ASN: Put up Mortem: U-20 World Cup a Blended Bag for Yanks

Regardless of lacking just a few key gamers, Tab Ramos’ U-20 facet superior to the quarterfinals of the World Cup—a stable exhibiting from a crew that had loads of query marks forward of the event.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
June 05, 2017
12:00 PM

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THE UNITED STATES U-20 males’s nationwide crew nationwide bowed out of the World Cup on Sunday after a 2-1 further time loss to Venezuela. It was the second straight event through which the U.S. made it to the ultimate eight however fell in need of the semifinals.

There could be no denying that Venezuela was the higher crew Sunday. The South American facet has been remarkably robust not simply in South Korea but in addition throughout World Cup qualifying, when it outclassed many conventional soccer powers. It’s by no accident that Venezuela is an ideal 5-0-0 on the World Cup.

FIFA’s nearsighted scheduling gave the U.S. two fewer days of relaxation than Venezuela however the Yanks have been all the time going to be the underdog in opposition to a crew that had superior expertise at each place. It wouldn’t be shocking if Venezuela went on to carry the Cup.

The U.S., in the meantime, didn’t have a number of of its greatest gamers: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Josh Perez, and Nick Taitague all missed the U-20 World Cup for numerous causes. For those who added these gamers to the combo, it’s solely doable that the Yanks would have held their very own in opposition to Venezuela and continued to the following spherical. We’ll by no means know.

Tab Ramos’ got here up quick primarily on account of its incapacity to take care of possession and dictate the tempo of the sport. Venezuela managed the ball and pushed the sport to a frantic tempo, dashing the People’ decision-making and overwhelming an already-tired crew.

Possession is usually the place the sport falls aside for American groups dealing with elite competitors. It’s most likely irritating for Ramos as a result of the U.S. dominated possession in qualifying in opposition to conventional regional powers like Mexico. His crew additionally was higher in each group stage sport exterior of the primary 10 minutes of the opener in opposition to Ecuador. Venezuela was simply at a special stage, nevertheless.

The success of this event might be measured by how the gamers transfer ahead from right here. Did gamers use this event to spice up their respective careers? Are they extra ready to maneuver to the U-23 crew and the complete nationwide crew?

Which gamers improved their standing?

The 2015 U-20 World Cup crew was very profitable when it comes to profession improvement. Matt Miazga used that event to impress scouts and pave a solution to Chelsea. Cameron Carter-Vickers was uncovered as a real prospect (which he confirmed in South Korea). Emerson Hyndman and Zach Steffen might be a part of the nationwide crew sooner or later whereas Paul Arriola, Kellyn Acosta, and Miazga are half of the present nationwide crew participant pool.

Will probably be laborious for the 2017 crew to achieve that stage however it’s not unrealistic. Right here’s a take a look at the place the important thing gamers presently stand after the World Cup.

Erik Palmer-Brown: Undoubtedly Palmer-Brown is the star of this cycle. The crew captain was the participant of the event within the CONCACAF Championships and was fairly probably the most effective defender within the U-20 World Cup by the primary 4 video games. Now within the final yr of his contract with Sporting Kansas Metropolis, Palmer-Brown did sufficient to earn an enormous European contract. Given his struggles to interrupt into SKC below Peter Vermes, he ought to look to take a transfer overseas if he can discover a membership with a pathway to the primary crew. His upside is thru the roof.

Brooks Lennon: The U-20 World Cup was productive for Lennon. Generally his mixture play wasn’t there however his crossing was very robust and he put himself in harmful positions. He’s a simple participant to love as a result of he works very laborious and hustles on protection. Like many gamers at this age, he’s uncooked and desires a whole lot of polish. If he develops, it’s doable to see him sneak into the nationwide crew image in just a few years in the identical approach Paul Arriola has (each are good crew gamers). Lennon looks like he’ll want the Olympic crew in 2020 to supply that intermediate step.

Josh Sargent: The St. Louis native scored 4 targets in South Korea and regarded very mature, each bodily and mentally, for his age. It was the proper transfer by Ramos to name Sargent, 17, up and make the fast transition from the U-17 crew to the U-20 crew. His ending was efficient and he confirmed expertise with each in his hold-up play and passing. He’s a real prospect with a vivid future inside U.S. Soccer. He can have high-profile European suitors and hopefully he chooses a crew the place he can discover a good path to first-team soccer.

