Trying something a little different here. I got sent some footage for an under the radar prospect in Europe. I took a look and came up with this. I’m not a professional scout but he looks an intriguing prospect to me.
Adrien Cushing is an 18 year old (2001) center back currently playing at FC Malaga City (previously in the DC United youth set up). It’s a soccer academy for 16-18 year olds in Spain that provides high level competition for their players. They play teams from La Liga’s División de Honor, which is the highest youth level for U18s, along with other professional academies from across Europe.
Adrien is a lanky 6’1″ center back and I was able to watch video from several of his games. He doesn’t strike me as a “typical” American CB, but I mean that in a positive manner. I haven’t evaluated a youth player before, but here are my impressions:
Strengths
Composure
In the footage I saw I don’t think there was a moment where he was panicky on the ball. Adrien stays calm, keeps his head up, and finds a safe outlet for the ball. He is also comfortable taking a couple dribbles and stepping past a defender. This is a trait you don’t see a lot from American center backs and it’s part of what makes Brooks/Ream valuable to the USMNT.
Malaga City spreads the center backs very wide and mostly tries to play out of the back. There is very little hitting it long and trying to win the second ball. Adrien fits into that system well. Here’s a few examples:
Awareness
If you watch Cushing while he plays, his head is on a swivel. He’s frequently gesturing/communicating with teammates while keeping track of play. You don’t see him lose concentration and allow attackers to get behind him often. He’s in the right position to cover the man or cut out the pass the great majority of the time in the games I was able to watch. Evidence:
Another way his awareness manifests is through occasional runs into midfield. It doesn’t happen all the time, but I really enjoy when defenders follow their momentum into midfield. I feel like the opposing team often doesn’t know what to do with them.
This might be a weird thing to include because it shows Sevilla getting through for a scoring chance, but in a way I liked what it showed. Cushing steps to the attacker and then slides over to cover the next guy. A man ends up getting in behind and you can hear the coach yelling instructions to him and him getting a little frustrated. I just liked seeing Cushing recognizing all these attacking threats while his team was sort of being overwhelmed by a really good Sevilla team.
Physical Gifts
Adrien doesn’t look like an athletic freak to me, but his gifts still look above average. Especially since as a rangy 18 year old, he is likely to fill out and become more imposing as he turns into a full grown man. He didn’t lose a physical battle that I noticed and I didn’t see him get outrun either. I’d love to see him in an all out sprint against a player I know is fast, but he looks more than quick enough.
Room to Improve
Weaker Foot
Cushing looks very right footed. In the games I watched he passed and dribbled heavily with his right. To move to another level he needs to be more comfortable with his left. At higher levels I would bet the tendency to dribble right and play with his right so often will be scouted and taken advantage of. I mean Arjen Robben made a career of being one-footed, so what do I know, but that’d be my inclination in Cushing’s case. For instance:
Passing
I wouldn’t say Cushing is a bad passer by any stretch. In fact, I almost called it a strength and called it “Keeps Possession.” He is a very safe passer. In the games I looked at he completed his passes at a 93% clip, which is obviously very good. However, I’d like to see him be more comfortable passing into his midfielders instead of playing it back to his keeper or across to his fellow defenders so often.
I’m not a youth scout so feel free to question my conclusions, but these are my thoughts after watching a few games. Adrien Cushing looks like an interesting, atypical American center back prospect. Maybe worth a look with the U-19s or U-20s? Best of luck to him.
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