Personally, I’ve loved the aggressiveness to pursue better and better players that extends past what the salary cap can offer, but a question I have is what impact has the DP rule had on our national team? And, considering most DPs are attackers and also noticing that we seem to lack any decent attackers, is this the cause and effect? What can be done to keep MLS growing but not at the detriment of our offense?
Nah. Its good. It just means that young attacking players like Carleton, Pomykal, and company need to keep pushing and pushing and pushing themselves to improve. In the short term it might limit playing time for Americans, but in the long term it will be beneficial. I mean, we can complain about a club like Atlanta signing Miguel Almiron for huge money. But who in the American pool is there for them to sign as a #10 that's anywhere near the ballpark of Miguel Almiron? The list is really short. Of the top 20 goal-scorers in MLS, only 5 are American. One is Meram, who is an Iraqi international. One is Wondo, who is all-but retired from the USMNT. The others are Altidore, Sapong, and Ramirez. In the American pool................there's just not that much there. So of course clubs are going to have to go into the international market in order to acquire talent. The problem is even more exacerbated if the top young attackers all head to Europe. And is even further exacerbated by the never-ending expansion. And the academy system is advancing, but is not churning out Miguel Almirons or Sebastian Giovincos. I mean....................do people realize that Atlanta United alone spent more money in the January transfer window than all Serie A clubs combined? And the average age of player that MLS has acquired this window has been in the low 20s. Very, very few Euro retirement players. Its young South/Central Americans.
If we're going to get the kind of attackers that will make a difference outside CONCACAF then they're going to need to be groomed in Europe. We need attackers who outgrew MLS at 16.
I would say it's how the rule is being used....not the higher level of competition that higher priced players bring to the league. Most MLS teams seem to build their rosters the same way. The rules restrict teams pretty severely (even though there is more wiggle room than before). Basically, what ends up being the plueprint is: the piano players are foreign and the piano carriers are american. the economics of building an MLS roster doesnt really allow for DP players that ride the bench....sure, SOME are duds and get benched but Championship teams and Most playoff teams usually don't have DP's that arent justifying their place on the field. teams that fail on DP's get GMs/coaches fired. teams that miss on unproven americans just waive those players and sign new ones the next season. the higher a player's salary is....the more invested and less likely a player is to be benched. in the current version of MLS, DP's are basically unbenchable. The odds of a low-salary unproven american player beating out such a player are slim to none. Players need playing time to develop and get better....if they don't play, they cannot prove themselves and move up. Too many youth USMNT players just sit on benches and don't play. Solutions: 1. allow young players to choose which MLS team they play for.....a young forward should sign on a team that needs strikers....not on toronto, for example, where they would have to beat out jozy and giovinco....every other league in the world allows players to pick a team that is right for them. MLS' greed to control player rights is hindering the development of their own players. 2. allow teams to build rosters however they want. dont mandate salary levels. give them the choice to have 20 1-million dollar players instead of 3 6-million dollar players and the rest splitting what's left. if a team had 20 1-million dollar players....it would be a lot better than a team with 3 high-priced DP's and a bunch of low-salary players, imo....and it would be more interesting to see how different roster approaches would do against each other. imo, a flat cap of say 10, 15, or 20 million would be more fair too......how people pretend that DC united or Minnesota spending 6 million on salary and TFC and Seattle spending over 20 million on salary is somehow "parity" is beyond me. MLS' current model is more enforced mediocrity than parity, imo. a flat cap....would be much closer to parity, imo. 3. encourage teams to spend on DP defenders and GK....portland and seattle have had success with DP defenders.....it'd be hard to make a rule that teams have to use DP slots on defenders but somehow getting unproven americans into attacking roles is not something that is going to be willingly done under the current system. 4. foreign coaches seem especially unwilling to play americans and american attackers....tata biello and viera, for example.....havent been exactly bending over backwards to play attacking americans.....not sure what the solution to this is....but somehow there shouldnt be teams that play basically no american players. perhaps making the # of international slots/green card rules more strict to allow for more americans to play??? overall, it is not a question of being good enough or not being good enough, as many i'm sure will argue.... it's a matter of talent AND opportunity. the talent is there...it just needs to be given an opportunity.......
