By the way, FCD U17s are undefeated this season in the central division of the Development Academy play. Lost a close one at the winter showcase to NYCFC. So this is a nice result for TFC to gauge their players with. FCD came back with a 2-0 victory over Chicago. TFC drew with Colorado, but won on PKs. The top two finishers in each group advance to the Champions Division of the GA Cup. With those two results right there its hard to see FCD and TFC not finishing 1st/2nd. I'm not sure you actually get anything for finishing 1st other than bragging rights. I'm not going to waste my time with the math, but TFC may have already clinched.
I don't know what to make of the TFC academy. They have a strong, experienced director. They have a great training ground, they have probably the most diverse city in North America to choose players from, with no competition from other teams poaching kids. I feel like they're finally getting their shit together, but it could be so much better. Then again, with TFC spending large amounts of money, their kids have little to no hope of actually ever playing for the first team.
It will be interesting to see how that plays out. It probably depends more on the coach than the price of the players ahead of the youngsters. look at the prices and pedigrees of the players ahead of Pulisic when he started. Credit goes to the coach and organization. If TFC is truly getting their shit together they'll get their chance. Of course with all of MLS' record so far, talk is cheap. We'll see what happens in TFC and across the league in a few weeks. Oh, by the way, thanks for your post. It is always great to hear a knowlegdeable Canadian perspective on the Canadian talent and teams.
Sounders U17s beat the Earthquakes and RSL both 4-0. U15s lost to SKC 3-2 but beat RSL 4-1. Day 1⃣ of Generation adidas Cup is in the books!➡ Both teams return to action tomorrow with matches against Real Salt Lake. #TheFuture pic.twitter.com/704vmpe3QK— Sounders FC Academy (@SoundersAcademy) February 17, 2018 Day 2⃣ = 2⃣ wins! Final matches of the Generation adidas Cup are tomorrow morning against LA Galaxy (U-15) and Sporting Kansas City (U-17). 🏆⚽ #TheFuture pic.twitter.com/lKcOd94qFm— Sounders FC Academy (@SoundersAcademy) February 18, 2018
Sounders U17 won 3-0 over RSL, with 3 goals in the final 15 minutes of the first half. I was at the game (son plays for RSL), and Sounders were the most impressive team I’ve seen this season in person. Great performance.
Honestly, their whole squad was impressive, worked hard and smart together as a team, swarmed relentlessly to get the ball, then were creative with it in the final third. RSL is no slouch, just had a bad 15 minutes and Seattle took full advantage.
We had heard that Seattle re-invested/started over a couple of years ago. It seems the results are really being seen at the younger levels. Kind of like the Galaxy, who had strong age groups at the younger levels last year. Their "natural" U19s were's all that great. Played a lot of youngsters "up" age groups. By the way, I'd say the biggest surprise this academy season has been Colorado. If the season ended today they'd finish first in the U19 Central Conference and second in the U17 division. Very much off the radar, but at least in terms of results are doing well. [As we know, results don't tell the whole story.] FCD is 2 and 1 in those standings. New England is just the worst. The worst. Their U17s haven't won a game since September in the DA. As Dennis Eckersley would say.............YUCK!
I’m surprised how many people on here are boasting about their clubs results at the U-17 level. Score lines don’t really matter. The only thing that matters are A players from your academy getting signed to the first team A players getting first team minutes A European club paying a nice hefty transfer fee for one of your players You can load up your acedemy with big physical 16 year olds and win all the tournaments you want but it won’t really matter in the long run
Thanks for your insight Timm. I will never mention a U17 score ever again. Wait, if all MLS teams are loading up with big physical 16 yr olds then who wins? The ones with the biggest most physical or the biggest most physical players who have the best skill. Something to ponder....
Think you’re kind of missing the point. Not only is it about the prospects, but those are other teams to root for. Do results matter for developing talent? No. But the academies are still a part of the mls teams. I’m a dodger fan, but I root for okc. I’m a ducks fan, but I follow the San Diego gulls a bit, too.
Shrug. You're definitely right in that results aren't the "most important" aspect of development academy play. Player development is. The older the youngsters/teams get, though, winning matches is in fact a skill. Having that winning mentality is important. I'll rarely report a U15 result or below (maybe the Dallas Cup), but U17 is a little more important, and U19 is fair game. Barcelona does in fact play tons of youth matches where a score is kept, and they advertise those results with satisfaction/glee. So does just about every club on Earth. What we tend to find in the development academy is the teams that win are also those that are signing youngsters to homegrown contracts. Since 2010 the winners of the U17 (used to be U16) division have been: 2010-11: LA Galaxy 2011-12 NYRB 2012-13: RSL 2013-14: LA Galaxy 2014-15: FCD 2015-16: FCD 2016-17: Atlanta Its only a select group of clubs, and they are in general those clubs that have been the most successful in the homegrown initiative. Some of these particular teams are in the running for best ever DA teams in terms of future professionals. Last time I did a cursory analysis the 2011-2012 FC Dallas U18 team held that record in terms of DA Champions. The reserves on that team ended up being pros. That 2012-2013 RSL U17 team must be pretty close at this point....................... That 2016-2017 Atlanta team feature quite a number of future pros already.
