Soccer Prospect Discussion Thread V

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Ajacied

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Another high end talent in Solomon Bonnah is leaving the Ajax academy after 8 years for money/an adventure abroad as soon as he was able to sign a contact. He declined Ajax, but also Liverpool, Chelsea, PSG and Juventus. RB Leipzig will be his new team, which is a bit surprising. Bonnah will be the third youngster that will leave this summer (Bakker - PSG and Hoogewerg - Manchester United). Not sure if there are better places to develop youth, but money must have been a bigger issue. Good luck to them either way.

Bonnah is a wild, feisty and energetic two way back. Still lacking size now at 15 years of age, but he was impressive at the future Cup, playing with players four years older than him.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

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Another high end talent in Solomon Bonnah is leaving the Ajax academy after 8 years for money/an adventure abroad as soon as he was able to sign a contact. He declined Ajax, but also Liverpool, Chelsea, PSG and Juventus. RB Leipzig will be his new team, which is a bit surprising. Bonnah will be the third youngster that will leave this summer (Bakker - PSG and Hoogewerg - Manchester United). Not sure if there are better places to develop youth, but money must have been a bigger issue. Good luck to them either way.

Bonnah is a wild, feisty and energetic two way back. Still lacking size now at 15 years of age, but he was impressive at the future Cup, playing with players four years older than him.

Leipzig can pay big salaries, but also has the youngest average age of their first team in Europe. There might not be a better team in Europe to sign with if you want to break through and play at a high level.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich

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18 year old Sebastian Soto is likely to leave Hannover with contract talks breaking down. German media are saying that Dortmund are among the interested teams. I'm sure some other good teams are interested. This kid was playing in the U-19 academy league in the USA less than a year ago, but has had an incredible rise to prominence because of his ability to put the ball in the net. He scores wherever he goes.

I hope he does not sign somewhere where he won't play. I'd like him to stay at Hannover because I think he'd play regularly, but they might not be able to afford to pay the salary he wants.
 

VEGASKING

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Too late

giphy.gif
 
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Ajacied

Stay strong Appie! ❤
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L' Equipe's best players under 20:

1) Matthijs de Ligt
2) Jadon Sancho
3) Kai Havertz
4) João Felix
5) Gianluigi Donnarumma
6) Nicolo Zaniolo
7) Moise Kean
8) Vinicius Junior
9) Declan Rice
10) Ibrahima Konaté

Other (Dutch) notables

17) Justin Kluivert
20) Kik Pierie
49) Donyell Malen

Not sure I agree much, but lists such as these are always good for discussion.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

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Aug 8, 2006
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They say best u20 in the world but apparently SA isn’t part of it. No players from their leagues that aren’t in Europe
 

YNWA14

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Jonathan David ahead of Alphonso Davies is a head scratcher. I also wouldn't have Donnarumma in the top 5. For me it would be:

Sancho, Havertz, de Ligt, Felix and Vinicius ATM, in no particular order.
 

Evilo

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Mar 17, 2002
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Interesting. I bet half of these guys aren't considered top 10 of their generation in 5 years.

I saw that Guendouzi was 11th. He could climb up.
Lafont is 12th and I'd pick him over Donnarumma down the line.
Skov Olsen is 18th, he'll climb up fast IMO.
I also like Leao (23rd) and Kabak (24th) a lot.
Kamara (26th) is an insane talent.
Saliba is 27th.
Rodrygo is 28th.
Malang Sarr (42nd) is not impressing right now.
 

Savi

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Dec 3, 2006
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Jonathan David ahead of Alphonso Davies is a head scratcher.

Why? Have you seen enough of David to have a good comparison between them?
I'll say this, nobody knew who David was one year ago and as a teenager coming from a Canadian amateur team he was probably Gent's best player this season, impressing both as a striker and a playmaker.
 

YNWA14

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Why? Have you seen enough of David to have a good comparison between them?
I'll say this, nobody knew who David was one year ago and as a teenager coming from a Canadian amateur team he was probably Gent's best player this season, impressing both as a striker and a playmaker.
I definitely didn't expect him to explode like this but yes, I've seen enough of him. I still don't think he's as good as Davies overall, but you never know; he might be in a better environment to develop right now and his confidence is sky high. One thing I do really like about him is his composure and that may allow him to be more prolific.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

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I make a yearly list of the best American prospects. I was considering including the older age groups, but as I started making the list, I noticed only a few of the players aren't already professionals and a number of them are already on the National Team, so I decided to make this list players from the years 2001-2004.

