Soccer Prospects Thread VII

[Evilo]

This french U17 team starts with a former student of mine, Paul Argney in nets. He plays for Le Havre, probably the best academy for keepers in France.
Two defensemen I follow are Gadou (a giant defenseman compared to Bitshiabu) from PSG and Meupiyou from Nantes.
In midfield I don't know many of them, but Bouabre from Monaco is highly rated. Have never seen him play though.
Fode Sylla is a huge prospect out of Lens too, but he didn't start that game.
Up front, the big name is Lambourde, very very nice youngster from Rennes.

France hit the post and missed two pens against Scotland.
As usual with french youth selections, coaching is a big question mark. The NT youth coaches are often picked out of friendship by the higher powers without ever needing to prove their worth.

 

[cgf]

This french U17 team starts with a former student of mine, Paul Argney in nets. He plays for Le Havre, probably the best academy for keepers in France.
Two defensemen I follow are Gadou (a giant defenseman compared to Bitshiabu) from PSG and Meupiyou from Nantes.
In midfield I don't know many of them, but Bouabre from Monaco is highly rated. Have never seen him play though.
Fode Sylla is a huge prospect out of Lens too, but he didn't start that game.
Up front, the big name is Lambourde, very very nice youngster from Rennes.

France hit the post and missed two pens against Scotland.
As usual with french youth selections, coaching is a big question mark. The NT youth coaches are often picked out of friendship by the higher powers without ever needing to prove their worth.

Looking forward to saturday. I came into this tourney with zero expectations...only having seen a little of Brunner & Dardai for their clubs' U19 teams...but some of these kids do seem to be awfully interesting.

I'm very excited to see more of Davich & Ramsak.

 

[cgf]

In today's U17 matches:

Slovenia 4 - 2 Serbia
Spain 2 - 1 Italy
Switzerland 2 - 0 Netherlands
England 1 -0 Kroatia

 

[les Habs]

I see that Yamal is playing for Spain at the U-17s.

 

[Venkman]

Watched the England game. Nice finish by Nwaneri from Dibling's cross. Croatian GK saved Golding's penalty after Lewis-Skelly beat two players and ran into the box. Harsh penalty as it looked like Lewis-Skelly initiated contact.

England controlled the first half with Croatia sitting deep. Changed in the second half with England losing some control and Croatia pushing for an equaliser. Rimac hit the bar with a curling shot then Zivkovic missed Croatia's best chance in the last few seconds.

Lewis-Skelly was probably England's standout. Dibling was good in the first half but faded in the second. Nwaneri was a bit quiet. Dada-Mascoll is a big fella.

 

[Evilo]

Barcola with YET another nice assist.

 

[Evilo]

My god Cherki is unbelievable.

 

[les Habs]

Wow, that free kick chip from Sebastiano Esposito…. Great goal. I know he’s in Serie B, but curious to see where he goes after his loan. Still only 20 and his goals per match is solid. Seems as though he’s behind his brother Salvatore at the moment, but again he’s only 20 so we’ll see what happens.

 

[cgf]

Adriano Onyegbule made his debut for Basel's senior team, becoming the second youngest german to make his senior team debut this season...being a day older than Wanner had been on his debut and beating Bischof, Damar, and Tohumcu.

 

[Evilo]

Not only did Cherki score a golazo but he made a Zidane roulette in the middle of the box and then chipped the goalie who made the save to prevent the goal of the season (Caqueret scored on the rebound).

 

[cgf]

I like Kabar. He's very lively & gifted from LB. With Brunner on that side & Darvich drifting to that side, we were having good success against the french right.

Herrmann is talented but I don't like his decision-making. He put Kabar in a bad spot that sparked a french counter & cost Kabar a yellow, when there was a simple pass to Brunner in space.

France are starting to get into the match after we pushed them deep into their own half to start things. Gomis, Issoufou, and especially Bouabre sticking out in a good way so far.

According to the announcer, Arsenal are following Darvich very closely.

France had two chances to score before but get the opener. Not an undeserved goal, but there's goals in this for us as well. Still not loving Herrmann's decisions and I'm pretty ambivalent toward Moerstädt...bring on Ramsak!

 

[cgf]

Great response in the second half. Ouedraogo & Ramsak both made a big impact off the bench.

