Read it again. https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/another-pro-rel-thread-yayz.1932977/page-52#post-26255528
To be fair, Bruce Arena has very little faith in anything that isn't Bruce Arena. Or that doesn't sustain Bruce Arena on a daily basis to Bruce Arena's specifications. Bruce Arena very likely believes he'd have landed the Curiosity rover even better than the NASA guys did.
Pro/rel has absolutely nothing to do with player development. You insert pro/rel into the current system and player development would still suck. Arena is absolutely correct that the player development system in the US is completely jacked up, but the solution to that is not pro/rel, it is for the MLS, NASL, and USL teams to invest more into the player development system. Part of that is for the academy teams to go further down into the youth system than U16/U18 and another part is for it to go further up into U23 as well. College can play a part in the U23 development, but as has been noted multiple times, the college system itself is screwed up. But, yet again, that is something that can be improved via investments into the system and does not require pro/rel.
That is unless you talk about "B" teams. For example you could talk about FC Barcelona "B" which has mainly u21 players playing week in and week out in the 2nd Division and how they earned that through pro/rel and look at how Barca are doing now. Of course you can easily counter with how Barca are the only examples of success with "B" and Seniors. Agree though that it would not help the system here. Heck do they even do pro/rel at youth level around the world. I know in most countries with proper youth leagues that the youth team goes down a division only if the seniors do, regardless of what position the youth team gets.
Barca Bay could easily happen in the US. There's no reason, other than league rules, why LA Galaxy II can't play in USL-Pro, and such a thing is not predicated on pro/rel
I didnt say that it wouldnt happen. I just gave my opinion on why I dont think it would work. It very well could happen, possibly not in the near future but definitely soon.
It actually counters the pro/rel argument, because Barca B are excluded from promotion to La Liga (and I believe any league that Barcelona's first team play in). The fact that they perform as well as they do in their division against teams who can be promoted, shows that the incentive of potential promotion is not necessary. Also DCU1996... The reason college isn't right for soccer is the standard of coaching there. If we stopped using college soccer tomorrow, we'd still be left with a pool of US coaches who are subpar in the sport. OTOH, if we had a pool of phenomenal youth coaches, you could employ them in college soccer programs, which would effectively "fix" what was broken about that system. There's also little evidence to support the idea that being loaned to a league where pro/rel is present has any tangible effect on the level of experience obtained, vs a league where pro/rel isn't a factor.
Also a funny "what if"...If Barca were relegated, Barca B would have to drop as well (since they can't play in the same League as Barca. But...what if Barca was relegated and Barca B won the 2nd Division....
That actually happened this year, Villarreal I think. Part 2, I assume they would just change names and play as the prior year B in Segunda and A in Primera. I would assume many B players would make the top team.
That doesn't require pro/rel. It just requires a multi-level pyramid. There are already several MLS teams that have a U23 team in PDL or NPSL.
I know. I am talking about NASL and USL Pro. By near future I meant within the next 5 years or so. I do believe that eventually we may start pushing U23 teams from USL PDL to USL Pro and possibly NASL as well. The idea has already been discussed and while it has not been supported I do feel that eventually it will happen. Matter of when but it wont be anytime within the next 5 or maybe 10 years.
They don't actually do that well. This year will only be their 3rd in 14 seasons in the 2nd tier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona_B#Season_to_season
You guys are talking about the reserve leagues in Spain and US/Canada. We already have it - http://www.mlssoccer.com/reserve/2012/schedule Messi, Xavi, Iniest etc many of the A team players used to play for Barcelona B team. This is issue of youth system. Of course having good youth system is great, but another topic.
I'd be perfectly in favor of sending Bruce Arena to Mars and let him give it a shot. After the debacle of the 2006 WC, I take anything Bruce Arena has to say about improving US soccer with a boulder of salt.