How is this ensuring a higher level of competition? Houston Dynamo, Portland Timbers, New England Revolution, San Jose Earthquakes, Orlando City, Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire, DC United, Colorado Rapids (though improving) are average at best Academy clubs. Sending FC Dallas all the way to Portland is a better use of resources than having them play Solar?
I’m just not sure that I understand the need for an exclusive U19 league. Maybe more tournaments where top clubs from around the country can face off, but there’s already a fair amount of competition between MLS clubs in the DA. There’s also plenty of strong non-affiliated DA teams, many of which are close to MLS academies. Neglecting them seems like a misuse of resources.
This is just a classic case of somebody who is not involved in the day to day development of players making a decision based on some theory in his head rather than studying the reality of what is actually going on. England is about the size of the state of Oregon. They are going to have a different model than us based on just size alone and yet even they don’t limit their academies to only playing against other premier league teams because they understand that not all premier league clubs have the best academies. The travel in the USSDA is already insane in terms of both time and money. Why would anybody using any amount of common sense take the very worst part of the USSDA and make it worse? In addition, they are taking away one of their best scouting and recruiting tools - playing non-MLS development academy players! How many great players actually start off in an MLS Academy? The MLS coaches see most of them in games and they recruit them in. This will not last. It is a silly idea by somebody who is not involved with real player development. The real participants will let their opinions known one way or another. No savvy, involved person would think that this is a good idea.
My response is limited primarily to FCD DA but some to of the same things happen with other MLS DA's I have seen as well. Watching regular league games with FCD DA teams over the years you will see a typical pattern to the game. The FCD Team is on the front foot the entire game, in the opposing teams half while the other team is packing the box with 11 people trying to prevent a goal for 80 or 90 minutes. The opposing team often just clears it long if they ever get possession and FCD starts again trying to break them down from inside the other teams end. While this type of soccer can create an atmosphere to learn how to break down a bunkered opponent, it won't do much for the competition. The way most of these games go is FCD eventually breaks through and scores one and then adds a few more for a 3-1 or 4-0 scoreline. Its not a situation where FCD has all the talent and the other DA teams are not talented. It's simply an apples to oranges comparison on level of training, facilities, and benefits the FCD teams have the other teams don't. A typical DA practices 3 times a week where FCD, and I suspect other MLS teams, practice a minimum of 5 and up to 7 days a week for two hours at a time. I assure you the travel is not a barrier to any of these kids wanting to play MLS Da games and if they were required to increase the travel, drop out of school and do online school only, the line would still form to the left of those trying out. It's easy to understand how the MLS DA teams may want to change up the competition as they continue to try and convince their players to sing HG deals and incorporate them into a pro environment.
Why are so many complaining about the travel when clubs like RSL, Colorado, SKC, Cascadia teams apparently already have no problems with it? Fly out Friday for a Saturday game, fly back home Saturday night or Sunday. And there are home games for crying out loud, they’re not flying every weekend. And plenty road games will just be a few hour or closer drive for some like they already do. I can’t see Arthur Blank saying no I’m not willing to pay for our teams to play NYRB or NYCFC, I’d much rather we play North Carolina Fusion and IMG.
This makes no sense. You can ask owners to spend all sorts of money on asinine tasks, devices and none of it will actually make a difference in a player's development. Spending additional money to send FCD to Portland rather than play Solar is asinine. How is spending more money to get the same level of competition or worse a good thing?
Because not every MLS team is NYRB or NYCFC. Most are the same as NC Fusion and IMG so why would he want to spend more? And apparently, IMG was a good game GAME ID #5297927 SATSEP 811:30AM Atlanta United FC U-18/19 1 Atlanta United Training Center- Field 3 (Stadium)Marietta,GA IMG Academy U-18/19 1 GAME ID #5297070 SATSEP 81:30PM Atlanta United FC U-16/17 2 Atlanta United Training Center- Field 3 (Stadium)Marietta,GA IMG Academy U-16/17 2
Also there are huge areas that aren't served by MLS academies. Why do we want to shut out North Carolina, San Diego, Southern Virginia, etc? Good talent comes out of a lot of areas and those kids get to play against better teams, get scouted and recruited. FCD is going to scout the Houston Texans, who recruited Richards from Alabama. But will other teams beyond the top ten academies do the same? And quite frankly will the Houston Texans DA championship be recognized as an excellent achievement if they never play an MLS DA squad? IE will people question the talent of those kids because they never played any of the powerhouse MLS teams? If MLS wants to hold an MLS Youth league tournament like the Youth UEFA one that goes on between Champions League academies, then I'm all for it. But cutting off the rest of the DA doesn't make near as much sense until the quality of the DA teams stratifies itself much more heavily.
