Union academy and YNT call-ups

Just a few data points:

By youth/senior club affiliation, the rosters for the December U-23 camp:

Philadelphia Union: 5 (Adu, MacMath, McInerney, Okugo, Williams)
Houston: 3
Montreal: 2
San Jose: 1
Kansas City: 1
Columbus: 1
DC United: 1
Chicago: 1
LA Galaxy: 1
Chivas USA: 1

And for this week's U-18 camp:

Philadelphia Union: 3 (Steffen, Alves, Pfeffer)
LA Galaxy: 3
Real Salt Lake: 2
Chivas USA: 2
DC United: 1
Seattle: 1
Chicago: 1
Columbus: 1
Dallas: 1
RBNY: 1

And October's U-15 camp:

RBNY: 3
Philadelphia Union: 2 (Keys, Wilson)
San Jose: 2
Chicago: 2
FC Dallas: 1
Chivas USA: 1
Columbus: 1
LA Galaxy: 1

Coincidence? Or is this the result of the Union giving more than lip service to youth development?

Not looking for rivalries talk; I'm seriously wondering if this (at least the U-15 and U-18 callups) has changed anyone's mind about the "club-neutral" Union system.

How about you only count players who came up through teams "youth systems" Because that is the only statistic that matters for what you are bringing up.

I don't think it will change people's opinions that the Union aren't doing the development themselves but rather just casting a wide net in the hopes of catching any local products that happen to pop up.

Did you just forget about the u-20 camp btw?
http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-20-MNT/2012/01/Ft-Lauderdale-Camp.aspx

Not in the way we talk about on these forums.

FCD has 9 current or former academy players at the recent U23/U20/U18 camps.

There are other MLS clubs that are probably similar, but I haven't counted them.

The Union's academy model is fine. Other MLS clubs also have extensive affiliate programs, so it's no big deal now.

Fair enough. The U-15 and U-18 players are all Union academy AFAIK. The U-23s aren't, but it does show that the Union is willing to give younger kids a shot at the senior level, as opposed to a team like New York where they have good homegrown talent in Agudelo but he's stuck down the depth chart.

Also worth noting that the Union have never had a player called up to the senior U.S. team. I wonder if that will change as this generation ages, or if management will sell them off/let them go and move on to a new young lineup.

But the question is, if it works, what's the problem?

In other words: if the Union youth players are being developed, by a combination of club games and Union training, to a level where they're getting regular national team callups, then the program has met its goal.

No, but since most of them were in college, I was too lazy to look up whether they came up through youth systems first. It's easier to tell at older and younger levels who is hooked into an MLS pipeline.

Is it? Calling it academy in the first place is a joke. And their is a difference between an affiliate and outsourcing. As it stands now, the Union basically just stand on the sidelines and sign young kids as teenagers instead of in their early 20's after college...

No, they are PDA/FC Delco etc players, the Union just pulled an end around on the rules. Do we even know if the "affiliates" are pay2play or the Union foots the bill?

Not to be "that guy" because I like that the Union have so many young players on their roster. But really have any of them taken any major steps in development since playing for the Union? Mwanga seemed to regress last year, JMack can't seem to get off the bench. Both are behind Panuvic, who I've never been impressed with. Not to mention they just brought in Josue....don't see thier PT going up. Okugo seemed to be 3rd in the pecking order last year, and after they got rid of Migs thought things were looking up, then they went and acquired another vet DM. McMath was a bright star before getting drafted, and depending on how things go this year, he could have less then 10 games played in 2 years.

When Adu/Torres actually get on the field (Nowak seems to love twin DM's on the road) they have to split time....

I'm a Union fan but I'm also on the record as seeing their "Club Neutral" development solution as an effort to take advantage of existing resources rather than offering something new and better. That said, I'm willing to give the team some time to put its imprint on the development system, especially given the established presence in the area of teams like FC Delco.

