The top end talent discussion is an interesting one. I think the professionalization of academies is going to help depth much more than top end. The very top end still has an element of outlier to it. I also think that while MLS and USL academies will help, it's not going to do much in the short term about development at younger ages. We'll always struggle because the number of younger kids who play the sport at very young ages is always going to be low compared to the larger population until more parents play it with their kids. A huge amount of development is done before the age of 6 or 7 from a cognitive and motor function standpoint. MLS academies are never going to touch that. It really needs to come from dads and moms and older siblings kicking the ball around with young children instead of throwing the ball around.
We all know which way the wind is blowing,and it continues to blow in the direction of MLS academies as the pathway for the elite talents. Of our CONCACAF U17 World Cup team, how many of those kids weren't at MLS academies? I think the answer is one. Adam Armour. And didn't we hear that he's on his way to an MLS academy? Atlanta? I think the U19 level of the DA might undergo significant change over the next 5 years. I expect MLS to break off and form their own U19 or U20 league like Liga MX has. We've heard rumors of that and it makes too much sense. They'll probably save on travel expenses by having the U20s play the same day as the first teams. Like Liga MX does. At the U20 level at least, that'll leave the Solars and Texans of the landscape as undoubted second-class citizens. When MLS does away with homegrown territories (as they will), that'll be another blow for these clubs like Solar. Then if a kid doesn't want to play for FCD for whatever reason (culture, competition in position), or isn't picked up by FCD .................he can go play for Houston or Austin when they join the league. Some day I think San Antonio might join MLS as well. Or he can go play with a residential academy like Philadelphia. To be blunt about it, club teams not affiliated with MLS should serve one purpose. Getting their kids to pro teams. That's it. Solar leadership should be thrilled when one of their kids move to FC Dallas. Thrilled. That means the kid has an opportunity to advance like Reggie Cannon did.
I think this is happening too. When I used to coach it was mostly parents who watched soccer. Later it started being some who played in high school or college. Now most have played at those levels and some may have been low level pros. Every five years kids are living in households where more family members played and more parents played at higher levels and this is going to continue since there are now so many more professional teams. 20-30 years ago children of NASL and Indoor league coaches had the big advantages in growing up. Now with 20+ MLS teams along with all the second and third division teams along with immigrant families the pool of kids growing up in soccer households is exploding.
Looking at our previous "top end" talent production: Howard - went to Europe at 24, Topped out at a mid table EPL club Altidore - went to Europe early. progressed through a couple steps but failed in EPL and came back to MLS Dempsey - went to Europe in mid 20s. Topped out at mid table EPL club McBride - went to Europe in mid 20s. Topped out at mid table EPL club Bradley - went to Europe early. progressed through several steps but came back to MLS in prime Donovan - went to Germany early. Did well during spells in Europe, but spent majority of time in MLS That's a pretty unimpressive list of "top end" talent that our system produced over a 10 year or so period. There are some others that I'm leaving out and some that got injured, but this group isn't going to blow anybody away even if we include every possibility. Guys like Cherundolo, Edu, Bocanegra were similar stories to the mid table EPL level. If you compare that to the current level of our top players -- Adams, Pulisic, McKennie, Sargent (you'd have to throw Davies in there, too) -- I would argue that our current crop is much more successful at younger ages. Considering that these guys are really the first of the wave, and that there are many more right in the same line, I would find it hard to argue that the old system of player development produced the same quality and depth of top end players.
Much depends on how you define "top end talent." For me, it's a player who carves out a multi-year career at a Champions League level club in one of the top three or four leagues. Using that definition, we've never had a top end talent. Maybe Pulisic, we shall see... For that to happen there has to be notable increase of very young players beginning their youth club careers with very advanced technical skills. It's great that multimillionaires have invested in MLS and USL teams. I would also like to see some deep pockets guy invest in free, or very low cost, programs at the very youngest ages, so kids and their parents can get off to an important and critical head start. I'm waiting to hit the lottery, so check back with me in a few years.
