I am well aware of the teams record. if I were a fan of the team, I would want pressure put on them to improve. That is historically what has been needed for teams in the league to improve.
I think the Athletic did one, at least in the context of their ambition rankings, Soccer America does something like it and goes into investment levels, MLS Soccer has done one before. Next time I see one, I will post it.
It just dawned on me that I think I’ve read the article that you’ve talked about, if so, I hope for something a lot more professional than that. I’m not looking for something I can write within an hour on my own computer. Heck, I’ll do that for everyone if they’re interested. Rather, I want some real world journalism - something that’s probably done once a year because you want it to be something to look forward to and to measure progress by. For example, I want a journalist to assess: #1 The club’s attitude and track record towards playing HGP #2 The clubs attitude and track record to helping launch a player’s career to bigger and better things. #3 the parent and player morale in the system #4 the level of coaching #5 the level of competition #6 the resources Etc. In other words, I want it laid out to me as though I was a parent who had a very promising kid who was looking for an academy to sign with...
Start a thread on it and we can pipe in on what we know ourselves. Obviously we're not journalists but several of our smarter members have been credited with unearthing dual nationals that have been brought in so we not completely useless either.
That's easily-debunked: Gyasi Zardes still holds a record for most goals scored in a season by a homegrown player. Time will tell if Llanez (back in the states right now) and Mendez were better off in the long-run going abroad. Each player's path is different.
That is because he isn't like one in the way they are thought about today. It looks like he joined their u18s his senior year of high school. The LAG signed a physically developed 21 year old after playing three season of college soccer to a HG contract.
You can believe two things at once. Carleton is a colossal idiot. Atlanta is a complete —— show for youn prospects, and all young prospects should move to Dallas, NYCFC etc post haste. Both are true and especially were true during Carleton’s time there. I don’t want any prospects in Atlanta period till they clean it up for years plural.
Atlanta is about to sell a homegrown for ~5m. Their academy has been around for, what, 5 years? That’s more than what a lot of clubs can say. Are they dallas, nycfc, rbny? No. But bello is a pretty big crown jewel. but back to efra.
I hear you, my point is that they had quite a few guys and did little to anything with any of them. I don't think they did squat with Bello, or with Carleton or anyone else, I think they lucked into a player that happened to be there, regionally, and got the benefit of his talent. But yeah, off topic, so I'll shut up about it.
Well, yeah. Zardes was 5 when when the league started and about 16 when the first MLS academies opened their doors, so it would've been very hard for him to come thru a system that didn't exist yet. He was in the first wave of early HGPs, along with types like Kellyn Acosta and Wil Trappp.
Who? What? When? Where? I have not heard anything about Bello - or other HGP - being sold from Atlanta... and for 5m.
You don’t think George bello won’t be sold for that much within the next 12 months? Have you been following this player?
I thought you were alluding to a ball already in motion. It’ll depend on what happens this year. The issue I hope we don’t encounter: we need him to be better than he actually is. I believe George Bello has a lot of talent, but he hasn’t realized that talent yet. And he’s reaching the age - believe it or not - that if he doesn’t do something soon, other scouts will just look for the next best thing. Also, how much do foreign clubs want to buy an American left back?
I mean, it’s understood that they will sell. Doyle mentioned on their pod, Atlanta expects even more than the $5m I said. And he recently turned 19, lol “reaching the age” sentence.
To take this a step further, wasn't Zardes a CB during his one year with the LAG academy? I have a memory of something like this, but I couldn't find confirmation. Perhaps someone remembers.
I know what you’re saying but it happens a lot quicker than you think. All it takes is a bad/missed season or two in the critical years and teams have moved onto the next prospect. For example, Sam Vines is not much older, but I guarantee, he’s already getting close to career MLSer. Unless, of course, a player just completely murders the opposition.
My point, and I'm breaking my own rule about shutting up, but a core aspect of my argument played out with Bello, and with Carleton, and it was basically that both of their stocks declined the longer they were in Atlanta. Bello's stock has bounced back a bit the past year, but they were very hot stocks circa 2017-2018, and the both bottomed out after that. Now: #1 more prospects miss than hit, so that's part of it, especially with a deeply flawed prospect like Carleton (may lack the athleticism, size, speed, and is a colossal idiot) #2 Despite that, there has been no sign whatsoever that Atlanta actually benefited, brought along, or improved the stock of anyone in their program substantially other than Bello, and I'd still argue that Bello was more well thought of a few years ago when Atlanta had nothing to do with his status as a prospect than he was with extended time within their system. They just weren't ready, at all, to develop, refine, and sell on the talent they were lucky enough to have home grown locally. Hopefully a few years on, they'll be better at. I won't hold my breath.