ASN: Heerenveen’s Llanez wanting to return to the U.S. setup and goals for a busy 2021

Ulysses Llanez has lofty targets for the upcoming 12 months for each membership and nation. Now with Heerenveen, Llanez is keen to play a key function with thei first workforce whereas on mortgage from Wolfsburg. Internationally, Llanez may characteristic for 3 totally different U.S. groups. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta spoke with Llanez in regards to the targets he has set for himself. 

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
October 26, 2020
9:45 PM

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FOR YOUNG PLAYERS, 2020 has been an especially tough 12 months to develop. Switch budgets are slashed and participant motion has been restricted. The stop-start-stop-start of the COVID shutdown and offseason has made it tough for gamers to seek out rhythm and acquire confidence and, lastly, youth nationwide groups have discovered it more durable to schedule video games.

American winger Ulysses Llanez, 19, has definitely felt these results. The 12 months truly started on a optimistic observe for Llanez who was invited to take part with the USA nationwide workforce for January camp and his membership, Wolfsburg, signed his launch to permit him to attend.

The expertise proved to be a optimistic one for Llanez who began within the camp’s concluding pleasant towards Costa Rica. He scored the sport’s solely objective when he transformed a penalty which was drawn by Reggie Cannon. Afterward he was given the Man of the Match.

However then got here challenges for Llanez. He was slated to be on the U.S. U-23 Olympic qualifying workforce in March however that event was postponed. Then the COVID shutdown closed leagues all through Europe. He made the primary workforce bench for Wolfsburg twice however was an unused sub every time. Then the membership bought extra attacking gamers within the offseason, which restricted the alternatives for Llanez and different gamers.

However in September, Llanez began trending upward once more. He agreed to phrases on a brand new deal at Wolfsburg and instantly went on a season-long mortgage to Heerenveen within the Eredivisie the place he made his first-team skilled debut.

“No one heard about a loan or anything like that until [Wolfsburg] brought in new players,” Llanez mentioned of how the mortgage originated.  “At first, [Heerenveen] didn’t want to get a winger. But then they sold a winger, Chidera Ejuke to CSKA Moscow. That’s when everything happened. I’m thankful for the opportunity because not everyone gets to go on a loan and go to a different first team and just get playing minutes.”

“When I first came to watch them play, it was it was way different from the Bundesliga,” Llanez continued. “In the Eredivisie, players just attack. I feel like this is a perfect league for wingers and attackers to go. I remember watching the first game and the left winger had at least 10 1v1’s in the first 30 minutes. I felt this was like a perfect league for me to develop, to get better, and hopefully just to become a better player.”

Llanez is aware of that Wolfsburg can be following his progress again in Germany and he’s specializing in creating and including extra components into his sport.

The primary can be transitioning to the sooner degree of first-team soccer. As a part of this, he needs to extend the pace of his determination making.

“What am I going to do before I even get the ball or when I have the ball? That’s what I needed help with the most when I was at Wolfsburg,” Llanez mentioned. “Now that I’m here, I know my train of thought has to be faster. It has to be what am I going to do before I get the ball. I know this going to help me a lot when I go back. But at the moment I’m just focusing on this season and we’ll just see where it goes.”

Getting on the sector can be a problem for Llanez, at the least in the interim. Heerenveen’s sturdy begin to the season has naturally made supervisor Johnny Jansen reluctant to make many adjustments to a beginning lineup that’s incomes outcomes. By means of six video games, Heerenveen has notched 4 wins and a draw whereas solely struggling one loss – to Ajax.

Llanez made his skilled debut in a 1-1 draw towards Utrecht earlier than the October worldwide window. His second look came to visit the current weekend when he entered right into a 4-0 win over FC Emmen within the 88th minue. On Tuesday, he performed the ultimate 13 minutes of a 3-1 draw with High OSS within the Dutch Cup.

His professional debut was a private milestone after coming shut whereas with Wolfsburg final season (“The only thing I was feeling was just like: wow, this is happening! Pro minutes, that’s what I’ve been looking for the past six months or eight months.”)

“I’m pretty sure the team wants to finish at least top two of the league,” Llanez mentioned. “That’s one of the team goals I want to do. But for personal goals I want to be a regular starter here. I want to learn. I want to become a better player. So my goal is just to be a regular starter here and hopefully get some minutes when I go back to Wolfsburg.”

Off the sector, Llanez is having fun with life in Holland. The adjustment has been made simpler on condition that, not like in Wolfsburg, most individuals communicate English in Holland. He enjoys the town’s eating places and is even able to buy a motorcycle so he can being to discover extra areas.

However along with Heerenveen and Wolfsburg, Llanez can also be wanting ahead to the return of worldwide soccer. As a twin nationwide whose dad and mom have been from Mexico, Llanez has been within the U.S. setup for years. There have been experiences prior to now about Mexico being fascinated about making an attempt to persuade him to modify, however Llanez is having fun with his alternatives with the Stars and Stripes as of late.

“Like I said before: whoever it gives me a great opportunity, that’s where I’m going to go,” Llanez mentioned. “But looks like the U.S. is giving me the perfect opportunity. That’s why I’m continuing to grow and develop.”

What is especially thrilling for the Lynwood, California native is that he’ll doubtlessly be a part of three totally different U.S. groups within the months forward  – the 2021 U.S. U-20 workforce, the U.S. U-23 Olympic workforce in each 2021 and 2024, and the total  nationwide workforce. To this point he has been in current contact with nationwide workforce boss Gregg Berhalter and U.S. U-20 head coach Anthony Hudson.

His experiences thus far with the USA have been optimistic and the 2019 U-20 World Cup quarterfinal run (“with that group I figured let’s just continue to make good teams. I feel like we could keep growing and become the best U.S. team in the 2022 World Cup or the 2026 World Cup”) specifically left him with the urge to get again to that sort of stage once more quickly.

“I miss representing my country,” Llanez mentioned. “It’s always it’s always an honor to represent them. I’m pretty sure everyone is like buzzing to see everyone play with each other. I’m ready to look forward it. If I get the chance to play with them or just even seeing them is just going to be a great opportunity. It’s always going to be good to learn from the top players.”

“I think about everything,” he added. “I think about the U-20s. And I think about the U-23s and the Olympics, I think about qualifiers…I’m looking forward to the Gold Cup. If I don’t get to the Gold Cup, I’m looking forward to the U-23 qualifiers. If that doesn’t happen, I’m looking forward to the U-20 World Cup because I, I’m just looking forward to everything because in any of those competitions it’s always a good opportunity for me to show what I can do for the team and show what I’m what I made of.”