Our pals over at Top Drawer Soccer uncovered possibly one of the first ever Andrew Carleton YouTube hype videos. It’s an eight-minute video of the 16-year-old Powder Springs native embarrassing other kids with his skill moves and scoring goals left, right and center.
Unfortunately, it was pieced together before his start against the Battery on Saturday. So, it doesn’t include this miraculous touch on the sideline:
Here's the amazing @andrewcarleton7 touch from last night. Oh my... pic.twitter.com/jEqOUr4VhS
— Dirty South Soccer (@DirtySouthSoc) February 27, 2017
Or this sick turn:
#ATLUTD on #ATLUTD violence pic.twitter.com/4yi7Oy0BRb
— Dirty South Soccer (@DirtySouthSoc) February 26, 2017
Or any of the other eyebrow-raising touches he had in that match. But, it does do a good job of getting your hype and expectation levels to extremely dangerous heights.
All signs point to Carleton winning a spot on Tata Martino’s bench as an impact substitute early in Atlanta United’s inaugural season. He’s been treated like your normal second-string player through all of training camp and preseason and has taken his chances and made the most of them. At only 16, he seems ready to make his MLS debut and not look out of place in doing so.
Videos like these must come with the prerequisite hype warning of not putting too much pressure on him. But, after all that, can we just watch a kid be really good at soccer and appreciate it? Because we’re witnessing a helluva talent begin his career with our local team. Who knows how long we’ll have him here, so enjoy it and savor it while you can.