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Post by gaprospects on May 8, 2020 0:37:01 GMT -5
GA Rush, Santos, Ambush, LSA? UFA, Concorde, NASA and GSA's B teams? Apparently SCCL is the Classic II of 5 years ago.
Guess the more things change, the more they stay the same
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 3, 2020 20:43:26 GMT -5
If an American player wants to be ultimately successful, they need to leave. Look at all the young talent filtering into the USMNT system - all playing in Europe. All the young talent filtering into the USMNT is playing in Europe? Brendan Aaronson, Jesus Ferreira, Brandon Servania, Sam Vines, Mark McKenzie and Julian Araujo would disagree.
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U S M N T
Nov 2, 2019 21:59:56 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by gaprospects on Nov 2, 2019 21:59:56 GMT -5
I mean, I can't get too worked up over a game between a bunch of 17-year olds. I do think that one reason this team looked worse than the previous cycle was the lack of the residency program, previous U17 cycles had such a familiarity with each other that this group didn't have. Yeah, they had a bad world cup, but I think they're better off longterm for having spent that time with their respective clubs as opposed to the residency, if sacrificing the World Cup performance is the result of that, so be it.
Keep in mind some of the players that were not really apart of the last U17 cycle and were not invited to residency and instead spent those 2 years in MLS academies full time. That would include Alex Mendez, Uly Llanez, Sebastian Soto and Richie Ledezma.
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Post by gaprospects on Aug 26, 2019 23:28:17 GMT -5
Atlanta SC, the team that is the remnants of the Silverbacks (who were the remnants of Atlanta FC, an amateur team started in the mid-2000's), is supposedly in this league. They played NPSL this season at St. Francis Catholic High School in Alpharetta and seemingly plan to play their pro games there too.
As of 5 days from the league kicking off, and 19 days from their first home match, Atlanta SC has yet to acknowledge they are involved in the league. Like, their website has nothing about it, their social media has been dormant since July 5th, they seemingly have no roster, the only thing to even verify their existence is a dubious email that got sent out a couple of weeks ago about open tryouts.
This is supposed to be a professional team.
When this league first was announced, my fear was that the people involved were not in it to actually create a legitimate professional soccer league, but rather to play a few matches, refuse to promote themselves, and once their league dies in a pitiful whimper, turn around and blame US Soccer for "ensuring open soccer doesn't succeed in the United States." So far, all evidence points to that being the path this league is on. I hope against hope I'm wrong.
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Post by gaprospects on Aug 9, 2019 21:57:02 GMT -5
I said when this came out that I wanted to hear what TA had to say about it, well, here's his thoughts (toward the end of this SDH interview). In summary, he understands and sympathizes with the clubs that have gripes about their placement and doesn't agree with USSF's placement of a lot of teams, but he's looking forward to what he believes will be a better, more challenging season for his U19's
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Post by gaprospects on Aug 9, 2019 21:48:58 GMT -5
Less than 2 weeks after winning the golden ball at the national championships:
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Post by gaprospects on Aug 2, 2019 20:14:13 GMT -5
I imagine the federation was left with a choice to either force more MLS v MLS matchups, or have MLS pull out of the DA entirely (which would arguably devalue the league further than this does). It was no secret that the majority of MLS vs non-MLS matches yielded a one-sided affair that doesn't benefit the pro club when trying to develop their players, and the academy directors had had enough. This is what they came out with.
IMO The biggest problems with this outside of travel/logistics, which appear to be a nightmare, are:
1) The placement of the non-MLS clubs appears to be completely arbitrary. AU's most consistent high level region opponent over the last 3 years was not Orlando, it was Weston FC. Sure, they will lose many players to Inter Miami, but they lose a bunch of kids to other MLS clubs every year including AU, and they always reload immediately. Now they're relegated. People have pointed out the examples of Crossfire, of Concorde and UFA, etc.
2) There appears to be no clear mechanism for moving teams between the stratifications, which I have to imagine is driven by MLS wanting to ensure highest level of competition.
I will be very interested to hear the thoughts of TA on this when he inevitably speaks on it with SDH, 92.9, or someone else. He stands to be one of the few people to theoretically benefit from this, but his aspirations for challenging his players appear to reach far beyond the DA anyway, so I really don't know if he'll be satisfied with the results.
As for whether or not the "Blue Tier" clubs will lose quality to other leagues, the DA will still be the primary mechanism for all USMNT and D1 collegiate scouting, and given the costs are bearable, I imagine most high-level players will continue on. Though I could easily see more seniors bailing for high school in the spring.