The increased money and the roster rules have had a negative impact on our attack. Only 10 US-eligible players made WS's top 50 attackers with 9 or more starts: 49th_Delgado(22y/o), 41_Nagbe(27), 32_Rowe(26), 39_Dempsey(34), 27_Sapong(29), 14_Altidore(28), 15_Nguyen(31), 19_Feilhaber(33), 7_Roldan(22), 9_Kljestan(32) WS is not an absolute arbitrator of quality but does reasonably highlight who the bigger contributors are. . And the above are mainly central players. Wide American attackers have been decimated. If you're putting together an MLS-based starting XI, a 3-in-the-back formation is the only realistic option.
Except for the inconvenient reality that due to the salary structure, a young attacking HG on 125K/Y isn't going to play ahead of a multi-million dollar signing earning 10-30X as much. The DP/TAM is in direct response to poor American player development. Instead of addressing that, they're importing talent to improve the league. The majority of DP/TAM is directed at foreigners for that very reason. There's also little incentive to get into the business of playing youth and earning a ROI off them, the polar opposite of leagues abroad. Even if we had a young American Almiron, Pulisic is better though, they aren't signing with MLS and MLS has made it clear it's not an attractive option for our best and brightest for countless reasons, one of them being Almiron was able to choose ATL and Tata whereas a hypothetical American Almiron growing up in Nebraska will have his HG rights dictated for him. I mean, MLS doesn't even want an American Almiron. Its entire system is set up not to have an American Almiron. To the extent an American Almiron will be pushed overseas at 16/18, developed into a full fledged pro abroad, spend many years there and then MLS will pay massive money to bring him here. That's the model as it's set up.
DP/TAM is an implementation MLS's roster-building strategy, rather than being a result of any deficiencies in US players. Namely, the idea is to invest from the top-down to limit the inflation of bottom-tier player's salaries. Player development, in which the teams have been investing, is a separate matter. If an American youth player has the option of signing with Dortmund, ManU, Schalke, Bremen, et al, why would they choose the lesser potential financial opportunities of MLS? Miguel Almiron is 23. He is not a youth player and is thus not comparable to a Pulisic. Players move mainly for money. That's the way world works for all other industries. Football is no different. It's no coincidence the best leagues in the world are the ones that pay the most money in salaries.
The US Soccer media gets to talk about MLS improving, although the improvements are negligible, if they even exist.
The gain is improved finances which allow for greater development in player development. The league has improved in most measurables.
MLS doesn't participate in anything other than CCL. In terms of actual measurables, revenues are up, TV ratings are up, median pay is up, average pay is way up, average attendance is up. Manu, Schalke, Chelsea, Man City, and Bayern Munich have come in for young MLS products.
MLS is getting better! The players ARE better (yes, even the American ones)...but the opportunity for them in MLS is much lower than before.....which is weird and counter intuitive. you would think better MLS=better american players=better usmnt but better MLS + better american players doesnt equal better USMNT in 2018. in the first 10-15 years of MLS....there were multiple surprise breakout american players every season!! now, the "breakout" new players are lucky to get a handful of appearances. it's not that unproven rookies couldnt do well in this MLS...it's that teams arent considering letting them do so. how many draft picks were starters in 2017?? it used to be that many draft picks were starters every year. less americans doing well in MLS shouldnt automatically be seen as a failure of the american developmental system. it's economics and risk management that is the issue.... do you bet your job (as a coach or GM) on a young american who hasnt proven himself as a professional? or do you buy a foreign player who has?? if you buy the foreign player...you play the foreign player. it's that simple. it's a caste system and it really shouldnt be a surprise that the lowest caste (amatuer americans) are getting the worst of it in 2018's MLS. Also, I dont even have to mention that if you are a low salary player...your path to the field is being a "worker bee" "hard working hustle guy" who takes limited risks and sacrifices for the team... how many times have you heard an MLS coach talk about an attacker's lack of defense keeping hi m off the field?? ....which works for MLS coaches but does nothing for the USMNT....because what ends up happening is that the few american players who manage to stick in MLS are likely to be the uncreative teamwork guys....whose games dont translate internationally because at the national team level hustle and defensive commitment alone arent enough to move the needle.
