Dual nationals who could suit up for the US.

I think it's more that outside of Jones (done now), Brooks, Chandler, Johnson, who are better players, the vast majority of German-Americans are average/decent at best to low level players. Then you got Toljan who just made the wrong career move and wasted 1 and a half seasons+ another half in Scotland, pretty much 2 seasons.

still waiting on a top talent German-American though.

 

concerning Sidney Friede, he's a 98 CM just like Weston Mckennie but Weston is the better player. So for him to suit up for the USA seems pretty pointless. One should go for players that are better than what one has or in positions of need.

 

I think currently, yes. In the past, it wasn't. We had Johnson, Jones, Chandler, Williams and Brooks.

 

There was an article about this.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/manuel...debate-youth-development-reform/#1b404c538e42

"The German national team sporting director, in particular, has identified that young German players struggle with one-v-one situations and no longer have what Germans call Bolzplatzmentalität -- a football identity developed away from organised football.

Football in Germany has been over conceptualised. Young German players nowadays are perfectly capable of understanding multiple tactical systems but cannot solve difficult situations on the playing field. In that regard young players from England, that like Sancho have learned to play in the backstreets of London, are a step ahead of their German counterparts."

I'm seeing this in various countries. Netherlands for sure. But also Mexico is feeling it. The team they sent was smart and tactical but it lacked grit, initiative and playground mentality.

 

As the world becomes less poor the soccer players decline. A worthwhile trade. Anyway I'm sure that academies will sort it out. I've seen academies in Dallas years ago have sand volley ball pits and days when kids could come and just play unorganized against kids of different ages just for fun. probably something like that should be part of any teams training especially for younger players so they can just try s&%$.

 

Completely disagree with the comparison to England......................

Sancho is an outlier. Plus he played organized, high level youth soccer from the time he was 7 (when he was at Watford). For Pete's sake, he was playing at the Harefield Academy Boarding School from the age of 11. This notion that he was playing on the "mean streets" of London, which engendered a certain "street" style of problem solving, is hyperbolic nonsense.

Solving difficult situations on the playing field (as this quote indicates)........................is difficult. Teams go thru cycles when they have more players capable of doing it than at other times. In 2014 we were told that Germany won the World Cup because of the same "intelligent design" that we're now told is hindering them. No, actually, its just a slight dip in "in their prime" talent.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...y-argentina-world-cup-final-2014-barney-ronay

 

I differ a little bit from this article. I do think there is a problem with the academies. The problem is an issue of selection. They are selecting the model students, the ones that pass the tactical test and they aren't selecting the guys who are a bit more maverick.

 

Why would instruction hinder a kid's ability to pull off technical tricks? And what prevents a structured environment (e.g a club academy) from simply asking kids to play freely for certain amounts of time?

Like, there's this romantic notion of kids playing ad-hoc pickup games... But what prevents coaches from just scrimmaging with their squads, particularly in small 5-a-side games where players are constantly touching the ball and doing 1-on-1's? Soccer skills are just like any other skill. The more you practice, the better you'll get at it.

 

Academies only have a kid in training for not very many hours, time needed for formal training. A kid working on his own or informally with others is something that normally takes place away from training.

This receding in importance of 'the street' as an incubator of youth in areas of life, including soccer, has been frequently commented on over the years.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/09/jadon-sancho-england-borussia-dortmund

 

Individual repetition of skills is important in everything from playing tuba to playing trequartista.

The environment where that repetition takes place is not nearly as impactful as the repetition itself. It matters that they're taking the time to do it.

 

It's generally not taking place at the academy, which is the point.

 

By the way, in case no one has mentioned him earlier, let's add LAG's 16 year-old Mexican-American Efrain Alvarez, currently in Mexico's youth system but I believe still eligible for the United States.

 

I suppose. That depends on where the player is, of course. If they live on campus, they're probably still doing it at the academy.

 

I believe he has to have had citizenship before being YNT cap-tied by Uruguay, in order to file a one-time-switch...

 

Yes. Diego Rossi played in cap-tying events for Uruguay at the youth level. He will never be eligible for the USMNT.

Same I believe is true of Atuesta of Colombia. Will never be eligible for the USMNT.

Both played at the 2017 U20 South American Championships, for instance.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/mexico/story/3909807/mexico-chief-meets-with-us-galaxy-youth-araujo

It's not like we could use a young fullback in the USMNT setup......Gerardo Torrado is effectively the equivalent to Earnie Stewart?

 

The alarm was sounded when he told the scuffed podcast he was open to either team, and hadn't heard from GB. This was about a week ago.

I'm sure we'll get a bunch of "don't worry, he's fully with us, he was with the U20s, he's been recognized already, why should Egg be in touch with him when he rode pine in Poland, let him SETTLE IN with the Galaxy!!!!"

Just like Gonzalez from 2 years ago.

This federation is so freaking inept it's comical.

 

araujo is part of the olympic team for qualifications. reassuring texts aside the only thing that mexico can offer him that hes not getting with the usa is a full national team cap at 17 for a defender.

 

But why hasn't he (and the other young duals) heard from Earnie and/or Egg? How hard is it for them to call and/or text him? Are they too busy? And if so, doing what, exactly? I mean, does Earnie do anything?