It's probably getting tougher to dangle the carrot of first team minutes to attract guys like it was last cycle with the lost generation and all. None of these guys are going to walk right onto the senior team now and they know it. That's just one consideration that goes into the decision making process but I'd bet it is a big one.
Esmir is tough because Bosnia is offering him a senior team role now (though he’s young enough he’s better off waiting unless he really prefers Bosnia given that they are likely to struggle to qualify for Euros and World Cups). With McFarlane and Buck if they end up going enough for the senior team they are still getting calls for the USMNT far before they ever do for England. Both are also eligible for the 2028 Olympics (which England will not participate in).
Cuevas is playing rb v. his u20 pal Cowell in LA-Chivas game now on Apple Cuevas recently got some appearances at lw lb rb rw with galaxy and he has taken a step up imo. He plays very aggressively and pacy but under good control with dangerous intent.
Obed had a really nice goal against Nexaca so far today. He's going to be Mexico's best midfielder especially since he specifically said he only wants to go to Europe right now (so no Liga MX stagnation trap).
After seeing so many not released for the Olympics a smart player should know that's not really the carrot it seems at first glance.
Just like the Olympic team, we didn't have a lot of players released. Diego Kochen, Noahkai Banks, and others. This is just something we have to get used to. The U20s ONLY made the final of the CONCACAF U20 Championships without some key players, and it's disappointing to us. We also have to get over using these tournaments as a measuring stick of our program and our progress. They're not a good measuring stick. We'd won three U20 CONCACAF Championships in a row. It was inevitable that Mexico would win. And inevitably it was the one on Mexican soil (where American teams of all age groups have a poor record in games that matter.) This U20 tournament was a success. The point is to qualify for the World Cup, which we did. Then we played a tight game against Mexico on their soil, and lost. It happens. We win some dual-nationals. We lose some dual-nationals. Just the nature of the game. We lost Vargas, but gained Johnny. The 22 year old in La Liga that seems to be in very high demand amongst big clubs. Ben Cremaschi was eligible for this U20 team, but at the Olympics. We literally pick dual-nationals over dual-nationals and people behave like we have a problem with dual-nationals. The whole argument about dual-nationals is silly to me.
Undoubtedly. This is what we should all want. We should all want our U20s and U23s to be deemed so important by club teams that they're not released for these events. Its just the nature of the beast. Making the final of the U20 CONCACAF Championships and then losing a tight game to Mexico................isn't some sort of disgrace anyway. The boys we sent did a very good job. Of all the events with the US program this summer, this has been the best performance. I mean, they totally blew Jamaica out of the water in their first game. It really did look like they ran out of gas..........................
The difference for 2028 will be 1) that it’s earlier in the summer so there will be less of a conflict with European preseason, and 2) there’s currently no Copa America competing for releases. Doesn’t mean it will be of interest to those specific players but we should do better on releases based on those two factors.
Yeah, I think it's premature to write off McFarlane and Buck. Just because they're getting call-ups for English YNTs, it doesn't mean they'll have a senior team future, or least not as quickly as they might want (see Balogun and Musah).
Considering that this was a C team it was an ok showing at the C'CAF U20. They had Mexico beat in Mexico until the very last second.
I hear you. But we also don’t want it to become a pattern where we are losing dual nationals. Is it the end of the world yet? No. But let’s not be asleep at the wheel either. The fact of the manner is, for this age group, Esmir, Vargas, Buck, and McFarlane are arguably 4 of the best players. That should cause some alarm.
We've always lost dual-nationals and will continue to lose dual-nationals. As far as I can tell..............Esmir, Vargas, and Buck didn't want to be part of this U20 age group. If they wanted to be, they could have been (if they were released). Vargas literally said his "heart is with Mexico." We've come out WAY ahead on the dual-national ledger and will continue to. There are some real difference makers in positions of need that we have in our corner right now. Diego Kochen is probably our best U20 keeper prospect. Noahkai Banks is probably our best CB prospect. We're greedy. We want to retain all of these players. But we literally can't. We can't. Its like spinning plates and if you solidify one relationship, another drops off. If we solidify our relationship with Johnny (a 22 year old La Liga starter), that might mean other CMs down the pool look elsewhere. Noel Buck wasn't complaining a year ago that the U20 staff was ignoring him. He wanted senior USMNT attention. Meanwhile he wouldn't have made our Olympic team even if he wanted to be. That's based on performance.
Again, I hear you. We’re not going to win every dual national recruitment. I get it. At the same time; let’s not ignore, (1) we want to be sure that we continue to win the best dual national battles. If we have to go from Noel Buck and Obed Vargas to Sergio Oregel and Taha Habroune. That’s not a good thing. If we have to go from McFarlane to Bombino. That’s not a good thing. If we have to go from Esmir Bajraktarevic to Gozo. That’s not a good thing. These are significant losses. It’s not a pattern that I want to see continued. We can’t become complacent. (2) On Noel Buck…. You’re right that he wouldn’t have made this past Olympic squad. But you know what? He would have been a much better selection than Julian Gressel or Cristian Roldan when Callaghan screwed the pooch on the 2023 Gold Cup selection. I get it. That’s over and done with. But it was a missed opportunity to not call in Buck, who showed a lot of signs at that time, he was going to be a legitimate USMNT prospect. And instead, we called in players we knew without a shadow of a doubt that they weren’t good enough for the national team and then, confirmed that belief as Roldan could barely tie his own shoes at that tournament. As fans, we are allowed to be frustrated by that. We let one of our best young players get away and this most recent tournament proved that in this age group, there is no viable alternative to Buck in the midfield. Oregel, Habroune, and even Raines, they’re just not really that good. We can’t just stick our heads in the sand and say that was okay.
