Sounders Academy in Crossfire's Heads, Crossfire in the scoreboard
by Dave Clark on Jan 23, 2011 6:54 PM PST
in Sounders: Academy, U23 PDL and Reserves
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PrintToday offered us all another insight into the potential of the Seattle Sounders Academy. With a local "away" game it gave the Sounders crowd the opportunity for a display of passion in late January, and the ECS the opportunity to taunt some high school kids. The U-18 game wasn't just marred by the 2-1 result with Seattle's only goal coming from an own goal, but also marred by a scuffle that resulted in dual Red Cards to players on each team, as well as a Yellow Card to the Crossfire keeper. That Yellow was for wrapping his arms around a Sounders player's neck. While his intent may have been to pull two guys away from a fight, the result was a choking like move against the opposition. An odd Yellow to be sure.
But, more important than results, are how the Seattle players looked. This wasn't as special a match as the last between these two. With large segments of 10 on 10 it would be hard to judge.
Ryan Herman continues to impress. He's a strong keeper, with leadership beyond his age. Athletic with a broad frame his shot stopping should improve as he learns to read the game better. He is not a puncher but tries to catch a majority of balls.
Deandre Yedlin is listed as a forward, sits on defense as a right back, but on offense can appear in any channel except the far left. His dribbling is exceptional over a stretch of two games, and he has solid vision. He has a smaller frame, so plays a kind of safety position on set-plays (similar to James Riley). Deandre is quite fast, by any measure - agile, quick, whatever. Several times his speed was essential to get him back into position defensively on a counter. When the team went to 10 men the Sounders moved to a 3-3-1-2 and Yedlin played in the second band of three interchanging between the RM, CM and CAM roles until a hamstring cramp pulled him from the match.
This was my first opportunity to see Sean Okoli. His early first half play showed some great ball skills, vision and speed as a second striker. One play in particular seemed to be out of Steve Zakuani's bag of tricks when in middle of a step-over he used his off foot to nudge the ball towards the goal. In the second half when Seattle was down two goals another forward was added and the shape shifted to a more tradition diamond 4-4-2 with Okoli as a CAM. Okoli has a future in the league.
The U-16 game ended nil-nil, and while I would love to recap these players, the Sounder at Heart staff had some business to attend to and missed this game.
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Who was #21?
I liked Okoli, calm on the ball, got his head up and looked around. Maybe tried to be a little too fine with his passes, but the ideas were there.
Herman was harder to judge. Didn’t seem to be at fault for either goal, but they happened fast and were messy.
What was the run of play like?
Were we dominated or did they just happen to finish?
No one dominated
Sounders had some good chances to equalize, but just couldn’t finish and their GK made some legitimately nice saves. Crossfire was up 2-0 early and really didn’t have to press much.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 24, 2011 8:12 AM PST up reply actions
Interesting
Did you have any takeaways from the game besides Dave’s great (as usual) write up?
My take-aways
Reffing at the Academy level is really awful, at least based on my one-game sample size.
Other than that, I wanted to see more activity from Okoli. He was dangerous when he touched the ball, but had too few touches and didn’t make himself available enough. I thought whoever No. 9 was looked strong on the ball, but also didn’t seem to have it enough. I was blown away at how much of the field Yedlin covers. Those were the things that jumped out at me.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 24, 2011 12:15 PM PST up reply actions
I have to agree with Dave about the play of Okoli and Yeldin. Let’s get them in as Home grown guys. Does anyone know whether these players are allowed to train with the regular Sounders team? I would imagine that it might be against some kind of NCAA rule (they seem to have so many) but if they can it would be an amazing opportunity to see how they measure up.
There is conflicting information out there
There is nothing that says a player can’t train with the full team as long as he is not getting paid. The issue is the missing of school to go to practice. It is cut and dry that it is illegal for a player to miss college classes to train with a professional team but there doesn’t seem to be the same rule in effect for high school kids.
And FWIW, Okoli and Herman have both trained with the first team, Yedlin was invited to but was on a family vacation.
They can definitely train and even play in reserve games
I wouldn’t necessarily expect any of these guys to sign before going to college, though, since the Sounders don’t really lose anything by letting them mature in college.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 24, 2011 12:16 PM PST up reply actions
College soccer has long been lambasted for its poor player development
The current list of commits are all going to top tier programs so maybe that’s not an issue, but its still the elephant in the room.
This is true
But I think the college programs are changing as they are being challenged by Academies. More to the point, the Academies have already started their training and there’s no guarantee that the Sounders won’t just sign them in a year or two.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 24, 2011 4:45 PM PST up reply actions
I agree
Academy players are also making an impact at the college level as Freshman. Just look at what guys like Kelyn Rowe and Soony Saad did this year.
Hopefully Akron will help change that
Everything I read indicates that Porter focuses on a pro style (he subs according to the usual FIFA rules, not NCAA rules, for example). And it’s seemed to work out well for him so far.
Also, Yedlin has committed to Akron, so there shouldn’t be any worries about his development at college.
