Midway through his second season at Hoffenheim, US Olympic team prospect Joseph-Claude Gyau feels the recent influx of German talent and direction will only help his own country's game grow.

Gyau joined the Bundesliga upstarts in the summer of 2010, and has spent the time since establishing himself as one of the brighter prospects within their youth system.

His trek to the most recent U23 camp in Duisburg, Germany was perhaps one of the shortest amongst the more than 30 participants, however he feels the time spent amongst both old and new teammates has been nothing but positive.

"I'm really enjoying the camp, getting to see some old faces, some new faces, and I think we're all gelling really well," Gyau told YA in Duisburg. "The level of the players hereis pretty high to everybody has to bring their a-game to the table, which I think is good."

During the ten-day camp, the squad has tested their wits in a quartet of split-squad test games, with Gyau spending time occupying a role in the wide areas of a three-man front line in the two matches which involved the older group of players.

While this parallels his recent play on the wing at Hoffenheim, he does point out subtle differences which play into a more defined role in the US setup.

"With the 4-3-3 system we play in Hoffenheim, neither outside guys just stay on the outside," he explains. "We usually, switch and play everywhere."

"Here, they were wanting to use the width a little more as a weapon, and that worked perfectly