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Post by gaprospects on Jul 28, 2019 17:39:30 GMT -5
DV had 7, JD, another Haitian, had 10
It is a bit insane for KSA to be fielding 4-5 Haitian YNT players in USYS, hopefully these kids can find a home at the next level because they're too good not to
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Post by gaprospects on Jul 28, 2019 15:03:53 GMT -5
Just gonna revive this thread now that this team has won the U18 USYS National Championship with a 7-0 victory in the final. They scored 20 goals in 5 matches in at Nationals, with 17 of them coming from 2 players
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Post by gaprospects on Jun 28, 2019 20:33:48 GMT -5
@ the start of the 2018-2019 season if you would have told me Concordes u17 Boys DA team would be the ONE team from all 3 clubs to advance to the semi finals of DA, I would have said your crazy and asked you if you wanted to buy a bridge. I would have thought initially they would be better than UFA, to be honest. That's a really deep, talented roster. You look back at the last GA United team from 2016-17, CF has as many or more of the kids from that group as UFA does. Its tremendous that Concorde and UFA can put out rosters that can challenge and beat not only Atlanta United, but some of the best teams in the country. I said a while ago that AU becoming the destination club for players within 5-6 surrounding states would benefit both CF and UFA a ton, because the fact that AU is going to recruit from all over doesn't mean Atlanta-area kids are getting worse. You've got players in all 3 clubs that will go on and have great collegiate careers and even go beyond that. And you've got kids outside of those 3 clubs, playing NL, ECNL, and high school, that you can say the same thing about. It's great for the health of the game in GA and appears to be only trending upward.
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Post by gaprospects on Jun 22, 2019 20:45:12 GMT -5
How’s the other Ga teams doing in Baton Rouge, La so far? In Boys 01's, both KSA and AFC are 2 wins from 2 so far. KSA hasn't conceded in their 2 wins. AFC has the striker from CF U19 DA who left to play high school in the spring, he's committed to Georgia State and has 7 goals in 2 games
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Post by gaprospects on Jun 22, 2019 17:45:49 GMT -5
All the UFA hype and in the end its Concorde that gets out of a group with Philadelphia Union, NYCFC and Chicago Fire. Great job by those guys
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Post by gaprospects on May 15, 2019 20:13:36 GMT -5
They almost always take 19 or 20 guys on road trips in case someone who's going to be in the 18 picks up an injury pre-game. But it's pretty clear he's behind 19-year old Dion Pereira in the pecking order right now.
Should keep in mind that Josef, Tito, and possibly Pity will all be going to Copa America this summer, and Jamaica could also pick Romario for the Gold Cup. So there's a lot of potential holes in the attack on the horizon. Opportunity does exist down the line.
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Post by gaprospects on May 14, 2019 22:41:52 GMT -5
7A boys final is Lambert vs. Lakeside. 2nd year in a row without a Gwinnett team in the final, which was unheard of not too long ago.
6A bosy final is Dalton vs. Gainesville as both Cambridge and Pope go down in the semis. Dalton is the best HS team in the nation by most sources so if Gainesville could pull the upset it would be pretty stunning.
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Post by gaprospects on May 14, 2019 22:33:39 GMT -5
Its impossible to know how they would stack up to DA squads, but I feel like KSA 01 Boys should be mentioned in this conversation. They might be the most talented non-DA boys team to ever play in this state
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 26, 2019 21:21:22 GMT -5
So much hype about region 6 in AAAAAAA, maybe regions 5 and 7 got overlooked. Only Region 6 team to win was Collins Hill over Central, Mountain View, Mill Creek and Peachtree Ridge all lost in Rd. 1. Region 5 (Fulton/Forsyth) also swept their Gwinnett counterparts in Region 8. A lot of Cobb schools also advanced.
Couple of big AAAAAA games tonight as well, #4 Pope vs. #6 Sprayberry in the first round! How does that even happen?