Brunner scored a gorgeous equalizer and had a great run to set up his second, with Ramsak directing a gorgeous weak-foot cross from Darvich into the corner of the net with a very well taken volley on the trot, in between Paris' 7-minute brace.

Jeltsch feels like a liability and Herrmann is a frustrating player atm, but this team does have a lot of kids that I'm liking what I've seen of so far...Brunner, Darvich, Ramsak, Kabar, Ouedraogo, Dal, and Moreira left positive impressions today.

Don't think either side is as good as when they met in the QFs last summer, but looks like another strong age group for each. Bouabre & Gomis really stood out all game long, and Lambourde stood out after coming on.

Evilo's student did great despite conceding 3 times. He made some strong saves on the shots that were saveable and was only beaten by 3 unstoppable goals.

 

[Evilo]

I'm not sure why Lambourde didn't start. Mind you I no idea why Sylla didn't start he first.
Meh...

 

[cgf]

Sylla scored, but he didn’t stick out as much as the others. Issoufou started well, so I can get him starting over Lambourde...though he faded in the 2nd half and Lambourde stood out after coming on.

Rewatching the highlights I'm even more impressed by Brunners goals, Ramsak's finish, and Ouedraogo's contribution to all 3 goals.
- He got the assist directly on the first; finding some space for himself nicely before spotting Brunner all alone on the far side.
- Avoided a french midfielder before feeding Darvich in space for the hockey assist on the 2nd.
- And it was his heavy shot after Brunner's nifty run, that Argney parried over to Herrmann...whose mishit landed with Brunner for the tap in to make it 3-1.

 

[cgf]

Lewis-Skelly is a tricky little bugger, huh?

Samuel has looked nice on the ball too, but the Dutch have responded to the goal well.

Gray has been nice & active. Not sure about the skill level, but he's had some good pressing scenes and pushes forward nicely.

 

[cgf]

I had to leave after about half an hour, but was surprised to see England won 4-1. The Dutch had really pinned them back well after the goal and seemed to be raising the pressure.

Lewis-Skelly really stood out. Big fan of what I've seen from him & Bouabre. Both are very technical & quick midfielders; that showed enough bite for their size not to worry me too much.



Also feels like the goalkeeping so far has been exceptional for a U17 tourney.

Usually at this level keepers are crap but Portugal's keeper was excellent, France's keeper was very strong, our keeper has only been beaten by a goal he had no chance to save...which he got his fingertips to but just couldn't stop from going across the goalmouth...and the english keeper made some good saves.

Have teams gotten better at teaching youth-level keepers, is this just a strong crop, is this just a sample size thing, or do I still just have no clue how to assess young keepers?

 

[John Pedro]

The Best CB in Brazil this season so far, he's so good

 

[Venkman]

Lewis-Skelly is a tricky little bugger, huh?

Samuel has looked nice on the ball too, but the Dutch have responded to the goal well.

Gray has been nice & active. Not sure about the skill level, but he's had some good pressing scenes and pushes forward nicely.

Loved Lewis-Skelly's turn and run for his goal even if he got a couple of bounces before he finished. Agree on Samuel, he's been playing mostly RB for City this season but has looked good at CB for England.

England started well again, pressed high, looked like a 4-4-2 without the ball. Got the goal then sat back. Dutch RB Dijkstra had their best chance in the first half.

Netherland's equaliser was deserved, England's left side was too open. Dada-Mascoll's near post corner looked like it deflected off a Dutch defender but went down as his goal. Then van der Plas was sent off for a last man foul on Lovelace. Lovelace's turn and run into the box won England a penalty which Dada-Mascoll scored. Then Oboavwuduo finished well to make it 4-1, which doesn't really reflect the game.

Lewis-Skelly stoodout again. Subs Oboavwuduo, Lovelace and Dada-Mascoll were good.

 

[cgf]

Loved Lewis-Skelly's turn and run for his goal even if he got a couple of bounces before he finished. Agree on Samuel, he's been playing mostly RB for City this season but has looked good at CB for England.

England started well again, pressed high, looked like a 4-4-2 without the ball. Got the goal then sat back. Dutch RB Dijkstra had their best chance in the first half.

