Soccer Prospect Discussion Thread V

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Pavel Buchnevich

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@Ajacied, I've definitely asked you this before, but what do you think about Dest's development? Could he play next season in the first team at Ajax or is it more likely he'll have to move to a smaller Eredivisie club?
 

Ajacied

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@Ajacied, I've definitely asked you this before, but what do you think about Dest's development? Could he play next season in the first team at Ajax or is it more likely he'll have to move to a smaller Eredivisie club?

Not a chance. Veltman, Mazraoui and Kristenssen are Ajax' RB's right now and neither look to be leaving. If anything, Ajax will upgrade on Kristenssen and not from within. Dest is still too raw; offensively very gifted, great pace and technique, but defensively still very vulnerable. He might make his debut next season when injuries appear and perhaps make some minutes in a cup game, but he should focus on Ajax II next season as well.

Will be interesting to see if he gets invited to training camp this summer. It usually means he'll get minutes somewhere that season. He's worked his way up from the U19 to Ajax II and is now the starting RB, stealing Navaro Bakboord's spot, so that's a nice indication that things are going well for him.

If things still don't look promising after next season, I'm sure he will be looked at to gain experience somewhere else, but I expect him to be with Ajax I in 2020/2021.
 
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Ajacied

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I am attending the Future Cup this weekend. A small, but prestige U17 youth tournament held at Ajax. I love this age group the most.

Participating teams: Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, PSG, Tottenham Hotspurs, Atletico Madrid, Boca Juniors and Sagan Tosu.

Ajax is fielding a nice squad, but misses Gravenberch, who's with young Ajax and often even Ajax I. Unuvar, Taylor, Hansen, Hoogewerf, Pinas and Salah-Eddine are most promising on Ajax side.
 
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Ajacied

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Heh. What a weird turn of events.

Teams played two matches of 60 minutes today, with just two hours in between. I watched the two Ajax matches of course and saw some glimpses of the Anderlecht - Atletico match.

Ajax beat Juventus 1-0, but it should've been 3 or 4-0. I don't recall Juve having any real opportunities.
  • Watching Unuvar live is something else. Unuvar was the top scorer last year as a 14 year old and even scored the lonely goal vs Juventus today. But that wasn't what made him stand out. The kid is so lightning fast. Very agile and hard to contain. He's only 1.60 I think, but has so much power in his passes and shot, accurate too. He's throwing passes out there with the outside of his foot. I think he's a better prospect than van de Vaart, Sneijder, Eriksen, Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek, Mathijs de Ligt or Abdelhak Nouri were at that age, though I don't like to hype him up too much as he still has ways to go.
  • Salah-Eddine is something special as well. So technically gifted and comfortable with the ball. I think he might already be better than Mitchel Bakker, who will leave to PSG this summer.
  • Hoogewerf has had a very disappointing season and today was no exception.
  • Sontje Hansen had tons of scoring chances. Most dangerous forward out there, but just wasn't clinical.
  • Captain Kenneth Taylor was injured from the get go. He left the game after a minute and his tournament looks to be done. Very unfortunate. Might be the team's biggest prospect after Unuvar.
  • Solomon Bonnah, RB and just 15 years old looked very interesting. Very rusty and an unpolished diamond, but he showcased tons of skill with the ball and was feisty in his defensive tasks.
Here's Unuvar's goal. The clip doesn't show the amazing skill of Salah-Eddine entirely which set up this whole attack, which is too bad:



Then, Ajax faced Sagan Tosu; a team who normally would never be considered for these type of tournaments. But Ajax has started an affiliation with them, hoping to gain interest from the Japanese market so they were invited as well. Ajax played with a different side this time. You could see the nonchalance among the Ajax players from the get go. They were stumped 3-0, with Sagan Tosu pressuring Ajax like I've never seen before. Pretty comical.

Jeremy Doku, from Anderlecht, got my attention during the bits I saw from Anderlecht - Atletico. Very fast and strong. Played wing but looked like a capable striker as well. I believe it was him who caught my eye last year as well.

All teams in group A now have 3 points (Juventus, Ajax, Tottenham and Sagan Tosu). In group B Anderlecht leads with 4 points, followed by Boca and PSG with 3 each. Atletico is last with one point. The tournament continues tomorrow.
 
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YNWA14

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Heh. What a weird turn of events.

Teams played two matches of 60 minutes today, with just two hours in between. I watched the two Ajax matches of course and saw some glimpses of the Anderlecht - Atletico match.

