So if the galaxy can't sign Mario Rodriguez, what in the world is the point of having him in their academy? To win meaningless academy games?
Playing with the best players you can regardless of if you can actually sign them to a HG contract still has some value.
Exactly. This is the dead zone that we always talk about when discussing US prospects. Once they are done with Bradenton but haven't gone to college yet and weren't at a DA club before Bradenton. Mario def couldn't go back to his original club if he wanted to still progress as fast as possible. The only place he could go would be to one of the two MLS clubs in the area or possibly a da club. Since LA's coaches also coach at UCLA, its a great situation for him.
With Eddie Robinson retiring, I wonder if that increases the odds the Dynamo, who now need some cover at center back, get Sebastien Ibegha signed to a homegrown contract.
Legitimate points. For me its ok that LA Galaxy or any other MLS team does that. Its the basis for youth talent recruitment around the world. Like it or not we are in the international community of talent acquisition. Only in the US do we care where they played, for how long, what singular team 'developed' them. If we held Bundesliga teams to this restriction they'd laugh at it and say who cares where the player came from. They want us & we want them. In some ways we are trying to convince ourselves that recruitment and development are at odds with each other. For me the're separate. We need to immediately recruit our best into the professional arena AND separately develop those who we do have and recruit who we don't. Separate entities in my mind. Develop who we have and recruit who we want so we can develop them at any point mutually agreed upon point along the development continuum, at age 13 or 18, good players need to make the jump. Its tough because MLS teams don't have residential academies. Where's a player suppose to go if he can't drive to practice?
Makes a whole lot of sense to me........... However Houston-based posters suggest that the hold-up is the Ibeagha family's focus on the eduction............not any reluctance on the Dynamo's part to sign him.
I see your point but I think part of the problem is that the current approach is neither one thing nor the other. Rules apparently exist but the decision still comes down to what someone in the league office decides about each individual case. As we all know, MLS rules are made to be broken but there is very little transparency to the process, leaving us to read the tea leaves and criticize without having enough information. It sounds like you want to get rid of the restrictions entirely which is never going to happen in MLS (or at least not for decades). If that is an accurate characterization of your view, can I ask if you think the Cascio claim was wrongly denied? Isn't that something a Bundesliga club would laugh at...Bayern Munich can add a player from their youth system but VfB Stuttgart can't?
If you ask me, that's all the more reason to get him away from the pampered environment at Duke. Too many Videiras and Grellas have come out of that program, and no one like Jason Kreis for a long while.
But his greater point holds. If the kid is immature AT Duke I can't see how staying AT Duke is gonna help that whereas getting in an environment where he's surrounded by some very model professionals and a very demanding coach who is notoriously challenging with young players might help that. BTW, there are rumors floating around today that Ching and Hainault are in play again (and that the No. 1 pick might be involved) and if that goes down, coupled with Robinson's retirement, it would seem the Dynamo would have even more need for cover at CB. Of course, if they get the No. 1 pick, they might use it on Wenger and not have a need for Ibeagha.
I understand what he's saying. There are certain programs like Notre Dame and Duke that do very well in the NCAAs.............and not as well at developing pro players. My feeling is that if Ibeagha is good enough to be at our U23 camp right now.........he's ready to go to MLS. If his career is going to be soccer, than Duke has prepared him. May he be a little immature? Sure. Nothing a little medicine from Dominic Kinnear can't fix, though. Hopefully Ibeagha is learning at the current U23 camp that he needs to go pro to increase the level of competition he's facing. By the way..........Houston should leave Ching in Montreal. That was a blessing in disguise.
You nailed it. Those of us that see the big picture don't mind the rules enforced loosely but they're being enforced inconsistantly.There is no reason we can't see more sign young players and THEN use the year development time frame until first team action rule. Or even reduce it to 6 months. Yes in my world of loosely enforced rules Cascio claim should have been approved. This benefits the league, the player, the level of young talent. Everyone involved.
With George John to West Ham looking on the verge of being completed.......... http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/69/t...s-george-john-to-sign-loan-deal-with-west-ham ........one can ask the same question of FCD and Boyd Okwuono of UNC. Or even London Woodberry of Maryland. They are very thin in the back. I'm gonna assume they'll pick up a defender in today's draft now that both John and sometimes right back Jackson are gone. One may also ask the question whether homegrown signing Sacir Hot will finally get a chance with RBNY now that Tim Ream to Bolton looks done (pending work permit).
Oh man........just saw RBNY acquired Kenny Cooper. Rumor has it they acquired him because homegrown Juan Agudelo is leaving...............!!!!! We'll see if that's true or not.
Jenn Chang reporting that homegrown Juan Agudelo has been sold to Stuttgart for 6 million. "reporting" may be a strong word.........sounds closer to confident speculating. We'll see........... Big, big news on the homegrown front. First homegrown to be sold for big bucks. That would be one of the highest transfer fees ever received for an American.
For me "who developed x" is just BS chatter. You could have a chicken-and-egg argument concerning how much Barcelona developed Messi, since he was pretty good when he got there at 12 (and yet he must have learned a lot at La Masia too). What I'm looking at is all about the incentives for teams to change behavior in a way that the league wanted. MLS created this initiative to spur teams to invest in youth, and it's been clear since then that some of them will drag their feet or cheapskate it to the extent that the league lets them get away with it. It's not my standard for allowing HG signings is not total development, for all kinds of reasons (it's naive in the current environment; it's awfully difficult to measure, etc) or even that you played the 'dominant' or 'primary' role. I'm just looking for non-negligible investment in a player to give that player the opportunity to use whatever is available in your youth setup to improve himself, even if that improvement is subtle. If MLS wanted to give players to teams just because they grew up in the area, they've had years to implement a 'geographic' policy. And that's not an absurdity, some leagues have flirted with geographic draft picks and the like--but MLS has pointedly refused to do so. This is probably because, even though there are some marketing advantages to having players that are 'part of the community', the competitive imbalance was viewed as unfair (because it's unearned). MLS's goal here was clearly not just to get players who are from the local area signed up to teams; it's also clearly not just about getting guys to sign pro earlier, as there are other things they could have and have been doing to promote that development. Originally, MLS was mandating two years in the youth system before a club could sign a player. They've since changed that to one, which is probably a wise nod to pragmatism re:the situation on the ground as of 2011. But one year is not a lot to ask. It's not an onerous burden on a team.
I think the Cooper move does indeed indicate that Agudelo will be sold, but I think you should hold your horses and re-read what Chang said. Chang's post says it's an indication that he's likely to be sold, perhaps for $6 million and that Stuttgart are interested. Every single part of that implies speculation, nothing that could lead to one conclude "Jenn Chang reporting that homegrown Juan Agudelo has been sold to Stuttgart for 6 million." Perhaps that is what will happen, but unless I'm missing something else he has said, he is not reporting that this has happened, just speculating that it could.