Azriel Gonzalez, an 01, who signed with S2 last season played for the 17s this weekend. I'm pretty sure the Sounders were without Alfonso Ocampo Chavez this weekend.
This is anecdotal and based on my experience working in schools in the Boston area, but my sense is that soccer is simply not as popular among kids and those younger than age ~30 as it seems to be in other parts of the country. The prominence of the big four pro sports teams (especially the Red Sox and the Patriots) is just overwhelming. And of course, the Revs are one of the most underwhelming MLS organizations out there. But there isn't even a huge EPL/Barca/Euro-whatever crowd either, at least in the schools I've seen. Plus, Massachusetts' Hispanic population is wildly baseball-oriented (Dominicans, Puerto Ricans) compared to most other areas. Of course, an organization as poor as the Revs isn't going to be able to make much of this situation through recruiting players from other areas, finding ways to hire the best coaching talent, or generally investing in grassroots. The lack of presence probably hurts. Seattle recruits, but its local market is smaller than Boston and seems to produce much more talent. Down the line I wonder whether the local popularity of the Sounders helps with that, too. If the popularity of the local team has a real effect on the number of quality youth players...that doesn't bode well for the Revs.
ATL U17 beat RBNY 4-1 to win their group. Bello had 2 assists and a goal. At this level he's playing almost like a 2nd winger Zlebmada made a couple highlights- Here's Bello's goal. Great hold-up play by Vixamar. pic.twitter.com/BHmGnGzf1b— scuffed (@scuffedpod) February 19, 2018 Here's Bello's run and cross for the 3rd goal. He's got tricks, pace, compusure. Good final pass. Vixamar with the finish. pic.twitter.com/jijKDrgDpG— scuffed (@scuffedpod) February 19, 2018
Results still matter, you just have to view them in context with how they are achieved. The reality is that unless wins are being achieved through tactics that are unsustainable in the long term (man-child kick and chase), wins/losses can tell you something about how well you are developing players. Results are accountability and a reality check. At the youth level, they need to be evaluated in more context than results at the adult level, but they are still accountability and a reality check. Atlanta beat New England 7-0. Care to place a bet on which group of players will collectively have better pro careers?
I am a Seattle fan so take this for what it's worth. I think what you say is possible. Which is one reason I won't fault Jordan Morris for not going to Europe. It could have been better for his soccer and for the USMNT but I believe that his staying could have a positive effect on local players. Here is a local player who plays local yet still plays on the USMNT. He gets local publicity where if he was scuffling at Werder Bremen he wouldn't be news here. For staying I applaud him. I'm not saying it is making him a better player but it could be good for local soccer. Then again it might not.
The eternal question. Does going to Europe automatically make you a better player or does it just reveal the player you'd always be. That is the question. For good or bad.
Fwiw, I love him as a prospect, but the one thing I feel he absolutely needs to work on is his defensive positioning and technique. The problem is the lower level teams aren’t good enough to challenge him consistently. Hell, I’m not even sure the USL is good enough to challenge him to improve. So it’s nice for him to go forward and help create some goals, but I think it’d be far more valuable if we started seeing highlights of him defending 1v1 well or being in the right position on crosses and corners. But those highlights aren’t sexy and we will never see them.
There's also no soccer fields anywhere. There are probably more well-maintained soccer fields at the Toyota Stadium complex in Frisco than all of metro Boston. There's no space. I can probably count the number of times I've seen a pickup soccer game in Somerville on one hand. What's a little crazy is that the Revs actually were one of the league leaders in homegrown minutes last year. That's because they have multiple guys getting a lot of minutes. Scott Caldwell is probably the most undervalued homegrown signing in league history. To me with the Revs it just comes down to a lack of effort and investment. Yes, DFW may have a larger talent base to extract the talent from. But FCD has also put forth the effort and invested heavily in the academy as a major part of their business plan. I have no clue what New England's business plan is. Is there some great soccer talent base in Kansas City? No. There's no reason the Revs can't be doing what SKC is doing. And from there perhaps a homegrown talent base in New England can indeed be cultivated.