It's great to hear. I think it just takes a really long time. But hopefully it is occurring now so that in 20 years, our players have even more intuitive skills. But when people wonder why the US isn't better overall, I think this is a big part of it.
That's an interesting way to look at it. I think where I struggle is that during the '00s, our national team often had a team that was a majority of players in Big 5 leagues, with the remainder being in leagues that are maybe a step up or even with MLS (like the Netherlands, or Scotland, respectively). Right now, we've got CP, WM and TA... and even if you take the most Eurocentric lineups instead of the GC, our club roster doesn't look at strong to earlier WC teams. Why not? Shouldn't we be at least at parity? Is this lost generation SOOOO bad it overwhelms all improvement? Can a normal cycle of talent really be this disruptive to a nation this big? I do think we are at the start of an immediate wave of talent that actually isn't anywhere near what it will be. Right now, there's maybe 5 MLS teams really functioning at the level of academy we would like. I doubt we will ever see all of them invest at the level we want, but I wouldn't be shocked if in 5 years 20 of them are leaning in there with 5-10 good USL programs. But the counterpoint is still valid -- as much as I want to say we're about to see a massive increase in top end talent ... we kind of always think that. I *think* Weah and Pomykal and Reyna are different, but we've all been wrong before.
That is exactly why it's so bad. The last world cup and this one is when that missing generation should be the core players and it's weak. So weak that very few ever had top league Euro interest. The next generation is so promising for the exact opposite reason. There are already so many players in top Euro leagues and a few have already hit. The others seem to be of similar quality and showed it against the world in the last few U20's and U17's. They may all fail but observation and comparison predicts a bunch will hit.
Shifting gears... In April, this article came out for the Girls Academy. http://www.ussoccerda.com/20180418-NEWS-DA-Introduces-New-Cup-Comp-Structure-for-Girls From what I'm hearing, there has been a delay in the boys DA scheduling as this may be something they may be putting together on the boys side for this upcoming season. Has anyone heard anything about this? Interesting that this is already in the works for the girls side and wouldn't be for the boys.
The best players of the year 💪Your Boys Best XI's for the East, Central and West Conferences! pic.twitter.com/MbKJY7HsGX— Development Academy (@ussoccer_da) July 22, 2019
Interesting selections for Boys Players of the Year........... Johan Gomez? I realize there are a ton of options, but even if we're just talking FCD I'd have taken Tanner Tessman. BOYS PLAYER OF THE YEAR East: Justin Haak - New York City FC Central: Johan Gomez - FC Dallas West: Kobe Hernandez-Foster - LA Galaxy
I would agree with Johan. He simply scores goals. It is interesting that FCD players are all over the awards but no FCD boys coaches. Nice to have a big talent pipeline.
So about one-third of the all-regional guys were from non-MLS DAs. Does that feel right to knowledgeable folks here? (I have no opinion.)
You have to contort yourself so much to understand these selections that I don't find them worth complaining about in any specificity.
Would love to know how they determine the best GK in each region. It can't be average goals against/match or total goals conceded over the season. There were plenty GKs that had better stats in those areas than the GK from St. Louis in the central division.
I would certainly hope it is not average goals against/match or total goals conceded over the season. For instance in the u17 age group of the same division, SSM gave up very few goals. The credit for that belongs on the fantastic team defense they play (and specifically the CBs were awesome throughout the year). I would be saddened to see the GK in such a situation receive the honors that were primarily earned by others. I don't know the criteria, but there has to be something other than average goals against/match or total goals conceded over the season. Maybe it is coaches recommendations. Maybe scout assessment.
Yup. This award isn't about potential and ceiling. Its about production in this DA season. And hard to argue with Johan's production. I'm just not totally convinced by his pro potential. Stunning to me that Emmanuel Santos of the Texans didn't make the Central team. Maybe he slid off the radar as his team wasn't great. 20 goals in 22 games played. That's pretty damn solid. He was prolific last season as well.