Ethan Berger

The US has been so focused on acting like Europe regarding club, we've slept hard on how much we could be leveraging what we have that they don't, and that's high school ball & the unique connection people feel to their school & community. You'll never ever see this for club.

RSL blocking Gozo's path to Europe would be a mistake, and not just for Gozo. It would be a mistake for MLS. Gozo has done everything right. He signed a Homegrown deal, developed within the system, and turned himself into one of the most coveted teenagers in the Americas. Now RSL wants to hold him hostage because they don't have a succession plan. That's not his problem. The club reportedly requires a fee approaching $20 million, a number that would make him one of the most expensive MLS sales ever. Fine. Get your money. But don't block the move altogether. If you sell him for $15 million and can't figure out how to replace a 19-year-old winger, that's a front office failure, not a reason to stall a kid's career. The broader issue is what this signals to the next Gozo. MLS is a development league right now. That's not a knock on the league. It's just the reality of where American soccer sits in the global ecosystem. It's the launchpad, not the destination. Every top young American player, every family weighing a Homegrown deal, is watching how this plays out. If the message is that MLS clubs will stand in your way the moment Europe comes calling, why would any elite kid sign here? They'll go straight to Europe as soon as they can and skip MLS entirely. RSL has leverage right now. Use it to get fair value. Don't use it to block a 19-year-old from taking the next step he's earned.

I have watched about 90% of Cavan Sullivan’s 945 first team minutes over the last few years, here’s my overall assessment: I think the overall picture has to be separated into two buckets: Compared to anyone: I constantly see people go on and on about how he’s amazing every single game and is in need of more minutes. As a fan of the player (see below), I’m really not seeing some of this. I think the kid has an argument for more minutes. The team is bad. I don’t think veteran journeymen who play poorly are necessarily a better solution than him. However, he also has one goal contribution for the first team that isn’t against a team called Defence Force. He’s not exactly banging down the door for minutes. I also think it’s true that he’s smaller and his defensive knowledge lacks compared to some others. Being smaller might be corrected over time, but I don’t think there’s any denying that it’s part of the equation with him against top division athletes. He’s the youngest player in MLS. Physically that’s always going to be a challenge. He is very willing defensively and fearless into duels, but I don’t think that’s all there is to defending and it’s probably true that these older veteran journeyman try hard with low talent probably stick to a tactical game plan for a team that is not very good offensively and needs to defend well to have a chance to win games. His attacking output shows moments that most players on the team don’t possess. He’s also starting to refine his attacking decision-making, which I thought was an issue last season for the first team. Long story short: he has a case for more playing time. I think it benefits everyone that he plays more, but I also don’t think his play is so overwhelmingly good that a coach focused entirely on winning has him as a rotational player as opposed to a locked in starter is wronging him. He needs to play better to earn more. Could/should it be given to him anyway? That’s a different story. Compared to players his age: I think this picture is different from the one above. You could be slightly pessimistic from the one above that he doesn’t look super amazing in MLS. That it’s a work in progress for him. If you were expecting a Lamine Yamal impact at that age, maybe you just don’t have a good picture of his overall projection. You could also be pessimistic and say Adri Mehmeti has been the more impactful ‘09 this season, but he plays for a better team, he plays for a coach who is essentially building the tactical setup around him, and maybe we have to consider that Mehmeti has improved and how we looked at his projection previously needs to be recalculated to a higher caliber. I think it’s fair to belittle the performances against Defence Force a little when you’re assessing for who should play what minutes in MLS games, but when you’re assessing has this player who has been 14-16 years old been successful providing 2G,2A in 945 first team minutes (a solid rate regardless of age), I think you can cut the kid a little slack that so far his biggest contributions have been against a pub team. Someone has to play well in those games. It’s not bad that he did. Overall, he’s probably not meeting expectations if you expected him to be the next Lamine Yamal. However, I have never thought that was realistic. I think being the next Christian Pulisic is more realistic. Maybe a little more than that. Next Phil Foden? If you’re gonna say “But he’s the most hyped American since Adu, more hyped than Pulisic was.” - I’m not disagreeing with that. Maybe Pulisic was under hyped. Didn’t come through a big academy in the US. Was the pioneer of an era in American soccer where excitement was lower. Did not have an older brother on the senior team. In the inverse, Sullivan came through the top academy in the country. He’s benefiting off the “Golden era” of American soccer. There are few, if any, prospects that generate more buzz due to their last name. TL;DR: Sullivan is on course.

Ceiling player comps for our first round draft picks; Caleb Downs - Ed Reed Malachi Lawrence - Khalil Mack

Adri Mehmeti 🇺🇸🇦🇱 (2009) vs Inter Miami