LucaAltieri

He's not going to be the next Messi or anything but Achille Campion is going to have a decent professional career in a year or two. Frenchman, currently in the US college system. He's a target man and a bit of a beast. Really good touch. Arrogant twat, too. Also a Newcastle fan. God help him.

Swindon fans seem to be no wiser and only marginally less apathetic than us.

I don't recall him ever being particularly good. Isn't he perpetually injured as well? Solid, unremarkable, injury prone. I don't get it either.

I think it's his name.

I've seen Yedlin. I don't think he is a right back at any higher level. I've seen him many times. I disagree. Naturally quick and has good technique. Trains hard. Adaptable. Poor positioning at times, but that gets better with experience and good coaching. He's not there yet, but he could do a job in the championship as is.

Also, not a personal favourite but Nagbe is rated pretty highly:

Talk of Patrick Ianni making a move to Southampton.

DeAndre Yedlin. Right-back. Very attacking player. Still a little raw but with the right move and right coaching he can be a fantastic player. Played up front as a kid. Fagundez is also a decent shout. Luis Gil is another.

Seems like Spurs were suffering from the extra Europa League games.

Drop Bradley for Evans.

You hit the nail on the head. From my experience, far too much emphasis was placed on winning and not enough on developing technical skills. We'd do drills for maybe half of practice and then scrimmage the rest of the time. 3 night practices a week for 2 hours, 1 game on the weekends. Fortunately, Klinsmann was brought in not only to lead the national team, but to re-vamp U.S. soccer from the bottom-up, much the way he did in Germany. It'll take some time before we start results at the top, but I think the pieces are in motion and things are finally moving in the right direction. The only hang-up will be thick youth coaches who'll refuse to adapt and continue with the old ways. So many idiots work as coaches in youth soccer. 100% Too many times I've seen coaches on the opposite touchline screaming at kids & refs (who are also usually kids) for making mistakes, putting pressure on them to win, and cheering when one of their girls punts the ball down field. Who does that help? It's all ego. I'd rather have a winless season and watch the kids improve than go unbeaten with a bunch of miserable 10 year olds who learned nothing.

The point about diluting the quality of the football is completely justified and I don't see homegrown talent improving the situation anytime soon. I live and coach in a soccer hotbed in the pacific north west. People here love the Sounders and our regional youth soccer league thrives every year. The kids love the game but they're just nowhere near as good at it as kids of a similar age in Europe. It's not because they start later or anything like that. The difference is subtle and the only way I've heard it described that feels right is, "In England we play soccer, in America they practice soccer." It's true of their approach to the game - they're not as competitive - but also in the practical sense. The teams in our league practice twice and week with a game at the weekend. Plenty of structured practice, but not a single one of those kids was going home and playing soccer with their friends. None of them are bringing a soccer ball to school with them. Despite having so much structured practice they're still not as good as the European kids because they're not getting those extra practice hours week-in week-out. If US soccer is going to improve their standard it's at least 10 years away and it begins at the grass roots level, getting kids playing soccer at recess and on a weekend - not because their parents drove them to practice - but because they love the game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24843600

Would've liked a nice TIMMMBBERRR pun if i'm honest. I'll try harder next time.

Good game last night. Not the result I expected at all. Thought it would be much closer but RSL ruined The Timbers.

Spurs clearly suffering from the effects of the Europa League.

Looks like Spurs are suffering due to their Europa League commitments.

Statue of Pardew outside St. James'.

Goal

0-0. Interesting to see if the match highlights run longer than 3 minutes.

Also, this game is awful. The fans are awful. I hope Houston burns to the ground.

Yedlin isn't far away, to be fair.

About to kick off. Let's hope it's a bloodbath.

He's no Albert Luque.