That would involve youth contracts. But, if MLS minimum salary is $33K, what would a youth contract pay? $10K? That wouldn't be worth it to nearly everybody to give up their potential NCAA eligibility. Which is why better TV ratings are so important to MLS. Larger TV contracts raises the minimum salaries, which in turn one day a $33K (or in the neighborhood) salary could eventually be a youth contract. Xolos could be paying Paul equal, or maybe more than the MLS minimum and he would just be on their youth teams to start out. Xolos are owned by a very shady former Mayor of Tijuana (been linked with cartels), but one that is extremely rich, one of the richest people in Mexico who doesn't mind spending to push the Caliente gambling brand. But whole heartedly agree with your very first sentence.
Yeah, basically first MLS would have to lift the restrictions on signing non-roster/academy players, and then the resulting professional contract salaries would have to be competitive with those abroad. But I really have no idea how much Bailey is getting from Leverkusen, or Arriola is getting from Tijuana. I would think that if they were actually allowed to sign youth players, the Galaxy could be competitive in that regard.
Michael Seaton (DC United, 96) turned 17 on Wednesday and then went 90 in his pro debut for the Richmond Kickers on Friday. In a 2-0 win, Seaton added a late insurance goal on a stoppage time breakaway.
Crew reserves 2-0 over the Red Bulls. Crew 93 pro Wil Trapp played 45 mins off the bench NYRB 95 pro Santiago Castano played 45 off the bench NYRB academy 94 Ethan Decker played 27 off the bench NYRB academy 95 Matt Miazga went 90 NYRB academy 95 Adam Najem played 62 off the bench NYRB pro 95 Amando Moreno went 90 Although it may appear that the Crew are unfriendly to youth, I think it's worth pointing out that they've given Konrad Warzycha first-team minutes in the past couple of games. One wonders how they manage to find talent like that.
I stayed for the fist half of the Crew vs NY Red Bulls game. Sad to see Trapp not even starting in that game. Shows how far he is from the first team.
No we don't. He is fine right where he is. http://www.wric.com/global/Category.asp?c=190525&clipId=8842832&autostart=true If you watch the goal he basically takes the ball on a breakaway with no defenders around him and dribbles straight forward, eventually finishing calmly when given lots of time. These are all things that people knew Michael Seaton knew how to do. I want to see him become a tough player mentally who reads the game and figures out how to score when the other team is playing smart and not allowing him to score his "early developer" goals like Wilmington did at the end of the game. To quote the newscaster, "Even Juan, John and Christina, they don't miss from there."
Personally, I think that, ever since Andy Najar and Bill Hamid, DC United have done a poor job of picking home grown players. Conor Shanosky also scored for Richmond this weekend and has established himself as a very good minor league player, but not a serious MLS prospect. He will have a career, it is just highly unlikely that much of it will be in MLS. Ethan White is looking like a career backup at best. Michael Seaton, as I am sure you can tell, underwhelms me. I am not saying he doesn't have physical and technical talents, just that I am not impressed with his mental or psychological game. DC United have a good academy, but they seem to pick early developers too often when it comes time to pick home grown players. Cristhian Najar is the player that interests me the most. He is the most talented player in DC United's academy right now, but he is a loose cannon. Nobody seems willing to confront him about the aspects of his game that threaten his future as a player. It will be interesting to see if DC United sign him. Ian Harkes is less talented but probably has more options than just DC United with his dad being who he is. At some point, the lack of psychological focus of players from DC United's academy needs to be addressed. They play good soccer, they are just easily distracted from their objectives.
Just saw that the Galaxy are paying Zardes $173,000. Didn't Villarreal start out at $35,000 or something like that?
I expect it's because Zardis had more options outside of LA and would choose another route if LA didn't offer a decent salary unlike Villareal.
Christina could not have scored that goal! That's what development is, taking a player with very good overall skill and fill out his game with the nuances like reading the game better and working against good defenses. We need on some level that DC United and professional MLS teams are there for that very reason. If we don't have any confidence that they can the whole system falls. Here's hoping that they are doing their job like LA Galaxy are doing with Villareal and McBean. ITs the role that all MLS teams need to do. Develop young professionals into contributing professionals. Its a process.
Saw that 19-year old Salt Lake academy product Carlos Salcedo got a late cameo in RSL's win over Vancouver Saturday. He's not a US citizen so he isn't discussed much but he had a very strong spring and the RSL brass are supposedly very high on him as a center back.
With a name like that I doubt he'd ever play for us, however: There is hope! http://www.realsaltlake.com/players/carlos-salcedo
I think our argument boils down to this: Me: Seattle HGP/Young players = small but more specialized sample size You: MLS = large, but less accurate sample size aw072760 I can see how you believe what you believe, but its going to be making less and less sense as teams sign more and more HGP's. A young guy who has a contract offer from Arsenal doesn't think about how young players are treated in EPL. He thinks about how they are treated at Arsenal. A young guy who has a contract offer from Lille doesnt think about how young players are treated in Ligue 1. He thinks about how they are treated at Lille. Where this changes (and I'll agree) is where the young player considers the reserve set up of the leagues. He considers the infrastructure. MLS is behind on infrastructure. I get that. But when considering the management's attitude and belief in young players he should only consider who he is signing for. While he probably would not have started on opening day, the rest is 100% speculation. A number of people were surprised that Seattle were so confident in him that they released the swedish dude.
Dude, you definitely have a very critical eye and one tough cookie. I am not being critical of that because we need to hear all sides of the coin to be truly objective. However, I think you are writing off talent too early. These kids are raw unpolished rocks and people are trying to guess who is going eventually shine and become a diamond. Seaton, Bailey, Calix, Suli, etc are all talented players with pro potential. They are entering the next phase critical to coming out a successful pro. As Arsene has said between 17-21 is the time a kid is maximally stressed physically and mentally and those that navigate this successfully will be pros on the highest level. Some even take longer example yaya toure, thiago silva, lewandowski plenty of examples. All I am saying is I agree don't believe the hype and avoid showering excessive praise but give them some leeway in time to satisfy your critical view. You will be surprised by what the future will bring, I can guarantee that.
I like Calix and Suli. They read the game quickly and they work hard at playing the game properly. I also think that DC has some really under rated players. Denis Najar may not be big or intimidating, but that kid leaves it on the field every game and he makes big plays when the team needs it the most. After a strong fall season, he can barely get on the field. His lack of playing time coincided with his team's lack of focus. In addition, I don't understand why Abdi Yussef doesn't get more attention. I like plenty of kids on DC United's academy teams. I just don't look for the same things that DC United look for when they pick home grown players. The performances of players like Shanosky and Ethan White back up my opinion. They are both good, hard working guys and they will be solid pros at their level, but their level will always be limited because their primary strength as academy players were size or athletic ability as compared to other academy players. I wish DC would sign kids based on how they are as soccer players. That is what they do at Barcelona and it seems to work pretty well for them. DC United have plenty of good soccer players and they play a style of play that really allows the strengths of a strong soccer player to come out. I just don't think that they are taking advantage of the greatest strengths of their academy program.
http://www.uslnation.com/USLPro/index_dynamic.aspx?fid=11391&eid=5/7 LA Blues @ Galaxy Reserves# Stream for the Galaxy/Blues reserve game, Sorto starting at RB. Mendiola, Nathan Smith, Drew Murphy, and Justin Dhillon on the bench for the Galaxy.