Well.......................the pool of the piano players is very shallow for US-eligible players. And the league is expanding rapidly while the pool isn't. So more and more foreign players have to be brought in. If we want the standard of play to remain constant or increase that is. And by the way, just so we're clear, even the draft is dominated by foreign players. FCD took 2 GenAd players in the first round. Both take up international slots. MLS clubs are investing a lot in their academies. We know that. And, of course, many of the young American breakouts in MLS are homegrown players like Tyler Adams, Justen Glad, etc. Maybe this year it'll be Andrew Carleton, Reggie Cannon, and Cam Lindley. We'll see. But those numbers can't supply the league with the demand required. Especially if the high end MLS academy players like Weston McKennie end up heading abroad instead. To your point about the piano carriers versus skill position piano players. My team FC Dallas' projected starting XI with US-eligible players bolded. This is probably not that unusual in MLS for the teams actually spending money (in other words not the Revs, etc.). ----------------Urruti------------- Lamah-------Diaz--------Barrios ---------Grueso-Acosta------- Figueroa-Ziegler-Hedges-Cannon --------------Gonzalez------------- Now, that's actually better than most teams. That's 3 players in the USMNT pool and one U23 being developed. Most of the goals and assists are going to be banged in by foreign players, though. All we can hope for is that the bench is loaded with young Americans like Pomykal, Ferreira (US citizenship imminent), Reynolds, Servania, etc. FCD is so loaded with young talent that their developmental roster is full. They can't sign any more homegrowns right now. But where are they going to play? How are they going to develop? There is no FCDII. And if Pomykal is going to start, then he's going to have to prove he's better than a former MLS MVP candidate in Mauro Diaz. So he's gotta REALLY develop and fast. MLS is a league, by the way, in which managers get a little time to develop players. The average tenure of a coach in the English Premier League is now less than a calendar year. So there's no point in a long-term plan developing young players for most coaches. Oscar Pareja can do it. He has more job security than God. Other coaches in the league may not have that job security.
Lots of MLS rules hurt the USMNT. The DP allowed Altidore to come back and make more money playing in a third tier league as opposed to having to earn a place in a first tier or second tier league. The same is true for Bradley, Bedoya, Dempsey, Donovan (a DP before DPs), Klestjan, etc. But the real problem, in 2017, was probably more just the larger salaries in general meant the guys that should have taken over for Bradley, Dempsey, Bedoya, Klestjan, Zusi, Beasley, etc. could simply stay in MLS and make $500K per year and they were fine with that and never had to go overseas to earn money like the generation before them. Guys like Trapp, Shipp, McCarty, Sapong, Opara, Besler. The supposed, "lost generation". You would think the DP rule, by limiting it to three, which is mostly used for attackers, would make MLS defenders much better than you would expect. But it is actually the young defenders coming through like Zimmerman, Hedges, Birnbaum, etc. that are so poor internationally. And by internationally, I'm not talking facing Germany but Bosnia C, Martinique, and El Salvador! Possibly, the lopsided talent in MLS has caused MLS coaches to set up their defense in such a way that defenders are not asked to be 1 v 1 as they are asked to be when the USMNT plays cream puffs. I do think MLS midfielders have a lot of time and space and hopefully this changes as the league gets better. I think it is with midfielders like Bradley, more than forwards like Altidore, whose games are dulled in MLS.
