Aged just 23, Juan Agudelo has already played with Thierry Henry, scored some incredible goals and seen a move to the Premier League collapse. The Colombian-American striker burst onto the scene with the US national team aged just 17, and after a brief stint in Europe two years ago, Agudelo is now looking for MLS Cup glory with New England Revolution.A product of New York Red Bulls academy, Agudelo moved on to the now-defunct Chivas USA before a switch to Stoke stalled due to work permit problems. After a short spell in the Netherlands, Agudelo is back in the States and aiming for MLS glory. We caught up with him to find out more about his whirlwind journey, ahead of his sides clash with New York City this weekend - live on Sky Sports.What was it like playing and training with Thierry Henry at the New York Red Bulls aged 18? Agudelo (R) played and trained with Thierry Henry at New York Red Bulls at the age of 18 I learnt so much from him. The first day he got there I couldnt believe he was right next to my locker. Im an 18-year-old kid just coming into practice and then Ive got Henry next to me!He talked to me and gave me a couple of tips on how to improve my game and complementing it.It was huge for boosting my confidence, telling me that I could be a good player and that I could play in England one day.Your move to Stoke City in 2014 didnt work out after signing a pre-contract agreement, why was that? Stoke boss Mark Hughes tried to sign Agudelo for Stoke in 2014 It was down to work permit reasons. It got denied.I just fell short of my national team appearances to automatically qualify and be automatically eligible to play in England. I had to go through a court process and it didnt work out.How did the transfer originate?Mark Hughes saw I had a couple of caps with the national team since I was 17, at a young age, and I scored a goal.When Hughes was at Manchester City at the time I heard that he had interest in me and then he went over to Stoke.I guess he talked to their scouts and told them to keep an eye on me and then eventually when my contract was running out in MLS they wanted to pull the trigger [and sign me].Growing up watching these teams like Chelsea and Arsenal, its crazy to think that I almost played in that league because thats the league I look up to. Thats the league I would have loved to play in.You played for Utrecht in the Eredivisie for four months in 2014, what were the differences between MLS and the Dutch league?I would say it was a little bit less athletic but very, very technical and the technical ability is class.If you were to set an example, the crossing was a lot better because the players were more consistent but the athleticism was a little bit less than MLS.You have 20 caps for USA but youre not in the international setup at the moment - have you had any dialogue with Jurgen Klinsmann over your international future? Agudelo last appeared for the US national team in 2015 against Germany He has been telling me that he understands that Im young and I need to prove myself outstandingly in my club and try to make the team of the month in MLS.He wants me to stand out at my club.You scored a superb bicycle kick against DC United in the play-offs last year, was it the best goal youve ever scored? Juan Agudelo scored an amazing overhead kick for New England Revolution against DC United in the play-offs last year I felt like it was one of those moments where I saw it but I couldnt really believe it.It was definitely the best goal that Ive scored because I didnt believe I was going to be able to achieve it when it was in mid-air.I managed to get contact on it and it went in so definitely the best goal Ive ever scored!New England are without a win in their first three matches this season - why is that? Philadelphia made it back to back wins after a 3-0 win over New England Revolution last weekend I think we maybe just need to be a little bit sharper in the final third, including myself. Collectively, we need to be sharper and finish the chances that weve created or make that extra pass in order to put us in a better position to score a goal.What is the aim this season?Every single weekend were going to try to get three points and hopefully make the play-offs - then everything is fair game in the play-offs.You see a lot of teams that arent even in the right form going to play-offs and go on to win the MLS Cup, so I think everybody has a chance of winning.Of course, with our home record, it would be big for us to have home-field advantage because of the play-offs as were pretty good at home.How do you aim to approach New York City FC with all their star names? Agudelo will be up against the likes of Andrea Pirlo and David Villa on Saturday Weve all watched NYCFC, theyve got a new top-class manager now.They play a little bit differently now with some young, class guys out wide with Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings and David Villa trying to get on the end of things.At the weekend, just like the manager tells us, weve got to play our own game and not focus too much on the opponent. If we do our job then well get our first three points of the season.Are you excited to play against the likes of David Villa and Andrea Pirlo on Saturday? Any time I see a fixture on my phone, I see the logo of the team and pick out two or three players that Im going to say wow, Im going to play against those guys!It doesnt even have to be a player. With Patrick Vieira as head coach its crazy that Im going to be going up against a coach like him, so Im very thankful for that. Its always fun! Also See: MLS: Howard watches Rapids draw WATCH: Outrageous MLS skill Giovinco the little big star 10 MLS questions for Seb Hines Rodions Kurucs Nets Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Garrett Temple Nets Jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Kevin-Durant-City-Edition-Jersey/ . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Caris LeVert Nets Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Julius Erving Nets Jersey . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. In more established esports like League of Legends or Counter Strike: Global Offensive, players have a wealth of resources to help them succeed. Managers assist players with travel logistics, scrimmage schedules and real-life responsibilities. Analysts help players break down past matches, tactical adjustments and opponent tendencies. Coaches help keep a team in check with their day-to-day operations. As prize pools and viewership increase, teams are willing to spend money to find their players advantages.Coaches have been a hot topic of discussion in Smash circles. Earlier this year, Team Liquid added Luis Crunch Rosias to the team as a dedicated analyst and coach for Juan Hungrybox Debiedma. Since adding Crunch to the team, Hungrybox has performed noticeably better, winning a multitude of events, including Evolution 2016.The idea of having a personal coach still has a nebulous feel to it. What exactly goes into preparing a player for a match? Is it similar to what we see in a Team SoloMid or Cloud9 behind-the-scenes video for League of Legends? The coaching space still remains unexplored, but here are some general stories of what goes on between a player and coach.Learning StylesEach of the top players learn and discuss the game in their own unique style. Analytical players like Kevin PPMD Nanney love theorycrafting situations with their friends. Jason Mew2king Zimmerman grinds for hours on tournament weekends against other players who play the same characters as his tougher opponents. Many of the top players are personal friends, so they help each other during the course of an event. Certain players only provide practice in friendly matches while others go more in-depth.Crunch takes a scientific approach to working with Hungrybox. During the week, Crunch and Hungrybox break down matches and character-specific situations. Long hours are spent on Skype to study the game while making key optimizations, covering options and maximizing punishes.Most recently, I had the opportunity to work with Joseph Mango Marquez at Super Smash Con 2016 and Shine and discovered that Mangos style of learning comes from experimentation and thinking out loud. Give him advice and he will more than likely shut it down, but give him an open-ended question and he will talk very intricately about it.Mango is the type of person who understands concepts on his own terms. Rather than tell him specifics, give him a new tool and he will explore the practical uses of it. During matches, I noted some of the positives and negatives of his game plan and then reviewed with him afterwards. The discussions werent heavily analytical, and we focused on the basics as I asked how he felt about certain situations where his opponents took his stocks.As great of a player Mango is, he becomes noticeably more stubborn if things dont go his way, causing him to recklessly throw away stocks against strong defensive opponents. As silly as it sounds, telling him generic things such as dont forget to utilize dash-daancing and shine-grab or play smart and dont give anything away for free are more than enough to keep Mango in the right frame of mind.ddddddddddddther players are much more hands on. Not too long ago, James Duck Ma coached Zachary SFAT Cordoni in between matches against Hungrybox. More importantly, Duck spent the entire afternoon preparing SFAT for the Jigglypuff matchup in the hotel room, pointing out basic fundamentals to the matchup and walking through unfamiliar situations with SFAT. Much of SFATs victory in the set can be attributed to Ducks tutoring.The morale boostThe top players will tell you how much their mental state affects their gameplay. Several of them have thrown sets due to making small mistakes that cause them to lose their composure. Something as small as a person in the crowd heckling can tilt a top-level player. Over the years, the players that have seen the most success are the ones that remain most composed. Although Crunch is a solid player in his own right, his main contribution to Hungrybox has been keeping him in good spirits in stressful situations, frequently reminding him that he is more than capable of winning.On stage, sometimes players can have tunnel vision and bad habits begin to show through. In the set against Hungrybox, Duck mainly reminded SFAT to not forget what they worked on during the day and to focus on taking low risk moves in the matchup. Although SFAT started the set well, he fell behind and looked for very greedy kills that ended up costing him stocks. But Ducks coaching between matches recalibrated SFATs game plan to great success.Mango prefers to go onto the stage on his own, so my main focus is to keep him mentally focused and confident in between matches. This includes finding him the right practice partners and making sure that he has everything he needs, so that he can focus solely on Smash. Hungry? I make sure that he has peanuts and healthy snacks around. Thirsty or tired? I make sure to have spare energy drinks and waters on hand. Our discussions focus on building his confidence for the match. We chat sparingly if he needs to clear his mind. The main part is to keep him focused as his sloppiness usually comes from when he autopilots his movement.The Overall BenefitsHungrybox will be quick to tell anyone how beneficial Crunch has been in his overall success. SFATs victory against Hungrybox at Shine 2016 can largely be attributed to Ducks help. Smash is still largely behind when it comes to maximizing a players potential and it only makes sense to see coaches play a more vital role in a players success. Even though mid-set coaching may not be legal at every event, coaches still can play a big role in helping players both in their gameplay and mentality. Team Liquid started the trend of adding dedicated coaches and more teams should follow suit by investing more into their players. ' ' '