CONCACAF U17 qualifying: Guatemala Feb 2023 ( + preparation & news )

[narduch]

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by narduch

[hodgkiss]

I just found the listing for Saturday at 5:00pm on the Fubo guide (on One Soccer).
Can't wait to see what these young guys can bring they should at least make it out of the group stage.

[Shway]

31 minutes ago, hodgkiss said:

I just found the listing for Saturday at 5:00pm on the Fubo guide (on One Soccer).
Can't wait to see what these young guys can bring they should at least make it out of the group stage.

Expect nothing.
And be surprised. 

[Sal333]

On 2/9/2023 at 2:59 PM, Shway said:

Expect nothing.
And be surprised. 

You know you can still be surprised if you expect something.

[Sechat23]

What's your prediction vs USA, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados?

[Soccerpro2]

2 hours ago, Sechat23 said:

What's your prediction vs USA, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados?

Win vs T&T and Barbados. Lose to USA.

[red card]

Scuffed podcast had Matt Hartman to go over the US u17 team. I have mentioned before that unlike most US youth team commentators, Hartman eschews the hype for straightforwardness.

He said the US has consistent talent across its squad but no standouts. They're deep in attacking mids, lots of tricky technical types but they don't have all the pieces to be considered as blue chip prospects, one true winger only and limited fullback depth. They will play good as a team and contend for the title. You can say that they're similar to last year's u20 team who won the title but no obvious senior team talents. Their style of play will be very similar to the u20s.

One name that has a chance to be a senior national team player is Cruz Medina from the Earthquakes. There are 3 players from San Jose, the best u17 team in the US followed by the 2 LA teams. Lack of blue chip talent can be in part to covid stunting development.

Omissions are injured number 1 keeper Kochen from Barca. A few other players not on squad because of injuries, are stuck behind deep attacking mids pool, not released by clubs or still deciding which country to represent. 3 duals are on Mexico's team, another dual Brian Desten is with Haiti (viewed by many as best 2006 born striker playing in the US with Inter Miami) and Hartman said Canada's Stefanovic would have been the 3rd CB on the US team.

 

Hartman also commented on MLS Next & MLSNP contributions to the youth development process

MLS Next: Doing okay job but there are growing pains transitioning over from DA system. Some teams are nowhere near the level to provide a challenge to other teams. Now getting close to what the DA level was.

MLSNP: Shambolic. The level is bad and will get worse this year as the better players are leaving for Europe, USL, USL 1 and even mentioned CPL. It can't reach USL style atmosphere as attendance is often nil and many teams in the latter half of last year opted for practice fields rather than stadiums for matches. Hartman isn't against MLSNP in theory but it is a less effective development system than USL. MLS teams are now recoginizing it is just a way to keep US college players in-house at a lower salary level than MLS. Hartman says MLSNP is close to non-challenging for the players at the level found on this US u17 team. MLSNP level is worse than USL and USL 1 and even high level US college teams.

 

 

[VinceA]

9 hours ago, red card said:

Scuffed podcast had Matt Hartman to go over the US u17 team. I have mentioned before that unlike most US youth team commentators, Hartman eschews the hype for straightforwardness.

He said the US has consistent talent across its squad but no standouts. They're deep in attacking mids, lots of tricky technical types but they don't have all the pieces to be considered as blue chip prospects, one true winger only and limited fullback depth. They will play good as a team and contend for the title. You can say that they're similar to last year's u20 team who won the title but no obvious senior team talents. Their style of play will be very similar to the u20s.

One name that has a chance to be a senior national team player is Cruz Medina from the Earthquakes. There are 3 players from San Jose, the best u17 team in the US followed by the 2 LA teams. Lack of blue chip talent can be in part to covid stunting development.

Omissions are injured number 1 keeper Kochen from Barca. A few other players not on squad because of injuries, are stuck behind deep attacking mids pool, not released by clubs or still deciding which country to represent. 3 duals are on Mexico's team, another dual Brian Desten is with Haiti (viewed by many as best 2006 born striker playing in the US with Inter Miami) and Hartman said Canada's Stefanovic would have been the 3rd CB on the US team.

 

Hartman also commented on MLS Next & MLSNP contributions to the youth development process

MLS Next: Doing okay job but there are growing pains transitioning over from DA system. Some teams are nowhere near the level to provide a challenge to other teams. Now getting close to what the DA level was.

MLSNP: Shambolic. The level is bad and will get worse this year as the better players are leaving for Europe, USL, USL 1 and even mentioned CPL. It can't reach USL style atmosphere as attendance is often nil and many teams in the latter half of last year opted for practice fields rather than stadiums for matches. Hartman isn't against MLSNP in theory but it is a less effective development system than USL. MLS teams are now recoginizing it is just a way to keep US college players in-house at a lower salary level than MLS. Hartman says MLSNP is close to non-challenging for the players at the level found on this US u17 team. MLSNP level is worse than USL and USL 1 and even high level US college teams.

 

 

I think MLSNP was a mistake. MLS should have simply partnered with the USL and entered all teams in USL League One, and made that league regional based.

[Shway]

7 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I think MLSNP was a mistake. MLS should have simply partnered with the USL and entered all teams in USL League One, and made that league regional based.