From 2003-2008 MLS sold 11+ Americans to Euro clubs, many of them mids and attackers who has gotten serious playing time before they turned 20. From 2012-2018 MLS has sold 4 Americans to Euro clubs, Cameron, Yedlin and Miazga, all defenders, plus Shea. We saw how Shea turned out. I mean, the proof is in the pudding that MLS is not as good for young Americans as it once was. It used to be a launching pad. No longer is. Gone are the days of young Landon, Jozy, Convey, EJ, DMB types getting major mins before drinking age. What changed? DP and TAM. Of course, one could argue we no longer have young Landon, Jozy, Convey, EJ and DMB types deserving of mins. That viewpoint suggests MLS has gotten far worse at player development. The cupcake roster supports that viewpoint. We just saw Morris and Zardes start this past weekend. So our domestic league is both less friendly to young Americans and is getting worse at player development. Well no wonder we aren't going to Russia. I continue seeing the argument that Landon and Clint used the league to reach their heights. Yet that further proves the point as that was an earlier and different generation of this league. Shouldn't have to go back a decade to support the viewpoint of how good the league is for American currently. It's different now. It was good for young Americans back then.
I think blaming US players not getting field time on foreign imports is more of an excuse for the lack of quality US born guys. It's not like the US players are getting beat out for positions by the best in the world. They're not able to win spots against guys who are either past their prime or were always second tier anyway. If the US players were better, they'd get more field time. I would rather see our players improve to win spots rather than create artificial rules to get lesser players on the field. That said, I don't like the DP rule because it creates horribly imbalanced rosters with a tiny number of players getting big salaries and a second tier of guys who are gonna need to think about their next job when they retire. I'd love to see a comparison of what a team could do if they spent all that big DP money on developing a solid roster from top to bottom. Instead of 3 guys getting 5 mil and 8 getting 200K, what would a team with a group getting around 1.5 mil each look like? The big star and his little buddies system doesn't help the league or the American players as far as quality on the field goes in my estimation. It creates a lot of sloppy, disjointed play which is pretty horrible for young players learning the game if they want to step up to a higher level.
In the first round of the 2017 MLS Regular Season, Approx 102 of a total 242 starters were US-eligible. Approx 21 of about 48 attackers were US-eligible. That was not as bad as I had feared. Let's see if this season's numbers make for a considerable change.
US Eligible Starters in the 1st Round of the 2017 MLS Regular Season* (PORT) Nagbe(LAM); (MIN)JDavis(LB), Warner(CM); (CBUS)Steffen(GK) Trapp(DM), Finlay(RAM); (CHI)McCarty(DM), Vincent(LB), Harrington(RB); (LAG)Rowe(GK), Garcia(RB), Steres(CB), Romney(LB), Lletget(RM), Jones(CM), McBean(FW); (DAL) Seitz(GK) Zimmerman(CB) Hedges(CB), Acosta(CM); (SLC) Rimando(GK), Beltran(RB), Horst(CB) Schuler(CB), Wingert(LB),Beckerman(DM), Allen(RAM); (TFC) Altidore(FW), Morrow(LWB), Bradley(DM), Hagglund(LCB), Moor(CB), Zavaleta(RCB), Irwin(GK); (COLR) MacMath(GK), Burch(LB), Watts(CB), Miller(RB), Cronin(CM), Hairston(RAM), Powers(CAM); (NER) Nguyen(FW), Agudelo(AM), Rowe(RCM), Caldwell(DM), Tierney(LB), Farrell(RB), Cropper(GK); (DCU) Hamid(GK), Deleon(RB), Birnbaum(CB), Franklin(CB), Kemp(LB), Mullins(FW); (SKC) Dwyer(FW), Feilhaber(LCM), Sinovic(LB), Besler(CB), Opara(CB), Zusi(RB), Melia(GK); (HOU) Deric(GK), Beasley(LB), Clark(LCM); (SEA) Morris(FW), Dempsey(CAM), Roldan(CM), Marshall(CB), Frei(GK); (SJE) Bingham(GK), Lima(RB), Alashe(CM), Thompson(RM), Wondo(RFW); (MON) Bush(GK), Duvall(RB); (ORL) Bendik(GK) Toia(LB), Spector(CB); (NYC) Johnson(GK) Allen(RB); (ATL) Garza(LB), Parkhurst(CB), (NYR) Kljestan(FW), Muyl(RAM), Davis(DM), Long(CB), Zizzo(RB), Robles(GK); (VAN) Williams(RB), Parker(CB), Dean(CB), Harvey(LB), Jacobson(CM),Manneh(FW), Hurtado(FW); (PHI) Rosenberry(RB), Onyewu(CB), Jones(DM), Marquez(CB), Bedoya(CAM), Pontius(RAM) * sources = whoscored and mlssoccer