Tyler Adams: Like Sargent, Adams is eligible for the 2019 U-20 World Cup. Adams displayed a ton of potential in South Korea however he stays a uncooked expertise. He struggled with Venezuela’s high-pressing sport however in the course of the group stage he regarded robust and made large performs. Adams has some very fascinating abilities: He can cowl a ton of floor, is quick, and might play laborious for a full 90 minutes. Adams seems to be a first-choice starter with the New York Purple Bulls, and he wants to regulate from taking part in in opposition to younger gamers to taking part in in opposition to males. The Purple Bulls group has traditionally been nice with getting younger, native gamers on the sphere, growing them properly, after which promoting them. Adams appears to be following that path.

Justen Glad: The Venezuela sport confirmed that Glad isn’t actually a proper again. As a central defender, Glad has a beautiful upside however it’ll be a steep climb to make the complete nationwide crew as a result of competitors. Palmer-Brown and Carter-Vickers might be in his approach and additionally it is price declaring that senior nationwide crew gamers like John Brooks and Walker Zimmerman are additionally below 25. Glad has an actual alternative at Actual Salt Lake to play a whole lot of minutes quickly. He can succeed there but when he desires to be within the nationwide crew image, he must be among the best gamers within the league.

Cameron Carter-Vickers: Two years in the past Carter-Vickers showcased himself very properly on the U-20 World Cup. This event confirmed that his upside remains to be there. Final yr his variety of minutes decreased as he was pulled from Tottenham’s reserve groups to trip the bench and prepare with the primary crew. That coaching is at a really excessive stage however now he wants video games. It is vitally straightforward to see him being a starter on the World Cup in 2022 however this season must be a turning level the place he goes from a youth participant to a daily first-team participant.

Derrick Jones: In South Korea Derrick Jones confirmed that regardless of his flaws his upside might be huge. The Philadelphia Union doesn’t have an ideal monitor report of growing younger gamers however the truth that head coach Jim Curtin is taking part in Jones is optimistic. The six-foot-four defensive midfielder has good ft and method and his large body helps him break up performs.  He nonetheless produces too many turnovers and his decision-making was a little bit gradual in South Korea. He must distribute the ball higher and faster, and if he does so he might be on the nationwide crew someday.

Danny Acosta: Ramos was compelled to experiment late within the cycle at left again when his first selection, Marcelo Borges, was injured. Danny Acosta is generally a central midfielder however was transformed to fullback just lately at Actual Salt Lake. He confirmed some defensive flaws in South Korea however whenever you consider his late conversion the backline he did higher than anticipated. He has certainly discovered quite a bit concerning the place in a brief interval. He bought ahead successfully a variety of instances and the truth that left backs are so laborious to seek out qualifies him as a participant to look at.

Luca de la Torre: Like a lot of his teammates, it was an up and down event for de la Torre. The San Diego native had three assists and scored an necessary objective over the 5 video games—an excellent haul. He was all the time trying to make performs and take defenders on. He has stable method however he tends to get taken out of the sport when it will get bodily. There’s an upside to de la Torre’s sport and taking part in for an English Championship crew like Fulham provides him alternatives to regulate to the bodily nature of the game. The subsequent season might be necessary for him to develop on this regard.

Evaluating the coach

Tab Ramos simply accomplished his third cycle as head coach of the U-20 nationwide crew and the federation’s youth technical director. His first cycle on the 2013 World Cup was poor. A few of it was his fault—notably when he lower Jordan Morris and Walker Zimmerman from the World Cup crew. Different features weren’t his fault: the 2013 World Cup draw was brutal and he had restricted expertise at his disposal.

Since then, the U-20 program has made some spectacular strides. Making back- to-back quarterfinal runs is spectacular—particularly for the reason that crew didn’t have a number of of its greatest gamers. One of the best attribute Ramos has dropped at the 2015 and 2017 World Cup groups is that each groups performed very, very laborious and represented the nation properly.

It is usually price noting that the choice to convey 17-year-old Josh Sargent to the U-20 World Cup was the only greatest teaching choice Ramos has ever made. The U-20 crew wanted an improve on the ahead place and Ramos made the decision for Sargent and it paid dividends. The teenager was prepared each bodily and mentally.

Ought to Ramos return for a fourth cycle? It will be comprehensible for any federation to need to herald contemporary blood and new concepts after one coach has been by three cycles. However U.S. Soccer would even be justified in bringing Ramos again. He produced good outcomes.  

What did you consider america’ run within the U-20 World Cup? Happy? Dissatisfied? Share your take under.