College soccer and the YNTs - the writing is on the wall and it says "go pro ASAP."

It's hard to tell because guy is in a soccer environment in college for what 4 months out of the year max?

And its a lower quality environment than a pro environment.

I said it then and I'll say it now Dillon Powers should have left school when he had the chance.

 

Since this is a YNT/college thread, I'd argue that the better player is clearly the one with the better history of playing with the USMNT, Fulham hat tricks aside. As a practical matter, Donovan has typically played as well for his country as he does for his club (recently anyway)...Dempsey...not so much.

 

Four months ?

January - February 5 Hours Physical Training, 2 Hours individual Training, 1 Hour video review, 1 hour meeting, 6 hours unsupervised play, 3 hours training room

March - April. 5 Hours Physical Training, 2 Hours Individual Training, 1 Hour Video Review, 1 hour meeting, 8 Hours Team Training, 1 Competition per week, 3 hours training room.

May-July. PDL. Training 6 Hours training a week, 2 games a week.

August-November. 3 Hours Physical Training, 2 Hours Video Review, 1 Hour Meeting, 8 Hours Team Training, 2 Competitions per week, 4 hours training room.

December. Free.


... as for Dillon Powers ???? Maybe he just doesn't have the drive to be great.

 

For the US....

Donovan a goal every 3 games......
Dempsey.....a goal every 3.4 games.....

yes they are SOOOOOOO TOTALLLLY different

 

You might throw in the assistsssssssss as well, for a more useful basis of comparison. (Hint here: assistsssssssss are the plays that result in goals...but you knew that).

 

Since this was originally a YNT post, this seemed appropriate. U17's have found a replacement for Cabrera. Looks like Richie Williams is taking over.

Richie Williams named U17 MNT head coach

 

I believe that Stephens and Sarkodie both entered college a year early, so they left school younger than most.

 

... so some players will go straight to the pros, others will go to college for some period. The ratio will be about half / half. Sounds a lot like basketball/baseball/hockey/golf in this country except they MAKE you stay three years in baseball and may you go at least one in basketball.

The fact that any guys are college guys probably still surprises some given the number of guys who went straight professional, and the suggested poor developmental tool that is college soccer. There are still half the players with college experience. I think you argue the point that no matter who signs where at 17, it is not always a good predictor of play at 23 and college players will ALWAYS be in that group. Where are you now Alex Nimo ?

 

I think what this is saying that over time the number of college years are reducing significantly over the years. Instead of 1.15 a decade ago it was probably close to 3.
It shows that the limitations placed on college players time on the ball and lack of full year play along with lack of professional soccer youth spots. You have a better chance at being a professional sooner and have a better chance at becoming a National Team player without these limitations and pro opportunity for younger players. College Soccer will always exist but its relationship to training top level pros will ever decrease that number from 1.15 to 1 to .5........over the decades.

 

That number will not go down. Reason being is that you can't identify the best 22 year olds at 18 and the shear numbers of players that play in college will continue to produce players. If players turn down millions of dollars to turn pro to play baseball what's to think that the 30k of soccer will eliminate the college choice. Time will tell but we've been hearing about the demise of college soccer since the start of project 40. The recruitment of foreign born players with americam citizenship is really the x-factor as college is not an option for those players

 

The number IS going down. The number of college years associated with Professionals and National Team Players has gone down significantly over the last 20 yrs. Let me restate the college game will always be there but there is world competition for MLS and professional roster spots. Minutes played by American players where college is still the paramount development tool in the MLS is at an all time low. It is trending down to an all time low of 55% and expected to drop further this year.
The 6 you mention do affect the number of college years in this example but has held true without this example. In fact you're making my point for me.
The no college player is being called in over the 4 year player at a much higher rate. What does that tell you. I started but never finished full statistical analysis of college years for the last 6 World Cup Rosters and there is clear evidence of that number getting lower and lower. Now that spring ball is being cancelled, the days of a professional player playing 20 games over 3 months with significant practice limitaions, that is no way to compete for professional spots going forward.

