CARSON, Calif. — Efrain Alvarez's scoring exploits for the LA Galaxy's USL-affiliated side, and the immense quality of his goals, has presumably clued in everyone who wasn't already aware of the club's — and perhaps Major League Soccer’s — brightest prospect.
The 15-year-old, left-footed playmaker has that certain, special something, as a gander at his highlight reel will convince, and it's a matter of when, not if, he'll be piloting the Galaxy attack. He's got the requisite tools to be huge — technical precision, tactical acumen, and an ability to see things others miss — but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
“It's too early to talk about [a plan to push Alvarez to the first team],” Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid told MLSsoccer.com. “I think we put a lot of pressure on young players. He's scored some great goals in the USL, and we should acknowledge that and be happy about that, but not heap on added pressure, because that happens so much in the modern game right now. You need to give any player with talent the space to develop.”
That's what the Galaxy are doing, using Alvarez as a No. 10 for Los Dos when he's not away with Mexico's U-17 team. Schmid and Co. understand what they possess, and there's no desire to rush the process. But watch him over the course of 90 minutes, and it's not hard to imagine what could be.
“There's a lot of good players, and there's players that figure out how to make plays that are vital in games,” Schmid said. “That means they're either scoring goals or setting up goals, and he has that ability. He's not necessarily going to dribble past four players, but he's the kind of player that when he sees that little bit of opening, he figures out how to find the goal. And that's something you can't teach.
“A little bit of it is technical ability, the ability to hit the ball and be technically clean. He's got a great left foot. But it's also the vision to be able to see it and the courage to do it.”
It's why the Galaxy made him the USL's youngest signing last August, after he led the club's U-17/18 team to the Development Academy title game, then inked him to a Homegrown deal on the eve of this year's MLS openers.
“He has the ability to see passes, see shots, and read situations that other players don't see,” Galaxy II head coach Mike Muñoz said. “He has the ability to put the ball not only where a player is, but where a player should be. He makes his attackers — the guys in front of him — better, and he's deadly in front of goal, either assist-wise or to put the ball in the net. He has a lot of attacking qualities that can hurt any opposition, and that's extremely valuable.”
Alvarez, who turns 16 on June 19, has played in only six USL games this year because of his commitments to Mexico, but he's made quite the impression in limited time. Six goals over a three-game stretch last month — including a hat trick in Los Dos' first win of the year, then two goals off the bench the next outing — grabbed attention, but the grace and precision with which he finished was the real story:
- Alvarez hit the upper-left corner from 25 yards in a loss at Phoenix Rising.
- His hat trick against Saint Louis was nothing but beauties: a one-touch finish inside the left post from a nifty buildup, a weaving run into the box capped by a bending shot around a defender and inside the left post, and a quick maneuver on a misplayed pass to open space above the box for a quick blast inside the right post.
- The pair in defeat at Portland, where he entered at halftime, trumped them all: A curling shot inside the left post as he cut in toward the box from the right sideline, and a bending, 20-yard right-footer inside the right post from the debris of a corner kick.
And he hasn't looked the least bit out of place when he played with the first team during preseason and when he trains with the group.
“Potential is a dangerous word for a 15-year-old, but I don't think there was any doubt in this case,” Muñoz said. “Any time he participates with the first team, you can clearly see that he is able to fit in, no problem. The game is faster at that level, and it's usually the hardest thing for young kids to adapt to, but he was already playing at that speed, if not already at a higher speed. He fit right into that level without any issues.”
Alvarez, who is from East Los Angeles, likely would have made his first-team debut in Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup victory over amateurs FC Golden State Force, but he's with Mexico's U-17s at a tournament in the Netherlands this week. He plays deeper in midfield with El Tri, more of a No. 8, which has sharpened his defensive game and broadened his experience.
That's part of the development equation.
“Over the next year and a half, we're going to try to get him as many professional games at the USL, Open Cup, first-team level,” Muñoz said. “The plan is for him to join the Mexican national team for [next year's] U-17 World Cup, where now he will be on a global stage. So by the time he's 17 years old and the World Cup is over, we have a young man who's already played 40 professional matches and a U-17 World Cup, and there's a lot of value in that.”
Alvarez, who played with the U.S. U-15s before his parents' homeland came calling, needs to be patient, sort of. He still has “facets of his game that have to grow and have to develop,” Schmid notes, and “he's going to make mistakes — that happens, too.”
“Sigi talked to me already,” he said. “To be honest, I'm not pushing myself, like, 'Oh, I want to start for the first team.' I'm ready whenever Sigi's ready, and I'm just working hard to get better. If Sigi's ready for me tomorrow, I'm ready tomorrow. Any day he's ready, I'm ready.”