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 23, 2019 21:10:45 GMT -5
I didn't listen to the entire presentation and skipped to the Q&As mostly --- did TA acknowledge the fact that Bello was coached by so many others? or did it appear as if AU was trying to take credit for his success and development? Many young ones contributing around the league. Look no further than Jesus Ferreira who scored the first goal against AU on saturday -- 18 year old born in 2000. Played 8 years with the FC dallas youth academy and has never been capped with a YNT (he was rostered on a u17 squad, but never played). Busio is the next obvious one with SKC - he's played in 7 MLS games, and has 3 goals and 1 assist. Just FYI on Ferreira, he's never really been in the USYNT picture because of citizenship requirements, he's native Colombian.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 21, 2019 18:16:35 GMT -5
That bottom left quarter of the AAAAAAA bracket is super-loaded, Lambert-Collins Hill in the 2nd round with Hillgrove potentially waiting in the quarterfinals. Collins Hill is my favorite to win the whole thing, they played a tougher schedule than most and they have some real stars on that team.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 18, 2019 20:14:57 GMT -5
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 7, 2019 11:02:19 GMT -5
The scheduling weirdness is because MLS was hoping ATL would go farther in the Champions League, so they gave them a bye week between potential semifinal legs. For some reason they didn't afford the same thing to SKC, who put up way less of a fight against Rayados than Atlanta did.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 6, 2019 22:34:20 GMT -5
Never even heard of Atlanta city! One of the new Ga Soccer clubs. I expect you'll see lots more little clubs springing up now that Big 5 are moving out of Ga Soccer. Filling in the vacuum. Better for everyone when more clubs are involved. I guess when I played it was before many of the big mergers and there were more small clubs that played each other. ASA, Cobb Chiefs, Kennesaw FC, Stars, West GA United, Buckhead FC, West Metro, Dacula, Forsyth Fusion, etc. etc. It'd be cool if it went back that way, at least somewhat.
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 28, 2019 21:24:17 GMT -5
Also worth noting that a kid from KSA's 01's is also apart of Maryland's recruiting class. The Terps have always been more willing to explore beyond the DA to get domestic recruits mostly in their talent-rich backyard up in the DMV. They can go after whoever they want, so the fact that they not only ventured down to Atlanta to watch a kid playing in USYS, but brought him into their team, definitely caught my eye.
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 6, 2019 21:00:28 GMT -5
Funny thing about Ajax talking about how financially disadvantaged they are is that, in the Netherlands, they're the big spenders no one can keep up with. They're the ones who poach all the other clubs' top youth talent. There's levels to all of this.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 18, 2019 0:34:58 GMT -5
Did I miss why we're assuming Tata didn't like him? Because he didn't get a ton of minutes playing for the most talented and expensive attacking team in the history of MLS? Even though he did appear in seven matches and was in the 18 for most of the season? As an 18 year old?
I'm sure if AC gets a couple of decent games under his belt at the start of this season (and he will play early in the season, given the fixture congestion, Champions League, etc.), all the USMNT followers like Sciaretta will be all over him again. Plus, Tab Ramos has called him into pretty much every camp this cycle that Atlanta has actually allowed him to go to.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 8, 2019 20:42:00 GMT -5
This is where I will forever be confused -- gaprospects does Atlanta United technically own his rights for the MLS since he is from atlanta -- unless him and his parents moved elsewhere for non- soccer reasons? With MLS you always have to look at precedent to anticipate what's gonna happen with a given situation. Shaft Brewer, who played in the FC Dallas academy, left after a year to go to RB Leipzig and returned soon after signing with LAFC. In that case, Dallas never offered Brewer a deal, so they had no claim to his rights. In contrast, Paul Arriola left the Galaxy academy to sign with Tijuana in LigaMX, but before he left, the Galaxy threw a homegrown contract offer his way (basically a formality knowing he was already gone). But because they did that, when Arriola signed for DC United, DC had to trade with the Galaxy for Arriola's rights even though he never actually played for them in MLS. So, based off of this, I believe AU would have had to have him in the academy for at least one year AND offer him a homegrown contract to keep his MLS rights, assuming he signs a pro deal outside of MLS. If another MLS team tries to sign him before he goes somewhere else first, it changes the situation entirely. That's where the territory rights come into play, and again, it's unclear whether DV would be affected since he's only lived in Atlanta for a few years since coming here from Haiti. Also, any MLS club's B team WOULD count as "a pro team outside of MLS," meaning that he could sign with one of those teams and it would be fine. So, if he's really with Orlando, he could be signed by Orlando City B in USL League One, but if Orlando City wanted to add him directly to their MLS roster, he would have to spend a year in their academy program before being eligible to sign a contract. And at that point, he could theoretically be denied that opportunity if the league considers him to be "from" Atlanta. This has also happened (look up Christian Cappis and FC Dallas). Confused yet? It gets worse. There's ALSO precedent for players going pro with MLS-2 clubs and then signing for that team's MLS club, but NOT as a homegrown player. Orlando did this with Pierre Da Silva, who is from greater New York City. MLS ridiculousness know no bounds, particularly when it comes to this kind of "territory rights" and "player rights" stuff. Hopefully DV's career isn't negatively affected by it and he prospers wherever he lands.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 7, 2019 0:04:31 GMT -5
This team continues to be ridiculous. Between the Piedmont Conference and the National League this fall, they went 11-0-1 and outscored their opponents 46-10.