Ajax beat Juventus 1-0, but it should've been 3 or 4-0. I don't recall Juve having any real opportunities.
  • Watching Unuvar live is something else. Unuvar was the top scorer last year as a 14 year old and even scored the lonely goal vs Juventus today. But that wasn't what made him stand out. The kid is so lightning fast. Very agile and hard to contain. He's only 1.60 I think, but has so much power in his passes and shot, accurate too. He's throwing passes out there with the outside of his foot. I think he's a better prospect than van de Vaart, Sneijder, Eriksen, Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek, Mathijs de Ligt or Abdelhak Nouri were at that age, though I don't like to hype him up too much as he still has ways to go.
  • Salah-Eddine is something special as well. So technically gifted and comfortable with the ball. I think he might already be better than Mitchel Bakker, who will leave to PSG this summer.
  • Hoogewerf has had a very disappointing season and today was no exception.
  • Sontje Hansen had tons of scoring chances. Most dangerous forward out there, but just wasn't clinical.
  • Captain Kenneth Taylor was injured from the get go. He left the game after a minute and his tournament looks to be done. Very unfortunate. Might be the team's biggest prospect after Unuvar.
  • Solomon Bonnah, RB and just 15 years old looked very interesting. Very rusty and an unpolished diamond, but he showcased tons of skill with the ball and was feisty in his defensive tasks.
Here's Unuvar's goal. The clip doesn't show the amazing skill of Salah-Eddine entirely which set up this whole attack, which is too bad:



Then, Ajax faced Sagan Tosu; a team who normally would never be considered for these type of tournaments. But Ajax has started an affiliation with them, hoping to gain interest from the Japanese market so they were invited as well. Ajax played with a different side this time. You could see the nonchalance among the Ajax players from the get go. They were stumped 3-0, with Sagan Tosu pressuring Ajax like I've never seen before. Pretty comical.

Jeremy Doku, from Anderlecht, got my attention during the bits I saw from Anderlecht - Atletico. Very fast and strong. Played wing but looked like a capable striker as well. I believe it was him who caught my eye last year as well.

All teams in group A now have 3 points (Juventus, Ajax, Tottenham and Sagan Tosu). In group B Anderlecht leads with 4 points, followed by Boca and PSG with 3 each. Atletico is last with one point. The tournament continues tomorrow.

Yeah, from what I've seen of Hansen and Taylor they're both big, big talents for Ajax and Unuvar is definitely the biggest talent since Nouri, and as you said I think he is probably better by a significant margin at the same age. Doku looks incredibly good as well.
 
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Ajacied

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Ajax beat Tottenham with 1-0. Ajax dominated large stretches of the match and should've scored more often. The Spurs missed an absolute sitter in front of an empty net in the later stages of the game as well, but it wouldn't have been deserved. Of course it was Unuvar who scored.

Few really stood out on Tottenham's side. Though I liked their mammoth defenders; great blend of size, strength and pace.

Meanwhile Anderlecht, who have a great education themselves, are manhandling PSG. Already 4-0 in barely 40 minutes.
 

Ajacied

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Ajax faced Anderlecht in the semi final of the Future Cup. They won 2-0 and never really got into trouble. Unuvar assisted on both goals. Second goal:



Doku was nowhere to be seen. Bonnah played him well. Anderlecht's Killian Sardella got my attention this time. Very talented CB, both defensively as building up. Prevented some 100% opportunities with well timed tackles and looked very comfortable and confident with the ball. Showed tons of leadership and passion, too. One to keep an eye out for.

Ajax will play Juventus in the final, the team they beat in the tournament opener, in a few hours.
 
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Ajacied

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It's insane how the juveniles of Juventus play like their first squad does. Ajax were the better one by a considerable margin, but Juventus converted on their two chances and pretty much parked the bus the entire game; receiving plenty of yellows and even a red card in the process. Hats of to them, though. They withstood some serious pressure. Naci Unuvar had a rough match. His brother or nephew, uncle, not sure, mentioned how he had a fever and blood poisoning last night and that he shouldn't have played, but he just made some bad decisions all around. Wanted the title a little too much, there I think. The final made me a bigger fan of Bonnah and Rensch, two defenders.

I think Ajax and Anderlecht were the best teams of the tournament. Unuvar (Ajax), Bonnah (Ajax), Rensch (Ajax), El Hadj (Anderlecht), Doku (Anderlecht), Sardella (Anderlecht) and Abou Tehera (Juventus) looked most promising. Anderlecht also had 14 year old playing striker; Vercauteren or something like that, couldn't quite remember, but he looked interesting as well.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
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New York
@Ajacied, would you give good reviews or bad reviews on Pynadath? From what I’ve read, he’s not much of a real prospect at Ajax. He’s an American, so I hope he does well, but he’s way down the list of Americans in his age group, I’m afraid. And it seems like he’s also way down the list of Ajax prospects in his age group.
 

