Blocked from playing time (note, when I say this I'm not necessarily implying whether PT for Agudelo is justified or not - just saying he hasn't seen much of the field at NY).
Kofi Sarkodie? Not NT, but he gets regular U-23 call ups. It his 2nd season and so far he doesn't appear to be in Dom's plans.
I actually think MLS does a decent enough job of promoting domestic players (in both the US AND Canada) and in recent years, the shift towards growing the academy system is also a welcome change. The best thing MLS could do for domestic players would be to continue to promote and grow the reserve league and expand MLS rosters and salary space so that the mid-level youth talent can stay here, get paid, and play games, instead of head overseas, get paid more, and play bit parts and bench ride. It's hard for me to decide how much partnership I want between MLS and USSF, but I think MLS has done a very good job over the last few years in focusing on domestic youth, and while there's still room to grow, I don't think they're ignoring or avoiding their shortcomings either. Homegrown players are a nice way to incentize local academys. We just need to grow the league more so rosters can be bigger and resrve matches and other competitions (Open Cup and CCL) can be open to deeper teams with younger players. One thought may be offer teams salary incentives for signing younger players? Say shave 10% off their salary cap hit for every year they are under 23? So that 18 year old full of potential that you want to sign at $200k to keep him Stateside would only cost you $100k the first year, $120k the next, $140 when he's 20, etc. Just trying to think outside the box... Still need the roster space for that though...
This is where not having a strong second division in this country really hurts, IMO. Players who aren't good enough (yet) to crack a starting MLS lineup need viable option other than the bottom half of an MLS roster. No matter how many reserve games MLS plays, or how hard the league tries to make them competitive, game experience in a second division would always be better for purposes of development.
Sure would be nice if these players could be loaned out to smaller clubs to get some play time. Oh wait, they can't because transfer window is shut right now and open during the MLS off season. #fail
Smaller clubs where? Sweden and Norway? 1 January – 31 March 1 August – 31 August Japan? 8 January – 2 April 16 July – 13 August Finland? 1 March – 30 April 1 August – 31 August Denmark? 11 June – 1 September All open within the first half of the MLS season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_window Your post - #fail
The US transfer window is open right now, so players can be loaned to the NASL or USL. It closes Apr 15. Tampa Bay just picked up an MLS player yesterday, though I don't remember who.
I don't know bored bobby from San Diego, California but its not because the transfer windows aren't open bored bobby.
The Dynamo just loaned Josue Soto to the San Antonio Scorpions. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/04/03/dynamo-homegrown-midfielder-set-loan-san-antonio The loan is until the middle of May. That's when Houston will probably need him back since our schedule gets a lot heavier.
Hainault is a beast, so PT has been hard for the Prince to come by. However we have a very heavy summer load coming and Andre will be gone a lot for WCQs. With the U-23s out of the Olympics, he will get all the playing time he wants.
I think the issue with loans is that the development aspects of NASL/USL aren't really that good. The coaching is not as good (and probably less extensive--- USL Pro and NASL teams might only have two coaches...and often with questionable qualifcations like Claude Anelka), you're training/playing against guys who might never amount to anything, etc. Look at Agudelo--- which would have been better for him in 2011--- the Red Bulls, or playing for FC New York at a college soccer stadium (probably training at a high school), replacing practice with Thierry Henry with practice with Chris Megaloudis, etc.? The ideal arrangement would probably be MLS teams fielding full reserve teams in USL or NASL a la Germany where the 3rd and 4th divisions are a blend of reserve teams and minor professional clubs...but that's many years and a ton of money away from happening.
not sure why there's such hostility to JK's statement? The exact same complaints are made in Italy and England about 18-21 year olds not getting enough games. I am quite pleased that TFC is giving their academy kids a lot of opportunities to play though ..... so MLS has been a blessing for getting young Canadians playing time
What's the rule in the Mexican League? At least one Mexican player under 21 on the field at all times, is that it?
Blah Blah Blah... Klinsmann talks.. since he got to US Soccer all he does is talk.... Wish ANY of his team actually played well.
Yeah..........but that's what he did with Germany too. Low was the X's and O's guy with Germany, and Klinsi was the motivator/organizer/planner. We're not getting anything with Klinsi that's unexpected. Talking is what he's best at. And frankly, none of us think he's necessarily wrong. The problem isn't that not enough young Americans get playing time in MLS. The problem is the lack of quality options other than MLS. The reserve division isn't up to snuff yet...........and I personally think the quality of play in the NASL/USL is dreadful. The NCAA's can only provide so much as well. MLS/USSF has really started to build it's U18 and U16 programs via the development academy. (many MLS clubs are investing greatly in pre-academy programs for kids younger than that as well) And MLS itself continues to get better and better. But we still have this developmental "dead zone" for kids 18-22 years of age. These are players like Moises Hernandez with FCD that are too old for the academy, but not good enough yet for the first team. We need the soccer equivalent of AA and AAA baseball. [And the USL/NASL as they currently exist ain't the answer. Dreadful.]
Mexico forced teams in the FMF to play young players and look how much they have won in the past 2 years..... 2011 Gold Cup title U-23 CONCACAF Championship U-20 CONCACAF Championship U-17 World Cup Championship
The difference between Mexico and the US is they have a much more fully developed reserve and youth league structure. Having 2 youngsters on the gameday roster isn't what's important. (although that's nice). The big Mexican clubs have many youngsters all developing in their reserve teams, and they can promote one or two when they're ready. Chivas for example has their first team in the Primera, their reserve team Chivas Rayadas in the 2nd division, another Guadalajara reserve team that plays in the 4th tier, as well as U20 and U17 teams!!! No Chivas prospect is ever short of games............whether the FMF has some quota on young players in first division games or not. We just started our 10-game reserve league in 2011. We're going to slowly and steadily build up our reserve/youth programs. It's not going to happen overnight.
Some teams refused to release players to the US U-23 team. Has Klinsmann considered that when MLS has the youth infrastructure and investment that Mexican and European teams have, it won't want to release players for the U-23 Olympics team either?
Perhaps I'm missing something (certainly wouldn't be the first time), but I seem to remember Klinsmann and others noting that young players need to challenge themselves and go to European teams where they have to fight every day for their place in the team. If young players aren't getting enough time in MLS, does that not mean that these players are indeed forced to fight for their spots in the team? MLS can't win.