The list is below in the spoiler tags.

1. Moses Nyeman - DC United - (2003): The biggest talent in the US system, and the most dominant American youth player to emerge since Adu. He’s a CAM/B2B CM who is elite in every aspect of the game other than having below-average height. I’ve not seen all the best 2003 born players in the world, and I usually don’t think the best American prospects can compete for these accolades, but this kid can compete with the best from other countries.

2. Julian Araujo - LA Galaxy - (2001): The biggest defensive talent in the US system. Araujo has incredible talent with speed, passing ability, aerial ability, strength, reading of the game, ball carrying and 1v1 defending, but is a little undersized at 5’10. If he was a few inches taller, he’d be considered among the best players in the world in his age group. He’s being used as a RB at LA Galaxy. I don’t know what position he’ll play, but the tools will play, and the current production against his own age groups is elite, and is elevating him to higher age groups and professional minutes at age 17.

3. Jonathan Gomez - FC Dallas - (2003): A LB with incredible passing ability to go along with plus athleticism, dribbling, soccer IQ and defensive ability. I rate him as the biggest talent in the FC Dallas academy right now. Being the biggest talent in the FC Dallas academy is important because FC Dallas has the best academy in the USA by far and is undergoing a youth revolution in their first team. There’s a chance he could be in the first team by the end of the season. He’s already starting regularly for the reserves at age 15, and plays well.

4. Elton Chifamba - Columbus Crew - (2003): Very complete CM. I think there are very easy comparisons to make here to Weston McKennie with more ball-carrying, and less aerial ability. He’s shown incredible development in the last year. I saw a lot of talent in his game a year ago, but he was incredibly raw. I thought it would take him 3-4 years for him to reach the level of one of the best players in his age group, but he’s done it very quickly.

5. Evan Rotundo - San Diego Surf - (2004): Extremely talented CAM with a high level of skill, creativity, playmaking, soccer IQ and technique. There might be some questions about his athleticism as he gets to higher levels. I’ve seen him dominate some games, but then there are some games where he blends in. He has the skill-set to be a great player, but I’d like to see more consistent domination in youth games.

6. Taylor Booth - Bayern Munich - (2001): His biggest obstacle is his club situation. He sat out over a year, and recently signed with Bayern. That’s a lot of lost development time. Very complete CM who can play in any of the CM roles. I like him best in a deep-lying playmaker role, but he might be best used as a Box to Box mid. Great passer of the ball, very high football IQ, can score and assist goals, and he’s a lot better defensively and athletically than you might think.

7. Konrad de la Fuente - FC Barcelona - (2001): Quality winger with a good level of skill, creativity, football IQ and speed, although not dynamic ability from wide areas. He struggled to produce in the final third this season for Barcelona, and had a bad U-20 World Cup. I think his floor is pretty high, but a lower ceiling than some players on this list. No huge strengths, no huge weaknesses.

8. Ricardo Pepi - FC Dallas - (2003): Currently the most hyped youth prospect in the United States. He’s scoring at incredible rates for a player his age, which is where the hype comes from. There is nothing elite about his skill-set other than finishing ability, and he plays for the best academy in the country with the best players, so I’m not sure his reputation matches his potential. He’s a target forward with excellent size, underrated speed and an excellent work-ethic. He’s able to finish with his head or feet, and has above average technical ability. He’s a little reliant on service in the box, but I think he’s improving his offensive impact outside of the box.

9. Brandan Craig - Philadelphia Union - (2004): This is one of those players where his position is unsettled, but the tools will play. Good size and athleticism, excellent passer with good defensive ability, and he’s good at taking set pieces. I think he will end up a CDM, but he’s also been used before as a CB, RB and B2B mid. I think his offensive skill would be wasted on the back line. I’d want him playing in midfield, and if the athleticism continues to develop, B2B mid might be a better position for him than CDM.

10. Ulysses Llanez - VFL Wolfsburg - (2001): Very direct winger with excellent acceleration. He plays on the left, and almost always cuts in on his right, and looks to dribble past defenders. The dribbling, ball control, speed and shooting ability are all plus, but there’s not much in the way of attacking creativity, playmaking or a left foot. He’ll be joining Wolfsburg in the summer transfer window.

11. Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez - Seattle Sounders - (2002): A smaller CF with good speed, excellent finishing ability, good timing of runs and better playmaking than most CF’s. He’s a hard worker off the ball and doesn’t have a bad hold up game, but is only about 5’10. He’s been used at times on the wing due to his speed and playmaking ability, but all of his goals come in the box, a lot of them from good anticipation, so I think you’d want him in the box as much as possible trying to anticipate the play instead of creating it.

12. Joe Scally - New York City FC - (2002): Another one of those players where his eventual position isn’t yet certain, but the tools will play. Excellent athletic tools. He has powerful dribbling, speed and leaping ability, along with good size. He’s been used as a RB early in his career, but I think he’ll likely be a CB. Playing him as a CDM or Box to Box mid are also options, but the passing and ball-control are a little iffy. He can occasionally show some nice skill going forward from RB, so his game isn’t completely about athletic tools. He’s also a very good 1v1 and positional defender with a good read of the game.

13. George Bello - Atlanta United - (2002): Highly touted LB prospect who has lost a lot of time the last season with injuries. A lot of his game is predicated on explosiveness going forward, so there is some worry that his injuries could hurt his explosiveness. He has good combination play, dribbling and delivery to go along with elite explosiveness charging up the left-wing. He’s not a bad defender, but I don’t see him ever being better than average. He struggles with positioning off the ball, and commits a lot of turnovers in bad areas.

14. Leo Torres - San Antonio FC - (2004): He was the best player at the most recent U-15 National Team tournament. Excellent dribbling and creativity off the left-wing. He’s able to beat defenders off the dribble with easte. The athleticism is above-average, the soccer IQ and playmaking are also good. The only problem is that he’s very one-footed.

15. Tanner Tessman - FC Dallas - (2001): Huge upside as a box to box midfielder. Towering CM who moves extremely well for a player his size, plus passing, attacking skill and creativity, and he’s good in the air. The main questions are game to game consistency and defensive play. He’s not bad defensively, but sometimes he’ll lose challenges he shouldn’t be losing. He hasn’t been playing at a high level for as long as most good players his age. I think he’s still a raw player. I’ve seen him improve his game a lot already in the last year.

16. Jacob Akanyirige - San Jose Earthquakes - (2001): This guy is very under the radar. He was born on the last day of 2001, and isn’t talked about as among the best 2001 prospects, but if you grouped him with the 2002’s, I think he’d be talked about a lot more. He’s a CB with elite speed for a player of any position, the ability to carry the ball up the field, and very good defensive reading of the game. He’s dealt with injuries in the last year, and he does need to get stronger, but he has high upside.

17. Dantouma Toure - New York Red Bulls - (2004): Very highly rated CF, but he’s been injured the whole season with an ACL injury. He’s very fast, powerful and a good finisher. He often plays in higher age groups due to being physically overpowering, so it’s sometimes hard to evaluate how good he is in relation to his peers, but I do think there is pretty high upside here.

18. Mauricio Cuevas - LA Galaxy - (2003): An offensive fullback with good attacking skills and above-average defense and athleticism. He’s one of the most consistent performers in his age group, despite not having huge upside. I think he has a very high-floor. He may not be elite at any one category, but he does a lot at an average or better level.

19. Gio Reyna - Borussia Dortmund - (2002): There’s a lot of hype on this kid, partly because his father is one of the best National Team players ever. He’s played many positions, but looks like a winger for now. I like his 1v1 ability off the dribble because he’s big, very athletic, and has speed and good dribbling ability. He’s a capable playmaker, but looks to score most of the time. He could do a better job of integrating his teammates, and I don’t see anything elite about his game, except set piece delivery, but he’s a pretty talented attacker. He’ll be joining Borussia Dortmund for next season.

20. Kobe Hernandez-Foster - LA Galaxy - (2002): Very attack minded full-back. He has excellent passing ability and skill on the ball, along with incredible set-piece ability. He has average athleticism and defensive ability. This part of his game won’t hold him back, but the offensive side of the game is going to have to carry him.