Just getting to the minimum three practices per week is insane in most areas. In the DC area (where I live) people travel to practices from Prince William County, VA, Frederick, MD, Leesburg, VA, Columbia, MD, Washington DC, etc. These places are virtually impossible to travel between during rush hour traffic so, to make the process more fair, DC United moved their practice locations and home game locations around the greater metro area. As someone who just went to a lot of home games on weekends, I had to often add up to two hours each way for travel time, just to get to various home game locations. Think of doing this dance up to four times a week for practices during rush hour which could take up to twice as long even though there is no way to tell how long it will take. There is a reason that a ton of players have quit their MLS DAs for their senior year of high school to play high school soccer. Once they have their division I scholarship lined up and they don’t have to play in the DA anymore, they get out. I don’t mind supporting a flawed system as long as people are working to make it better, but we need to take into account that these are real kids with families and that most of them will not become pros. England, a country the size of Oregon, has 92 professional teams in it with several teams in each major city. In addition, the top clubs have host families that allow prospects who live too far from the club to live with them. It is a system that works for them and is sustainable for them. Adding travel time and expense for a system that appears to isolate MLS Academies doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. I liked when the Red Bulls took over NSCAA (now United Soccer Coaches) coaching courses for the state of New Jersey. That way, they could educate coaches throughout the state in the Red Bull philosophy of player development. In addition, they expanded the number of Red Bull clubs fielding different levels of Red Bull teams functioning with Red Bull coaches being evaluated by the upper level Red Bull coaching staff. That is a model that has widened their influence and has allowed them to better recruit players in their area, but it has also helped to improve the overall quality of coaching in New Jersey, whether the coaches who take their courses are associated with the Red Bulls or not. This is a constructive use of money to improve player development. Why aren’t MLS clubs looking to copy that?
Soccer is changing so quickly here that any decision made based on what there is now regarding MLS and academies is like shooting at a target that moved before you squeezed the trigger. There are so many new second, third division teams that have started around the Dallas area in the last two years it's unbelievable. I imagine it's like that around the the whole country. Pair that with news that MLS is OK with solidarity payments and who knows what kind and how many academies all these lower division teams will have. If the US starts coming anywhere near where the rest of the world is on teams per population there could be thousands of pro teams (many lower level) and many might be very good at youth development. No reason to quash it now. Wait until it stabilizes and I would guess there will be many regional leagues at lower levels and players won't play nationally until older except in tournaments. I kind of see this like the craft beer explosion. Europe had way more breweries than the US but now new ones are popping up everywhere.
Caught the RSL-LAG U17 and U19 matches at the Stubhub Center today...great games with RSL coming out on top in both matches 3-1
Well I see them play regularly (son plays for the 19s), so I can speak on just about all the RSL players at length, just felt I needed to post about these matches due to the high level of play by both sides...entertaining
Luchi's hiring of head coach is now official. Its worth a moment to reflect on his accomplishments as a youth coach and director of the FCD academy. It should be obvious, but this means that FCD is now looking for a new academy director and U17DA coach. By the Numbers 🔢7️⃣ current Homegrowns coached3️⃣ coaching titles2️⃣nd youngest active coach in @MLS. pic.twitter.com/fDmVOkrDhk— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) December 17, 2018
All the Galaxy players were highly technical, no surprise with Kleiban at the helm. Araujo was playing right back, consistently bombing down the sideline, scored their goal off a header, and was always dangerous. I know some see him as a CB moving forward, but his offensive threat from the outside can't be ignored. LAG were lacking a bit in the final third, but not due to lack of technical skills, just no player really stood out as an offensive threat to finish (other than Araujo, their RB).
Feruzzi will most likely be the Academy director and Chris Hayden to coach the USL team. Mikey Varas has been coaching the U17DA team for the entire year so far so no need for a new coach there unless he goes to the pro team with Luchi. They will need a new coach at the U19 level.
This is quite the shake up, but a good move for all involved. There are mainstays in this Academy that will no longer be there, let's hope the new arrivals can carry on what they have been building. If all the rumors are true (big IF) - they will need a U19 coach if Hayden moves to USL, they will need a new Academy Director (Feruzzi being the rumored replacement), they will need a new U14 coach (rumor is Luccin is joining Luchi's staff), and they will need a new U13 coach (Javi Morales moving to Miami to help start the InterMiami Academy). This is a lot to take in at once for a club. Was there a true culture in place that is easily passed on to the incoming staff? Will Luchi be as hands on with the Academy as Oscar was? Only time will tell.
There's also the important question of the technical director position at the top (with all of the Muzzi confusion)................and that individual impacts the strategy on all of this. New @FCDallas head coach @LGonzalezFCD stopped by the U-17s training this morning. Congrats on the new gig, coach! pic.twitter.com/jTRXPe5AwH— FC Dallas Youth (@FCDallasYouth) December 17, 2018
'03 Gavin Krenecki says he's now with Sporting KC in his Instagram bio. He was previously with Sacramento Republic.
Idk if it’s been pointed out yet but Sacramento’s other big deal 03, Dominic Vegaalban, is now with Seattle.
And how about the u17s? Since you didn’t mention it, I’m assuming no one really stood out but the Galaxy are pretty high on Mauricio Cuevas. I’ve also heard they really like Jonathon Perez. Did no one really impress in this game?
NEWS: We’ve signed Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to a USL contract Jahkeele is our youngest ever homegrown signing at 14📰: https://t.co/M1xAdSH0B5 pic.twitter.com/K1qvJKVKAl— Toronto FC II (@TorontoFCII) December 17, 2018