The Union's Jack Elliott was likely the highest rated of the club's candidates
for MLS' 24 Under 24 series. (DFM/Mikey Reeves)

MLS last week released its “24 Under 24”, a ranking of the top players in the league under the age of 24, graded on a rubric of ability and upside by members of the media and MLS staff. In short, it’s the kind of list that a team trumpeting youth development should have a presence on.

And the Union are … absent, for the second time in three years. Their representative last year, Keegan Rosenberry at No. 6, didn’t make the shortlist despite being eligible; only Jack Elliott and Derrick Jones were in consideration but didn’t make the cut (rightly, in my opinion).

The Union traditionally have had a presence on the list, topping out with four players chosen in 2011. As you can see, that has rarely been a guarantor of anything.

2010: Danny Mwanga 5, Jack McInerney 22, Roger Torres 23
2011: Freddy Adu 6, Danny Mwanga 9, Roger Torres 22, Jack McInerney 23
2012: Sheanon Williams 18, Freddy Adu 19
2013: Jack McInerney 4, Amobi Okugo 8
2014: Amobi Okugo 13
2015: NONE
2016: Keegan Rosenberry 6
2017: NONE

Let’s put aside for a moment the evaluation of why players across multiple Union epochs haven’t sustained their developmental trajectories. That’s been written about before. And let’s also acknowledge that the list isn’t a perfect science, inasmuch as predicting the vicissitudes of 18-to-23-year-olds (or in this case, players young as 15), is a perilous endeavor. There’s certainly a bias toward recent performances over the short-term coloring long-term outlooks – see Rosenberry last year, or Kellyn Acosta this year. But I digress.

We could break it down by club, as is popular. That will find three inclusions each for Atlanta United, FC Dallas, New York City FC and Real Salt Lake – two teams that would be labeled as “big market”. Only one of those clubs (Dallas) landed multiple Homegrown players on the team and can rightly be said to have “developed” more than one player on the list.

It’s more purposeful to break the list down based on acquisition method:

Homegrowns (9): K.Acosta, Davies, Morris, Adams, Palmer-Brown, Glad, Tabla, Gonzalez, Fagundez
Designated Players (7): Almiron, Arriola, Villalba, Elis, Gruezo, Rusnak, Savarino
SuperDraft picks (4): Harrison, Larin, Roldan, Manneh
Other (4): Herrera, Asad, L.Acosta, Matarrita
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Chris Pontius, center standing to left of trophy, was elated over the U.S.'s win
in the Gold Cup final Wednesday, a special moment in his career
no matter what comes next for him in the national team picture.  (AP)

CHESTER >> To many in the media, the biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup is often portrayed as a means to an end – toward individual placement on the squad for the next World Cup, for national entrée to the FIFA Confederations Cup.

But for players, the scope is necessarily more granular, about one practice or game at a time. And when there’s reason to celebrate, it’s about savoring the moment.

That’s how the Union’s Chris Pontius relished in the U.S.’s victory in the tournament, sealed by a dramatic 2-1 finale Wednesday night over Jamaica at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

“It’s pretty special,” Pontius said Friday at Union training, his first full day back with the club. “With the national team, a lot of the guys were talking, even the guys that have been around the national team a long time, there’s not many times you get a chance to win trophies. So you enjoy it. That’s my second (trophy) now, with the 2013 Open Cup (with D.C. United), and I’ve lost in the finals of the Open Cup and been close to getting into the finals in other things.

“It’s special to raise silverware in something and when you’re done, I think that’s what you look back on, those moments, in the locker room after and enjoying it with the guys.”

Pontius appeared in three of the U.S.’s six games, added as an injury replacement for Kenny Saief. He started one group stage game and was a late sub in the quarterfinal win over El Salvador at Lincoln Financial Fried. He played no part in the 2-0 win over Costa Rica in the semifinal and the triumph over Jamaica, sealed by a Jordan Morris bolt into the top corner in the 88th minute.

Pontius is up to five career caps, all earned in 2017.

For many fringe players, particularly those based in MLS, the Gold Cup was a chance to impress Bruce Arena in the absence of many mainstays ramping up in the European preseason. Read more »