Obed Vargas DID NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR US. How many times do people have to say that? He's said that his heart is literally with our biggest rival. Everyone should stop pining for him NOW. Immediately. We aggressively called up Bajraktarevic to senior USMNT and U23 camps. He's a 19 year old with 2 goals and 1 assist in MLS play this season. 2 goals and 1 assist. We've been calling him up higher than his current performance has merited. He was probably one of the last cuts with the Olympic team. We all like Esmir. No reason not to like Esmir. But if he's going to switch allegiances becasuse he didn't make a small Olympics roster, what are we supposed to do about that. If I was going to make a change to the Olympics roster it would have been Luna........not Esmir. That's based on performance. If we're going to lose Buck, I'm not worried about it. We do have two central midfielders in Serie A on the Olympic team who don't get into the senior USMNT. And others. Maloney. A key starter for the 8th placed Bundesliga team last year. Buck's performance level has been very nondescript this year. I don't know why we're talking about him. I have a theory. We wouldn't be talking about him this year if he wasn't in England's youth teams. Cuz his performance level hasn't been that of say.................Daniel Edelman of NYRB.
The U 20 team is also insanely young even for a u 20 team. Much of the team went to the u 17 world cup last year. Heck Mexico has 12 players who were 19. We had 6. Plus as others said between release issues and injuries the team was far from the top u 20 squad. And finally, remember players develop at different paces. There was a time during the last u 20 cycle many thought Caden Clark would be the star of the team... hell Quinn Sullivan was unplayable during the u 20 World Cup and his development with the Union really amped up this year.
You’re shouting in the wind about Vargas right now. Buck was born in 2005. That makes him Olympic eligible for 2028. That’s a factor. I’m a fan of Maloney too. He was born in 1999. 6 years difference. In soccer terms, that’s a cycle and a half difference. So that matters too. I never said it’s the end of the world. You might say that I’m saying that. But that would be you putting words into my mouth. What I’m saying is we don’t want this to be a pattern. It’s not a good sign. And there is demonstrative proof that it hurt our u20 team, and it likely will hurt our next Olympic team (unless someone better in his age group emerges…. Who could that be?), and there is still a chance that it could hurt our senior team. We can’t just get so arrogant and complacent that we dismiss losing these players.
Buck was injured and could not have played in that Gold Cup and I believe that injury came before the rosters were even named. He could have been named to the provisional roster but that’s it.
That 8th based Bundesliga finish was a bit of a mirage based on the underlying numbers. You’ll probably see a major regression this year. And Buck is definitely better than Edelman though neither should have made the Olympic roster. Buck would have been a key player for the U20s but he’s now ineligible for the U20 World Cup for us (and England failed to qualify). The only youth tournaments left for him at the U21 UEFA Championship and the 2028 Olympics for the US. Otherwise it’s senior team or bust for US, England, or Wales.
I think the matter is that the question is being brought up, and it makes sense why some are hyper-defensive about it, is there something going on inside the US federation that is making this next generation of dual nationals jump ship? Noel Buck - seems to have jumped ship because he was offended. Obed Vargas - again, maybe it was always his dream to play for El Tri. I don’t know. On the other hand, he seemed happy to be with the US when he played for us. Did something happen? Sometimes, “I went with my heart” is a lot nicer thing to say than, “this organization is screwed up.” We probably will never know for sure. So, sure, take him for his word. But it still gets noticed, in case it becomes a pattern. Esmir - accepted USMNT call ups. Seems happy in America. Then, what? Switch? We can go down the line. Just saying. It’s possible that we don’t have the full story. Players tend to switch when they’re unhappy. Especially if it’s clear that they should be on the right track in development - players don’t normally jump ship. Unless it’s just a matter of another program offering them a better deal. Or, if they felt jaded somehow. Players tend to stick around where they’re happy. See Amir Richardson. That seemed to go the way of, thanks for reaching out, but I’m Moroccan. And, while it’s true, we will lose dual nationals. We don’t want to lose the best dual nationals. It just begs the question, that’s all. No need to get super defensive and confrontational.
There could certainly be some common theme here WRT feeling somehow overlooked or undervalued by the USYNT/MNT which caused them to jump ship... But Esmir and Buck have never even had an above average season in the MLS and I think each have an inflated view of their place in the pecking order of the overall talent pool. Vargas could be a loss but I honestly think he always wanted to be with Mexico and used the USYNT to help up his profile before defecting. At least he did it earlier than someone like Araujo. I think that there are things the fed can do to help retain dual nats but the more talented players we have at younger ages the more we are going to lose dual nats... I mean, there are only so many slots available.
The thing that I wonder about is why Cremaschi and Buck are so offended by a U-20 callup? They would have done wonders for this team and I don't believe that they are so good that they deserved to be up a cycle or challenging for USMNT callups.
Making the national team (at any level) should be based on performance, and not just potential. It's a reward that's earned for playing well. The US should really be past the point of using national team appearances (at any level) as a shop window opportunity to get players better club situations. The goal of national teams is to win games, not to develop players.
Especially now that the work permit rules have loosened up in the UK where there are exceptions and you can now qualify just based off MLS alone.