I wonder what the average age of those approximately 21 US-eligible players was. What MLS and our infrastructure is struggling with is finding playing time for youngsters like Andrew Carleton and Paxton Pomykal. That's why its so critically important to get our 2nd/3rd divisions firing on all cylinders. That's what is different between the US and competition like Germany, etc. I mean, most teams in the world are trying to sign maximally talented foreign players. I mean................this DP distinction is really meaningless. DP just means high-salaried players (foreign or domestic), and the numbers of those is only going to increase. Particularly as TAM levels increase.
2 U-18 German players have gotten minutes in this season's B1 and only 1 in the B2. Folks have Pulisic-fever or something. ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Donovan, Dempsey, and McBride were groomed in the US. There is no reason effective international attackers cannot still be developed domestically. That being said, given the financial opportunities that come with big euro-league contracts, one can't blame a youth player for taking an offer and heading overseas.
It's an interesting question. Intuitively it makes sense that spending big money to bring in foreign attacking players would stunt the development of domestic options. However, I'm struggling to think of any clear examples of US attacking players in the last 5-6 years who clearly had their development screwed up because of DPs or TAM. There were guys like Shipp, Powers, Gil, McInerney, etc. who had some buzz as exciting, young attacking players at some point, but I think those guys all had chances and just turned out to be mediocre (or worse). So, I'd lean towards saying that it's the lack of talent rather than the lack of opportunity.
Glad someone brought this up. -Back in 2003-2008 England wasn’t as strong of a league so it was easier for our best talent to make the transition (most of those guys went to England). -The biggest concern is if MLS changes the # of international slots; this has more of an impact in my mind than the DP rule. -The DP rule will produce long term benefits for the US because it will attract more attention to the league, thus more lucrative media deals, thus more $ invested into academies if MLS influences this. -One could argue against the above with England’s poor international performances despite having a top league, but the structure of their league is less supportive of domestic players.
MLS is not a quality league. The media and the fans will tout that its improving, etc, but its a low-level football league. Low level leagues around Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc) don't tout signing Giovinco or dos Santos, they tout developing young players. And some of those young players are foreigners, thats not the issue here. The issue is that clubs don't see the incentive to give the young Americans on their books a chance. In Croatia or Colombia, Pomykal's development or Carleton's development would likely be prioritized because playing them and then selling them would be a big part of how the teams finance their club. In MLS, its not a priority because of rules that restrict the money clubs will get from a transfer fee. Also, an owner like Arthur Blank doesn't need 10-20 million from a Carleton transfer fee to finance Atlanta United. In Colombia or Croatia, the owner might need that money to finance the club. In those countries I named, they realize they are feeder leagues. MLS doesn't realize that. MLS could eventually not be a feeder league, but its absolutely unrealistic with a salary cap to not be a feeder league. If the cap was eliminated, I would understand the approach more. MLS has such an in-between approach right now, IMO. I don't know who it actually benefits. Its not Americans, nor is it the league's overall quality in anything other than a negligible sense.