21. Matthew Hoppe - FC Schalke - (2001): Big target striker who has scored goals at a very high rate the last few years. I see some similarities to how Josh Sargent plays. He’s deceptive in his ability to get away from defenders. He reads their movements very well, and knows where to be in the box. I also like his hold up play. He’ll be joining Schalke for next season.

22. Daniel Leyva - Seattle Sounders - (2003): He’s shown huge improvements this season, and recently got his first team debut. He’s capable of playing all the CM positions. His main strengths are his passing ability and soccer IQ in CM. He has good size and is better defensively than you’d think. He also has above-average skill. The main concern with his game is that he looks very unathletic in his movements, although he doesn’t yet play very unathletic, so the main question surrounding his game will be his athleticism. If the athleticism plays, he has good upside and a high floor.

23. Sam Sarver - Columbus Crew - (2003): His game is predicated on beating the defense in behind with his pace. He does so at least a few times per game because he’s the fastest player on the field. He also is very clinical in the final third, despite not having incredible playmaking or shooting skills. The rest of his game is very average, but it’s good enough that it doesn’t take away from his ability to run in behind the defense. He’s been used as a CF, but he doesn’t have much of a hold up game, and is better suited to play as a winger.

24. Tayvon Gray - New York City FC - (2002): Low ceiling, high floor CB. Very good mobility, good defensively with average passing ability. A little weak aerially for a CB, but not terribly. He also has the versatility to play as a RB or CDM, but probably will play the CB position in the professional game.

25. Tyler Freeman - Sporting Kansas City - (2003): Almost the same exact game as Reyna. They played in a recent tournament for the USA and were on the field at the same time. Not only do they play similar, but they look similar, so it was very hard to tell the two players apart. The main difference between the two players is that Freeman is a little more creative, while Reyna has a little better passing vision.

26. Casey Walls - San Jose Earthquakes - (2003): Ball playing CB who finds creative passing options. I like how he attempts to build from the back. There are some errors, and he’s not helped by having average at best pace, but he has good ideas on the ball. Good aerially and usually does a good job positionally, but he can be caught out for pace by fast attackers. He’s not terribly slow, but good athletes will beat him 1v1.

27. Marcelo Palomino - FC Porto - (2001): This guy is a very creative CAM. He’s not that athletic, but he has a very high soccer IQ and excellent ball skills. He’s able to beat defenders 1v1 without pace, which comes mostly down to his soccer IQ and ball skills. He’s a good playmaker, as well. He’ll be joining FC Porto in the Summer transfer window.

28. Josh Atencio - Seattle Sounders - (2002): Big defensive midfielder with a very good passing range, good composure on the ball, and good tackling skills. He’s a little slow, so he’s going to need to learn to position himself better, but I think he will learn that part of the game eventually. He’s been tried as a CB, but I don’t think he has defender instincts. I think he’s better in midfield.

29. Alec Diaz - Seattle Sounders - (2001): Very fast CF who has a knack for scoring goals. He’s able to score in a variety of ways, and has a decent level of skill in his game. His club situation is slightly worrying as he’s behind his club teammate Ocampo-Chavez in the pecking order at Seattle, so I could see him sign in Europe instead of with Seattle. I also think there might be some positional versatility to play as a winger or secondary striker.

30. Antonio Leone - Los Angeles FC - (2004): He shows a good skill-set from the CB position. He has good passing and size, along with good reading of the game defensively, and average pace, although it’s not far off above-average and not a weakness in his game. I’ve seen some very inconsistent performances, so I’d like to see him show some better consistency in his game. He has a high ceiling, but obviously a low floor because he’s a 2004, and all of those kids aren’t proven enough.

Keepers:

I find that good goalkeepers usually emerge later than these age groups, so I’ll list the one standout, and then some names to watch.

Damian Las - Chicago Fire - (2002): Incredible reflexes and command of his penalty box. He’s capable of keeping his team in a game with incredible saves, and makes very few errors. He can be too aggressive off his line, and only has average size, but is a high-end athlete who is the most consistent performer in his age group at any position.

2001: David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake), Kris Shakes (Philadelphia Union), Colin Travasos (Atlanta United)
2002: Chituru Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps), Aaron Cervantes (Orange County SC), Seth Wilson (FC Dallas), Max Trejo (Sporting Kansas City)
2003: Eliot Jones (New England Revolution), Gavin Krenecki (Sporting Kansas City)
2004: Gabe Slonina (Chicago Fire)
 
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