gavin Turner (CAM, wing or striker, 07 age)
I’m very high on Alessandro Maldonado, Adrian Buri, and Gavin Turner. I’ll take a better look at Gary Zhang tomorrow night
I've mentioned Zhang before. He's talented, but slow and small. If he develops physically/athletically, he could be very good. That DC U-15 team is excellent. I was watching one of their games recently. They have 11-12 prospects on that team, and only 1-2 of them are the 07's playing up an age group (Turner and Hayes). This is the best group of players they've produced since the 02's/03's (Nyeman, Paredes, Kayo, Yow). It's among the best '06 crops in the country. Not all of them will pan out, but I think there could easily be 3-5 pros emerge from their '06 age group. The goalie Peacock is really good. There can't be more than a few goalies around the country better than him in the '06 age group, and he might be the best. I like Papez, Akinmboni, and Pendleton among the defenders. Pendleton is very unheralded as the third CB for two spots, but he's versatile and can play a few other spots. I don't mind Vasquez either, but like Zhang, he's slow and small. He's going to need to add a step or two of quickness to be a pro. Beil is a player I think has some untapped potential. He can play a few different midfield positions, he has good composure on the ball, passes it well, and he's athletic. Alem, Das, and Buri are all good players. If Buri grows taller, I think he could be a great CF. He may be the most naturally talented player on that team. I haven't seen Maldonado play since the second half of the season started. Is he injured? He has great technique, vision, soccer IQ, creativity, but another slow/small player.
With the conclusion of the 2020/21 academy season here’s a look at the 06/07 u17 pool. 2007’s are noted in the list Goalkeeper: Fernando Delgado, Real Salt Lake Julian Eyestone, FC Dallas Andrew Rick, Philadelphia Union Diego Kochen, FC Barcelona Ryan Carney, New England Revolution Aidan Giron, Chicago Fire Misael Mena, Sporting KC Right Back Matthew Schenfeld, FC Cincinnati Sam Sery, Charlotte FC Kimbikula Mbula, San Antonio FC Malachi Molina, FC Dallas Etienne Veillard, Seattle Sounders (2007) Left Back Brian Alanis, Houston Dynamo Christian McFarlane, NYCFC (2007) Connor Stout, FC Cincinnati Henry Canizalez, FC Dallas Chris Rogers, Columbus Crew Tyler Bush, Inter Miami (2007) Right Center Back Tyler Hall, Inter Miami Gavin Wetzel, Philadelphia Union Chris Guillien, Houston Dynamo (2007) Steven Jimenez, FC Cincinnati (2007) Left Center Back Javen Romero, LAFC Alex Hauschild, NYCFC Matai Akinmobi, DC United Defensive Midfield (6) Matthew Corcoran, FC Dallas Mark Cajamarca, NYCFC Adrian Wibowo, LAFC Alex Perez, Philadelphia Union Edgar Bazan, Sporting KC Tino Vasquez, Chicago Fire Sagar Patel, Columbus Crew Solomon Straub, no club (former MNUFC) James Arteaga, LAFC (2007) Center Midfield (8) Bento Estrela, New York Red Bulls Adrian Simons Gill, FC Barcelona Aaron Heard, St Louis City FC Jude Wellings, Real Salt Lake Pavel Romero, Atlanta United Cruz Medina, San Jose Earthquakes Alex Wesolowsky, Slavia Prague Alejandro Granados Torres, Orlando City Luis Moreno, Houston Dynamo Henry Bernstein, Philadelphia Union (2007) Nathan Worth, New York Red Bulls (2007) Attacking Midfield (10) Ryan Reid, Sporting KC Micah Burton, Austin FC Jared Salazar, FC Dallas David Vasquez, TFA Paulo Rudisil, LA Galaxy Ransford Gyan, St Benedict’s prep (not yet citizen) Alessandro Maldonado, DC United Axel Perez, unattached (2007) Gavin Turner, DC United (2007) Santiago Morales, Inter Miami (2007) Winger Bajung Darboe, Philadelphia Union Miles Perkovic, Inter Miami CJ Olney, Philadelphia Union Isaiah Garza, San Antonio FC Kristian Kelley, FC Dallas Adrian Buri, DC United Brent Adu-Gyamfi, Columbus Crew Owen Presthus, Columbus Crew Striker Gael Medrano, Philadelphia Union Michael Luande, Seattle Sounders Ty Moore, Atlanta United Axel Kei, Real Salt Lake (2007)
The cycle has some very notable strengths and weaknesses Strengths: Goalkeepers: we have multiple high potential goalkeepers in this cycle. Multiple keepers practicing with USL and one playing already Fullbacks: these spots may not be the deepest but we have very high potential players in Matthew Schenfeld, Sam Sery, Brian Alanis, and Christian McFarlane. With these guys healthy we will be very dangerous from wide positions offensively and sturdy defensively Midfield: this is the best midfield a YNT has ever had before. In particular, our 6’s and 8’s are absolutely loaded with very high potential and possibly Europe quality talent. We need a YNT camp soon to start evaluating the plentiful options here. The cycle’s Pulisic/Gio is likely to come the midfield in this cycle. If the u17’s want to play like the USMNT with a dual 8 4-3-3 then this group could excel. The 10’s are not as deep as the 6/8’s but still have good options if we want to run more of a traditional Tab Ramos u20 4-3-3 with a 6/8/10 out there Weaknesses Center back: like every u17 cycle we are very thin at center back. A year ago we had better options who started to show to be more early developers rather than future pro/YNT quality center backs. We may need to dip into the 07’s in this spot. For LCB we are covered with Javen Romero, Alex Hauschild, and Matai Akinmobi but for RCB we have a concerning lack of options Wingers: Bajung Darboe is an obvious high potential talent here but after that there are a ton of questions. CJ Olney has the most potential after Bajung but is he a striker or is he a 10? Miles Perkovic also has potential but needs to show more skill on the ball and show that he isn’t an early bloomer. After these three the quality drops off Strikers: this is the weakest position in the cycle in my opinion. Gael Medrano, Michael Luande, and Ty Moore are all at the level of what you would desire from your second or third choice striker for a YNT. Axel Kei has the ability to play up but how much more is he going to grow, he could end up being as big as he’ll get like Dantouma Toure at that age and end up playing as a winger instead.
