MLS academy Nike Friendly results

[ElRoss425]

Some good games against top quality clubs for the MLS academies this weekend. I thought it could use its own thread to talk about the results.

[ATLGunner]

Some good games against top quality clubs for the MLS academies this weekend. I thought it could use its own thread to talk about the results.

Also, reports from anyone who attends. Thanks in advance for those who can!

[Clint Eastwood]

Weren't these games on FSC last year? Does anybody know if that'll be the case this year?

[#1 Feilhaber and Adu]

Weren't these games on FSC last year? Does anybody know if that'll be the case this year?


Those were the international Games(i.e. USA vs Brazil). The International games will be on FSC again as well, but the MLS Academy games will not be.

[ElRoss425]

U16 results:
Friday
LA Galaxy v North Meck: 1-0
1-0

Saturday
DC United v Cal Odyssey : 1-1
Chivas USA v Chicago Fire : 3-2
NE Revs v Dallas Texans : 0-0
Columbus Crew v Met Oval : 3-1
NYRB v Nomads : 1-1
Rapids v CASL : 1-3
FC Dallas v Baltimore Bays : 2-0
LA Galaxy v Boston Bolts : 3-1
3-1-3, Revs with big game against the Texans

U18 results:
Friday
LA Galaxy v North Meck : 4-1

Saturday
DC United v Cal Odyssey : 3-0
Chivas USA v Chicago Fire : 2-2
NE Revs v Dallas Texans : 1-0
Columbus Crew v Met Oval : 0-3
NYRB v Nomads : 0-3
Rapids v CASL : 0-1
FC Dallas v Baltimore Bays : 1-1
LA Galaxy v Boston Bolts : 2-2
2-3-3, not so great, but Revs with big win over the Texans

[Stinking Rose]

Two college coaches I know attended the Revolution v Texans U16 game. One of them has seen the Texans play a number of times. He described the game as "ugly" and "scattered" by both teams. He thought the Texans were "way off" their game, and he mentioned he didn't see anything impressive about the Revolution team.

He also commented on the U17 game between the US and Brazil, and said Brazil "took his breath away".

Unfortunately, the U17 Australia coach died in his sleep in LA the night before.......really put a downer on what looks to be a spectacular event.

[Clip]

Did Houston not participate in this?

[ElRoss425]

Houston is not part of the USSF Development Academy.

[Clip]

Houston is not part of the USSF Development Academy.


Ok, I'm totally confused. What is our academy a part of then?

[ElRoss425]

They aren't a part of any league yet. So far they just practice and play against high level teams.

[Stinking Rose]

Also, reports from anyone who attends. Thanks in advance for those who can!

Apart from the obviously biased parents with kids on the team? Doubtful.

[QuakeAttack]

Just a quick clarification. It's USSF Development Academy Program (DAP), not MLS Academy. MLS has teams who participate in the DAP.

I attended the Winter Showcase in Lancaster this past weekend. In the interest of full disclosure, my son doesn't play for a MLS Academy Team.

While I didn't have the chance to watch a full game, I did have a chance to watch signficant minutes of several teams (NYRB, Crew, NE, DC United, and Rapids). Rather than focusing on the results, I will summarize that none of the teams stood out as being better in their play from MLS teams or other DAP teams.

However, in general, I thought the level of play for all of the teams was good. The games were competitive and only the Rapids looked poor (Note: Just one game). I was disappointed in that no one player stood out any of the games as clearly being above the rest of the players on the field.

I did have a chance to attend the two U17 US vs Brazil games. The US was really poor in the first game, but the second game was much better.

Overall, it was a great experience. It was incredible the number of scouts from college in attendance, and my son's club coach mentioned that there was over twenty scouts for Euro based teams including Manu, Fulham, Mancester City.

[degerron]

Ok, I'm totally confused. What is our academy a part of then?

From what I remember reading somewhere Houston is unaffiliated from the USSF Development Academy because the team believes that due to its geography proximity to Mexico its youth teams can play against a lot of Mexican youth teams and Latin American youth squads. How is true is that I don't know as b/c I don't keep up with Houston Dynamo goings on but you can always check them out in the SUM/MLS youth cup during the all-star break.

[boomersooner027]

Ok, I'm totally confused. What is our academy a part of then?

The reason Houston isn't a part of the Academy is because Houston is set up completely differently than most teams. The Dynamo Academy teams are basically all-star teams of kids on clubs around the Houston area. Most of the MLS Youth teams have players who are exclusive to their club and do not play for other youth teams.

[HiFi]

The reason Houston isn't a part of the Academy is because Houston is set up completely differently than most teams. The Dynamo Academy teams are basically all-star teams of kids on clubs around the Houston area. Most of the MLS Youth teams have players who are exclusive to their club and do not play for other youth teams.

And US Soccer does not allow kids on DAP teams to also play on other teams. They can't control the games-traiing ratio.

[Stan Collins]

Although I just read in the Houston forums that the Dynamo are now forcing their kids to be full-time Dynamo players. Could be a prelude to joining the DAP.

MLS had a "home grown" rule that says you had to train so many days with the MLS youth team to qualify to be called up anyway, so there was always a problem with the all-star team setup. I just think that the Dynamo feared the backlash from the youth teams around town at first, but now has established itself enough that they no longer have that fear.