A theory on why the US is not producing great right midfielders

[Nutmeg]

First of all, I had better lay the premise:

10 MLS Teams, Very Few Young American Right Wing Prospects

MET: Vaca - Bolivia
LAG: Torres - USA 23
DCU: Stewart - USA 35
DAL: O'Brien - Ireland
CHI: Williams - Jamaica
COL: Henderson - USA 33
SJQ: Mullan - USA 26
NER: Ralston - USA 29
KCW: Klein - USA 28
COL: Paule? - USA 28

Only 3 players in MLS who are getting regular starting minutes have been capped by Bruce Arena. All will be over 30 by 2006, with Earnie Stewart being a whopping 37 by that time. Klein and Ralston can at best be defined as fringe national team players.

Even more discouraging is the lack of right midfield prospects on the horizon. Justin Mapp is probably the brightest prospect at right mid, but naturally he is a left-footed player. I'll get to why he was looked at as a right midfielder further along in this post. Nate Jaqua is getting looks at right mid in Chicago, too, but that would be quite the stretch to forsee him panning out as a legitimate national team prospect at right mid. The US youth national teams are not fielding great right midfield prospects, either. The U20s played Mapp, who admittedly played very well. The U17s played DiRaimando, who in my opinion was pedestrian.

So what is going on?

For starters, think of what happens to young left-footed prospects when they show up at a soccer camp. Where is the 1st position they are looked at? In most cases, they are immediately looked at as wide midfielders. There is such a scarcity of left-footed players, when one does show up, they are immediately tried out as wide midfielders, or perhaps wide defenders if the youth team is playing an advanced 4 man back line.

Meanwhile, right-footed players are tried all over the place. The best-skilled usually end up top as forwards, or even better, as central midfielders. The biggest usually are looked at on the back line, or as the traditional American "target forward." The rest are used to fill out the team - meaning right midfield in many cases, and right back to a lesser degree. But your top skilled right-footed players - the best prospects - almost never start out as wide midfielders, and especially not right backs.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, if key conditions are met: The system has to accomodate and be receptive to good prospects changing positions and roles. In fact, the system should force marginal players to change positions as the level of play increases. The US developmental system does not meet either condition.

First, US Soccer in general has coolly received the idea of transitioning players until very recently, and even now it is not as quick as it needs to be. MLS coaches do not, for example, look for college forwards who meet the physical profile of good right midfielders. They don't have the roster space for it, or they don't have the time to develop players at new positions, or the idea is simply foreign. Some coaches are catching on. Sigi used Ngyewa (sp?) - a successful college forward who meets the physical profile of a potentially very good right midfield prospect - as his starting right mid this weekend.

But that transition should not happen after 4 years of college soccer when players are usually at least 21 years old. It needs to happen sooner, and college soccer isn't going to force players to change positions. If you are a decent collegiate level forward, there are plenty of places where you can play in your preferred position. In professional development countries, like Brazil, England, Spain, or Holland, for example, I would bet there are far more applicants than there are available job openings when compared to the US. This forces youth team forwards and/or central midfielders in a professonal club who cannot cut it in the same position as they move up the ranks to look at alternative positions - like right midfield - at a much younger age.

So while Justin Mapp is looked at as a wide midfielder right off the bat because he's left footed, his right-footed counterpart is playing up top or as a central forward. Justin develops the skills of a wide midfielder, and can more easily transition to the right side than a player who has never played wide.

If this is going to change, a couple of things need to happen. One, youth national and professional coaches in the US need to be more receptive to changing players' positions at an earlier level. Two, there has to be more competition for young aspiring professionals than college soccer can provide. Otherwise, players won't be forced to change positions at a younger age.

So there's my theory. Start poking holes...

[NoSix]

So there's my theory. Start poking holes...

Who cares. Put the best 11 players on the field and let them play. What difference does it make where they are standing for the kick-off? People around here are way too obsessed with positions.

[SimonOZ]

Who cares. Put the best 11 players on the field and let them play. What difference does it make where they are standing for the kick-off? People around here are way too obsessed with positions.


is this the point where you say to yourself

"did I type that out loud?"

[ChrisE]

Even more discouraging is the lack of right midfield prospects on the horizon. Justin Mapp is probably the brightest prospect at right mid, but naturally he is a left-footed player. I'll get to why he was looked at as a right midfielder further along in this post. Nate Jaqua is getting looks at right mid in Chicago, too, but that would be quite the stretch to forsee him panning out as a legitimate national team prospect at right mid. The US youth national teams are not fielding great right midfield prospects, either. The U20s played Mapp, who admittedly played very well. The U17s played DiRaimando, who in my opinion was pedestrian.