Of course, their superstar forward leads the National League in goals scored again, averaging 2 per game (y'all know who I'm talking about). It seems he's since left the club to pursue pro opportunities, where I'm not sure. But he's not the only pro-caliber player on this team by any stretch. They have quite a few kids who are younger than 2001 as well, including some of their best players.
I know people on this forum tend to have some controversial opinions on KSA, but IMO what this club is doing is incredible. They've put 6-7 kids into the pros in just the last 2-3 years. They sent three 03's to Germany to trial with a couple 2nd and 3rd division clubs last month. And their younger teams are just as dominant at nearly every age group. For a club in the backyard of an MLS academy to be producing players like this is crazy to me, what is keeping AU/Concorde/UFA from capitalizing on the player pool that KSA draws from (particularly AU since their program is free)? What is KSA doing differently that is resulting in this kind of output of professional-quality players?
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Post by gaprospects on Jan 31, 2019 21:25:44 GMT -5
its tough though, if Boris was an nfl owner, the silverbacks probably would have become a MLS franchise. Also, just imagine if 10-20% of the people supported the silverbacks the way AU has been embraced, would have been a potentially different story. Imagine if the Silverbacks had made it possible for people to embrace them? That goes for both Boris, who made going to matches as inconvenient as he possibly could have while spending a fraction of what other owners in the various leagues the team played in were, as well as their die-hard fans, who did everything they could to keep professional soccer fandom in Atlanta as their own little exclusive club. I loved going to Silverbacks games as a kid. My parents, however, found it very difficult to justify driving over an hour through rush-hour traffic to Doraville, spending $15 to park in a half-flooded gravel pit with only one entrance/exit, all to watch a sub-par minor league product that put zero effort into fan experience. So I didn't go to many games, and I imagine the story was similar for many other soccer-loving kids out there. Even the fans who wanted to fully commit to supporting the team and help expand the reach among people in the city were largely shut out by the club's fan groups for not being "one of them," and I know this through first-hand experiences of many of my friends who went on to be hard-core United fans. My last time at Silverbacks Park was for a US Open Cup game which started at 3:30 in the afternoon in the middle of June, because Boris didn't want to cancel his Wednesday night adult leagues that day. My second-to-last time there was for a friendly between Charleston Battery and the Nigerian Olympic Team, which never happened because the field was flooded and wouldn't drain due to lack of maintenance over the years, resulting in me not getting a refund on the $40 tickets I purchased for my mother and I. You're right, with the right management and commitment to fan experience, the Silverbacks could be talk of American soccer the way United is now, and could have been that for several years. But it was never going to happen.
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Post by gaprospects on Dec 22, 2018 13:46:39 GMT -5
If you're a D1 student athlete, you are in school for that sport. That is your #1 priority regardless of what anyone else tells you or your family. You commit yourself to your team as if it's your job, except you aren't getting paid, your season is squeezing 3 games a week into a 2-3 month schedule, and you're trying to balance a challenging academic calendar alongside your soccer. Furthermore, most D1 soccer scholarships are only partial, so you're still paying the school something for the opportunity to play. If you get hurt, either due to the fixture congestion or just bad luck, well, too bad.
If you have the chance to go pro at any level, go for it. Yes, it will be hard, yes, there's no guarantee of success, and yes, the money won't be great initially. But it's an opportunity that you may never have again, and if it doesn't work out, you can always go get a degree and do something else with your life at any time.
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Post by gaprospects on Dec 18, 2018 21:55:30 GMT -5
They are in good shape financially.. but there just aren't enough clubs to support academy systems across this country geographically, and the second tier teams cant afford it. Also - there are not girls DA clubs associated with MLS.. they're associated (if at all) with NWSL, which has no money. Funny thing is MLS clubs are not supporting GDA but instead are supporting ECNL instead - FC Dallas, LAFC & Orlando City to name three... NYCFC, LA Galaxy, FC Dallas, and San Jose Earthquakes all play GDA, as well as the girls clubs that are run by the same parent organizations as MLS clubs like Portland Thorns, Houston Dash, and Utah Royals. This is just false.
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Post by gaprospects on Nov 25, 2018 12:13:26 GMT -5
I'd welcome any well-run organization that enhances the soccer culture in the city and provides a realistic place for Atlanta players to make a living as a professional. For everything that AU is, we all know the city is still under deserved as a soccer market by just them alone.
My fear is that, considering the history of the people involved with this league, there will be no vetting of ownership groups or realistic plan for success. And after they inevitably drive themselves into the ground, they'll turn around and blame "the man" for killing them off. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.
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