I can’t call it a mistake yet. 
It is modelled exactly how the premier league U-23 league is formatted. It’s a bridge between the academy and the 1st team. It’s the alternative (imo better) to NCAA. 

My issue is when they seek a division status for it, and try to make it seem like it’s “professional league” when really it’s reserve players and academy products. 

For the better prospects who need more of a challenge/minutes…they can and do get loans to the USL Championship or CPL.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Shway

[red card]

39 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I think MLSNP was a mistake. MLS should have simply partnered with the USL and entered all teams in USL League One, and made that league regional based.

Hartman did say the the easy solution is for MLSNP to loan out their better players to the USL leagues. But it ain't happening as MLS & USL aren't on the best of terms.

Even if they were on cooperating terms, USL - especially the ambitious teams like Phoenix & Louisville - don't want to play MLSNP teams since about 60% of MLSNP teams don't put much effort in providing a matchday experience.

 

 

[Sechat23]

2 hours ago, red card said:

Hartman did say the the easy solution is for MLSNP to loan out their better players to the USL leagues. But it ain't happening as MLS & USL aren't on the best of terms.

Even if they were on cooperating terms, USL - especially the ambitious teams like Phoenix & Louisville - don't want to play MLSNP teams since about 60% of MLSNP teams don't put much effort in providing a matchday experience.

 

 

MLSNP should just be a B team. Players like Cruz Medina, maybe Cavan Sullivan, and many more will be too good for their U program but not good enough for their MLS first team. 

There are not many reasons why a 16 or maybe a 17-year-old should be playing in MLS. Yes, they might have the talent to play but most don't have the sizes and or the experience yet.,

[narduch]

With the CSA dispute i almost forgot about this.

Will make a thread 

[narduch]

Today's games. All times ET.

Not sure if you can watch the non Canada games on Concacaf YouTube 

[Aird25]

I wish everyone was watching OneSoccer today that’s airing before the match. Very relevant. Anyways, best of luck to the boys 

[Sechat23]

54 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I wish everyone was watching OneSoccer today that’s airing before the match. Very relevant. Anyways, best of luck to the boys 

Take all of the U17 with a grain of salt. That's because Mexico has always looked good and even won the u17 world cup but always looks bad when they are older.

[narduch]

Mexico already 4-0 up on Curaçao 

[Sechat23]

1 minute ago, narduch said:

Mexico already 4-0 up on Curaçao 

Tbh never heard about Curaçao until this U17.

Thanks for that red card.

[narduch]

Suriname got spanked 6-1 by Honduras yesterday in case you are wondering

[Gian-Luca]

The US are quickly up 2-0 on T&T 20 minutes in. Mexico & Guatemala are scoreless thus far at the same time.

 

Edit - Make that 3-0 24 minutes in.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Gian-Luca

[Gian-Luca]

The Americans end up winning 3-1, so we need to beat them in order to win the group.

[harrycoyster]

11 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

The Americans end up winning 3-1, so we need to beat them in order to win the group.

Winning the group is a path of Dominican Republic, Jamaica/Costa Rica to qualifying for the World Cup whereas finishing second is Haiti, Jamaica/Costa Rica. 

A Dominican Republic team that smashed through qualifying with a 19-1 GD and didn't have to play in the group stage might be a tougher game than Haiti. 

[Sechat23]

29 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Winning the group is a path of Dominican Republic, Jamaica/Costa Rica to qualifying for the World Cup whereas finishing second is Haiti, Jamaica/Costa Rica. 

A Dominican Republic team that smashed through qualifying with a 19-1 GD and didn't have to play in the group stage might be a tougher game than Haiti. 

So you wanted see Canada lose to the USA? 

Yes, DR won with a GD  19-1 but it all depends on who they played.  Also, they will be coming into this tournament without that connection like Canada and the USA is getting.

[harrycoyster]

5 minutes ago, Sechat23 said:

So you wanted see Canada lose to the USA? 

Yes, DR won with a GD  19-1 but it all depends on who they played.  Also, they will be coming into this tournament without that connection like Canada and the USA is getting.

Not at all. Just saying the game isn't tremendously meaningful in terms of World Cup qualification. It's not like losing puts us in the path of the US, Mexico or Honduras...and everybody else is more than beatable. 

[narduch]

55 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Winning the group is a path of Dominican Republic, Jamaica/Costa Rica to qualifying for the World Cup whereas finishing second is Haiti, Jamaica/Costa Rica. 

A Dominican Republic team that smashed through qualifying with a 19-1 GD and didn't have to play in the group stage might be a tougher game than Haiti. 

DR were also the runner-up at last year's U20 tournament. Also entering at the knock out stage.

They are an up and coming nation in Concacaf as they are starting to take soccer more seriously. Might deserve more hype than Curaçao and Suriname. 

I agree with you though. Looks like it doesn't really matter how the USA game goes based on that bracket 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 8/17/2022 at 5:19 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

The format will be the same as the U20 tournament and the women/girls U20 and U17 tournaments.

This will be the last tournament using the current format.

CONCACAF are scrapping the format they used for all 4 recent U17/U20 tournaments.

https://www.concacaf.com/news/concacaf-launches-exciting-new-youth-competitions-format/