 

Spring soccer not getting cancelled. The average college player plays about 45 games a year. That equals out to one a week - the recommended number of games or roughly 35 more games than the MLS reserve league.

25 including conference tournaments, NCAA
5 Spring Dates
15 Summer or PDL games.

I agree more and more players will go professional but there is a law of diminishing returns. At least 1/2 of the national team starters will still have some college experience now and in the future. The sheer number of players that play college, the facilities and resources, the culture of US educational system.

Not saying that the number of years in college will not decline but there will be a law of diminishing returns such that since it has dropped X in the last 10 years does not mean it will drop X in the next 10. The MLS cannot handle all the kids it would take to produce pro players. Baseball drafts 50 players a year and places them at five or six levels of development. Even with homegrowns, we are talking about a max of five players per team. Still say that for every Landon Donavan (no college) there will be a Clint Dempsey (college). For every Frankie Simek and Jon Spector, there will be a Tim Ream and Omar Gonzalez. For me the only outlier is the non-us citizen living in another country where college soccer is not an option... and if we are fielding a full squad of non us players with citizenship I think we are in big trouble.

 

The numbers show a slow methodical occurance over time. In 94 and 98 much more than 1/2 had college experience now its about 12-13. And of those 12-13 the number of college years played are dropping. Yes MLS will change their rules over the next 20 years to be able to absorb many more over that time with an educational monetary component. You won't need college soccer to get an education. The tipping point for me are central defenders. When we start seeing MLS offering CDs then we now the end is near. That again will take many years to take hold.

 

... and I politely disagree. Maybe kids with limited academic opportunities where soccer is their way "out", some prodigies (Landon fits in this category), if the money is really, really good (Freddy Adu) and the previously mentioned international american. Other than that you will continue to see roughly half of the pro soccer players having some college soccer experience like baseball, golf, hockey and so on. I agree that the four year player may disappear but it might be a year, might be two. The end is no where near. College athletics is an important part of our culture whether you like it or not.

 

I guess we agree because I never said college soccer will end. The professional and National teams will have less COLLEGE AVG. YEARS over time, and that will further affect the number of college players who attend ANY college. This is presently occuring slowly, I repeat slowly which will reduce that number from 12 to 11 to 10 to 9 ........................You and I probably won't see 0 but it will come when we're dead.
It's a trend that's already occuring. I know we can't see grass growing but its still grows.

 

Totally agree with your statement about college athletics being an important part of our culture. This is something that won't change IMO.

 

College sports is definitely and important part of our culture, but in my opinion that does not imply that is also beneficial. If you want to become the best student athlete, then college soccer is the right decision. If you want to become the best soccer player, then you have to train and play against the best. I think the writing is on the wall and it says to go over seas.

 

Easier said than done...only an EXTREMELY small number of US players will EVER get that opportunity. Besides,just because you are playing overseas doen't mean that you are better than a guy who plays domestically.

 

frankie simek, jon spector... no better than Tim Ream. I think that overseas for attacking or midfield phenoms - central defenders and gks no hurry since the development takes place later. One thing for sure is that the MLS does not really include training and PLAYING. 10 games in the reserve, none of which have any competitive juice.

 

I hope the MLS USL partnership develops so the Reserve Teams can play competitive games in the USL or at least PDL like Germany and Spain where Reserve Teams play in lower leagues. My only concern is roster size. Alot of 'Reserve ' Players will have to play first team football due to injuries, suspensions, call ups so who will be able to consistently play for the reserve teams in a competitive league with only 30 first team players with some of those youth prospects. Could be interesting.

 

However do you think a 20 year old with 2 seasons of pro soccer is significantly better than a 20 year old after 2 seasons of collegiate play? Not sure there may be a big difference. Of course most depends on the player in question and where he is playing.