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Luca Koleosho


Xavier.

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Here's a summary in Spanish. They played a lot of academy kids, Luca wasn't one of the best in a good match for them but had a late chance. They have a tremendous CB, Simo, whose 17 and even younger than Luca, it's not very good that David couldn't figure him out though. 

https://www.lagradaonline.com/primer-equipo/espanyol-lille-losc-pretemporada-2022-23-marbella-football-center-victoria

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Played 90 in a preseason friendly vs. Linense, third tier, who won it 0-1 with a late goal. Say he played well but they couldn't score, half the team was regular 1st team and half the youth and 2nd tier players.

Some fans think he and other kids should be on the B team, others think the real problem is that they got rid of a lot of players and have yet to sign 4-5 new replacements at least. Raul de Tomás is not playing, waiting on a major transfer (some say to Bayern even), and they'll use that to sign. 

Speaking of which, there are rumours they want the Mexican Laiñez from Betis, who plays in a similar position at Luca and would take 1st team minutes away from him. At least until they realise he's not very effective at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Came on m. 55 last Sunday in a pre-season friendly at Napoli, apparently with many 1st team players out with knocks, others not re-signed, etc. Had a good chance saved attacking down the right, ended 0-0. 

They expect many players to not be ready for the first match of the season, away to Celta Vigo this Saturday, so he may get the call. He has not been with the B team at all, or hardly (if anything, maybe some training back in BCN). Mind you, they may start to get players back (striker Raul de Tomás, who they wanted to sell and has a high value, has been injured, so they can't move him, for example).

As is, I expect we are going to see Luca with first team minutes in La Liga, watch what Herdman does with that come the September friendlies.

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44 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

As is, I expect we are going to see Luca with first team minutes in La Liga, watch what Herdman does with that come the September friendlies.

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems we don't get as much news out of camps as we used to.  Did we ever hear how he did when he trained with the NT, how long was that, a week?

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16 minutes ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems we don't get as much news out of camps as we used to.  Did we ever hear how he did when he trained with the NT, how long was that, a week?

Wasn’t he there and the strike occurred and then he had to leave right after?

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1 hour ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems we don't get as much news out of camps as we used to.  Did we ever hear how he did when he trained with the NT, how long was that, a week?

Herdman in an interview said something like you could see his pace, or he showed his level, forget the exact words. Anyways, the idea was that his quality was evident. If you can walk in age 17 and not look out of place on a NT that is a major step. 

The guy just played vs. Napoli a week before the season starts, what do folks expect.

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On 8/11/2022 at 9:00 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

As is, I expect we are going to see Luca with first team minutes in La Liga, watch what Herdman does with that come the September friendlies.


Injury driven or not, there is a Canada-eligible 17 year old getting minutes with a La Liga team.  If I am Herdman, this guy jumps to the top of my list when it comes to the fringe guys competing for the last one or two spots where there is wiggle room on the roster.   I would call him up for September to get him involved and give him a look, and depending on the next couple of months, I could even see an invitation to Qatar as a possibility.   Maybe not a probability, but if you are going to take a flyer on one young player he seems like as good a bet as any - especially if it would keep him out of the talons of our southern neighbour.  

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He has to be fast-tracked, even if right wing is really not a position we need as a priority. 

I see he came on for Rubén Sánchez, who is just 21 and technically a B team player, like Luca. Sánchez is really a right back but they've been pushing him up and I think I read he had the most minutes of any player at all in the pre-season. So that is interesting, two B players on the right side of the attack. 

They are still playing with a lot of younger players, new signings, B-team players. Also: they have a new keeper who IMO let in two stoppable goals.

The highlights I saw don't show much of his minutes. 

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Yeah, they need to go above and beyond to lock this kid down. Unlike most of our other dual nationals, Koleosho is Canadian by technicality, he is very much an American kid. While their team is much deeper than ours, I don’t think they can afford to miss out on a guy playing La Liga who should realistically commit to the USMNT, considering he’s from Connecticut. Seeing him post a picture in a CANMNT jersey a few months back was encouraging though.

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I put on just last 10 minutes of the game yesterday after seeing here that he'd come on as a late sub. He neither shone or looked out of place in his short time on the pitch. He got on the ball a couple of times in the attacking third, but couldn't beat his man, but he also tracked back when needed and didn't shirk the defensive side of his responsibilities. For a 17-year old coming on in a Big 5 league match, the signs are encouraging. Hopefully, it'll be us that reap the benefits.

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26 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

I put on just last 10 minutes of the game yesterday after seeing here that he'd come on as a late sub. He neither shone or looked out of place in his short time on the pitch. He got on the ball a couple of times in the attacking third, but couldn't beat his man, but he also tracked back when needed and didn't shirk the defensive side of his responsibilities. For a 17-year old coming on in a Big 5 league match, the signs are encouraging. Hopefully, it'll be us that reap the benefits.

honestly, as a 17year old, getting pro playing time in a top 5 league is shining enough. Just being good enough to be there at such a huge age is an achievement of its own. 

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