This age group is a great measure of our program's depth because it nominally serves as a B team for the U-20s. What we see in this roster is that there are some positions where we don't have very much depth — it's most pronounced on the wings.
Head coach Jeremy Hall has called in three debutants: Stone Marion, Graham Syrett and Jacob Hall — the latter a new European-based player from Chelsea's academy. The boys will head to Spain to face Sweden's U-18s on June 5 and Qatar's U-19s on June 8.
The roster
GK, William Lodmell, Sporting Lisbon (2008)
GK, Graham Syrett, Charlotte FC (2008)
RB, Stone Marion, St. Louis City (2008)
RB, Gio Villa, Real Salt Lake (2008)
LB, Jordan Griffin, Philadelphia Union (2008)
LB, Ryan Hartley, Parma (2008)
CB, Andrei Chirila, FC Cincinnati (2008)
CB, Jacob Hall, Chelsea FC (2008)
CB, Enrique Martinez, LA Galaxy (2008)
DM, Alex Shaw, Inter Miami (2008)
CM, Luca Moisa, Real Salt Lake (2008)
CM, Cristiano Oliveira, New England Revolution (2008)
CM, Jude Terry, LAFC (2008)
CM, Mateo Tsakiris, Unattached (2008)
AM, Maximo Carrizo, NYCFC (2008)
AM, Kellan LeBlanc, Philadelphia Union (2008)
AM, Axel Uriostegui Lopez, Real Salt Lake (2008)
W, Jamir Johnson, Orange County SC (2008)
CF, Chase Adams, Columbus Crew (2008)
CF, Leo Flores Gonzalez, Seattle Sounders (2008)
Roster Reactions
Goalkeepers
Graham Syrett is one of my two favorite selections on this roster. I'd heard about him from people within Charlotte's talent ID department before this season started as a player they were really excited about. He had a shaky start to the year, but he's been playing very well as of late for their second team. He has the potential to be a top keeper from this class — he's got all the tools necessary to make that happen.
Lodmell is another strong selection and a player that seems to be picking up good momentum.
Outside of Syrett, there's only one other keeper I'm aware of within the 2008 class that still needs to get a look — Grant Leveille from D.C. United. He's a super toolsy keeper with a ton of upside.
Full-backs
The full-back group isn't super exciting. Griffin and Hartley are the left-backs. Pedro Guimaraes has typically been LB1 for the 2008s, but he's barely played this year for Orange County. I'm not sure if that's because of an injury or because he's on his way out to Eintracht Frankfurt — either way, his absence here is understandable. Marion and Villa are the right-backs. Villa puts in a ton of effort on the defensive side, but he's limited physically. I prefer Oliver Tan and Brandon Dayes, though I believe Dayes is currently injured, which may explain his absence.
Center-backs
The CB group has two talented lefties in Chirila and Hall. Chirila has shown promise in MLS this year and Hall is a new USYNT selection — a talented left-footed defender who can also play left-back. Martinez is the right-footed option. He continues to get called in, and while there are other players at his level or higher who deserve a look — Nico Banks from D.C. United and Grant Gilmore from Colorado Rapids come to mind — there may be factors at play we're not seeing from the outside.
Defensive/Central-midfielders
This is one of the strongest position groups on this roster. Terry is the top talent and, frankly, I think he should've been on the U-19 team. I don't have any real gripes with this group.
Attacking-midfielders/Wingers
This is by far the most concerning group. The three attacking-mid types — Carrizo, LeBlanc and Uriostegui Lopez — all lack dynamism, and Jamir Johnson is the only player on this list who provides a real 1v1 threat out wide.I would've loved to see Gabriel Wesseh or Eric Preston here, but their availability is unclear, and that may well be the reason they're absent.
Center-forwards
Adams makes sense. As for Austyn Jones — I genuinely don't know why he continues to get passed over. Maybe there's something going on behind the scenes that I'm not aware of, but all this kid does at PSV is score goals. Assuming he was available, his production alone makes a strong case for another look.
Roster grade: B-
As I said in the intro, this is a tough age group to assemble because a lot of the top 2008s and 2009s are playing at higher levels, leaving some position groups depleted. The Syrett and Hall selections are two of my favorites — both could have bright futures with this program — and the group is lucky to have Jude Terry pulling strings in the middle. But the attack is fairly anemic and the full-back group doesn't inspire much confidence.