I'd like to take issue address more of your argument, Nutmeg, but I thought this point was especially important (and easy) to address. Apart from Mapp, the USMNT's best right-mid prospects DiRaimondo (who might make a nice fullback), etc., but Landon Donovan, Josh Wolff, Eddie Johnson, Santino Quaranta, (Eddie Gaven). I think your worries about players playing right mid from an early age are somewhat justified, but I think Brian Mullan's move from forward to midfield (and various other guys who have transitioned from college forwards to MLS midfielders) indicates that not having played midfield from youth doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to be any good at it. I suspect we'll see more and more such moves in the coming years, by more and more talented players. MLS is currently filling up with talented forwards - LA has moved Ngwenya to midfield because he had no opportunity to play forward, Peter Nowak is having a terrible time deciding between his four very talented forwards (saying nothing of injured Quaranta or Martins), Bob Bradley has 5 to worry about, San Jose have 3 internationals and a 23 year-old who trained with Celtic this offesason, Chicago has moved last year's #3 draft pick to midfield because he's got no shot at breaking through at forward (although Jaqua is ill-suited to the position); Bob Bradley is doing the same thing with Mike Magee, Bobby Rhine played right midfield for the Burn this preseason because there's no room at forward, if Jeremiah White ever signs with the Revolution, it's likely he would see a similar move. I think that as the league continues to improve, we'll see more and more former forwards (be that at the college or U-17 level) as fixtures in midfield for their club teams. Although I'd be surprised if it didn't continue to lag behind forwards in terms of quality, I don't think that the right midfielders of today are really the guys we need to be looking at for 2006 and beyond - the landscape should be radically transformed by that point.

[Calexico77]

Who cares. Put the best 11 players on the field and let them play. What difference does it make where they are standing for the kick-off? People around here are way too obsessed with positions.

[good-hearted ribbing] And even more so with somewhat cryptic ranking systems![/good-hearted ribbing]

:D

[bungadiri]

First of all, I had better lay the premise:
...So there's my theory. Start poking holes...
First of all, this thread is a perfect example of why I go out of my way to read your posts.

Here's an example that I think supports your theory, albeit in a limited way. My son plays u-13 select level soccer. He's got (in my opinion) an excellent coach with extensive pro experience in Turkey. As soon as he started with the team, this coach early on identified the need for strong wing play and chose the most physically talented player on the team to play at right mid and has been working hard trying to teach him the position. The kid hates it. He apparently derives no satisfaction whatsoever from accomplishing the subtler victories that mark good midfield play and in fact he feels like he's being punished and constantly asks for a chance to play up top. This kid has even muttered about trying out for other teams in order to get a chance to score more. I suppose my point in presenting this single example is that it's probably not just a coaching emphasis that leads to the situation you've described, but a more general lack of interest in what's somewhat disdainfully called "role player" positions in American sports culture.

[E Diddy]

Some well thought out points in this thread.....I wanted to say that I appreciate the insight many of you bring...

Just an effort to read and think before I post.......

[smith07]

Didn't Beckhem play right wing for Man U. Would hardly call him a role player.

[JohnR]

Nutmeg -

A very thoughtful post that has elicited several responses from people who seem not to have grasped any of your arguments.

In general, I am of not much more use, since all I can say is you may be right. Or you may not. But I can comment fairly knowledgeably on one topic, which is youth soccer coaching decisions.

1) You are correct in that a fast & skilled left-footed player is almost automatically slotted by youth coaches into playing left mid, while a similarly fast & similarly skilled right-footed player is not automatically slotted into being a right mid.

2) On the other hand, I can think of several good younger competitive teams (i.e., U11/U12) wherein the coach has placed the team's dominant offensive player at right mid. So I do resist the notion that youth soccer coaches won't put their strongest player at right mid ... although I would also agree that the senior-team evidence would seem to suggest such a policy!

[bungadiri]

Didn't Beckhem play right wing for Man U. Would hardly call him a role player.
Neither would I. I think you've missed my point.

[SCBozeman]

Who cares. Put the best 11 players on the field and let them play. What difference does it make where they are standing for the kick-off? People around here are way too obsessed with positions.

That's why Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Tim Howard should all take the field at the same time.

[spot]

As a kid I developed the ability to kick with my left foot, and to this day play on the left. Most team mates still think I'm left footed. I've often found that being righted footed, but playing on the left has put me in a better position when it comes to shooting.

Now it's a stretch to extrapolate from a old guy like me who has never had anywhere near the pace or speed of thought to succeed as a professional... But, why is it absolutely clear that a left footed player is a bad choice for right mid? Anders Limpar spent a fair amount of his time as a left mid, but whenever he took free kicks it was clear he was right footed.

[ChrisE]

Nutmeg -

A very thoughtful post that has elicited several responses from people who seem not to have grasped any of your arguments.

Since only two people really disagreed at all with Nutmeg's post, I guess you're talking about me. I didn't respond to Nutmeg's thesis, that "There is such a scarcity of left-footed players, when one does show up, they are immediately tried out as wide midfielders...Meanwhile, right-footed players are tried all over the place," because I think he's very likely correct (though I don't know anything about youth soccer). How many times can people say "You're right, Nutmeg," though?