Nos Audietis
You all know about how things work more than I
The Sounders played Crossfire. I am guessing that Crossfire must compete for a lot of the same players the Sounders are trying to sign. In the long run, how do you see this playing out? Will the Sounders lose players to Crossfire? I think Jacob Bechtel plays for Crossfire and he is one of the countries top players. (By the way, did he play and how did he look? Were there any other players that we should be aware of?)
I'd rather have 2 great teams in the city than 1 super-team
I’d like to see both Crossfire and the Sounders Academy continue to compete for the best players. Healthy competition between the two will benefit the Sounders Academy more in the long run.
I don't know if I agree with that because the Sounders competition isn't really Crossfire
The rest of the MLS teams are the Sounders competition. The Sounders will not be signing players to beat Crossfire at any time.
Since the Sounders don't have first rights to Crossfire players
I totally didn’t pay attention to them.
Bechtel will have the opportunity like the vast majority of young American players; College, Generation Adidas or Europe.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
crossfire premier and select begin at age 8
the sounders will have to take players from crossfire and its unlikely they will because the kids have been playing together for years.
i used to play for crossfire and no one switched teams, unless a new talent moved to the area.
so honestly its the other way around. (sounders need to “steal” crossfire kids rather then them competing for kids) since the crossfire teams start out in u-9 age groups
Because so many kids would rather be drafted by a random MLS team than play for their local side?
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
but if crossfire continues to beat the sounders academy
why would the players want to switch… they get national attention for the games and are playing with their friends. many of the players by the time they reach the u-16 level have been scouted by schools and chosen where they will be going.
i have friends on the U-18 squad and they have said they would prefer to stay on the team then transfer to the sounders academy. and same with my brothers friends on the U-16 team
Not saying you're entirely wrong
But the first time a Sounders academy player is signed by the Sounders, let alone plays for them, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to equal that kind of pull. I would love to see Crossfire continue to thrive, but it’s hard not to see a future where the Sounders Academy is the dominant one. Let’s keep in mind that the Sounders have only had an Academy for a couple of years.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 24, 2011 5:42 PM PST up reply actions
That is an interesting point and I do not know the longterm answer
Will most of these players grow up now going to Sounders games and watching the Sounders on TV? In the coming years, will they want to play for their favorite team that they grew up watching or will they want to stay at Crossfire.
From my experience of following college sports and pro sports, most (not all) players do commit to the hometown team. Then, if players are good enough to turn pro, they will as soon as they can and leave school early. The idea for most is to play at the highest level and college is not the highest level.
But, ultimately, I do not know what will happen.
its also the same with eastside FC
crossfire and EFC compete with each other for the best kids in the eastside.
so i think it will be interesting to see what kids do in the future
Crossfire is the only team beating the Sounders
Seattle’s Academy is still dominating the standings.
I still see no reason why a kid would turn down the opportunity to be a professional so they could stay with Crossfire.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
There's plenty of talent to go around
Both Crossfire and the Sounders have and will continue to have quality players. I do believe, however, the top tier talent will begin to gravitate towards the Sounders. This is by no means a knock on Crossfire, it’s just easier to make it to the MLS with more career path options.
He doesn't play Academy
He plays for the Crossfire A team.
Random thought time
Results don’t really matter to me, as i hope the team is more focused on improving and developing players then in pure wins and losses. I know Sounders staff have said that is the focus of their academy. I wonder about the teams they are playing against however. I would think a win against the Sounders acadamy would be huge for Crossfire where as a win for the Sounders Acadamy isn’t that big a deal. How does that effect how these games play out?
Sounders Academy vs. Crossfire
This is the first year of the Sounders Academy and for the most part they have the best local talent. This will continue to be the case in the years to come. The only players that will be at Crossfire are those that feel an affinity towards Crossfire or are not good enough to play for the Sounders.
The Sounders will offer the best opportunity and pipeline into the pros.
Also, as I understand it, the Sounders Academy is free to the players, whereas Crossfire is still charging the players to be a part of their academy.
by Tacoma on Jan 24, 2011 9:13 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Homegrown Rules
I haven’t been able to find the exact home grown rules, but I found this on the Red Bulls site.
“In order to be eligible players must abide by the following guidelines.
All players must reside in a team’s “Home Territory” for at least one year prior to being added to the team’s Home Grown Player List.
Players must be added to an MLS team’s Home Grown Player List prior to entering a four-year college, but can maintain their Home Grown Player status during college if registered before entering that institution.
Members of the U17, U20, and U23 U.S. National Teams cannot be added to an MLS team’s Home Grown Player List, but a player already on a Home Grown Player List can maintain that status if selected for a U.S. National team at a later date."
If this is the case, can’t the Sounders sign a Crossfire player as a homegrown player because they are still the “home territory”? Do they have to be a part of the academy?
I think that's the old wording of the rule, but that's somethign I'd have to check
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jan 25, 2011 5:57 PM PST up reply actions
There is a requirement of being coached by the team's staff
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
A player must train a certain amount of times
in a calendar year to be considered eligible for homegrown status. So no, a Crossfire kid can’t be claimed as Homegrown.
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