Fansided

Every MLS teams’ best player aged 20 or under

By Harrison Hamm

May 20, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta United forward Andrew Carleton (30) runs on the field against the Houston Dynamo in the second half at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta United forward Andrew Carleton (30) runs on the field against the Houston Dynamo in the second half at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 27, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Homegrown Team midfielder Christian Lucatero controls the ball against Mexico U-20s midfielder Miguel Tapias in the second half of the 2016 MLS Homegrown Game at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Homegrown Team midfielder Christian Lucatero controls the ball against Mexico U-20s midfielder Miguel Tapias in the second half of the 2016 MLS Homegrown Game at Avaya Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

Houston Dynamo: Christian Lucatero

A couple hours south of the model MLS franchise we have the Dynamo, a team that struggled to unlock what should be a fertile soccer market for years until recent drastic improvements. Goalkeeper Tyler Deric was their only successful locally grown player until they made much more of an effort to sign, develop and trust young players, whether they were from the area as Homegrowns, SuperDraft selections or foreign imports.

The establishment of a USL franchise, the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, in 2016 is the most obvious example. RGVFC play in a beautiful new soccer-specific stadium and regularly draw energetic, orange-clad crowds to see the Dynamo’s next generation of talent, which is looking ever more promising thanks to RGV’s existence. Charlie Ward, Eric Bird, Memo Rodriguez and Jose Escalante are good examples of young players who continue to be trusted in USL play, and they showed it in the Dynamo’s US Open Cup victory against North Carolina FC.

This is all coming too late, because those four players — and a number of others, like 21-year-old first team star Mauro Manotas — are over the age of 20. That leaves slim pickings for this list.

19-year-old attacking midfielder Christian Lucatero is the selection. He’s long been considered the Dynamo’s top young prospect, but after injuries hampered him in previous years, he came into 2017 needing to make an impression, and that doesn’t seem to be happening. The Pasadena, TX native has struggled to get minutes in the USL this season, and he wasn’t called up for that USOC game despite Houston relying heavily on RGV talents.

He’s still very talented, and we can only hope that things start to go his way.

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