However, youth development should ideally be about more than having the opportunity to sign as many players as possible to a Home-Grown contract. With TFC spending over $17 million on a training/youth development facility and programs like FC Dallas, NY, Vancouver, and DC producing talent, it will be interesting to see what proves most successful in the long run. Will substantial investments in residency programs, coaching, training centers, etc. ultimately bring a significantly better return in terms of youth players, especially when coupled with an integrated affiliate system? It seems likely but all we can do is wait and see...

Also, it is clearly ridiculous to credit the Union youth system with developing players who were in residency at Bradenton (Okugo, McInerney, Williams et al.) before the Philadelphia Union existed.

Pretty good, right? Ben Olsen, Jeff Larentowicz, John Conway, Jeff Parke, Jeremiah White..........that's off the top of my head from FC Delco. Hell, Ben Olsen was the golden child of US soccer for a while. He was the National High School player of the year (in 93?)

If MLS doesn't have a problem with the way the Union has set up their affiliate programs, than I don't either. The goal of these programs is to funnel the best kids from a network of affiliates to the MLS teams. If Philly's does that, than mission accomplished.

FCD has a tier one affiliate in El Paso, meaning they can sign players directly from that affiliate. (That's the El Paso fire, which is the club that developed Omar Salgado.) So FCD can do it too.............and I imagine a lot of clubs in the league have similar arrangements with network affiliates. People just don't talk about it as much as the Union with FC Delco and PDA.

I don't disagree that this is part of the goal but it seems to me that some MLS teams are showing more ambition in this area. Now I don't want to throw out De Toekomst and La Masia since the situation is obviously very different in MLS but part of the goal should be developing a certain style of play and an integrated youth development program that starts with younger kids in order to produce better talent than FC Delco or PA Classics have ever produced (since there is a professional club that benefits). That would be mission accomplished in my mind.

This is how the Philadelphia Union describe their system: "Our 'club and country' model enables players to play for local club teams and get 'called-up' to represent the Philadelphia Union." What's the old line about player development occurring at club level instead of with the national team?

With that said, the situation is changing very rapidly and youth development is a competitive endeavor. It will be interesting to see if anyone can separate themselves from the pack in MLS by consistently producing top class talent. How many years of academy training might the sales of Hamid and Najar fund?

First of all, no, they're not. These players train with Union staff every week during the season. They get "called up" to play for Union youth teams for youth tournaments or reserve league games; the rest of the time, they play games for their club teams and train with both.

The Union does also have an influence on the way the kids are trained at youth affiliates. They review and approve the training curriculum and send staff out to work with clubs on development issues.

Yes, it's cheaper for the Union. But if it's just as effective, what's the problem?

Well............the goal of the academy system is to develop players for the MLS first teams. Just as an example, the top academy players at FCD routinely train with the first team.

If after several years it becomes apparent that the Union's model isn't effective for the production of Union first team players.............then they'll have to re-evaluate what they're doing.

If Philly had taken over FC Delco and did nothing other than rename it Philadelphia Union..........I'm convinced people wouldn't be raising as much of a stink.

Say like the Crew taking over the Wolves in Michigan and renaming them...............the Crew Soccer Academy Wolves. That's also a USSF DA team like FC Delco is. They haven't done it yet, but I bet the Wolves are a "tier 1" affiliate of the Crew. I bet the Crew can sign a player directly from the Wolves without having ever played for the academy team in Columbus. (In the same way the Union can sign a player from FC Delco or PDA)

So the only difference between what the Crew are doing in Michigan (and FCD in El Paso)................is that Philly doesn't also have a USSF DA team headquartered in their own complex. For me that could be seen as a drawback, as the FCD and the Crew have more of a hub at the center of the youth wheel. The Union have a bunch of spokes funneling into a less centralized program. But hey...........if it works for them than it works.

They're not cheating the system..........the system approved of their method.

This is the case in Philly as well. There are always a few academy players training with the team, and usually a fair number playing in reserve league games.

The Union continues to expand their club-neutral approach:

www.philadelphiaunion.com/news/2012...nsylvania-youth-soccer-form-new-collaboration