Oregon kid wins Sueño MLS 2016

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Alan Gaytan, from Troutdale. Google suggests that he plays for Spartans FC, though it appears he's a shoo-in for a Timbers DA spot.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/0...mls-sueno-2016

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Alan Gaytan, from Troutdale. Google suggests that he plays for Spartans FC, though it appears he's a shoo-in for a Timbers DA spot.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/0...mls-sueno-2016

Awsome job young man. Good luck to you.

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Alan Gaytan, from Troutdale. Google suggests that he plays for Spartans FC, though it appears he's a shoo-in for a Timbers DA spot.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/0...mls-sueno-2016

So how was this kid overlooked for so long by the Timbers? This guy is nationally hailed, and yet wasn't even on the radar of the Timbers .... was he black-balled for being with Spartans?

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So how was this kid overlooked for so long by the Timbers? This guy is nationally hailed, and yet wasn't even on the radar of the Timbers .... was he black-balled for being with Spartans?

You're assuming the Timbers are an intelligent organization.

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So how was this kid overlooked for so long by the Timbers? This guy is nationally hailed, and yet wasn't even on the radar of the Timbers .... was he black-balled for being with Spartans?

I imagine that this kid chose his own path like all kids do. You choose to play for a club. You choose to tryout for ODP or pre-Academy, you choose to tryout for Academy. He probably was on people's radar, but never tried out for the Timbers stuff. And now he's REALLY on people's radar. He's still very young in the scheme of things. Congrats young man.

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Are you sure he is from Troutdale?? I thought everything East of the river was hopeless. Just kidding. Congrats for this young man.

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Player ID and Development

Is notoriously difficult and unpredictable. I have heard there were attempts to get the Timbers to notice this player, couldn't get their attention . . .

However, great development clubs "miss" players all the time - that is why we need a couple of hundred clubs in this country with the economic incentive to id and develop players, not just the 20+ MLS academies. The net simply isn't big enough.

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Did it cross anyone's mind that perhaps he only recently moved into Troutdale and never had a chance to be on any local radar? Or is it just to easy to point to incompetence on behalf of some organization that you don't like? It says he's Mexican-American, maybe he's been living in Mexico until recently.

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Did it cross anyone's mind that perhaps he only recently moved into Troutdale and never had a chance to be on any local radar? Or is it just to easy to point to incompetence on behalf of some organization that you don't like? It says he's Mexican-American, maybe he's been living in Mexico until recently.

Actually, he's been playing for Washington Timbers for years before Spartans (last year), so he was part of the Timbers Alliance. He has always been a stand out player. Electric pace, outstanding touch .... all the players knew who he was / is. He was surrounded by average players, though, which is probably why he moved to Spartans (and then when Spartans fell apart, to LASC). But anyone tasked with identifying talent could see that he had huge potential, especially when paired with others who could play.

So again, the question is very relevant -- why was he passed over? What type of outreach are the TA doing, to low economic communities? Is the pay-to-play model of RTC/ODP really attracting all the best talent?

Let's hope the new leadership of LS is going to make some changes. I've heard he's already reaching out to players that were shunned in ODP ... so there is reason to be optimistic.

These are just my opinions. Actual results may vary.

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Actually, he's been playing for Washington Timbers for years before Spartans (last year), so he was part of the Timbers Alliance. He has always been a stand out player. Electric pace, outstanding touch .... all the players knew who he was / is. He was surrounded by average players, though, which is probably why he moved to Spartans (and then when Spartans fell apart, to LASC). But anyone tasked with identifying talent could see that he had huge potential, especially when paired with others who could play.

So again, the question is very relevant -- why was he passed over? What type of outreach are the TA doing, to low economic communities? Is the pay-to-play model of RTC/ODP really attracting all the best talent?

Let's hope the new leadership of LS is going to make some changes. I've heard he's already reaching out to players that were shunned in ODP ... so there is reason to be optimistic.

These are just my opinions. Actual results may vary.

That's all well and good. However, it's pretty apparent some of the previous posters had no idea about his past but instead used this as an opportunity to make snide comments.

Making the cut in any selection process is a crap shoot. You never know. Kids who are outstanding in a game and team environment don't always show well in a tryout. I have no idea what the details are in this kid's instance, but just commenting on your mention about other kids who have been passed over by ODP. Tryouts are often determined by flashy play. Ok, that's awesome but when you play that way in a game, does it translate to results? A nice soft first touch, a touch around a defender followed by a nicely weighted through ball behind a defender to your outside forward achieves results, but isn't flashy. Dribbling around four players, showing great footskills that eventually lead to you losing the ball may be flashy, but doesn't achieve results.

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His twelve year old brother will be one to watch also.

