24 Under 24

24 Under 24: Gyasi Zardes earns a top 10 finish on the back of strong rookie campaign

gyasi zardes, 24 under 24
<h1> 7. <a href="//www.lagalaxy.com/players/gyasi-zardes" target="_blank">Gyasi Zardes</a></h1><strong>Pos: F | LA Galaxy | Age: 22</strong><p>After starring at CSU Bakersfield for three years, Zardes has stepped into the star-laden LA Galaxy lineup and fit right in. Bruce Arena has used Zardes as a regular starter since late May and has played no less than 83 minutes in each start. The 22-year-old forward &ndash; who scored 38 goals while at Bakersfield &ndash; first hit the back of the net coming off the bench on May 11 and has been a change of pace to the Landon Donovans and Robbie Keanes of the Galaxy attack. Arena said in late August that Zardes &ldquo;gets better every game.&rdquo;</p><p><strong>What TDs and coaches like: </strong>&quot;Physically imposing. Before he was more than anything else a forward with a lot of speed and things like that, but right now they have him playing left midfielder. He&rsquo;s more disciplined, more tactical, more aware of the game. ... He has the possibility to make it to the next level. ... He&rsquo;s definitely an up-and-coming prospect. The future is great. The future is very bright. ... He has all the tools and he&rsquo;s playing with good players around him. That is invaluable when you put a younger with Robbie Keane or Landon Donovan. He&rsquo;s in the right place. Size and everything else matters. ... Athletic. He&rsquo;s got soft feet for a big man. He&rsquo;s proven at the college level that he can score goals in bunches. Right foot, left foot. Scores with his head. He&rsquo;s certainly a guy that&rsquo;s got tremendous upside moving forward. ... He&#39;s got size, speed, athletic ability. He&#39;s dangerous one-v-one on the dribble. In a lot of ways he reminds me a little bit of Eddie Johnson when he was younger &ndash; he&#39;s kinda been billed on ability. He&#39;s a handful.&quot;</p><p><strong>Where TDs and coaches want improvement: </strong>&quot;He&rsquo;s young. He&rsquo;s still making mistakes. That&rsquo;s a normal process of development for him. ... I think one of the weaknesses that we&rsquo;ve seen with him is maybe he doesn&rsquo;t play as big as he is, so I think getting a little bit stronger and being able to handle those individual, physical battles is something that he&rsquo;s going to need to get better at. But overall assessment is the kid has huge upside and has the ability to be a real big star in this league for a lot of years. ... It&#39;s obvious that there are going to be things in his game not as refined &ndash; maybe he&#39;s not as clever in a situation of managing a game, and maybe it&#39;s a decision of when to take a player on and when to keep the ball. So there&#39;s definite growth there, similar to Eddie Johnson and you can see how he&#39;s matured. I think Zardes will go on that same path.&quot;</p><p><strong>Opta Says:</strong> Gyasi Zardes leads all players eligible for 24 Under 24 with 7.5 touches in the attacking penalty box per game during the 2013 season.<br></p>
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Tale of the Tape</span>
Last Year in 24U24: N/A
<a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/castrol" target="_blank">Castrol Index</a>&nbsp;(as of 9/19/13): #69


<span style="font-size: 12px;">2013 Stats</span>
Matches played: 21
Matches started: 17
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Related Content</span>
<ul><li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/08/28/gyasi-zardes-adapting-new-left-flank-role-la-galaxy-and-actually-loving-it-m" target="_blank">Zardes loving life on the flank -- for now</a></li><li><strong>WATCH:</strong><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/08/31/penalty-zardes-brought-down-late-challenge-beitashour" target="_blank"> Zardes draws PK on Beitashour</a></li><li><strong>WATCH: </strong><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/07/20/goal-zardes-gives-galaxy-lead" target="_blank">Zardes finds the bottom corner</a></li><li><strong>READ:</strong><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2013/06/24/goal-gyasi-zardes-heads-post-and" target="_blank"> Zardes off the post and in</a></li><li><strong>LISTEN:</strong><a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/22/extratime-radio-get-know-la-star-striker-gyasi-zardes-sis-brian-straus-hands" target="_blank">Zardes joins ExtraTime Radio to talk rookie season</a></li></ul>