Looks like Taylor Booth will be heading to FC Bayern https://www.bavarianfootballworks.c...th-bayern-munich-free-transfer-real-salt-lake
Bayern is smart and CP made it clear, the US was fine for much of his development but he benefited greatly by being in Europe from 16-18, which he feels is critical to high end development. Booth is a lucky guy to get over there at this age if that happens.
Bayern is a terrible club for an academy player to sign with. Consequentially, RSL is probably the best club to sign with in MLS for an academy player. He's a good player, I think he'll make it anyway, but it might be a longer path at Bayern. If thats the path he wants to take, who are we to criticize him?
Perhaps Bayern is reading the tea leaves and realizing even with lots of money they could spend more wisely by using their own young cheap players. That would free up more money to buy even more of the best Germans on other teams.
- Emra Can - Alessandro Schöpf - Phillip Max - David Alaba - Toni Kroos - Thomas Müller - Holger Badstuber - Mats Hummels - Sebastian Langkamp - Sandro Wagner And a ton of others. They seem to do OK.
For some reason that made me think of Life of Brian and what have the Romans ever done for us? But other than those what youth players have ever done anything at Bayern?
McKennie is doing alright. He went over after turning age 18. Yedlin went over at 21. Dempsey went over at 23. Holden, excepting a disastrous 6-month stint, went over at 25. Cameron went over at 26. Donovan never went over permanently. Pope never went over. The mania a few years ago was that MLS didn't provide an intense enough environment for young players. Now the mania is that MLS is too intense; young players can't get time---16-18, blah blah blah. Players go over for financial opportunity. And there's nothing wrong with that. Only the spin changes.
The last player to make it to their first team was Alaba. Unless Booth is looking like a world class player, he's going to have to leave Bayern between 18-22. It doesn't mean he can't make it elsewhere, but its definitely a tougher path.
He is going to make a nice packet and be well-positioned to move on should he, likely, not make it Bayern.
He is going to be coached by Holger Seitz and Tim Walter, two of the very best in the world. Whether or not he makes it at Bayern, I am confident he will become a better player for the experience.
I think him coming from the RSL academy makes it a real decision. Most MLS academies, and I'd say he should go to Europe. RSL, he'd probably get a chance to play early on. I don't think the best option is always Europe>MLS. I think it should be a case by case basis. There are a few MLS clubs who've demonstrated that young Americans will get a chance to play. RSL, NYRB, maybe FCD (they've proven that prior to last season). I don't think it will matter either way, as I think he will be a NT player eventually (whether he chose Europe or MLS), but I think the RSL path was probably the better path for him. Then again, its his decision. Just like with the Gonzalez to Mexico decision, its not my place to be critical over his life decisions.
I have a lot of respect for what RSL is doing and have been very complementary of their development work. That said, when you say Bayern is a “terrible academy” to sign with, my guess is you are ignorant to how good their academy is. Given their staff, their results in developing world class players, and their recent investment in their center, you come off as pretty naive. Only Booth knows what the best decision for him is, and the Bayern Academy is a great option to have.
I think its rather obvious what I am saying. Alaba was the last to make it through. Very good academy with top level coaching, but they don't integrate players into their first team. People complain about Miazga, Palmer-Brown signing with Chelsea, Man City. This is not very different. Almost certainly, the player will have to look for a new club within a few years of signing.
It is pretty obvious. I am correcting a narrative that Bayern is an unproductive academy, given clubs in Germany are littered with Bayern-developed players, and clubs like Liverpool and Real Madrid feature some of Bayern’s talent. Bayern itself has recalled a number of its best, like Hummels and Wagner. Bayern is a Top 5 club in the world. Of course it will be hard to matriculate to the senior team. But if developing under world class coaches lands Booth at another Bundesliga club or an elite club somewhere else in Europe, it will have been a great decision on Booth’s part. In no way is it a “terrible” academy to sign with.
Just because every player in their development umbrella doesn't end up a starter on the first team doesn't make them bad at development. They have the luxury of both buying great players AND developing young players. Odds are always higher that someone else develops the best player and if you can afford to buy him you do it.
I guess this is one of the "bad eggs" we eradicated from the program on our way to a successful run to WC2018 in Russia? You want me to play RB, LB, RWB, LWB, CM, or CB coach. No problem! Timmy Chandler is on 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BC2tOM6PBn— scuffed (@scuffedpod) January 26, 2018
Its absurd. Chandler is probably our most in form player this season. I don't care if he's put in 50 bad performances for the NT. Take your chance with your best footballers on the field.
Bad performances by Wood, Altidore, Bradley, Howard, Nagbe, Johnson, etc have been excused for years. If we are making a list of guys who've played a lot who have played well in this current generation of players, its a very short list. Why specifically single out Chandler's bad performances among our best players bad performances? I don't think its that people actually don't think Chandler can help our NT, I think they use exactly that, this attitude that he's a faux-American, less worthy of playing for the NT. They act like he doesn't want to play for our NT, that he's not committed, its a complete guess based on bad performances from years ago and decisions he made over five years ago. Chandler took time away from the NT in 2012 saying he needed to decide if he wanted to play for the US, then he came back the next year, and has given no indication since that he didn't want to play for the USA. Howard took time off, Donovan took time off, did they get criticized for it? Why criticize Chandler? If he's a problem in the locker-room, thats one thing, but there's no indication thats the case. We cannot afford to discard prime-aged players who are among our best footballers for really flimsy reasons. Maybe if you are Brazil or Germany, but we aren't. People here make a big deal about Cameron being left out of the starting lineup or Johnson not being called up, why not make a bigger deal about a better player seemingly not even being on the radar? Or do those people who don't do that employ the reasoning that Chandler is a faux-American, doesn't want to play for the USMNT, is unable to play well against CONCACAF opposition?
The fact is he doesn't play defensive fullback very well. If we play him as a wb like Frankfurt does that's fine. But basically the whole team has to be dialed in to that. We cant be all things to all people.
Should I post the video of Yedlin's defending against Man City last week? How often does Johnson get on the field with Gladbach? I tend to agree with you that he's more of a wing-back than full-back, but his total contribution at full-back is probably better than any full-back we have, and I don't see why we haven't tried out a 3-5-2 much. It would seem to fit the players we have.
We need for Chandler to play again for the NT to remind us all why we didn't want him to play for us again. Probably the same will be needed for Fabian, Bradley and Altidore at some point.