Dark horse for this tournament might be Japan. They have this 16 yo CAM named Takefusa Kubo who joined La Masia at 10 and lit it up before being forced home by FIFA for under 18 transfer violations. Played really well in the u20 world cup like Sargent but is even a year younger.
Grew up in the Netherlands and plays for Ajax's u19 team and is the youngest player on it IIRC. Flirted with the dutch national team but seemed to just miss a call up. Kind of came out of nowhere a while back as nobody really knew he was eligible for us and there's rumors that Xuxuh and or/the pynadaths tipped off the US federation that he was indeed.
1. Josh Sargent is the best player on the team in my opinion. He plays the position very intelligently. He has a very good first touch is good with the ball at his feet and can finish chances with both feet. His size and athleticism are enough to translate to the next level already as a 17 year old. He has a really high ceiling and pretty high floor as well for me. Great #9 prospect. Our best forward prospect since Altidore. 2. I am high on Carleton, but he has more question marks than Sargent. Carelton's touch is first class and his passing is very good as well. He can finish well and has some Dempsey in him as a player both in-terms of trying stuff and the demeanor. I like that about him. He is just small and not athletic. He is probably below average athlete for U17 level, but against teams like Ghana and at the MLS level would be severely off the pace. Also too much of a 1 way player and tends to not chip in enough defensively. Just turned 17. I think his potential as a pro will depend if he makes a leap athletically. If he doesn't Carleton can still be a very good, but probably not great player. Lacks the pace to really be an effective winger at the pro level. More of a #10 long-term to me where athleticism isn't as important and can create closer to goal. Next year will be big for him, but the system ATL plays doesn't play towards his strengths because they love to beat teams with speed and quickness. Wasn't good today, but that was probably his worst game. 3. Durkin. He was a beast today at CB, but tend to play #6 role for Richmond Kickers and U17 prior the Tournament. U17 have no good CBs, so they moved him back. Good feet and good at short and intermediate passing. Not super quick or athletic and has been beaten by quicker players in the past. Not that big, but seems to play bigger than his frame. Sort of like Justin Glad in that respect. Reads game well for player his age. Might not be able to cover quite enough ground to become a high level #6, but has potential to be a very good #6 and also has potential to move back full time and be a very good CB. 4. Sands. Another player like Durkin who plays DM for NYCFC. He has played more CB than Durkin for the U17s. Very similar type player to Durkin even similar in their current build, but I just like Durkin a little bit better. He would be pretty undersized for a CB long-term and Viera seems to really like him at DM. 5. Weah. He is a forward playing out of position at winger for the U17. His high level skills are using his speed to beat CBs to thru balls and finishing them. Not really a very good winger and tends to look out of place there and doesn't contribute much for the U17 relative to PSG. He would be better in a 2 man forward line playing off Sargent. 6. Garces. I think Garces is the best keeper in the youth pool. Atlanta got a steal picking him up before the WC. 7/8. Lindsey/Glosture. I think both have similar type ceilings at players at RB/LB. Both are athletic. Pretty sound defensively. Pretty good tactically, but not great going forward. Type of players that could develop and be really good, but has to develop a good deal to reach that level. 9. Acosta. He doesn't play a ton for U17, but probably the most creative of the midfielders. Good creative passer and can break down defenses. Just a #10 perhaps can play on the wings, but needs support defensively. Has played some as a #8 as the U17, but tends to get overrun defensively. Small. It will be interesting to see what his next move will be as he is with North Carolina FC right now on an academy deal. Too late to join an Academy. Turns 18 in January, so move overseas is probably what he is pushing for. 10. Akinola - I use to be a bigger fan of Akinola, but the more that I watch the more that he seems to be just an athletic kids with size and not too much skill. He is pretty good in front of the net typically, but almost never passes and tends to have poor vision and awareness. Think he is the type of player who effectiveness will go down at high levels. Scored a nice goal today and scored like 26 goals leading up to the tournament, but then has games like against India where you are like WTF and he looks horrible. 11. Goslin. Athletic covers a lot of ground, but is small. Versatile. Can play CM/RB/DF. Never has been super impressive to me. Not sure what position would be his best long-term. He did have a strong game against India playing in the middle of the field and typically plays midfield. Touch and passing seems mediocre. Probably the best he has looked recently. Sort of surprised Atlanta signed him so early to be honest. Hope he can get a year loan to USL in 2018 and make a name for himself there. 12. Ferri. He was a big time prospect a few years ago, but I don't see it now. Dest is too new to the team, but looks to be pretty good to me.
Akinola is very Zardes-ish with consistently being in good positions but frustrating technical ability.
thought durkin was fantastic at dm. definitely was motm for me. dest, sands, and goslin get honorable mention imo. that was a gritty performance from the entire team today though. job well done by them.
He's actually been playing more as a midfielder with more freedom to roam about for the last couple weeks. They swapped him a Muyl who's pretty useless
We've been too impatient today. Too many low percentage long passes when we have a team that can hang onto possession
Not sure why we pushed up for the corner when it was 2-1 which was still the result we needed to finish 2nd
Yeah, we're almost assured of being the top 3rd place team unless Honduras somehow beats france by 2 goals. Unfortunately now we're probably playing Paraguay instead of Germany. (Who actually don't look great this tournament)
Teams parts are better than a collection its parts. Still went 2-1-0 in the Group and was T1st on points and only dropped to 3rd on tiebreakers. People would have taken 6 points going into the Group Stage. Columbia hadn't really looked sharp in their first two games. We played poorly especially in the 2nd Half, got gasses and showed no awareness. Attacking is usually a strength of this team and hasn't been great so far. Carleton has been disappointing. Sargent isn't getting any service and has been a bit off as well. Akinola has been wasteful outside of one attempt. Weah never seems to look good on the wing to me.