Ajacied

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@Ajacied, would you give good reviews or bad reviews on Pynadath? From what I’ve read, he’s not much of a real prospect at Ajax. He’s an American, so I hope he does well, but he’s way down the list of Americans in his age group, I’m afraid. And it seems like he’s also way down the list of Ajax prospects in his age group.

I never watched him in person or even on streams much, until this Saturday where he came in as a sub vs Sagan Tosu. Didn't do anything of significance, but the whole team had trouble with Sagan's high and constant pressure. Ajax fans usually like his speed and technique. Seems like a typical Ajax winger. His Real Madrid past has created a bit of a hype he has yet to meet, though. Not sure about his upside, really. The fact that he only came in as a sub, in a match where Ajax was already fielding a B-squad, and how he is one of the oldest ones already, makes me wonder about him sniffing Ajax 1 someday.
 
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MaxV

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FC Krasnodar's 20-year-old GK Matvey Safonov is really talented. Last 2 weeks he has made a bunch of awesome world class saves.

Still needs to work on positional understanding, but he can make all the saves.
 

Ajacied

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Watched bits of the Chelsea vs Porto final in the UEFA youth league. Finished 1-3 in favor of Porto. They were the better side. Porto have themselves a strong selection. Well conditioned, strong, won most their battles and were efficient with their chances.
  • Charlie Brown only came in as a sub, which was odd. He's the top scorer of the competition by a considerable margin and impresses me whenever I see him play.
  • Daishwan Redan scored the lonely goal for Chelsea; a nice header. Kid should leave Chelsea as soon as possible as I'd like to see what he's capable off on the big stage. I think he's been active at this level a little too long. Not sure about his upside, though. I think some of the talents of the Eredivisie might have passed him on my prospect list.
  • Juan Castillo looked very good. Very talented two-way back. Assisted on Redan's goal, too.
  • Ian Maatsen looked decent as well. Feisty, but had some troubles with Porto's fast paced and physical game at times.
  • Romario Baro is a fine striker/AM. Didn't score but very active and involved.
  • Fabio Silva impressed me as well. Agile forward who looks to be as deadly a playmaker as he is a finisher. Did a ton of defensive work, too.
  • All the Porto defenders were a-typical Portuguese defenders; not the big, rugged oafs, but very smart positionally and comfortable with the ball. Diego Leite in particular.
.. still think Ajax has the best U19 selection from all I've seen, even though this Porto was very impressive, but with Ajax' philosophy it's hard keeping a team in tact and build chemistry. As soon as a player performs well for a small period, he will move up an age group to face a more mature opposition.
 

Ajacied

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The European Championship U17 in Ireland start today.

Participating teams:

Group A) Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic, Ireland.
Group B) England, the Netherlands, France, Sweden
Group C) Hungary, Iceland, Portugal, Russia
Group D) Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain

Group B and D are just not fair. Not a very balanced draw.

Potential Oranje line-up:

FW: Brobbey (Ajax)
FW: Hansen (Ajax)
FW: Bannis (Feyenoord)

MF: Ihatarran (PSV)
MF: Gravenberch (Ajax)
MF: Unuvar (Ajax)
MF: Fits-Jim (Ajax)

DF: Maatsen (Chelsea)
DF: Hoever (Liverpool)
DF: Salah-Eddine (Ajax)
DF: Bogarde (Hoffenheim)

GK: Raatsie (Ajax)

EDIT: Never mind. Ihatarran and Gravenberch are with PSV and Ajax and didn't come with the team. Fitz-Jim is with the U15.
 
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YNWA14

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Missing those two (Ihattarren and Gravenberch) kinda sucks. Especially since there's no reason for them not to be there.
 

Venkman

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Games are being streamed on UEFA.tv YouTube. Hopefully no region blocks. Going on previous games and the squad, England might look like:

S.Greenwood
Rogers Madueke Knight
Azeez Weir/Musah
Bondswell Roberts Harwood-Bellis Walcott
Moulden
Not sure on RB as usual RB Livramento isn't in the squad, presumbly injured. Roberts usually plays LB for England but CB for Brighton.

Nathan Wood is missing who is a regular at CB, has been on the bench for Middlesbrough recently. Fabio Carvalho, Harvey Elliot and Alex Mighten also not the squad.
 
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