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That's all well and good. However, it's pretty apparent some of the previous posters had no idea about his past but instead used this as an opportunity to make snide comments.
***.

player identification is hard

Folks are going to take pot shots at the Timbers because, by Oregon youth soccer standards, they are wealthy, powerful, and can be *******s (not everyone there, but certainly some of them). They reap what they sow and not sure they really give damn as long as the checks keep coming in.

[Unregistered]

That's all well and good. However, it's pretty apparent some of the previous posters had no idea about his past but instead used this as an opportunity to make snide comments.

Making the cut in any selection process is a crap shoot. You never know. Kids who are outstanding in a game and team environment don't always show well in a tryout. I have no idea what the details are in this kid's instance, but just commenting on your mention about other kids who have been passed over by ODP. Tryouts are often determined by flashy play. Ok, that's awesome but when you play that way in a game, does it translate to results? A nice soft first touch, a touch around a defender followed by a nicely weighted through ball behind a defender to your outside forward achieves results, but isn't flashy. Dribbling around four players, showing great footskills that eventually lead to you losing the ball may be flashy, but doesn't achieve results.

Selecting kids is the TA's full time job. It's not a hobby. It is what they should be focused on. They need to get it right. Or at least half right.

And so right, who would want dribblers? It is so much easier to take a kid who can't dribble, and teach him how to beat people, than take a kid who loves to take people on, and develop him .... lol ... or just pass it into the goal ... lol ....

Here's the deal: Players who can take people on in the final 3rd are necessary. They are also rare. When you see them, you snag them and develop them.

But if you have hubris, and think that you only will take players that you can build in your own image, which is passing robots with no idea what to do in the final 3rd, then you are offended by dribblers, and you get what the TA had over the last year. Almost nothing in the final 3rd with, with a few exceptions.

But that is not a surprise, given what they clearly were looking for in tryouts last year, and who they passed up.

But to give them credit, they appear to be changing, and trying to mix in more dribblers and attackers this year. Thank goodness. One can hope the new leadership is not scared by kids who dribble alot. I hope to goodness that they don't coach the dribbling out of those poor kids. We shall see. They sure as heck can't develop attackers. This last year proved that.

These are just my opinions. Actual results may vary.

[Unregistered]

Selecting kids is the TA's full time job. It's not a hobby. It is what they should be focused on. They need to get it right. Or at least half right.

And so right, who would want dribblers? It is so much easier to take a kid who can't dribble, and teach him how to beat people, than take a kid who loves to take people on, and develop him .... lol ... or just pass it into the goal ... lol ....

Here's the deal: Players who can take people on in the final 3rd are necessary. They are also rare. When you see them, you snag them and develop them.

But if you have hubris, and think that you only will take players that you can build in your own image, which is passing robots with no idea what to do in the final 3rd, then you are offended by dribblers, and you get what the TA had over the last year. Almost nothing in the final 3rd with, with a few exceptions.

But that is not a surprise, given what they clearly were looking for in tryouts last year, and who they passed up.

But to give them credit, they appear to be changing, and trying to mix in more dribblers and attackers this year. Thank goodness. One can hope the new leadership is not scared by kids who dribble alot. I hope to goodness that they don't coach the dribbling out of those poor kids. We shall see. They sure as heck can't develop attackers. This last year proved that.

These are just my opinions. Actual results may vary.

With regards to dribbling through traffic, the two most important things to learn are:

1) How to do it.
2) When NOT to do it.

The first is best taught when kids are young, as it is a skill of training the nervous system. The second can wait until kids are older; as it is a skill of training the higher functions of the mind.

[Unregistered]

Selecting kids is the TA's full time job. It's not a hobby. It is what they should be focused on. They need to get it right. Or at least half right.

And so right, who would want dribblers? It is so much easier to take a kid who can't dribble, and teach him how to beat people, than take a kid who loves to take people on, and develop him .... lol ... or just pass it into the goal ... lol ....

Here's the deal: Players who can take people on in the final 3rd are necessary. They are also rare. When you see them, you snag them and develop them.

But if you have hubris, and think that you only will take players that you can build in your own image, which is passing robots with no idea what to do in the final 3rd, then you are offended by dribblers, and you get what the TA had over the last year. Almost nothing in the final 3rd with, with a few exceptions.

But that is not a surprise, given what they clearly were looking for in tryouts last year, and who they passed up.

But to give them credit, they appear to be changing, and trying to mix in more dribblers and attackers this year. Thank goodness. One can hope the new leadership is not scared by kids who dribble alot. I hope to goodness that they don't coach the dribbling out of those poor kids. We shall see. They sure as heck can't develop attackers. This last year proved that.

These are just my opinions. Actual results may vary.

they don't actually appear to be changing, they outsourced their scouting to Univision and rather than be embarrassed (even further) said, hey kid come join us! (PLEASE!!!)