The US U20s are currently involved in a camp in England, but many of the players from the CONCACAF Championship team aren’t involved. The roster is a blend of current U19 and U20 players. This camp serves as an opportunity for Tab Ramos to evaluate other possible candidates to bring to South Korea. They scrimmaged Marlon Fossey and the Fulham U23s, coming away with a 1-0 win. (All statistics from WhoScored unless noted)
College
Five college players from the CONCACAF Championship, Jonathan Klinsmann, JT Marcinkowski, Aaron Herrera, Jeremiah Gutjahr, and Eryk Williamson, all are in England. Klinsmann has also spent time on trial with Everton before this camp.
Injuries
Justen Glad still hasn’t returned to training.
MLS
Jeremy Ebobisse, Auston Trusty, and Erik Palmer-Brown and Jonathan Lewis all didn’t make the match day 18 for their MLS teams. FC Dallas’s game against Colorado Rapids was postponed, and Coy Craft didn’t make the match day 18 against FC Pachua in CONCACAF Champions League.
Real Salt Lake continued to have the most U20 players in the matchday 18. Danilo Acosta didn’t leave the bench, but Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo started in both games this week. Against the Red Bulls, Saucedo hit the post and tracked back defensively (two tackles, one interception). Offensively, he was pretty quiet. Lennon had a better game with two key passes and four defensive actions (three tackle, one clearance).
Against Minnesota, both players greatly improved. This improvement could be attributed to playing a weaker team. However, combined the pair contributed 16 defensive actions (eight apiece) and three key passes. In both games, Saucedo was subbed out early, while Lennon played the full 90. Performances like these will help get them on the roster. The U20s will need strong two way wingers, especially if they play a 4-3-3.
Tyler Adams had a man of the match performance against RSL. He contributed two key passes, seven defensive actions (five tackles, two interceptions), plus two blocked shots. Overall, this was a breakout MLS performance for him. His ability to break up opposing teams attacks, but also jump start his own teams attack is very impressive for an 18-year-old. However, in the Houston Dynamo’s thrashing of the Red Bull’s Adams didn’t play as well. In order to start, he will need to improve his consistency.
Even though Philadelphia Union lost, Derrick Jones put in a much stronger performance. He was active defensively (three tackles, two interceptions, one clearance), and also offensively (two key passes). Jones needs to keep up these performances if he wants to compete with Adams for a starting role.
Jose Aja strained his hamstring, so Jason Kries had to substitute Tommy Redding in. After Redding entered the game, the Crew only scored one goal. He contributed two interceptions and four accurate long balls. As Aja will be out two to four weeks, this is the time for Redding to prove to Ramos he deserves a spot.
USL
Several U20 players have been making appearances in the USL. Tommy Redding, Jeremy Ebobisse and Erik Palmer-Brown have all featured once.