Nevertheless, this subject wouldn't be important if it didn't have implications about our National Team, and that's where I have my doubts about his conclusions. Specifically, I don't think there's too much support for the claim that "[Mapp] develops the skills of a wide midfielder, and can more easily transition to the right side than a player who has never played wide." We have plenty of forwards who have good ball skills, we're developing even more, there's not a whole lot of reason to conclude that Mapp would be a better right mid than Ed Johnson or Santino Quaranta (who were in his class at Bradenton), if they were just played there.

In order for our bias against right mids to change, Nutmeg suggests that

One youth national and professional coaches in the US need to be more receptive to changing players' positions at an earlier level. Two, there has to be more competition for young aspiring professionals than college soccer can provide.

Again, he's right, but I think the former is already happening, at least at Bradenton, and the latter would be beneficial for a whole lot of reasons (who here doesn't want reserve teams?). I just think there may be factors at the professional level that are already be in motion to help solve the problem.

[voros]

As a kid I developed the ability to kick with my left foot, and to this day play on the left. Most team mates still think I'm left footed. I've often found that being righted footed, but playing on the left has put me in a better position when it comes to shooting.

Now it's a stretch to extrapolate from a old guy like me who has never had anywhere near the pace or speed of thought to succeed as a professional... But, why is it absolutely clear that a left footed player is a bad choice for right mid? Anders Limpar spent a fair amount of his time as a left mid, but whenever he took free kicks it was clear he was right footed.
Well it takes a bunch of work.

For example, on Saturday Mapp had a golden opportunity to shoot first-time with his right and instead chose to settle and then try and put it on his left. Right when he was about to pull the trigger, Convey came sliding in, causing Mapp to rush slightly and shank the shot. (Unfortunately the play also seemed to rattle him a touch and while he'd been playing fairly well up until that point, he was mostly ineffective until being subbed out in the 2nd half).

Mapp's got to have enough confidence to take that shot with his right if he's going to play out on the right wing.

It should also be added to Nutmeg's youth team list that left-footed Brad Davis was the first choice on the right for the U23s.

My wonder is why so few of our talented young players at any position are right footed? Gaven, Donovan, Beasley, Adu, Mapp, Memo Gonzalez and Convey are all left footed players (Adu, Donovan and Gaven have shown some skill with the right, but they're nevertheless left foot dominant).

[Parmigiano]

(Adu, Donovan and Gaven have shown some skill with the right, but they're nevertheless left foot dominant).

Besides Adu, this is news to me. I seem to have several highlights of Gaven making assists with his right foot, and seem to recall that Donovan takes his penalty kicks with his right foot. Are you really sure about this? I would have sworn that both Gaven and LD were right-footed.

[JohnR]

Since only two people really disagreed at all with Nutmeg's post, I guess you're talking about me.

Actually, I wasn't. Forget about that part of what I wrote, it was bad-tempered.

Your thesis seems reasonable, although I couldn't tell you if it's correct.

As for Justin Mapp et al moving from left to right, let me relate the experience of two U.S. youths (12 year olds) who recently guest trained at several European professional clubs. They found that overall the European kids spent more time on structured technical drills, and in particular on drills that made them two-footed.

"While known as 2 of the best players back home in their area in their respective age groups, both Chris and Dylan's non-dominant feet were exposed a bit in the technical training."

http://www.yptusa.com/twoplayers5.html

In a nutshell, my thesis is that the U.S. is deficient in developing two-footed players who can comfortably occupy either wing.

Even if that thesis is wrong, it still drives me nuts to see guys like Mapp and Razov (a particularly horrible example) switching feet to make elementary plays. Damn, who was coaching them when they were young?

[lmorin]

There are many, many more right-handed/footed players everywhere in the world than left-handed players. So, unless you want to argue that there is a genetic predisposition for American left-footed players to be significantly better players than their right-footed compatriots, it all comes down to chance. I don't believe for a femtosecond that coaching has anything to do with relative numbers of high level left vs right footers.

Regardless of that issue, I think there is entirely too much emphasis on right- or left-footed players being required for specific positions. For example, consider a shot taken from the left side to the far post. If kicked with the left foot, the curving path of the ball will take it closer to the keeper before crossing the goal line; with the right foot, the ball starts away from the keeper and curves around him, always at the furthest point possible. On the other hand, dribbling down the left flank tends to be more advantageous for a lefty because the ball can more easily stay protected on the stronger left foot. If, however, a team has a righty who likes to dribble fast down the left flank, then cut to the middle, the shooting advantages can significantly outweigh the crossing advantages. Like most things in the game, it depends on personnel.

[mpruitt]

The fact that Steve Ralston has been an MLS Iron Horse while not superbly talented also may support your theory. He's a good enough player but on the tail end of a long career and as of last year he's still getting called up. Desirvedly so, but it's not like anyones really pushing him at that particular position for either club or country.

[superdave]

nutmeg...interesting theory. Alot of wisdom to it. But I see a hole.

Gibbs, Bocanegra, Berhalter. Arguably 3 of our top 4 central defenders are left footed.

[NoSix]

is this the point where you say to yourself

"did I type that out loud?"

Yes :D

And then, "I'm going to get flamed on this one", but that's OK, I'm used to it.