Back in the day we could count on the LA Galaxy to produce multiple YNT- quality players. They don't seem to be mentioned any more as one of the elite academies.
They might not be one of the few best academies anymore, but they are still good enough to have some very good crops of players. Their 03’s are one of the best crops a team has produced in recent years (Neal, Alvarado, Cuevas, Perez, Nava, etc.). They are in the second tier of academy that is capable of producing some very good players, but it’s not consistently good player after good player every year. They produce players in stretches like Atlanta, NYRB, NYCFC, RSL, LAFC, Seattle.
I'm struck by the number of ex-Minnesota United kids. What a shame they won't operate a real academy up there - there's obviously talent. Caden Clark, Jackson Yueill, etc.
Should we be concerned that Axel Perez is still unattached? He hasn’t played organized soccer on a team for about a year. Last I heard, he was training with some clubs overseas.
I even forgot one. In that 2006 class alone they gave up: - Bajung Darboe - Micah Burton - Solomon Straub - Sho Luke Haggerty A huge mistake in my opinion
There’s too many question marks for me to accurately give a 23 with this group but I’ll give the guys I think would be safe in a first choice roster GK: Fernando Delgado, Julian Eyestone RB: Matthew Schenfeld, Sam Sery RCB: Tyler Hall LCB: Javen Romero, Alex Hauschild LB: Christian McFarlane, Brian Alanis CDM: Matthew Corcoran CM: Adrian Gill, Bento Estrela, Aaron Heard Wing: Bajung Darboe, CJ Olney, Miles Perkovic ST: no one Overall I feel very confident in saying that Matthew Schenfeld, Javen Romero, Matthew Corcoran, Adrian Gill, Bento Estrela, and Bajung Darboe would be locked in starters The spots that are the most up for grabs: - Backup & 3rd choice goalkeepers (lots of options) - Backup RCB (very thin) - Backup 6 (lots of options) - Fourth CM or a CAM (lots of options) - Both striker spots (extreme lack of options) The midfield in particular for this cycle is packed. You’d have a 3rd or 4th string in this group be better than what the 2002 and 2004’s had during their u17 cycles. The wings for me are pretty safe. You generally only get 3 wingers in a 21 man roster and these guys are all above the rest for me Striker’s are really concerning, these guys came into the season with good hopes and all of them disappointed me with how they’ve progressed. Axel Kei arguably could be a starter as a December 07 Right Center Back is a worry as well, Tyler Hall is a good player but after that we seriously lack options. Ty Moore would’ve been the other player I chose but he’s a striker now
What about David Espinoza on wing??! Pacy winger that is comfortable on both sides. Heard he’s playing in Germany right now. I think he did ID2 back in the day.
50 Name Pool to Start Things Out. GK (5): Andrew Rick ('06), Julian Eyestone ('06), Diego Kochen ('06), Fernando Delgado ('06), Luke Peacock ('06), Alexander Yagudayev RB (5): Matthew Schenfeld ('06), Ari Dejman ('06), Peter Martinez-Alonso ('06), Drew Baiera ('07), Chris Avila ('07) CB (11): Kelvin Da Costa ('06), Alex Perez ('06), Gabrial Brandon ('06), Joel Ineh ('06), Dane Agustin ('06), Agnaldo Germano ('06), Tyler Hall ('06), Matai Akinmboni ('06), Chris Guillen ('07), Ben Manfroy ('07), Nicholas Nobles ('07) LB (4): Brian Alanis ('06), Connor Stout ('06), Alejandro Palacios ('06), Christian McFarlane ('07) DM/CM (12): Matthew Corcoran ('06), Adrian Simons-Gill ('06), Luis Moreno ('06), Jaden Francis ('06), Jamie Kabuusu ('06), Mark Cajamarca ('06), Alejandro Urzua ('06), Lucas De Paulo ('06), Copeland Berkley ('06), Jeremiah White ('07), Sebastian Rodriguez ('07), Nate Worth ('07) AM/Wing (7): Bajung Darboe ('06), Owen Presthus ('06), Miles Perkovich ('06), Jude Wellings ('06), Izaiah Garza ('06), Moises Arciniega ('06), Cruz Medina ('06) CF (5): Matt Routzahn ('06), Michael Ramirez ('06), Patrick Shaw ('06), Tomo Allen ('07), Axel Kei ('07) Best 23: GK: Andrew Rick, Luke Peacock, Alexander Yagudayev DF: Matthew Schenfeld, Ari Dejman, Drew Baiera ('07), Brian Alanis, Kelvin Da Costa, Agnaldo Germano, Joel Ineh, Dane Agustin MF: Matthew Corcoran, Jaden Francis, Jamie Kabuusu, Luis Moreno, Nate Worth ('07), Bajung Darboe, Owen Presthus, Miles Perkovich, Jude Wellings FW: Matt Routzahn, Tomo Allen ('07), Axel Kei ('07) Starting XI: Rick Schenfeld-Germano-Da Costa-Dejman Corcoran-Francis Perkovich-Wellings-Darboe Allen Note: I'm not including the two Barcelona kids in the best 23 because I've yet to see them play, but I figure two Barcelona starters in their age group must be among the best 50 players in this cycle.