Netherland's equaliser was deserved, England's left side was too open. Dada-Mascoll's near post corner looked like it deflected off a Dutch defender but went down as his goal. Then van der Plas was sent off for a last man foul on Lovelace. Lovelace's turn and run into the box won England a penalty which Dada-Mascoll scored. Then Oboavwuduo finished well to make it 4-1, which doesn't really reflect the game.

Lewis-Skelly stoodout again. Subs Oboavwuduo, Lovelace and Dada-Mascoll were good.

Sounds like a crazy finish. And yeah that run from Lewis-Skelly was Dahoud-esque ;-)

This is shaping up to be a fun tournament. At this age, teams are super inconsistent, but so far I've liked what I've seen of us, France, and England at this tourney. Spain was fun against us in the qualifiers, and Portugal had some nifty passages of play despite losing 0-4 to us.

Now both our teams need to take care of business so we don't run into each other in the Quarterfinals & cost one of us a spot at the u17 WM

 

[Evilo]

 

[cgf]

A lot of rotation today against scottland. Brunner, Harchaoui, Jeltsch and Schmitt are the only returning starters.

- Henning looks skilled at LB, less sure about his defensive game and he's not as athletically gifted as Kabar.
- Bulut is a nice & active RB. Not been particularly skilled in moving through traffic, but his crosses have looked good and he has excellent tools defensively
- Malanga doesn't seem to be as fast as Herrmann with the ball or when pressing, but I like his decision-making a lot more.
- Dardai has great size and skill, but hasn't really found too much space against a deep defending Scottish side
- Wätjen had a nifty run late in the half, but has yet to really stick out in a big way.
- Odugu is big and strong, but looks technically limited.

Of the guys who've played a lot so far

- Brunner has been active and dangerous but hasn't yet dialed it in to open the scoring.
- Ramsak has had some crafty moments and almost got himself free in the scottish box to poach the opener; ironically this is the match where I think Moerstadt's size would've been effective...maybe playing him & Ramsak together?
- Harchaoui looks a lot better than he did against the french, finding space to have a calming effect on our possession play like he did against Portugal.
- Jeltsch also looks much more solid and technically proficient without those french attackers & midfielders baring down on him.
- I think Schmitt might be a genuinely good goalie prospect, though I have little confidence in saying so ; only had to make 1 save but it was a big one and he read it well. There was also a scene where Odugu underhit a backpass and Schmitt reacted to it quickly to rush out and beat the scottish forward to the ball.

 

[bluesfan94]

Lewis-Skelly really stood out. Big fan of what I've seen from him & Bouabre. Both are very technical & quick midfielders; that showed enough bite for their size not to worry me too much.

Very excited for MLS in the next couple years. Hopefully Nwaneri stays, too, as they could be the next group of Hale End products to really make a senior team impact.

 

[les Habs]

As of yesterday in the U-17 Euro, Yamal had the most successful dribbles and was tied with most chances created. And from what I’ve seen he’s only looked so good. Not sure if he’s the youngest player in the tournament, but he’s still only 15 years old.

 

[cgf]

Dardai & Wätjen really grew into the 2nd half, finding space and using it very craftily...Wätjen had one pass in particular that stands out as just a perfectly weighted ball that Darvich(?) just couldn't get on the end of.

Moerstadt continues to show some nice hold up abilities for a big man while underwhelming in front of goal. While Darvich was once again very influential in our win.

Bulut was shifted to CB in the second half and I really liked his performance. His ball skills are much stronger there and he played a few nifty long balls from the back. Tough to say if his defending at that spot is good enough for the top teams, as Jeltsch looked a lot better today as well, but he could be an interesting CB prospect if that side of his game comes along.

Very excited for MLS in the next couple years. Hopefully Nwaneri stays, too, as they could be the next group of Hale End products to really make a senior team impact.

I can't blame you, he's a really fun little player from what I've seen and certainly chippy enough to compensate for his size even if he stays veratti-sized.

Only watched the first 30-35min but Nwaneri, Dipling, and the striker...who's name I'm forgetting...were pretty underwhelming in those minutes. The midfielders and defenders had a lot more positive moments, while the english keeper also came up strong.

 

[cgf]

I wish I knew more about scouting goalkeeping prospects. Noah Atubolu, Jonas Urbig, and Max Schmitt have all looked good to me for the youth NTs I've seen them for...while Atubolu & Urbig have both gotten excellent reviews with SCFII & Regensburg...but I just don't know if that'll translate to anything at the top level